Come and See
Notes
Transcript
9:00 AM
Welcome and Opening
Pray for the Service - Thanksgiving
Let’s praise the Lord together
9:05 AM
Rattle
9:11:08 AM
No Longer Slaves
9:17:37 AM Message Title
The title of this message is
Come and See a Man
Come and See a Man
Our theme verse for this message in John 4:29
29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I have ever done! Perhaps this one is the Christ?”
Introductory Remarks
Jesus is well into His time of ministry with His disciples when we come upon this verse where He encounters a Samaritan woman.
The Place
The Place
Let’s begin by looking at the place where this occurred in John 4:5
5 Now he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the piece of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.
There is a great deal of history for the Jews in this place.
At the time of Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman, the well had been in existence for about 1,800 years.
This was the place people came to get water, maybe not the only one, but a most well known place.
The book of Genesis records that Jacob purchased a parcel of land in Shechem (modern Balatah) from Hamor for 100 pieces of silver in Gen 33:18-19
18 And Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem which is in the land of Canaan, on his way from Paddan-Aram. And he camped before the city. 19 And he bought a piece of land where he pitched his tent for one hundred pieces of money from the hand of the sons of Hamor, father of Shechem.
Jacob later bequeaths it to his son Joseph as recorded in Jos 24:32 .
32 The bones of Joseph, which the Israelites had brought out from Egypt, they buried at Shechem, in a piece of land that Jacob had bought from the children of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for one hundred pieces of money; it became an inheritance for the descendants of Joseph.
Lena M. Schewe, The Lexham Bible Dictionary, 2016.
9:25
The Timing
The Timing
This occurs after Jesus was in Jerusalem for Passover where He tells Nicodemus “you must be born again” in John 3:3
3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly I say to you, unless someone is born from above, he is not able to see the kingdom of God.”
And, after the well known message in John 3:16-17
16 For in this way God loved the world, so that he gave his one and only Son, in order that everyone who believes in him will not perish, but will have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world in order that he should judge the world, but in order that the world should be saved through him.
After the Passover, Jesus went to the “Judean Territory” and the city of Aenon is mentioned in John 3:23 which is on the Jordan River and also the place where John the Baptist and his disciples had been baptising people.
This was a natural place for Jesus to be:
It was in the direction of Galilee where He lived and conducted much of His ministry.
It was the place where John had been baptising
As Jesus comes into the area, people come to Him and are baptised by His disciples.
It is here that John says in John 3:30
30 It is necessary for that one to increase, but for me to decrease.”
John new that he was a forerunner, and testifies that Jesus is the one.
However, as we get into John chapter 4, we find the Pharisees recognize that more people are going to Jesus
But Jesus is not seeking followers or popularity and responds to this by leaving the area in John 4:3
3 he left Judea and departed again for Galilee.
Then there is an interesting statement in John 4:4
4 And it was necessary for him to go through Samaria.
We just read that Jesus departed for Galilee which is just North of Aenon by following the Jordan River.
Why was it necessary for Him to go through Samaria?
Commentators generally suggest going through Samaria is the most direct route from Jerusalem to Galilee. However, Jesus had been with John in Aenon baptising.
What we know is that Jesus only did what He saw from the Father.
Jesus reacted to the thoughts and intents of the Pharisees by leaving Aenon and He departed to Galilee
From Aenon, Samaria is not the most direct route but “it was necessary for him to go”.
In fact, Jesus need to travel South and East to get to Jacob’s Well.
And, when He arrived there He met a woman.
John 4:6-7
6 And Jacob’s well was there, so Jesus, because he had become tired from the journey, simply sat down at the well. It was about the sixth hour. 7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me water to drink.”
This seems to be the most natural encounter, Jesus is on a journey and is thirsty.
The woman comes to the well as she likely did daily to draw water.
But on this day, Jesus Christ is there waiting for her.
9:32
The Person
The Person
The woman's response to Jesus is one of disbelief in John 4:9
9 So the Samaritan woman said to him, “How do you, being a Jew, ask from me water to drink, since I am a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)
She was right, “the Jews have no dealings with Samaritans” because there was a great division between the Jews who recognized Jerusalem as the place God had chosen while the Samaritans contended that Mount Gerizim was sacred because it was the site where the patriarchs made sacrifices, and where the Israelites made the first sacrifice upon arriving in Canaan.
Brian Maiers, The Lexham Bible Dictionary, 2016.
Notice here that she doesn’t take any action on the request Jesus made to get water for Him.
Instead, she throws back at Him this statement, “how do you … a jew … ask from me water to drink?” and Jesus recognizes immediately the instinctive aversion the Samaritans felt in the presence of the Jews. The Samaritans were viewed with distaste; disgust; repugnance; ...
She is not responding to Jesus but she is reacting to the social/cultural revulsion she has experienced in relationships with the Jews.
