John 4, 1 through 42. When Jesus learned that
the Pharisees had heard he was making and baptizing
more disciples than John, though Jesus himself
was not baptizing, but his disciples were, he
left Judea and went again to Galilee. He had
to travel through Samaria, so he came to a town
of Samaria called Sychar, near the property that
Jacob had given his son Joseph. Jacob's well
was there, and Jesus, worn out from his journey,
sat down at the well. It was about noon. A woman
of Samaria came to draw water. Give me a drink,
Jesus said to her, because his disciples had
gone into town to buy food. How is it that you,
a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman,
she asked him, for Jews do not associate with
Samaritans. Jesus answered, if you knew the gift
of God and who is saying to you, give me a drink,
you would ask him and he would give you living
water. Sir, said the woman, you don't even have
a bucket and the well is deep. So where do you
get this living water? You aren't greater than
our father Jacob, are you? He gave us the well
and drank from it himself, as did his sons and
livestock. Jesus said, everyone who drinks from
this water will get thirsty again, but whoever
drinks from the water that I will give him will
never get thirsty again. In fact, the water I
will give him will become a well of water springing
up in him for eternal life. Sir, the woman said
to him, give me this water so that I won't get
thirsty and come here to draw water. Go call
your husband, he told her, and come back here.
I don't have a husband, she answered. You have
correctly said, I don't have a husband, Jesus
said, for you've had five husbands, and the man
you now have is not your husband. What you have
said is true. Sir, the woman replied, I see that
you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshipped on
this mountain, but you Jews say that the place
to worship is in Jerusalem. Jesus told her, Believe
me, woman, an hour is coming when you will worship
the Father, neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
You Samaritans worship what you do not know.
We worship what we do know because salvation
is from the Jews. But an hour is coming and is
now here when the true worshipers will worship
the Father in spirit and in truth. Yes, the Father
wants such people to worship him. God is spirit,
and those who worship him must worship in spirit
and in truth. The woman said to him, I know that
the Messiah is coming, who is called Christ.
When he comes, he will explain everything to
us. Jesus told her, I, the one speaking to you,
am he. Just then his disciples arrived and they
were amazed that he was talking with a woman.
Yet no one said, what do you want or why are
you talking with her? Then the woman left her
water jar, went into town and told the people,
come see a man who told me everything I ever
did. Could this be the Messiah? They left the
town and made their way to him. In the meantime,
the disciples kept urging him, Rabbi, eat something.
But he said, I have food to eat that you don't
know about. The disciples said to one another,
could someone have brought him something to eat?
My food is to do the will of him who sent me
and to finish his work, Jesus told him. Don't
you say there are still four more months and
then comes the harvest? Listen to what I'm telling
you. Open your eyes and look at the fields because
they are ready for harvest. The reaper is already
receiving pay and gathering fruit for eternal
life so that the sower and reaper can rejoice
together. For in this case, the saying is true.
One sows and another reaps. I sent you to reap
what you didn't labor for. Others have labored
and you have benefited from their labor. Now
many Samaritans from that town believed in him
because of what the woman said when she testified.
He told me everything I ever did. So when the
Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay
with them, and he stayed there for two days.
Many more believed because of what he said, and
they told the woman, We no longer believe because
of what you said, since we have heard for ourselves
and know that this really is the Savior of the
world. You may be seated. Amen. Wow. Thank you,
Sarah. That was a lot, right? I mean... 42 verses
there. It's a lot, and we've got a lot to unpack
this morning. But good morning, Radiant. My name's
Bob Davis. If you don't know me, I'm one of the
elders here, and it is a blessing to open God's
Word with you this morning. Just a moment before
we do that, happy Mother's Day to all of our
moms, right? How about we give a round of applause
for our moms? Thank you. You know, Mother's Day
can hit different for some of y 'all, right?
Some of you, Mother's Day is a beautiful, joyful
thing. And for some of you, it's bittersweet,
right? And I just want you to know that we care
about you. We love you. Moms, we're thankful
for you. And what you do is perhaps one of the
most important jobs in the world. And we honor
you and we're thankful for you. And so happy
Mom's Day. Again, we've got a lot of ground to
cover, so we're going to jump right into this,
okay? So open your Bible or your book of John
that you've got here. I believe it's on page
18. Open it up and here we go. When Jesus learned
that the Pharisees had heard, he was making and
baptizing more disciples. Even though he wasn't
himself baptizing, but his disciples were. He
left Judea and went again to Galilee. So the
Pharisees, they hear of this extraordinary success
that Jesus is having. And Jesus, not wanting
conflict, perhaps, that could end his ministry
early, decides that he needs to just move on.
