1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,480 Church. It's a pleasure to be here with all of you this morning. I'm fighting with 2 00:00:04,480 --> 00:00:08,440 this court. I won't fight with it again. There we go. It's a pleasure to be here. 3 00:00:08,440 --> 00:00:12,880 It's a pleasure to witness the sacrament of baptism. It's exciting, especially as 4 00:00:12,880 --> 00:00:17,640 we talk about living water this morning and glad to welcome obviously the members 5 00:00:17,640 --> 00:00:22,240 here, but the visitors as well, including my friend Jake, go blue. I told him I 6 00:00:22,240 --> 00:00:29,000 would do that. Before we come before God's holy and inerrant word, let's pray. 7 00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:33,000 Father, we thank you that we can come before you. We thank you that we can have 8 00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:37,080 your word in our language, and we ask that you would continue to bless us as 9 00:00:37,080 --> 00:00:45,480 we read from it. May you be seen in the text, and may your truth be buried deep 10 00:00:45,480 --> 00:00:50,400 in our hearts forever and ever. We pray all this in the name of your son, Jesus Christ. 11 00:00:50,400 --> 00:01:00,240 Amen. John chapter 4, starting in verse 1. Now when Jesus learned that the 12 00:01:00,240 --> 00:01:04,600 Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than 13 00:01:04,600 --> 00:01:09,320 John, although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples, he left 14 00:01:09,320 --> 00:01:14,600 Judea and departed again for Galilee. And he had to pass through Samaria, so he 15 00:01:14,600 --> 00:01:19,360 came to a town of Samaria called Sikkar, near the field that Jacob had given to 16 00:01:19,360 --> 00:01:24,600 his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there, so Jesus, wearied as he was from his 17 00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:29,920 journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. A woman from 18 00:01:29,920 --> 00:01:34,560 Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, give me a drink, for his disciples 19 00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:38,800 had gone away into the city to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, how is 20 00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:45,120 it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria? For Jews have no 21 00:01:45,120 --> 00:01:49,720 dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered her, if you knew the gift of God and who 22 00:01:49,720 --> 00:01:54,720 it is that is saying to you, give me a drink, you would have asked him and he 23 00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:58,960 would have given you living water. The woman said to him, sir, you have nothing 24 00:01:58,960 --> 00:02:04,480 to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are 25 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:09,000 you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us this well and drank from it 26 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:15,040 himself, as did his sons and his livestock. Jesus said to her, everyone who 27 00:02:15,040 --> 00:02:19,360 drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water 28 00:02:19,360 --> 00:02:23,880 that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give 29 00:02:23,880 --> 00:02:29,160 him will become in him a spring of water, welling up to eternal life. The woman said 30 00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:35,080 to him, sir, give me this water so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here 31 00:02:35,080 --> 00:02:43,640 to draw water. This is the word of our God. Now I wanted to begin this morning 32 00:02:43,640 --> 00:02:48,160 with a brief social experiment. I know how much everybody loves being a part of 33 00:02:48,160 --> 00:02:56,520 experiments. Raise your hand, it, thank you, didn't get there yet, but thank you. 34 00:02:56,520 --> 00:03:02,240 Obedience is good in children, very good. Raise your hand if you brought with you 35 00:03:02,240 --> 00:03:10,160 some kind of water storage device slash water drinking device. It's a lot less 36 00:03:10,160 --> 00:03:14,240 hands than I thought there would be, but okay, keep them up, right, keep them up if 37 00:03:14,240 --> 00:03:17,720 it's actually filled with water and not filled with another beverage. A lot of 38 