SF014 - A Surprising Encounter - Part 1 of 2 (John 4 1-14)
A Surprising Encounter – Part 1 of 2
November 11, 2001
John 4:1-14
INTRODUCTION
Chapters three and four of John’s gospel provide us with a wonderful illustration of God’s grace and the fact that His grace is not limited by race, position, or location. A. W. Pink wonderfully sets forth the contrast between Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman.
“First, in John 3 we have ‘a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus:’ in John 4 it is an unnamed woman that is before us. Second, the former was a man of rank, a ‘Master of Israel:’ the latter was a woman of the lower ranks, for she came ‘to draw water.’ Third, the one was a favored Jew: the other was a despised Samaritan. Fourth, Nicodemus was a man of high reputation, a member of the Sanhedrin: the one with whom Christ dealt in John 4 was a woman of dissolute habits. Fifth, Nicodemus sought out Christ: here Christ seeks out the woman. Sixth, Nicodemus came to Christ ‘by night:’ Christ speaks to the woman at mid-day. Seventh, to the self-righteous Pharisee Christ said, ‘ye must be born again:’ to this sinner of the Gentiles He tells of ‘“the gift of God.’”[1]
It is in this context that we see our Lord involved in a surprising encounter.
1A. The Woman was Surprised when She Met Jesus (4:4-10)
No one would have expected the Lord Jesus to do what He did but He was acting in perfect harmony with God’s purpose and providence.
Proverbs 19:21 “Many plans are in a man's heart, But the counsel of the LORD will stand.”
1B. The surprising circumstances that Jesus’ faced (4:1-3)
The brewing conflict with the Pharisees (4:1)
Ø This decision is all about timing, the conflict with the Pharisees was inevitable, but God had ordained it for a different time.
The possible controversy with John’s disciples (4:2)
Ø Soon John’s race would be run and the controversy would die with him.
The Lord’s departure was symbolic
“left” aphiemi, (1) send off or away, let go (MK 4.36); (2) as a legal term, to divorce (1C 7.11); (3) abandon, leave behind (MT 26.56); (4) of duty and obligation reject, set aside, neglect (MK 7.8); (5) of toleration let go, leave in peace, allow (MK 11.6); (6) of sins or debts forgive, pardon, cancel (LU 7.47); (7) give or utter a loud cry (MK 15.37).[2]
Ø In leaving Judea the Lord focused most of the remainder of His ministry in Galilee. In a sense He leaves Jerusalem and Judea to their own devices.
2B. The surprising route that Jesus took (4:4)
The prejudice of the Jews made the route unthinkable.
Ø The Samaritans had a long history of religious compromise.
After the division of the kingdom the Samaritans ceased to worship in Jerusalem and began to practice idolatry. (see 1 Kings 12)
By the time of Christ the Samaritans accepted only the first five books of the Old Testament and some of the writings of the prophets. They rejected all the historical books.
Ø The Samaritans intermarried with various non-Jewish people groups. (see 2 Kings 17)
The Jews in the Southern Kingdom considered them to be half-breeds and not truly Jewish.
Ø The Jews hated the Samaritans even more than they hated the Romans.
The providence of God made the route unavoidable
Ø Jesus was compelled by God’s grace to “pass through Samaria.”
“had to pass,” dei, to bind; (1) as expressing compulsion, necessity, or inevitability in an event it is necessary, one must, one has to (MT 17.10); (2) as expressing the will of God or law it is necessary or binding (LU 13.14); (3) of the compulsion of duty one ought, one should, one has to, one must (AC 5.29); (4) of the compulsion of valid expectation or what is fitting it is proper, it must be, it is right (2T 2.6); (5) imperfect edei, of something needful that was left undone should have, ought to have (MT 18.33).[3]
Ø Jesus fulfilled God’s plan by going through Samaria.
“The reason why the Lord ‘must’ go through Samaria, was because of a Divine needs-be. From all eternity it had been ordained that He should go through Samaria. Some of God’s elect were there, and these must be sought and found – cf. the Lord’s own words in John 10:16.”[4]
3B. The surprising place where Jesus stopped (4:5-6)
Jesus stops at the right place (4:5-6a)
Ø Sychar means “purchased,” referring to the price Jacob had paid for the land. (Genesis 33:18-19; Genesis 48:21-22)
Ø Jacob’s well was gathering place for the people of Sychar. (4:5-6a)
Jesus stops at the right time (4:6b)
Ø The “sixth hour” would have been 12 noon.
Ø No one else would be at the well but this woman! Because of her lifestyle (she was an adulteress) she was avoiding the other women. No one drew water in the heat of the day.
4B. The surprising request that Jesus made (4:7-9)
Jesus overlooked the gender- gap
Ø It was rare for a Jewish Rabbi to speak to a woman. It was unheard of for a Jewish man to speak to a Samaritan woman.