So if you remember the language that John is
using and starting to use, and you're going to
see it more and more as we go through, he uses
the language of Jesus' hour, right? Jesus is
on the clock. He's on the Father's clock. Remember
his response when we were back a little bit in
the miracle at the wedding as he turns water
into wine? His mom comes to him and says, hey.
And he's like, woman, why are you bringing this
to me? It's not yet my hour. It's not yet my
time, right? So this is similar to that. So Jesus,
not wanting to engage in conflict here, and he
decides it's time to move out. And so he moves
out from Jerusalem at this time, and we get to
verse 4. He had to travel through Samaria. Man.
There is so much right here in these opening
verses. So I've got a picture up here. I don't
know if you can, hopefully you can see that pretty
good. In the bold there, you can see Judea, Perea,
Samaria, Decapolis, Galilee, right? So this is
Israel in Jesus's time. And the text said that
he had to travel through Samaria. It may be better
to say that if he wanted to go the expedited
route, right, the direct route, he had to travel
through Samaria because he certainly didn't have
to travel through Samaria. He just did. But in
order to grasp the weightiness of this text,
you've got to understand the relationship that
the Jewish people had with the Samaritans. So
Samaria, as you can see just north, right, it
lies between Jerusalem and Galilee, right? So
Judea and Galilee. So obviously, if he's going
to go straight there, he's got to go through
it. But again, he doesn't, he doesn't have to.
Samaria had no separate political existence in
Jesus's day. They just didn't. So they were kind
of like the valley, right? I mean, that's not
a great illustration, but we feel like it's all
one, if you will. It was united with Judea under
the Roman procurator, but there absolutely was
a divide. When the Assyrians, and we're just
a quick bit of history, when they came and captured
Israel in 740 BC, and then a little later on,
they take over Samaria, they later deport. You've
got to hear this. They deport all of the Israelites
of substance, right? If you were anybody, if
you were professional, whether you were a smithy,
a carpenter, not a smithy at that, but anyway,
you get my point. Whatever it was of substance,
you were gone. They deported you. They took you
and said, yep, you no longer live here. You now
live in Babylon, and so you're in exile. You
see, that's how you erase a people and a culture.
You destroy their temple. You literally remove
them. You pluck them up, and you put them on
trains, and you send them off, right? I mean,
it sounds like something out of Nazi Germany,
right? Send them into this foreign country, and
they're going to be slaves, and you put foreigners.
So now we don't just make a void. We fill it.
We refill it with foreigners. We just bring in
outsiders, and we plop them there now. Right?
So, I mean, just think of this. Like they never
existed. And so the remaining Samaritans, there
were a few left there. Apparently they weren't
of substance, right? And the remaining ones,
they try to adhere to some form of their religion,
their culture. But now with all these four, like
there's a little bit of our religion, a little
bit of theirs, a little bit of their culture,
a little bit of ours. And so at the end of the
exile, Roughly 70 years later, can you imagine
getting rooted up and sent off? I mean, a generation
of people die while they're gone and coming back,
maybe more than that. And so roughly 70 years
later, which you can find in the books of Ezra
and Nehemiah, the returning Israelites viewed
the remnant who had stayed in Samaria not only
as the children of political rebels, but racial
half -breeds. You intermarried. You worshiped
other gods. So they looked down on them, whose
religion was tainted by pagan influences. And
so when Israel goes to rebuild the temple, the
Samaritans, they offer to help in the book of
Ezra. You can go into Ezra chapter 4, and as
you dig into that a little bit, I encourage you
to do that. Their offer was rejected. Like, nope,
you have no part in what we're doing. They actually
opposed the Jews, and they began to undermine
their efforts. And when the rebuilding of the
walls was taking place, as you read in the book
of Nehemiah, as a matter of fact, they'd become
kind of hostile at this point. They're literally
fighting against them. They're literally in combat
with these guys, so much so that those workers
are standing shifts, like one's building, one's
watching out, so that they can get this work
done. The Samaritans saw themselves as equals,
and yet the Jews disagreed. That's the very short
version, right? So that's just trying to undergird
this idea that you've got to have as we begin
thinking about the relationship between the Samaritans
and the Jewish people. As a matter of fact, there
are some differences between Samaritan Jews.