00:03:17,720 --> 00:03:25,400 hands just went down, oh boy, hopefully it's coffee. Now keep your hands up, keep 39 00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:29,800 your hands up if this device, this storage device, this drinking device is 40 00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:35,160 not disposable, not like this, right, this crumples, this is disposable. Okay, very 41 00:03:35,160 --> 00:03:39,040 good, you may put your hands down. Now the next question I could ask is keep 42 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:44,160 your hand raised if you paid more than $30 for it, but I won't. It seems in the 43 00:03:44,160 --> 00:03:50,040 last 10 years or so that there has been an increase in people carrying water 44 00:03:50,040 --> 00:03:54,520 with them wherever they go. Now this concept is odd to me because I don't 45 00:03:54,520 --> 00:04:00,560 like drinking water. Also because growing up we were given one plastic disposable 46 00:04:00,560 --> 00:04:06,440 water bottle for long trips, not for like trips to the grocery store or just you 47 00:04:06,440 --> 00:04:10,800 know like five minutes in the car. Now I started to think what would happen if I 48 00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:14,160 left the house with one of my children and didn't bring a bottle of water, 49 00:04:14,160 --> 00:04:20,680 right, they might get thirsty, but I have to wonder why have we seen an increase 50 00:04:20,680 --> 00:04:25,600 in people carrying bottles of water or water storage devices with them wherever 51 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:31,360 they go. Maybe people want to be hydrated all of a sudden, right, there's been a call 52 00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:36,440 to be hydrated all the time, okay, maybe it's because having certain water bottles 53 00:04:36,440 --> 00:04:42,400 has become a status symbol, right, has developed a new caste system based on 54 00:04:42,400 --> 00:04:48,880 what brand of water bottle you carry. Oh you have a Stanley? I'm more of an Ouala 55 00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:57,120 person, sorry. You served me water that's not in a Yeti cup? I can't drink it, right. 56 00:04:57,120 --> 00:05:01,360 Now I'm not part of that caste system, I'm part of the caste system that says 57 00:05:01,360 --> 00:05:06,000 you should have coffee with you wherever you go, right, I'm more of a coffee person 58 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:13,200 than a water person. The truth is that we need water to survive. Our God has 59 00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:18,860 designed our bodies in such a way that we need water to survive, to thrive, to 60 00:05:18,860 --> 00:05:23,080 grow. Now the jury is still out on whether or not coffee counts as water, 61 00:05:23,080 --> 00:05:27,920 it's made with water, but for the longest periods of time throughout this world 62 00:05:27,920 --> 00:05:33,480 and all of history, people were trying to find ways to carry as much water as 63 00:05:33,480 --> 00:05:38,800 possible, but still being able to carry that water a long distance from home. 64 00:05:38,800 --> 00:05:43,040 They didn't have faucets, right, they didn't have screws that they could put 65 00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:46,480 on a jar like a Stanley cup and carry, you know, four gallons with them wherever 66 00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:54,040 they went. In our text today, we're gonna see a misunderstanding about water, lead 67 00:05:54,040 --> 00:06:00,100 to a realization of how to quench our spiritual thirst. We're going to see how 68 00:06:00,100 --> 00:06:05,380 living water is a title that belongs to Jesus. We'll look at three areas of our 69 00:06:05,380 --> 00:06:13,820 text, a divine encounter, a better offer, and an eternal fulfillment. Divine 70 00:06:13,820 --> 00:06:20,040 encounter, better offer, eternal fulfillment. You see, the Samaritan woman's divine 71 00:06:20,040 --> 00:06:25,080 encounter with Christ will procure a better offer regarding her water 72 00:06:25,080 --> 00:06:30,840 selection, which will lead to an eternal fulfillment for her. Let's set the stage 73 00:06:30,840 --> 00:06:35,600 with verses one through three as John does. Now when Jesus learned, the Pharisees 74 00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:39,120 had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing disciples more than John, 75 00:06:39,120 --> 00:06:44,160 although Jesus did not baptize, but only his disciples, he left Judea and departed 76 00:06:44,160 --> 00:06:48,840 again for Galilee. Now this passage begins with a statement that we probably gloss 77 00:06:48,840 --> 00:06:55,200 over. Ah, it's in parentheses, that doesn't really matter. No, it's very important. See, 78 00:06:55,200 --> 00:07:00,960 word gets back to the Pharisees that Jesus' disciples are growing in number. 