12-12-2021 - Sermon - Come to the Well

INTRODUCTION

The woman at the well had a powerful encounter with Jesus Christ that changed her life forever. Just like Jesus changed her life, He is still changing lives today. Jesus is still offering that “living water” that will quench thirsty souls and fill empty hearts. Jesus is the True Well. If the things of this world have left you high and dry, you can leave it all behind, and Come to the Well!

EXPOSITION

Contact (John 4:1-8)

John 4:1–8 KJV 1900

1 When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, 2 (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,) 3 He left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee. 4 And he must needs go through Samaria. 5 Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. 7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. 8 (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)

The History between the Jews and Samaritans

The Jews wanted nothing to do with the Samaritans. The Jews did not consider the Samaritans to be true Jews for two main reasons, (1) because they had intermarried and mixed with the Gentiles after the Assyrians conquered Israel in 722 BC and (2) because they had setup their own temple for worship on Mt Gerazim. The Jews only recognized Jerusalem as the true temple and the true place of worship.

The Geography between Judea and Galilee

It is also interesting that the Bible says that Jesus “must needs go through Samaria.” Because of their hatred of the Samaritans, the Jews would go out of their way not to travel through Samaria. Geographically, Judaea was in the south, Galilee was to the north, and Samaria was in-between (a cultural Samaritan “Sam”-mich). Jews would routinely cross over the Jordan River to the east and travel around Samaria in order to get to Galilee. That is part of the reason that makes this encounter between Jesus and the Woman of Sychar so powerful and amazing!

Jesus was on a mission!

Jesus did not follow the cultural norms. Jesus did not go through Samaria and near the city of Sychar because it was the fastest route. He showed up at Jacob’s well that day because He knew there was a woman that needed a change in her life. She was coming to the well at noon, in the middle of the day. This was unusual. Women typically came to the well early in the morning and late in the evening when it was cooler. The well was also a social gathering place. It was a place of community where the women would get together and fellowship with one another. The fact this woman comes in the middle of the day tells us a few things: (1) she’s probably trying to avoid running into anyone else because she is ashamed (of her sinful lifestyle we read about a little further along in the story), and (2) she’s probably a social outcast. Because of her past and her present, she was rejected by society. But Jesus saw a woman who was broken, who was hurting, who was empty, who was looking for love and happiness in all the wrong places and who was in desperate need of redemption!

I’m so thankful that Jesus still comes looking for us! That He pursues us before we even realize we need Him! That He can see the brokenness, the hurt, the emptiness, and the longing inside of us to love and to be loved! I’m so thankful that Jesus is not afraid to meet in our sinful condition! That we can come as we are to the foot of the cross and find the remedy in the Well of His grace!

Challenge (John 4:9-15)

John 4:9–15 KJV 1900

9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. 10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. 11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? 12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? 13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: 14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. 15 The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.

The Woman’s Surprise

The woman was surprised by meeting Jesus at the well that day: (1) that a Jew would speak to a Samaritan, (2) that a man would speak to a woman in public, and (3) that a Jew would drink from a Samaritan’s cup. But when Jesus shows up, you can expect things to be different. He didn’t care about the social norms, He cared about her soul!

Jesus Offers Living Water

Jesus was thirsty and knew it. The woman was thirsty and didn’t know it. Jesus says, “I’ve got water that you’ve never heard of before. I’ve got water that will quench your thirst. You keep coming back to this well every day, but the water that I have to give you is living water and it will completely satisfy the thirst and the longing of your soul.”

The Woman says "Sir, give me this water”

I wonder if the woman was being sincere at this point, or if she is being sarcastic. Did she truly believe that Jesus had this “living water” He talked about or was she saying, “Yeah, sure buddy, living water, right, yeah let me have some of that so I don’t have to travel back and forth to this well everyday, sounds great, sign me up for a monthly subscription, does it come with a money-back guarantee and a certificate of authenticity?” Either way, she still did not yet fully understand who she was talking to and what He had to offer her.

Confrontation (John 4:16-18)

John 4:16–18 KJV 1900

16 Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. 17 The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: 18 For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.

Jesus Gets to the Point

It was unusual and improper for a Jew to speak to a woman in public, especially a woman that was not his wife. So he tells the woman to go call for her husband to join in the conversation. But what Jesus was really doing was confronting her sin. She had been married five times. And she was currently living with man number 6, but he was not her husband. She was living in adultery and had likely lived a promiscuous lifestyle. Now we understand why she wanted to avoid the other women of the town by going to the well at noon. She didn’t want to have to face her own shame, the dirty looks, the whispers behind her back, the rejection. But Jesus did not call her out for her sin to condemn her, make fun of her, or reject her. He called her out to redeem her!

True Conversion Requires True Conviction

Until we come to the realization that our sinful ways are damaging to ourselves and those around us and they are opposed to a holy and righteous God who loves us and laid down His life for us, we will not move toward true conversion. It is like a doctor who prescribes surgery in order to save your life. If your appendix is about to burst, a doctor is going to prescribe surgery to remove your appendix to keep you from becoming extremely ill and possibly dying if it were to rupture. The doctor has to inflict hurt in order to heal. The Great Physician works the same way with our spiritual condition. He confronts us with our sinful condition so that He can lead us to true conversion. And once He removes our sins, He casts them as far as the east is from the west and never brings them back up against us again!