at several levels. Their Bible, the Samaritans,
is just a Pentateuch, right? The first five books
of the Bible, that's it. Whereas the Jewish Bible
included the Jewish prophets and writings, the
Samaritans viewed themselves as the remnants
of the northern kingdom of Israel who stayed,
right? We're the ones who stayed while the Jews
descend from the kingdom of Judah. Perhaps the
greatest difference is to be seen where the place
of worship was commanded to be. The Samaritans,
they saw that, well, let me back up here. The
Jews built a tabernacle in the city of Jerusalem,
right? And so it's there. Well, the Samaritans
are on Mount Gerizim, right? And so two different
mountains, right? So when they said, yeah, well,
you ain't helping us rebuild our temple. We're
rebuilding our own. They're just like, heck with
you. We don't need it. We're building our own.
This is where God said to worship anyway, right?
So there is this huge divide. Somewhere around
100 B .C., the Jews go up to Mount Gerizim and
they destroy the temple. They're like, yeah,
you're going to build your own? That's an abomination.
They destroy it. And so I could go on for a bit
here, but you can see how strongly, I hope you
can, that these two groups of people felt about
each other. So when John says in verse 4, Jesus
had to travel through Samaria, we should pay
attention. Like, I want you to underline or circle
that word had to, because physically speaking,
Jesus did not have to. As a matter of fact, the
Pharisees, can we go back for one second to that
other slide? The Pharisees, and if I had a pointer,
I'd show you, but they're going to go up and
they're going to swing over at Bethany and go
on the Transjordan, the other side, and they're
going to go all the way up. So they're getting
off the highway. And they're taking the side
roads, right? And yeah, we're going to go all
the way around the city this time, right? And
so much so that the direct route was about three
days, right? Something like 70 to 75 miles of
walking, three days, right? You're putting in
a pretty good day to walk 20, 25 miles a day.
But to get on the bypass and get off the exit
and go around would double the trip. Like three
or four more days to go around. This is what
the Pharisees preferred to do. Now there are
plenty of Galileans and those who are just common
folk. They're like, yeah, we really don't care.
We're just going to keep our head down and we're
going to go straight through, right? But you've
really got to dislike somebody to walk for three
or four days longer than you have to, right?
I mean, you just do. And so I think that we can
infer here. And a lot of commentators, a lot
of scholars agree with this statement that we
can infer that there's some type of divine appointment
here in this had to. Jesus had to. He is on a
mission to do his Father's will. You know, perhaps
some of you have heard from the Lord over the
last months, the last year, I don't know, somewhere
along this journey of following Jesus. Some things
that have to change. The Lord wants to change
some things, right? But you keep ducking out,
getting off on the exit, and taking the long
way around. Yeah, well, I'm not sure I'm ready
to go quite there yet, Lord. What if you, what
if you just went ahead and did what the Lord
was calling you to? What might that look like?
Because friends, you have to. Jesus had to. This
divine appointment, right? We're going to get
into that a little bit as we move on. Now, I
don't want you to forget where we've just come
from. In chapter 3, we heard of another divine
appointment, right? This fellow that epitomizes
what a great Jew looks like. Nicodemus, right?
Nicodemus comes to him in the night, right? So
there's some, John's playing with some things
here you're going to see, right? Compared to
what we're getting ready to go into. So he comes
in the night. He's educated. He's respected.
He's valued in his community. He's probably somewhat
wealthy in contrast to the woman that we're about
to meet. And here's a glimpse of the great news
of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus is for all
people to know him and to be redeemed in and
through him and to walk with him. Amen? Like,
we should get kind of excited about that. Like,
Jesus is for all people. He doesn't just save
the respected and the educated. He doesn't just
save the well thought of. He's for all people.
As a matter of fact, there is no category of
half breed, not good enough, intermingled. There
is no category. He's come that all might be saved.
And so it doesn't matter how good or how wicked
you think you are. We all fall short of the glory
of God and Jesus is the only hope. Amen. So let's
get back to it. In verse 4, he had to travel
through Samaria. So he came to a town of Samaria
called Sychar, near the property that Jacob had
given his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there,
and Jesus, worn out from his ministry, excuse
me, his journey, sat down at the well. It was
about noon. So Nick came at night, right? This
woman comes in the middle of the day. A woman
of Samaria came to draw water. Give me a drink,
Jesus says. Because the disciples had gone into
town to buy the food. So this is kind of a cool
piece here, right? So notice the disciples are
gone and Jesus is one -on -one with this woman.