This kind of reaction is common where there are racial or language or cultural differences between people.
Jesus responds to her reaction, her question by shifting the conversation from a natural request for water He wants to a spiritual recognition of the dryness of her soul in John 4:10
10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you had known the gift of God and who it is who says to you, ‘Give me water to drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”
As she responds to Jesus in John 4:15 and asks for this “living water”
15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or come here to draw water!”
Jesus tells her in John 4:16 “call your husband”
16 He said to her, “Go, call your husband and come here.”
The full truth about her life comes out because Jesus has a word of knowledge about her and her life in John 4:17–18
17 The woman answered and said to him, “I do not have a husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have said rightly, ‘I do not have a husband,’ 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you have now is not your husband; this you have said truthfully!”
Jesus did not expose her and shame her by telling her she had five husbands, five failed marriages, instead, He let her confess the failure in her life.
9:39
The Conversion
The Conversion
Jesus then speaks to her about “truth” as she tells Him what she believes in John 4:20
20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where it is necessary to worship.”
What we believe controls what we do. She believe what her “fathers worshipped” and views the Jews as “you people” who condemn the Samaritans.
Jesus tells her what is true in John 4:21–24
21 Jesus said to her, “Believe me, woman, that an hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know. We worship what we know, because salvation is from the Jews. 23 But an hour is coming—and now is here—when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for indeed the Father seeks such people to be his worshipers. 24 God is spirit, and the ones who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Jesus doesn’t say the Jews are right and the Samaritans are wrong.
Instead, He changes her thinking by saying “God is spirit, and the ones who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth”.
She responds with a statement about the Messiah in John 4:25
25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (the one called Christ); “whenever that one comes, he will proclaim all things to us.”
She knows there are things the Samaritans don’t know about God and she also knows there is one coming that will “proclaim all things to us”.
And now, Jesus declares to her in John 4:26
26 Jesus said to her, “I, the one speaking to you, am he.
Immediately she responds to Jesus in John 4:28–29
28 So the woman left her water jar and went away into the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I have ever done! Perhaps this one is the Christ?”
She believes and goes to tell everyone to come and meet this man Jesus.
9:47
The Outcome
The Outcome
As this woman went to the people of the town and told them what had happened, they all responded in John 4:30
30 They went out from the town and were coming to him.
John describes it this way in John 4:39–40
39 Now from that town many of the Samaritans believed in him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me everything that I have done.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they began asking him to stay with them. And he stayed there two days.
She didn’t know everyone in the town and not everyone in the town was there as she was telling what happened, but many people did hear what she had to say “and came to Jesus”.
As Jesus stayed and others came to believe in John 4:41–42
41 And many more believed because of his word, 42 And they were saying to the woman, “No longer because of what you said do we believe, for we ourselves have heard, and we know that this one is truly the Savior of the world!”
“Many more believed” not by her word, but because of what Jesus spoke to them.
The people of the town said “we ourselves have heard, and we know that this one is the savior of the world”.
God works by using natural encounters and events. He adjusts our place and timing to create these encounters and then introduces the truth about who He is and His kingdom. Through this, people are “born again”, reconciled to God as His sons and daughters.
Will You Take This Message to Others?
Will You Take This Message to Others?
Are you willing to testify about what God has done for you?
This woman, whose name we don’t know, was used of God to lead many to Christ in John 4:39
39 Now from that town many of the Samaritans believed in him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me everything that I have done.”
Immediately after her conversion she began to testify. She din’t know everything about the God, or the Bible, or the differences between the Jews and the Samaritans and she didn’t wait to learn it all.
This woman brought people to Christ in John 4:40
40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they began asking him to stay with them. And he stayed there two days.
When she invited them, they came. When they came, they heard Christ and accepted.
If you bring people to a moment of encounter with Jesus, they will accept Him.
Do you know that your name written in the Lamb’s book of life? Revelation 21:27 says no one can enter whose name is not there
27 And every unclean thing and one who practices detestable things and falsehood will never enter into it, except those who are written in the book of life of the Lamb.
You can be sure your name is there because God has shown His love for each of us in John 3:16
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
God asks this one thing of us: “what will you do about Jesus?” in Romans 10:9-10
9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Is your name written in the Lamb’s book of life?
Do you believe God raised Jesus from the dead?
Have you confessed it with your mouth?
You have the free will to choose and once you have chosen Jesus Christ as Lord of your life, nothing can separate you from Him as in Romans 8:38-39
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Now, you are free to fulfill God’s plan for your life. Ask Him, Seek Him, Follow Him
9:54 AM
Rescue Story (3:56)
9:57:56 AM
The Blessing
The Blessing
24 ‘May the Lord bless you and protect you. 25 May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. 26 May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.’
Go with God.