79 00:07:00,960 --> 00:07:06,120 Jesus, knowing it's not his time yet to go to the cross, leaves Judea and goes to 80 00:07:06,120 --> 00:07:13,120 Galilee. The text tells us that Jesus himself did not baptize, only his 81 00:07:13,120 --> 00:07:19,440 disciples baptize. A small detail should speak volumes to us. What could it 82 00:07:19,440 --> 00:07:26,280 possibly mean that Jesus, the Christ, never baptized anyone? Jesus commanded 83 00:07:26,280 --> 00:07:31,840 that people be baptized, right? Jesus was baptized. He gave the Great Commission, 84 00:07:31,840 --> 00:07:44,120 which said, go and... and baptize. Yeah, okay. This is important because no one can 85 00:07:44,120 --> 00:07:50,360 say that Christ himself baptized them. Oh, you were baptized by Peter? I was 86 00:07:50,360 --> 00:07:57,960 baptized by Jesus. Clearly I'm better than you. No, you can't do that. Verses four 87 00:07:57,960 --> 00:08:02,520 through six. He had to pass through Samaria. So he came to a town of Samaria 88 00:08:02,520 --> 00:08:07,280 called Sikkar near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well 89 00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:11,200 was there. So Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the 90 00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:17,280 well. It was about the sixth hour. We come across detail number two, right? First, 91 00:08:17,280 --> 00:08:22,720 the detail in parentheses that Jesus didn't baptize anyone. The second detail, 92 00:08:22,720 --> 00:08:29,720 this town is near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Now many 93 00:08:29,720 --> 00:08:34,080 commentators will say that Jesus had to pass through this point because it was 94 00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:38,200 the fastest way to get where he was going, right? Some other gospel 95 00:08:38,200 --> 00:08:41,920 commentators will say, well, actually most people try to avoid Samaria and go 96 00:08:41,920 --> 00:08:47,840 around it because they didn't want to travel through this unclean place. But the 97 00:08:47,840 --> 00:08:54,480 text says that Jesus had to pass through Samaria. What does the word had mean? I 98 00:08:54,480 --> 00:08:59,520 submit to you in verse four, the word had points to the divine ordination of God. 99 00:08:59,520 --> 00:09:07,280 He had to come to this field where Jacob's well was on the land that Jacob 100 00:09:07,280 --> 00:09:13,880 had given to Joseph. Jesus did this because of the decree of the Father. 101 00:09:13,880 --> 00:09:20,080 Jesus came to do the will of the one who sent him. This is purposeful. Everything 102 00:09:20,080 --> 00:09:25,560 in the Bible is purposeful. Genesis 33, Jacob, the son of Isaac, right? The Jacob 103 00:09:25,560 --> 00:09:29,800 bought this field for a hundred pieces of silver and eventually would give it 104 00:09:29,800 --> 00:09:37,560 to his son Joseph. But what happened after he gave it to his son Joseph? Joseph 105 00:09:37,560 --> 00:09:43,240 was taken, thrown in a pit, sold into slavery, moved to Egypt. And then all of 106 00:09:43,240 --> 00:09:48,560 the people of Israel at that time also moved to Egypt. So what happened to all 107 00:09:48,560 --> 00:09:57,120 this land? It was reclaimed. It's taken by pagan nations again. But at the end of 108 00:09:57,120 --> 00:10:03,680 the Exodus, before Joseph dies, Joseph's, or before the Exodus, I apologize, before 109 00:10:03,680 --> 00:10:11,360 the Exodus, Joseph, before he dies, commands that his bones be taken back to 110 00:10:11,360 --> 00:10:17,040 the land that was given to him. Right? And then fast forward through the Exodus, 111 00:10:17,040 --> 00:10:20,800 fast forward through the time wandering around in the desert, because they 112 00:10:20,800 --> 00:10:26,480 got it wrong so many times. The time of Joshua comes and it's not until the end 113 00:10:26,480 --> 00:10:31,320 of Joshua that we hear or we read