Later on, the thing's going to shift, right?
The disciples come back and this woman's going
to go away and it's their turn, right? And so
the woman, he says, give me a drink because they'd
gone to buy food. How is it that you, a Jew,
ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman, she
asked him, for Jews do not associate with Samaritans.
So he comes to this town near the property of
Jacob, Jacob's Wells there, right? But we don't
have time to go into this deep. Like, we could
literally camp here for a while to just get the
back story behind all of this. But you've got
to understand that Jacob is regarded as the father
of the Jewish people. He has an encounter with
the Lord. And scripture talks about him wrestling
all night long in this divine MMA match. And
he won't give up. He won't tap out. He won't.
He's like, nope, not happening. And finally,
the Lord... Bap! Hips him in the hip and dislocates
his hip, and forever he walks with a limp, right?
So this Jacob is renamed Israel, right? And I
believe, and so do many commentators, that Scripture
is saying this is the pre -incarnate Christ that
he's wrestling with, right? And so Jacob was
renamed Israel. And Israel means he who struggles
with God. His sons, his 12 sons formed the basis
for the 12 tribes of Israel. How cool is that,
right? His life story is this transformation
from this dude named Jacob, right? You go back
into Jacob and Esau and what Jacob, Jacob means
trickster, deceiver, right? He's posing as something
else and yet. He is transformed into this one
that all of the Jewish people would be known
as one who struggles with God. He becomes a man
of faith who trusts in God's grace. It's just
a great story. Like, really, you need to go back
in Genesis. If you don't read your Bible, like,
you need to get in there. Genesis is awesome,
the story of Jacob. So anyway, Jesus sits on
this wellhead, Jacob's well, right? He just plops
down. He's hot. He's tired. Can you imagine noon?
I don't know if any of you have ever been. I
mean, some of you have been over there. Golly,
I got to tell you, Iraq, Afghanistan, it's one
of them places I never want to go back to again.
Summertime there, 139 degree wet bulb temperature.
That's the one I saw that with my own eyes. That
means literal accurate in the heat of the sun,
no shade anywhere. Like, who would live here?
Like, why would you live here, right? So I think
when Abraham was called from Ur, like, I've literally
been in Ur, right? Like, I know why he left.
Yeah, let's go, right? Nobody wants to be there.
It's horrible, right? That's just my Western
view. But anyway, he sits on this wellhead, and
he's only halfway there, right? John is painting
this picture of Jesus's humanity. He's painting
this dualism, if you will, that he is fully God
and yet fully man. And so here he is. He's tired.
And this is the part of the story that the original
audience would have leaned in a little bit as
this begins to unfold, right? It doesn't seem
like it, but this is about to get scandalous.
A woman approaches the well. And people would
have been, oh, right? Because this don't happen.
Like, it's a dude and a gal. Like, this is not
supposed to happen, right? Under rabbinic law,
Jewish men did not speak to women in public,
right? They didn't speak to other women just
about period, right? Not even their wife. As
a matter of fact, it was a divorceable offense
for a married woman to speak to a single man.
Under rabbinic light. I mean, this is serious,
right? So here Jesus is. They didn't talk to
their wives in public. You know who they didn't
really talk to? Samaritan women, right? And this
is the woman that Jesus is about to have a conversation
with. But he doesn't worry about such things,
does he? I mean, he touches lepers. He cleans
them, right? He touches the blind. He doesn't
become unclean. He is the... agent of righteousness
and redemption and restoration, right? And so
we have this interesting fact that it's in the
middle of the day, the hottest part of the day
about noon. So why is that interesting? Because
most people don't go to the well when it's 139
degree wet bulb temperature, right? You're going
to die out there, right? You go first thing in
the morning, you go maybe in the cool of the
evening, but you don't go in the middle of the
day unless you got a real reason. Right? There's
a lot of possibilities, but given what we're
about to learn about her, it's probably because
she's trying to avoid the other women in town.
Right? She apparently is living in somewhat of
an immoral lifestyle. And so she's probably subject
or the subject of some of their conversations.
