Interrupt and Listen!
Notes
Transcript
1 Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John 2 (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples), 3 He left Judea and departed again to Galilee. 4 But He needed to go through Samaria.
5 So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” 8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.
9 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.
10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
11 The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? 12 Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?”
13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
15 The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”
17 The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.”
Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.”
19 The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.”
21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
25 The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.”
26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”
This passage teaches us how we can interrupt and listen to people in such a way that we are able to love them with the gospel.
Here are some truths are can take with us today.
Interrupt with purpose. (4)
Purpose your conversation. (7)
Conversate with love. (9-11)
Love with the truth. (15-18)
Use the truth to disciple. (39-41)
Interrupt with Purpose
Interrupt with Purpose
4 But He needed to go through Samaria.
Not only does the text indicate that Jesus went with purpose, but that He went through an area that was very undesirable to His people.
Notice that Jesus had mixed responses from those in Samaria:
51 Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem, 52 and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him. 53 But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem. 54 And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?”
55 But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. 56 For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.” And they went to another village.
Listen to what one commentator says about Samaria:
“In coming south from Galilee travellers usually crossed over the Jordan and came down through Perea to avoid the hostility of the Samaritans towards people who passed through their land to go to Jerusalem.”
A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1933), Jn 4:4.
Sychar literally means, drunken and doesn’t have friendly references in Isaiah.
1 Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim,
Whose glorious beauty is a fading flower
Which is at the head of the verdant valleys,
To those who are overcome with wine!
7 But they also have erred through wine,
And through intoxicating drink are out of the way;
The priest and the prophet have erred through intoxicating drink,
They are swallowed up by wine,
They are out of the way through intoxicating drink;
They err in vision, they stumble in judgment.
Here are some quick facts about Samaria:
It was founded during the reign of Omri, when Israel was divided into two parts.
21 Then the people of Israel were divided into two parts: half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king, and half followed Omri. 22 But the people who followed Omri prevailed over the people who followed Tibni the son of Ginath. So Tibni died and Omri reigned.
24 And he bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver; then he built on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, Samaria, after the name of Shemer, owner of the hill. 25 Omri did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and did worse than all who were before him. 26 For he walked in all the ways of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in his sin by which he had made Israel sin, provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their idols.
Omri bought Samaria for 2 silver talents, or about $30,000 USD
Faithlife Corporation. “Talent.” Logos Bible Software, Computer software. Logos Bible Software Factbook. Bellingham, WA: Faithlife Corporation, October 7, 2020. https://ref.ly/logos4/Factbook?ref=bk.%24talent.
He and his family were incredibly sinful.
25 Omri did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and did worse than all who were before him.
30 Now Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all who were before him. 31 And it came to pass, as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians; and he went and served Baal and worshiped him. 32 Then he set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. 33 And Ahab made a wooden image. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.
All this to say, Jesus went with purpose.
Friends, when we share the gospel, we need to do so with intentionality.
Purpose your Conversation
Purpose your Conversation
7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.”
Think about this:
Jesus purposed to travel to Samaria, purposed to arrive at noonish, and purposed to talk to this woman.
Notice how Jesus interrupts to listen by purposing the conversation toward something right in front of them.
He initiates the conversation.
How many times do we want to talk to people, but have no idea what to say?
What do people generally say when talking to strangers?
(We talk about the weather, the Corona, the sports, and the government!)
Not only did Jesus initiate the conversation, but He started it knowing where He was (it was normal to discuss the water), and where He was going.
Friends, purpose your conversation toward the gospel. Here are a few ways you can begin to do so:
Begin each day with prayer for your lost friends.
Make weekly or monthly goals.
Be accountable to another person.
Take time to share your encounters with your Bible study group.
Have sharing material at the ready! (PTL, GNFY, apps like 3-Circles and 1Cross)
Conversate with Love
Conversate with Love
9 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.
10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
11 The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water?
Notice the contents of her question:
Samaritan
Woman
She recognizes that He is breaking down barriers by asking her for a drink and lets Him know by asking a question.
9 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.
John even spells it out here for us: “For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.”
Listen to how Jesus talks to her in love:
He’s in her neighborhood.
How often do we try to “love on people,” yet expect others to come to us for the love?
He talks to her on purpose.
He breaks social norms.
He breaks religious norms.
He even knows who she is, what she’s done, and what she’s into now!
Look at how He guides the conversation toward the gospel.
He’s not pointing fighting with her about politics.
He’s not disrespecting her as and asking why she was coming to gather water at an odd hour.
He’s not putting on an air of religious superiority.
Love with the Truth
Love with the Truth
15 The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”
17 The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.”
Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.”
25 The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.”
26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”
Jesus is loving with the truth in two ways:
He lovingly brings her to see her sin.
He lovingly shows her that He is the Savior.
Use the Truth to Disciple
Use the Truth to Disciple
39 And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all that I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of His own word.
The truth disciples because:
People know who you are were in sin and see who you are in Christ.
Your testimony about how the Lord changed you is powerful.
The gospel causes people to come into contact with the Holy Spirit who draws men to Christ.
Jesus’ own words cause people to follow Him.