that they've been carrying the bones of Joseph 114 00:10:31,320 --> 00:10:35,800 with them everywhere they went. Now I preached through Joshua last year at 115 00:10:35,800 --> 00:10:39,720 First Church, and I have to tell you how connected the book of Joshua is to Christ. Well, 116 00:10:39,720 --> 00:10:44,440 the whole book, all the Bible is connected to Christ, obviously. Every 117 00:10:44,440 --> 00:10:48,800 single point is a connection from Old Testament to New Testament. Everything 118 00:10:48,800 --> 00:10:54,160 points to Jesus Christ. So it's no coincidence that Jesus arrives on the 119 00:10:54,160 --> 00:10:59,400 land that belonged to Joseph, where Jacob built his well, where Joseph's bones are 120 00:10:59,400 --> 00:11:06,920 buried. The familial connection to the dirt is huge, not just because Jesus is 121 00:11:06,920 --> 00:11:11,880 God and he owns all things, but because Jesus sits in the place of his ancestors. 122 00:11:11,880 --> 00:11:21,200 He is descended from Jacob. Because it's not yet for his divine appointed meeting, 123 00:11:21,200 --> 00:11:26,720 what does Jesus do? He sits down. He sits down next to the well and he waits. 124 00:11:26,720 --> 00:11:32,760 Because of his humanity, he is tired. He is weary from his journey and he waits. 125 00:11:32,760 --> 00:11:38,240 John sets the stage for us with this divine encounter. He prepares us to meet 126 00:11:38,240 --> 00:11:44,840 this woman at the well. You see, this is no chance meeting. This is not Jesus 127 00:11:44,840 --> 00:11:50,760 just sitting down at the well, I wonder who's gonna show up today. No. Jesus sits 128 00:11:50,760 --> 00:11:58,680 for a purpose, because he knows this woman is coming. Verses 7 and 8. A woman 129 00:11:58,680 --> 00:12:03,440 from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, give me a drink, for his 130 00:12:03,440 --> 00:12:08,880 disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Now Jesus is not going to barter 131 00:12:08,880 --> 00:12:14,100 his amazing power of saving people for a cup of water. That's not what's going to 132 00:12:14,100 --> 00:12:19,040 happen, but he is going to make a better offer to this woman than the water she 133 00:12:19,040 --> 00:12:24,120 can draw from the well. Jesus goes about this conversation in such a way that he 134 00:12:24,120 --> 00:12:32,240 aims to win her soul by appealing to her sympathy, her curiosity, and Ecclesiastes 135 00:12:32,240 --> 00:12:38,720 3.11 tells us her true heart's desire for eternity. Listen to verse 11 of 136 00:12:38,720 --> 00:12:44,880 Ecclesiastes 3. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put 137 00:12:44,880 --> 00:12:48,880 eternity into man's heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from 138 00:12:48,880 --> 00:12:55,720 the beginning to the end. God has set eternity in our hearts. The woman who 139 00:12:55,720 --> 00:13:02,200 comes to Jesus is doing so with a longing heart, just like we do. She comes 140 00:13:02,200 --> 00:13:06,880 with a longing heart, maybe not knowing it, but she comes longing for eternal 141 00:13:06,880 --> 00:13:13,440 salvation. She comes longing for something to worship. You see our hearts, 142 00:13:13,440 --> 00:13:19,480 they're always longing for something to worship. When our hearts can't have Jesus, 143 00:13:19,480 --> 00:13:24,880 they will go around after anything and everything that moves, which will lead to 144 00:13:24,880 --> 00:13:31,040 its downfall. You see, Jesus didn't have any food with him. He didn't have 145 00:13:31,040 --> 00:13:38,720 anything to draw water with, and thus he makes a humble and simple request. Again, 146 00:13:38,720 --> 00:13:43,120 he's not going to barter well water for a living water, but he's going to begin 147 00:13:43,120 --> 00:13:48,840 this conversation with a help me and I'll help you kind of deal. He's going to 148 00:13:48,840 --> 00:13:56,400 offer something better than the water in the well. He's the living water. He's going 149 00:13:56,400 --> 00:14:03,040 to offer himself. Before we get to Jesus's offer, we see the woman's 150 00:14:03,040 --> 00:14:10,080 astonishment in verse 9. She says, how is it that you, a Jew, asked for a drink 151 00:14:10,080 --> 00:14:16,240 from me, a woman of Samaria, for Jews have no dealings with Samaritans? See, the man 152 00:14:16,240 --> 00:14:22,280 before her is not her people. There's a long history that puts the Jews and the 153 00:14:22,280 --> 00:14:26,560 