Right? Gossip. Right? They're like, hey, look,
here she comes again. I mean, can you imagine
every day going to the well and having all these
women just sitting there looking at you, judging
you as you walk by and walking? I mean, after
a while, she probably, yeah, I'm not doing that
anymore. Like, that's terrible. So she just decides
to go at noon and she doesn't have to endure
shame and scrutiny. And again, this is the woman
that Jesus decides to talk to. And so he goes
further. Give me a drink. And we could see this
was a surprise to her, right? I mean, she's probably
blown away. She's like, wait a second, how is
it that you ask me for a drink? Like, that's
not supposed to happen. The idea of Jews associating
with Samaritan goes a little further than that.
It means like, hey, we don't share utensils.
We don't sit down at meals together. Like, we
don't fellowship like that. Like, you do you,
we do it. Like, we don't, the two don't cross,
right? Like, we don't do that. Jacob's well is
100 feet deep. Jesus has nothing. How are you
going to get the water, right? So it's implied
here. He's going to drink from her stuff. And
so he's absolutely crossing barriers by asking
her this question. So Jesus is about to break
through an ethnic divide, right? As a Jew talking
to a Samaritan. The religious divide, because
they've got some different understandings, right?
And finally, the moral divide with this woman.
Jesus answered in verse 10, if you knew the gift
of God and who is saying to you, give me a drink,
you would ask him and he would give you living
water. So in the Samaritan mind, the gift of
God was the Pentateuch, the five books of the
Bible, right? That they followed and that was
it, right? That was the gift of God. And so they
have this idea of Messiah, but he's called Taheb.
To heb is a prophet like Moses who will one day
come back and explain all this stuff to us, right?
That's their idea of the Messiah, that he'll
come back and he'll fill us in, and then we'll
know what we're supposed to do kind of thing,
right? So on the other hand, when Jesus says,
if you knew, it could be that if you knew your
Bible, lady, like the stuff y 'all are choosing
to ignore, you'd know who I am, right? You might
have a better clue. But Jesus is pointing to
something even greater than that. The gift of
God being the Holy Spirit of God. And so the
living water that he is talking about is in contrast
to most wells. What's a well? It's just a collection
place, right, for water. And it just sits there
and it gets stagnant. Living water, however,
is superior. Ceremonially, just for... Better
quality all around for drinking, right? Living
water means moving water. It cleanses better.
Well, Jacob's well was actually an underground
spring that filled up, right? And it had been
there for a very long time. And so at this point,
the woman is probably not taking Jesus very seriously.
Okay, weird dude talking to me, right? Saying
weird stuff to me about living water. And so
she throws up a social barrier with these next
words. Sir. right? So this polite barrier, sir,
you don't even have a bucket, and the well is
deep. How are you going to get water? How are
you going to get this living water that you say
you're going to give to me, right? I want you
to hear a little bit of sarcasm here, because
I think that's what she's using. Really? How
are you going to do that? Live in water? And
Jesus begins now to make the first of the three
greater than statements that he's going to make
in excuse me, about him, right? She says, are
you greater than our father Jacob? And the second
and third are going to be, are you greater than
Moses? Are you greater than Abraham, right? So
John's building this case here along the way.
Are you greater than Jacob? What do you think
what she expects the answer to be? Not even close.
Like, you're not even in the same categories
here, right? I mean, absolutely not. No, you're
not. Of course you're not greater than Jacob.
You don't even have a bucket, right? How would
you be greater than him? And so here's the irony
that John brings to the story. Because in fact,
we as readers know that indeed, Jesus is greater.
Jesus is greater than Jacob. His living water,
right here with spiritual ears, is better than
the water in this well. Jesus answers in verse
13, everyone who drinks from this water, you're
going to get thirsty again, right? Meaning from
Jacob's well. But whoever drinks from the water
that I will give him will never get thirsty again.
In fact, the water I will give him will become
a well of water springing up for eternal life.
So Jesus is pointing to this idea that the needs
that you depend on for physical life every day,
you've got to keep coming back, right? You've
just got to keep coming back, coming back, coming
back. Folks, again, we don't have time, but there
is so much depth here. So the atoning sacrifice
of Christ is done once and for all. What man
could not do for himself and had to use the goat
or the sheep or the dove or whatever, time and
time, Jesus does once and for all. So this idea
that you've got to keep doing these things and
they're never going to end. And Jesus is saying,
in me, it's done. It's finished. It's categorically
different. And so there is some truth. To having
to have water when you live in the middle of
the desert, right? I mean, that's just fact.