Jesus ignored the racial prejudice
Ø The hatred between the Jews and Samaritans could not have been greater.
Ø The Lord knew what He would later reveal through the Apostle Paul.
Galatians 3:28 “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
3B. The surprising response that Jesus gave (4:10)
The water the woman had could not satisfy her thirst
Jeremiah 2:13 “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, to hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water.”
Jesus offered her “living water,” notice how water symbolizes salvation.
Revelation 21:6 “Then He said to me, ‘It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.’”
Ø Like water, salvation is a gift from God that man cannot create.
Ø Water is essential for physical life; salvation is essential to eternal life.
Ø Every person needs water in order to live; every person outside of Christ is lost and in need of God’s salvation.
Ø Water refreshes and satisfies, so it is with the Lord’s salvation, it satisfies as nothing else can.
Ø Water is sovereignly distributed by God. In some places there is an abundance; in others very little; in others none at all. It is so with God’s salvation.
Jeremiah 17:13 “O LORD, the hope of Israel, All who forsake You will be put to shame. Those who turn away on earth will be written down, because they have forsaken the fountain of living water, even the LORD.”
2A. The Woman was Skeptical When She Heard Jesus (4:11-14)
1B. The woman questioned Jesus’ ability (4:11)
The woman was blind to the Lord’s true identity.
Ø It is unbelief that blinds the eyes of the sinner.
The woman was preoccupied with the things of this world
Ø Many are kept away from the things of Christ because they are preoccupied with the things of this world.
Ø It may be pleasure, amusements, work, reputation, family duties, or even “good” works that occupy our minds rather than the Lord.
The woman was focused on the means rather than the end.
Ø The woman was more concerned with “how” Jesus was going to get the water than with Jesus. Many today are more concerned about their own works and efforts than with the Savior Himself.
Ø The woman limited Christ to only one way of fulfilling His promise. Many today limit the way the Lord can change the heart of man. “But when it pleases God to do so, He acts independently of all means (the Word excepted).[5]
Ø She could not see his water or his bucket, she lacked faith.
Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
The woman was ignorant concerning the source of the “living water.”
Ø The woman was focused on the impossibility of Jesus’ promise, because she knew that the well was deep.
Ø Indeed the well is deep, far deeper than any man can reach; that is why only God can save.
So how can one obtain the “living water?”
Ø By keeping the Law? No!
Romans 3:20 “because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.”
Ø By trying to be the best person possible? No!
Romans 7:18 “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.”
Ø By living up to the light we have? No!
Romans 5:6 “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.”
Ø This “living water” is not a prize to won or a wage to be earned. It is a gift from God.
Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
2B. The woman questioned Jesus’ authority (4:12)
She questioned Jesus’ authority to supercede Jacob. Her statement provides more evidence that her eyes were yet blind to the Lord’s identity.
Soon enough Jesus would reveal to her what He would later proclaim in Matthew 28.
Matthew 28:18 “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.’”
3B. Jesus responds to her patiently (4:13-14)
Jesus reveals the thirsty condition of her soul.
Ø No matter what men try to replace God with, it will never satisfy their spiritual need.
“Nothing but the ‘living water’ can quench our thirst and satisfy our hearts, and only Christ can give this.”[6]
Jesus reveals the how her thirsty soul can be satisfied.
Ø “Whoever drinks”; that is, whoever personally receives that which the Lord has provided.
Ø “Of the water that I will give him”; this “water” is the gift of eternal life that cannot be earned, but must be received as a gift from God.
Ø “Shall never thirst”; he shall be fully and eternally satisfied. This phrase speaks of both the fullness and security of the Lord’s salvation.
Ø “Will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life”; this life will be evident both to the believer and to those around him.
Application
1. What obstacles are preventing you from sharing your faith with others?
2. How have your prejudices prevented you from sharing your faith with certain individuals?
3. When have you found yourself in unusual circumstances and missed an opportunity to witness?
4. Have you ever really seen Jesus as the only way of salvation?
5. Have you drunk from the Lord’s “living water?”
Preparing for Next Week
1. What did the woman mean by her words in verse 15?
2. Why did Christ say to her, “Go call your husband?” (4:16)
3. What is meant by worshipping “in spirit and in truth?” (4:24)
4. What does the fact that the woman left her waterpot imply? (4:28)
5. What did Christ mean when He said that doing the will of God provided Him with “food to eat?” (4:32, 34)
6. What “work” of the Father did Christ “accomplish?” (4:34)
7. What does “the Savior of the world” mean in verse 42?
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[1] Pink, Arthur W., Exposition of the Gospel of John, (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1975), 156.
[2] Friberg.
[3] Friberg Greek Lexicon, BibleWorks (1998).
[4] Pink, 160.
[5] Pink, 191.
[6] Pink, 194.