Samaritans at odds. It really started when Israel was divided. Israel was 154 00:14:26,560 --> 00:14:30,000 divided into two kingdoms, the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom. It 155 00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:35,600 continued through the exile and after, but when we look at this verse in verse 156 00:14:35,600 --> 00:14:39,920 9, we have those parentheses again. Again, parentheses, we can just 157 00:14:39,920 --> 00:14:44,160 skip over them. We don't need them. It's just a random note. Actually, it's the 158 00:14:44,160 --> 00:14:50,440 authoritative word of God. See, the verse 9 text here says the word dealings, okay? 159 00:14:50,440 --> 00:14:56,880 It's a Greek word. It means many things. It only has the meaning of dealings 160 00:14:56,880 --> 00:15:02,760 supposedly here in this verse throughout the entire New Testament. I like the ESV, 161 00:15:02,760 --> 00:15:07,640 right? I know Crossway is listening in. I like the ESV. It's great. However, the 162 00:15:07,640 --> 00:15:15,680 Greek word here does not mean dealings. It means to use. How does that change our 163 00:15:15,680 --> 00:15:21,040 understanding of what's going on here? It's a verb. We know from history that 164 00:15:21,040 --> 00:15:25,200 the Jews did have dealings with Samaritans, so this really wouldn't make 165 00:15:25,200 --> 00:15:31,200 sense, but if we put it in the context of the time, we can understand the Pharisees 166 00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:37,360 in accordance, in addition to the moral law given in the Bible, they had their 167 00:15:37,360 --> 00:15:43,640 own law that was not biblical, and in their own law, the Pharisee law, Jews were 168 00:15:43,640 --> 00:15:49,600 not able to share drinking vessels with Samaritans, for if they were to share the 169 00:15:49,600 --> 00:15:55,680 same cup, the Jews would be unclean. So the text would read then, for Jews have 170 00:15:55,680 --> 00:16:01,680 no using with Samaritans. From the context then, it would stand to reason 171 00:16:01,680 --> 00:16:05,560 that John is trying to get the point across that Jews are not supposed to 172 00:16:05,560 --> 00:16:14,480 share drinking vessels with Samaritans. Thus, her astonishment. You, a Jew, ask me 173 00:16:14,480 --> 00:16:23,360 to share my vessel with you. You risk ceremonial uncleanliness, but friends, 174 00:16:23,360 --> 00:16:30,040 Jesus cannot become unclean. He is God. He cannot sin. Sin cannot claim him, and 175 00:16:30,040 --> 00:16:35,800 he does not become unclean by sharing a drinking cup with someone of a different 176 00:16:35,800 --> 00:16:42,280 lineage. See, this helps us to understand the situation better. See, the Samaritan 177 00:16:42,280 --> 00:16:47,160 woman's not disgusted, but rather astonished. You would share a cup with 178 00:16:47,160 --> 00:16:55,160 me? That's why she hesitates, and in her hesitation, in her confusion, Jesus 179 00:16:55,160 --> 00:16:59,880 doesn't let up. No, Jesus hits her with the haymaker. Verse 10, Jesus answered her. 180 00:16:59,880 --> 00:17:04,840 If you knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you, give me a drink, 181 00:17:04,840 --> 00:17:11,560 you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water. Now to us, it 182 00:17:11,560 --> 00:17:16,840 might make sense. To Jesus, it makes sense. But to the woman at the well, this 183 00:17:16,840 --> 00:17:21,880 doesn't make sense. It's a paradoxical saying, and as well, Jesus is speaking in 184 00:17:21,880 --> 00:17:27,600 the third person. Ever met someone who speaks in the third person? It's odd. It's 185 00:17:27,600 --> 00:17:34,800 confusing, but Jesus is speaking about himself, not the well. Jesus is the living 186 00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:40,320 water. Jesus is the gift of God, the Father. Jesus is the visible manifestation 187 00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:48,640 of God come to rescue the souls of men. Jesus is saying, if you knew who I was 188 00:17:48,640 --> 00:17:55,080 and what I am, you would immediately ask for the gift, and I would give it to you. 189 00:17:55,080 --> 00:18:01,400 Jesus is saying, I asked you for ordinary water, which is the lesser thing, and you 190 00:18:01,400 --> 00:18:08,160 hesitate. If you had asked me for living water, the amazing gift of God, I would 191 00:18:08,160 --> 00:18:14,040 not hesitate. I would give it to you at