But there's something richer for us here than
the obvious message. We live in this world of
daily routine. So much so that we give so much
of our time and our energy to it every day. We
go, we come, we go, we got to go get the milk,
we got to get the bread, we got to get to this.
And along the way, we're trying to find sources
of contentment and enjoyment and fulfillment
and you name it. So we find that with material
things, with substances, with experiences. But
Jesus is saying that as we consume those things,
they're gone. right? And there you are left again,
hungry, thirsty, tired, whatever it is, yearning
still for something. And we have to come back
and do it again and again and again, never satiated,
never fulfilled, never content. But he says that
when we drink of his water, when his spirit is
poured into us, we are changed for eternity.
Has that happened in your life? Do you find yourself
going back to the well again and again and again,
only to, I'm still thirsty, I'm still hungry,
what gives? Well, I've got good news for you.
It doesn't matter who you are. As you come to
the well today, Jesus is here to meet you. He's
here to meet you. And he wants to give you something
that truly satisfies. He wants to give you, himself
and in return all he asked for is you he wants
you but you know what so many folks do they walk
away from that offer and they choose to go back
to the stagnant well They choose to go back to
the same old thing. The backdrop for these statements
that Jesus is making would have been well known
to the Jewish people. The prophet Jeremiah says,
my people have committed two sins. They have
forsaken me, the spring of living water, and
dug their own cisterns, their broken cisterns
that cannot hold water. Later in chapter 17,
Jeremiah again says, oh Lord, the hope of Israel,
all who forsake you will be put to shame. Those
who turned away from you will be written in the
dust because they have forsaken the Lord, the
spring of living water. Perhaps some of you here
today are like that. For whatever reason, you
just continue to go and seek out the things that
pose as living water only to discover that they
never satisfy. They just, they don't. What is
that for you? Is it more stuff? Is it a new relationship?
Yeah, that's going to do it, right? Is it a substance?
Is it sex? Is it porn? I don't know what it is.
What empty, hollow thing that you think, it's
going to give me life, right? Do you find yourself
returning to even when you know it doesn't give
you life? Jesus is going to deal with that here
in a moment in our text. Once again, she says,
sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty
and come here to draw water. And Jesus says,
go call your husband and come back here. And
she answers, I don't have a husband. And Jesus
says, you've answered correctly. I don't have
a husband. For you've had five husbands and the
man that you are with now is not your husband.
What you have said is true. What do you think
her reaction was to this? Right? Like. He just
like laid out her dirty laundry, right? Just
met him, boom, right? And so she's got to be
taken back. Maybe she's like, I think I underestimated
this dude. Hold up, right? He clearly gets her
attention. And her follow -on response is kind
of telling. You know, there's a couple of ways
to interpret this. But I see someone that says,
yeah, I'm not really interested in talking about
all of that, so let's change the subject. Do
you ever get close to it with somebody, right?
Like where you're right there, you're talking
about the crux of the matter. You're getting
a little deeper, a little more meaningful, you
know, stepping on their toes. And just when you're
there, they switch it out, they change the subject
and deflect, right? We can all do it when we
come to a place like this. Hey, how you doing?
Good to see you today. good. How are you? Yeah,
I'm great, right? I've talked with many people.
If I get too close to the stuff, the hard stuff,
they kind of switch it up. And she says, our
ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you
say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.
Now, again, there is some historical precedence
for this comment as alluded to earlier, but it
feels like she's pivoting, right? She's shifting.
She's deflecting. Let's throw a red herring in
there, right? You know what that is, something
to divert attention away from the real issue,
but Jesus is unfazed. He says in verse 21, Believe
me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship
the Father neither on this mountain or in Jerusalem.
Now, you all know what that means, right? This
mountain, Mount Gerizim, or in Jerusalem, the
other temple, right? You Samaritans worship what
you do not know. We worship what we do because
salvation is from the Jews, but an hour is coming.
And is now here. When the true worshipers will
worship the Father in spirit and in truth. Yes,
the Father wants such people. I want you to underline
that. The Father wants such people to worship
him. God is spirit. And those who worship him
must worship in spirit and truth. Boom. That's
a lot. But what he's pointing at is this disparity
again between the Jews and the Samaritans that
it's actually going to be of no consequence where
you're worshiping because that whole system,
that whole thing, what Jesus is doing and about
to do, it doesn't matter if you worship at the
temple or if you worship on your mountain because
both of those are about to be overshadowed by
my work. The Jewish focus of worship was the
tabernacle. It was about to be obsolete. Jesus
is talking about this new level of worship. It's
not just about showing up to a mountain. It's
not just about showing up to a tabernacle or
even a school building and going through some
rituals. It's a heart matter. It's a spirit matter.
