Reaching Out

Welcome

1. Good evening! (welcome to English Bible study) (as always, we like to do some introductions… type your name and where you are from)

2. Announcements:

3. Please keep us “up-to-date” on you how you are doing. (words of care and love from Amanda)

4. Do you ever make a mistake? (introduce “erasable tablet” and “white out”)

The Gospel of John

1. Tonight, we are continuing our study of the gospel of John. (the John is one of the four gospels... but not a “synoptic gospel.” (it’s different from Matthew, Mark, and Luke ... and there seem to be two levels of understanding … there is basic level and a deeper level. 2. That’s what we see in John 4:1-26 Read. (follow along here...)

Jesus visits with the Samaritan Woman

1. This is the second significant encounter Jesus has with someone in the gospel of John. (last week, we saw how Jesus encountered Nicodemus) (Nicodemus could be considered an “insider”… he was deeply religious and was trying to understand Jesus) (he learned that he needed to “born again”… he needed to give up his self-sufficient righteousness) (and tonight, we saw how Jesus encountered the woman at the well) (she was an obvious “outsider”… she was not religious and not moral) (so Jesus speaks to her about “living water.”)

Why Samaria?

1. Verse 4 tells us that, “he needed to go through Samaria.” (this is an odd statement, because no good Jewish person of his day would have gone “through Samaria,” they would have chosen a longer more difficult route) (the reason is that the Jews absolutely hated the Samaritans and vice versa) (the division and hatred between these cultures goes all the way back to the Old Testament) (**the Samaritans had a polytheistic background and had set alternative places to worship God… at the time when everyone was supposed to go to Jerusalem) ( they offered to help rebuild the temple in Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile, but were refused) (the hostility was very mutual)

2. The Jews would avoid the Samaritans at all cost, but not Jesus! (this actually shows us just how much Jesus and God… reaches out to us) (Jesus is willing to cross all kinds of boundaries… to reach out to us, to share life, and hope, and joy, and forgiveness)

3. There are actually 3 things here that reveal “just how far” Jesus is willing to go. #1 - Jesus goes to Samaria and He speaks to a Samaritan (he was not in a hurry… he was intentional in going to the forbidden places) #2 - Jesus speaks to a women ((Jesus says, “Will you give me a drink?”) (Jewish men, who were pious, were not supposed to talk to women they weren’t related to or did not already know from their village) (they could talk to their wife, to their mother, to their cousins, to their children, to neighbors, that sort of thing; but they were not supposed to talk to strange women) (and certainly not to immoral women - #3) (this woman is living in a life of sin) (Jesus knows this and so addresses the issue early in their conversation)

NT221 The Wisdom of John: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on Johannine Literature Jewish Male-Female Relationships

He shouldn’t be having this conversation, is what His disciples should’ve said to Him. But in fact they don’t dare question Him about this, because they’ve learned to expect the unexpected from Jesus, in this story.

This is important two ways for us:

It reveals that Jesus, that God, is serious about “seeking the lost” and “saving people from death” (occasionally, we watch a movie where someone is in danger.... and there is team of heroes) (but the situation is so dangerous… the team will say, “It’s too dangerous! We can’t save him!”) (but then there is one person, one True Hero who says, “I will go anyways! No matter, how risky, how bad, how far… I will go and try to save Him!”) (this reveals that God is passionate about saving us!) (John 3:16)

This also reveals that when we go “on mission,” we need to be like Jesus. (we should never say, “It’s too risky. I might get hurt. It’s not good for me!) (we are supposed to be “like Jesus”… it means that we must reach out to those who are hard to reach, those people that maybe we don’t like so much, the people who vote differently then we do… they too, are people who need to be saved.)

The Encounter

The timing -

Now what’s odd about this story is that this woman is gathering water at noon—it’s not when you would normally do it. (normally, you would have water drawn at dawn) (women went to the well at dawn) (it’s possible that she’s going at a time of day when she expected not to meet anybody, and certainly not to have any criticism from some of her fellow women)

2. There are two levels of discussion - “physical and spiritual”

Jesus asks her for a drink, and she says, “You’re a Jew. I’m a Samaritan woman. Why in the world are you asking me for a drink?” Jesus replies, “Well, if you knew the gift of God and who it is that’s asking you”—which clearly you don’t—“you would’ve asked me, and I would’ve given you living water.” “Sir,” she says, “You’ve got nothing to draw with. The well’s deep. Where can you get this living water?

Jesus replies, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst...”

The woman says to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”

The Sin

Jesus then says something very interesting. He says, “Go and call your husband and come back.” She says, “I have no husband,” and Jesus says, “You’re right, when you say you have no husband. You’ve had five husbands. The man you’re working on now and living with is not your husband, so you’ve quite rightly told me the truth.” “Sir,” she says, “I perceive you are a prophet.”

When Jesus touches this person in a very intimate place—namely, her vulnerable moral condition—she changes the discussion to theology.

It’s true that nobody really like to talk about sin! (unless it is someone else’s sin) (imagine host a Bible study or discussion topic about sin) (Let’s talk about sin! Do you think that a lot of people would come?)

We resist the idea so much that we have developed a religion that says “Humans don’t really sin… we are really not that bad… we are basically good and we have find the good within us.” (it’s called humanism and it is in contradiction with the Bible) The Bible says in Romans 3:23, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

We could talk about the ways we sin for a long, but sin is more than what we do… it is actually who we are… (it is better understood as our human nature bent towards disobedience of God or selfishness)

When a child is born example here...

6. We are born into sin.... a slave to it.... apart from the power of Christ!

The Living Water

Jesus says, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst...” (this is an appropriate image of salvation… for a conversation that is happening around a well)

First of all, it’s interesting that Jesus is asking for “physical water,” when it should be the woman asking for “living water.”) (the One who asks for water is Himself the Giver of the everlasting water of life) (and the one who is asked is in desperate need of the water that Jesus alone can give) How revealing and beautiful that the Giver of living water has come in weakness and gentleness to share God’s gift!

Jesus is talking about water that constantly springs fresh (this water is not about just one drink) (Jesus is offering the kind of water that forever quenches your thirst… it’s also the kind of water that makes you thirsty for more… and it’s the only kind of water that truly satisfies your soul)

The Bible has so many rich images of this water! (the Psalmist cries out, “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God”) (Ps. 42:1) (the prophets speak repeatedly of its rich spiritual meaning: “living water shall flow from Jerusalem” (Zech. 14:8); “with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation” (Is. 12:3)

We know that every person needs physical water to survive (would you also admit that every person needs spiritual water to survive… and only the living water… from Jesus… will satisfy)

I believe that every person has a God-sized hole in their lives (human nature is to try and fill it with anything… with a good job… with a relationship… with good grades in school… with a lot of money, or success, or power) (but nothing will satisfy… only Jesus!)

The Connection

Jesus wants to give life and free us from the power of sin and death! (this is much better than “white out” or an “erasable tablet”) (Jesus bears the weight of our sinful nature and offers us life-giving water… He offers a relationship with Himself)

This is good moment to reflect on that… and ask an important question: How is your relationship with Jesus? What do you want God to do in your life? Or better.... What does God want to do in your life today?

Prayer

Discussion Questions:

1. Is God's forgiveness more like "white out" or an "erasable tablet"?

2. How do you want to grow closer to God in 2021?