once. Now we have the best, we have the 192 00:18:14,040 --> 00:18:18,200 benefit of 2,000 years of history and studying the Bible, so we understand the 193 00:18:18,200 --> 00:18:25,600 encounter, but she, the woman at the well, is confused. See, Jesus intends to make 194 00:18:25,600 --> 00:18:32,360 the woman ask questions. He responds in such a way that she would ask questions 195 00:18:32,360 --> 00:18:38,240 out of her confusion. However, Jesus does not deal with us in the way that he 196 00:18:38,240 --> 00:18:45,160 deals with this woman. See, you could not ask for living water. Your sin would not 197 00:18:45,160 --> 00:18:52,320 allow you to ask for living water, and Jesus, because of the Father's great love 198 00:18:52,320 --> 00:18:57,520 for his elect, was sent to die on our behalf. Not because of any good we could 199 00:18:57,520 --> 00:19:02,520 do, not because of any good we could do in our future, but while we were still 200 00:19:02,520 --> 00:19:10,920 sinners, Christ died for us, that we would have life eternal. See, Christ offers us 201 00:19:10,920 --> 00:19:17,080 living water by way of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit who dwells in us, provides 202 00:19:17,080 --> 00:19:20,880 an everlasting fountain that would sustain us until we reach the gates of 203 00:19:20,880 --> 00:19:28,560 Zion. For that is his plan. That is his purpose, to sustain you in your journey 204 00:19:28,560 --> 00:19:35,440 towards eternal fulfillment. See, we need to understand that there is a great 205 00:19:35,440 --> 00:19:40,520 misunderstanding here between the woman and Jesus. See, Jesus is talking about 206 00:19:40,520 --> 00:19:46,360 himself. The woman is talking about the water inside the well, the bottom of the 207 00:19:46,360 --> 00:19:50,840 well, okay. We don't, many of us don't have wells, maybe some of us do, but we 208 00:19:50,840 --> 00:19:53,760 don't have wells as often now. We have city water, comes right from Lake Michigan. 209 00:19:53,760 --> 00:19:59,360 It's very good, but in this instance the well would be a deep hole in the ground, 210 00:19:59,360 --> 00:20:07,200 and at the bottom there'd be a cistern full of stale water. Now what fills this 211 00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:14,400 cistern is directly below it, is bubbling water. Water coming up from the ground, 212 00:20:14,400 --> 00:20:22,560 filling the cistern. The water underneath the cistern is constantly moving, 213 00:20:22,560 --> 00:20:28,520 constantly bubbling. In a sense, this is what is being got at by Jesus when he 214 00:20:28,520 --> 00:20:36,480 says everlasting. Moving continuously. He's playing on the woman's mind here as 215 00:20:36,480 --> 00:20:42,960 she's trying to contemplate the water, and he's talking about eternal life. Verse 216 00:20:42,960 --> 00:20:46,640 11, the woman said to him, sir you have nothing to draw water with and the well 217 00:20:46,640 --> 00:20:54,160 is deep. Where do you get that living water? She just doesn't get it. Sir, you, how 218 00:20:54,160 --> 00:20:59,120 do you get this continual spring of fresh water, rather than the water that's been 219 00:20:59,120 --> 00:21:05,240 sitting? You don't even have a rope bucket to get this water. It's safe to say the 220 00:21:05,240 --> 00:21:10,360 woman is perplexed. She does not understand, which is why she asked the 221 00:21:10,360 --> 00:21:15,320 question in verse 12, are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the 222 00:21:15,320 --> 00:21:20,640 well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock. Now you see 223 00:21:20,640 --> 00:21:25,920 in her confusion, her pride is starting to come back in. Her pride of who she is 224 00:21:25,920 --> 00:21:30,720 and where she comes from is starting to come back in. Even the great Jacob 225 00:21:30,720 --> 00:21:37,440 drank from this water and watered all his people. To put it simply, no one, not 226 00:21:37,440 --> 00:21:43,240 even the great Jacob, could harness the water underneath the cistern. Not even 227 00:21:43,240 --> 00:21:47,840 the great Jacob could harness the power of the bubbling everlasting water from 228 00:21:47,840 --> 00:21:52,040 the ground. He drank the water that was in the cistern, and if it's good enough 229 00:21:52,040 --> 00:21:55,280 for him, it's good enough for us. 230 00:21:55,280 --> 00:22:01,800 As this pride starts to creep in, Jesus elaborates to drive his point home in 231 00:22:01,800 --> 00:22:07,760 verse 13. Jesus said to her, everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty 232 00:22:07,760 --> 00:22:15,720 again. Jesus is patient with her, because this is his plan. He could have easily 233 00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:21,320 said, alright, have Jacob, see you later. He could have easily left. Jesus is 234 00:22:21,320 --> 00:22:27,640 patient. He knows he's dealing with humans and our fallenness. This is his 235 00:22:27,640 --> 00:22:34,720 plan. Disarm her mind, disarm her thoughts, disarm her perceptions, and bring about 236 00:22:34,720 --> 00:22:41,160 the clear truth. If you rely on the significance of this old well, you'll be 237 00:22:41,160 --> 00:22:47,520 tied to it forever. If you rely on this special Jacob water, it will always fail 238 00:22:47,520 --> 00:22:52,600 you. If you rely on salvation through Jacob and the Samaritan worship 239 00:22:52,600 --> 00:22:59,240 practices, you will be thirsty forever. It's as if Jesus is saying, you will never 240 00:22:59,240 --> 00:23:04,480 stop being thirsty. Whether it be this life or the next, you will not cease to 241 00:23:04,480 --> 00:23:10,760 thirst. But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be 242 00:23:10,760 --> 00:23:16,080 thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become a spring in him of water 243 00:23:16,080 --> 00:23:22,840 welling up to eternal life. If you rely on the tradition of Jacob, if you hope in 244 00:23:22,840 --> 00:23:28,760 Jacob to save you, you will never stop thirsting for all eternity. But if you 245 00:23:28,760 --> 00:23:36,560 rely on me, you will cease to thirst. Your heart and your soul will be filled to 246 00:23:36,560 --> 00:23:43,200 the point of overflowing. If you trust in me, I will give you so much life that you 247 00:23:43,200 --> 00:23:51,880 will see satisfaction for eternity. The woman responds, sir give me this water so 248 00:23:51,880 --> 00:23:57,480 that I will not be thirsty or ever have to come here to draw water again. You see 249 00:23:57,480 --> 00:24:02,600 the woman neglects to ask the stranger his name, and Jesus doesn't ask her name 250 00:24:02,600 --> 00:24:08,200 because he already knows it. She doesn't ask anything about him, but believes the 251 00:24:08,200 --> 00:24:13,000 words of his mouth in such a way that she never wants to be apart from this 252 00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:20,720 living water. Now it's true, she doesn't quite get it still. She still thinks 253 00:24:20,720 --> 00:24:25,480 we're talking about water, but she is willing to believe enough that there is 254 00:24:25,480 --> 00:24:31,200 something special about this man. It's as if the Holy Spirit has come and removed 255 00:24:31,200 --> 00:24:36,360 the scales from her eyes and she's starting to see for the first time. For 256 00:24:36,360 --> 00:24:43,480 Jesus continues to talk to her. He steers the conversation from living water to 257 00:24:43,480 --> 00:24:49,200 the living Christ. This whole chapter is just stellar. I wish we could spend 258 00:24:49,200 --> 00:24:53,360 all the time in the whole chapter this morning, because as the conversation 259 00:24:53,360 --> 00:24:59,760 continues, Jesus continues to talk about who he is, what he will do, and then he 260 00:24:59,760 --> 00:25:04,800 asks a question about her husband. She says, I have no husband. He says, you're 261 00:25:04,800 --> 00:25:08,400 right, you've had five husbands, and the one you're with currently is not your 262 00:25:08,400 --> 00:25:18,280 husband. Then she moves of her own will in a sense, even though it's ordained by 263 00:25:18,280 --> 00:25:25,800 the Father, to say what she does in verse 25. Listen, the woman said to him, I know 264 00:25:25,800 --> 00:25:32,120 that Messiah is coming, he who is called Christ. When he comes, he will tell us all 265 00:25:32,120 --> 00:25:38,800 things. Jesus brings this lost, lonely, and unnamed lamb to the breaking point in 266 00:25:38,800 --> 00:25:43,840 his apologetic work. He brings her to the point where she acknowledges the Messiah, 267 00:25:43,840 --> 00:25:51,080 the Christ of God would come. Notice she doesn't say the Messiah, she just says 268 00:25:51,080 --> 00:25:59,760 Messiah. I know Messiah will come. I know Christ will come. I know hope will come. 269 00:25:59,760 --> 00:26:07,200 And in fact, she uses the ongoing, incomplete tense of the verb. I know the 