He wants believers to worship in spirit and in
truth, meaning he wants your heart. He wants
the real you. Right? Jesus is pressing into this
Samaritan woman. I'm here for the real you. Not
here for the fake you, the mask, the, I'm good,
how are you? Hey, what would you, right? No,
he wants the real you. Not the you that says,
yes, I believe in Jesus, but I continue to go
to the well that cannot provide what I actually
need. Not the you that says, I'm a Christian.
I believe in Jesus, yet I continue to live in
sin. Are you here in this church? That's the
kind of believers and worshipers that Jesus is
seeking and talking about. The Father wants such
people to worship him. I want to be that kind
of man. How about you? That worships in spirit
and in truth. Father, here I am. I'm a wretch.
I'm a broken man. And I need you more today than
I've ever needed you in my life. Being honest
and real with him. In verse 25, the woman seems
to make this last attempt, right? She's going
to give him the Heisman. She's trying to duck
him one last time. And she says, I know the Messiah
is coming who is called the Christ. So when he
comes, he will explain everything to us, right?
Remember this idea of Taheb that I told you about,
their idea of Messiah? So again, she's explaining
that. But Jesus says, I'm not here just to explain
things to you. But he tells her. I am who am
speaking to you now. I who am speaking to you
now am he, right? Folks, this is the mic drop.
I mean, in the original audience, they would
have been like, did he just say what I think
he said, right? So this ancient Greek form of
ego, a me, right? I am who I am, right? The I
am, which... This is the first of the sayings
in John of the I am sayings. But the original
phrase that God uses when Moses says, Lord, who
will I tell them that you sent me? He says, I
am who I am. So this idea. And Jesus is literally
equating himself to Yahweh. This is a phenomenal
revelation. And look who he's telling it to.
He could have told this to Nicodemus just a little
bit ago, right? He's this scholarly elite kind
of dude. He could have told him. But he's like,
dude, really? You're a leader and a teacher and
you don't even understand? He tells this woman
who is a nobody. He's telling her it's not someday.
It's not someday, it's today. I'm here. There's
no more putting it off. How does that strike
you? Are you all in with Jesus? Folks, this is
what he's after. Are you all in with him? Is
he your sustenance? The word Yahweh. when spoken
properly in the Hebrew, is literally an inhale
and an exhale. Listen to me. Yahweh. Yahweh.
That's literally the way that it's spoken. It's
symbolic that he is the breath in us, that he
created us and sustains us, and without that
breath, we literally die. Like, quite literally,
as a matter of fact. So right here at this heavy
moment, the disciples return. Right? They come
walking back. They probably got a couple quarter
pounders and some friends and happy meals with
them. Right here they come walking up the hill.
And so this beautiful moment has happened in
the absence of the disciples. And now it's the
disciples' turn because the woman is about to
leave. And it's just Jesus with them. So verse
27, just then his disciples arrived. And they
were amazed that he was talking with a woman.
Yet no one said, what do you want? Or why are
you talking with her? It must have just been
a look on their face, on the faces, right? I
mean, they were like, whoa, what's happening
here? So the woman left her water jar. It's kind
of important, right? This source of life for
her. She left it. She left it. Went in the town
and told the people, come see a man who told
me everything I ever did. Could this be the Taheb
or the Messiah? They left the town and made their
way to him. So she left her jar. Some of y 'all
are carrying some jars that you need to put down,
right? Clinging to it. Yep, this is my source
of life and it's my, I can get back and forth
from this thing that sustains me. You need to
bring that to Jesus. And, you know, the Holy
Spirit just has a way of convicting us on these
things, of poking us in the face when we do that.
I want you to know the temptation is going to
be there, right, to switch the subject. Or you
might say someday, right, we'll get to the bottom
of that. You know, I know, I know, I know. But
Jesus says, no, today's the day because I'm here.
So as we move towards closing and wrapping this
up, I want us to respond to Jesus on this matter,
right? I want you. I want you to respond to Jesus.