The Missing Puzzle Piece

There is a God-shaped hole, a puzzle piece, in the heart of every person. We are born with it. God created us to have fellowship and relationship with Him. When that fellowship and relationship is missing, it is like a missing puzzle piece. We can try to fit everything else into that space to try to complete the picture of our lives. But nothing else will fit. Nothing else can fill the void. The things of this world will leave us frustrated and still empty at the end of the day just like trying to force the wrong piece into a puzzle. For the woman at the well, she tired to fill the void with relationships. She thought the next marriage was the answer. She thought the next husband would truly love her and bring true happiness and contentment to her life. But she didn’t need another husband, she needed a Father. Not her earthly father. She needed to get to know her Heavenly Father. And little did she know that the One who had been sent by the Father to bring her into right relationship with her Heavenly Father was standing right in front of her!

Conversion (John 4:19-26)

John 4:19–26 KJV 1900

19 The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. 21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. 25 The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. 26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.

The Woman’s Perception

Notice how the woman is progressing in her understand of who Jesus is and how Jesus is methodically leading her to this conclusion. Jesus doesn’t just jump up from the well as soon as He meets her and say, “I’m the Messiah, you’re a sinner, now repent!” He has confronted her with her sin and is leading her to understand that He is not offering her water to satisfy her physical needs, but to satisfy her spiritual needs.

She Tries to Change the Subject

She diverts the conversation from her sinful condition to the religious differences between the Samaritans and Jews. Religion had not saved her or changed her. The Samaritans had religion. Perhaps she even had religion. But Jesus made it clear that the “Living Water” He had to offer was not the water of religion, but was the water of salvation. It didn’t matter whether she worshipped on Mt. Gerazim or in Jerusalem. What mattered was that she worshiped in spirit and in truth. And the only way to worship in spirit and in truth is through faith in Jesus Christ!

Jesus Reveals He is the Messiah

On the scripture slide for Verse 26, I edited the text intentionally to highlight the words “I AM.” This is the name for Himself that God gave Moses out of the burning bush. These are the words that Jesus used to describe Himself when He said, “Before Abraham was, I AM.” He told her that the answer she was looking for was standing right in front of her!

Change (John 4:27-30, 39-42)

John 4:27–42 KJV 1900

27 And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her? 28 The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, 29 Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ? 30 Then they went out of the city, and came unto him. 31 In the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat. 32 But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of. 33 Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought him ought to eat? 34 Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. 35 Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. 36 And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. 37 And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth. 38 I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours. 39 And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did. 40 So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days. 41 And many more believed because of his own word; 42 And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.

The Woman was Saved

Somewhere between Verse 26 and Verse 28, the woman at the well got saved. How do we know? She forgot about why she had come to the well that day. She forgot about what people thought about her back in town. She dropped her water pot. She left it all behind and ran back to Sychar to tell everyone about Jesus! She immediately became an evangelist!

The Gospel was Spread

One woman, with a sinful past, very little spiritual knowledge, and just a mustard seed of faith brought a whole town to Jesus. Now do you see why the Bible says that Jesus, “must needs go through Samaria?” He knew that He was going to meet a woman at the well that day that needed something that only He could offer her. He knew there was a whole town of people who needed Him to change their lives too.

They Came to the Well

The woman and the people of Sychar who came to Jesus that day, found the True Well. Jacob’s well was a blessing, but Jesus offered them something so much better. And their encounter with Him that day changed their lives forever.

Jesus is the True Well today. Jesus is the source of “Living Water.” He is still meeting people where they are. He is still confronting people in their sinful conditions. He is still offering “Living Water” that can fill the void and quench the thirst of man’s soul.

And this “Living Water” is not just for those who are lost. Those of us who are saved still need that “Living Water” every day. We can still experience emptiness inside. We can still try to fit the wrong puzzle pieces into our lives. We can still try to find true happiness and contentment in the things of this world instead of in our relationship with God. We can still go through life with our spiritual tanks on empty. If you find yourself in that condition today, Jesus is still offering “Living Water.” Whatever you’re chasing, whatever you’re trying to fill the void with, you can LEAVE IT ALL BEHIND, AND COME TO THE WELL!

APPLICATION

No one is so lost that Jesus cannot find them.

No one is so sinful that Jesus cannot save them.

And No one who meets Jesus will ever be the same again.

INVITATION

If you are lost and have never met Jesus, LEAVE IT ALL BEHIND AND COME TO THE WELL.

If you are still living with the pain of the past, LEAVE IT ALL BEHIND AND COME TO THE WELL.

If you are trying to fill the God-shaped void in your heart with the things of this world, LEAVE IT ALL BEHIND AND COME TO THE WELL.

If life has beat you down and you are running on empty spiritually and need a refreshing of the Holy Spirit, LEAVE IT ALL BEHIND AND COME TO THE WELL.