270 00:26:07,200 --> 00:26:13,720 Messiah is coming, ongoing. He is coming. He will be here soon. Things will all be 271 00:26:13,720 --> 00:26:19,200 made right when he comes. My life is in shambles. I move from husband to husband, 272 00:26:19,200 --> 00:26:26,920 looking to fulfill my thirst, and all I have is this ordinary, stale water. But 273 00:26:26,920 --> 00:26:37,600 Messiah is coming. He will come. He will set things right. And Jesus responds, I am 274 00:26:37,600 --> 00:26:46,120 he. Oh children of God, if Jesus would do all this for the Samaritan woman prior to 275 00:26:46,120 --> 00:26:51,320 his work on the cross, how much more would Jesus do for you? The one through 276 00:26:51,320 --> 00:26:59,460 whom he died for, the one for whom he came for so long ago, how much more would 277 00:26:59,460 --> 00:27:04,520 he do for you, seeing that your salvation and purchase has been planned since 278 00:27:04,520 --> 00:27:10,520 before the foundations of the earth were laid? For what he promises is living 279 00:27:10,520 --> 00:27:17,720 water. What he promises to do for the woman and for us now will be our living 280 00:27:17,720 --> 00:27:26,920 water for all eternity. Y'all just finished Revelation. The living water 281 00:27:26,920 --> 00:27:33,360 will flow from the throne of God for all eternity, and the tree that grows from 282 00:27:33,360 --> 00:27:40,200 that water will be for the healing of the nations. And we will not need a sun 283 00:27:40,200 --> 00:27:48,200 or a war for our God, but we are alive. Well, we fulfill our needs. 284 00:27:54,200 --> 00:28:02,040 What's in a name? Names mean something. Names give us an insight to who we are. 285 00:28:02,040 --> 00:28:09,120 Christ offers us the ability to claim his name as your own. Right, when Abram 286 00:28:09,120 --> 00:28:16,120 met God, what happened? God changed his name to Abraham forevermore. When a 287 00:28:16,120 --> 00:28:21,480 sinner repents and believes in God, he changes them. He takes their sin, nails 288 00:28:21,480 --> 00:28:27,200 it to the cross, and buries them in the grave, and then raises them to new life, 289 00:28:27,200 --> 00:28:35,120 where they walk from the tomb, leaving their sin behind. Friends, I charge you 290 00:28:35,120 --> 00:28:43,920 this day to claim the name of Christ and live like it. You see, when a woman marries 291 00:28:43,920 --> 00:28:51,720 a man, she's given a new name. She leaves her old name, takes on a new name. We are 292 00:28:51,720 --> 00:28:56,960 the bride of Christ. When we become joined to Christ through baptism and 293 00:28:56,960 --> 00:29:05,440 profession of faith, we take on a new name. We leave our old name behind. We 294 00:29:05,440 --> 00:29:09,680 leave our old name behind, and we cling to the living water that is Jesus Christ. 295 00:29:09,680 --> 00:29:15,200 This is the good news of the gospel. Did the woman at the well then go back to 296 00:29:15,200 --> 00:29:20,800 the town she lived in and live life as normal? Oh, that was a fun time, just go on 297 00:29:20,800 --> 00:29:25,720 living my life. No, what did she do? She went back to the town, and she told every 298 00:29:25,720 --> 00:29:34,200 single person, he told me everything I've ever done. Is this the Christ? Jesus says, 299 00:29:34,200 --> 00:29:41,360 I am he. It sets off a chain reaction in the Samaritan towns and villages, and the 300 00:29:41,360 --> 00:29:49,480 Samaritans, these unclean people, get saved in droves. You have the living 301 00:29:49,480 --> 00:29:57,160 water in you already. For Christ's elect, you are given this eternal living water. 302 00:29:57,160 --> 00:30:03,840 The question then remains before us, how will we live like it? Do we live as if 303 00:30:03,840 --> 00:30:12,920 we've been changed, or do we not? Do we live as if we have the holy God of Holy 304 00:30:12,920 --> 00:30:19,800 Spirit living inside us? Do we live like everybody else? The question before you 305 00:30:19,800 --> 00:30:25,440 today is, how does living water change you? How will you live knowing that the 306 00:30:25,440 --> 00:30:32,200 eternal Son of God gave his life for you, and then implanted his Holy Spirit inside 307 00:30:32,200 --> 00:30:39,280 you? It's pretty miraculous, it's pretty amazing. Are we gonna live as ordinary 308 00:30:39,280 --> 00:30:44,800 humans? Are we gonna live as people who've been bought and purchased through 309 00:30:44,800 --> 00:31:14,080 the blood of Christ? Let's pray.