What do you need to set down and leave so that
you can go back and get that thing that you need
to give to him? He wants the real you to worship
in spirit and in truth. Maybe you need to talk
with someone today, right? Maybe, so I'm prepping
you ahead of time, right? At the end, we're going
to stand up and you're going to think, okay,
yeah, I feel you, Lord, but whoop, and I'm going
to get off the exit and I'm not today. And you're
going to go around and you're going to go right
back. Caleb's here. Josh here. I'm here. Talk
to a brother or sister right now. Talk to the
Lord yourself. Boom. Don't walk out of here today
without knowing this. Verse 31, in the meantime,
the disciples keep urging him, saying, Rabbi,
eat something. And he says, I have food to eat
that you don't know about. So you see, he just
got done teaching the woman some things. And
now he's going to teach us followers some different
things. So Jesus answers in verse 32. I have
food to eat you don't know about. Once again,
the disciples, right? They're scratching their
heads. They're looking at each other. Can you
imagine what they're saying? Like, did somebody
bring him some food we don't know about? Like,
whoa, what? Oh, my goodness, right? These guys
are kind of showing. It's kind of like the bread
thing. And, you know, how are we going to do
it? And, you know, again and again and again.
And Jesus keeps showing up. And so this ought
to remind us of the conversation that Jesus had
with Nicodemus. Wait a second. How's a person
going to be reborn? Are they going back in? Like,
stop, Nick. No, that's not what's happening.
No disciples. Nobody else brought Jesus some
food in your absence, right? So he's talking
about something different. He's talking about
mission. He's talking about doing the Father's
will. My food, we continue, is to do the will
of him who sent me to finish his work. Don't
you say there are still four more months than
comes harvest, right? He goes into this harvest
language, right? I'm telling you, open your eyes.
Look, the fields are ready for harvest. Do you
think the fields are ripe for harvest here in
the valley? There are people walking around that
do not know Jesus. There's a whole lot of people
that say, oh yeah, I know Jesus, and they keep
going right back with their pot, right back to
the same well that never sustains, never satisfies,
never fulfills. The reaper is already receiving
and gathering fruit, eternal life, so that the
sower and reaper can rejoice together. For this
case, the saying is true. One sows, another reaps.
I sent you to reap what you did not labor for.
Others have labored, and you have benefited from
their labor. He moves from a person that needs
to know. So there's two messages in here, two
different audiences. He's speaking to this woman
that absolutely does not know Jesus, not in the
way that he wants her to. She has some ideas
and some thoughts and the highs. So she needs
to hear the gospel truth about Jesus. But then
there's some followers of Jesus that need to
hear something else. Disciples inherently make
disciples. He's conveying the urgency of the
mission. Those who are born again. Share with
those who are lost, and Jesus is setting the
example right before their eyes with this host
of people that is making their way back up to
the well. It's the power of the gospel to change
lives. Here's my encouragement to you this morning.
It's not your slick tongue, your presentation.
It's not your ability to debate theological or
philosophical things, deep things. You know what
it is? It's you telling people what Jesus has
done in your life and pointing them to him. Like
all I can tell you is I used to be this broke
dude and now I'm different. All I can tell you
is that I used to be blind to the things of God
and now I see. You know, I used to be hungry
and filled my heart with all this garbage that
couldn't do anything. And now I feast on the
word of God and fellowship and worship and his
spirit. Like, that's all we need to do. Tell
your story, right? Point them to Jesus so that
others may see his work in us and that he might
be glorified as they come to know him. Now, many
Samaritans from that town believed in him because
of what the woman did, right? What she said when
she testified. He told me everything I did. So
when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him
to stay with him, and he stayed there two days.
Many more believed because of what he said. They
told the woman, we no longer believe of what
you said since we have heard for ourselves and
know that this really is the Savior of the world.
Again, that's a lot. But do you hear what she's
doing or what's happening here, what Jesus is
doing? Do you share your faith in Christ with
others? If not, you probably need to ask yourself
why. Is it because you're like the woman at the
well? And that's okay. It's okay. It really is,
right? Is it because you're just not sure and
maybe someday you'll have it figured out? Maybe
someday you'll have it, okay, now I got it, but
that day is not yet, right? Someone will explain
it all to you. Today is the day that you don't
have to have those kinds of questions anymore.
We confess with our mouth and believe in our
heart that Jesus Christ is Lord and he saves
us. Do you know that to be true for yourself?
Do you know that? Is there fruit in your life?
Fruit, I never used to be there. Is the spirit
of God working in you and redeeming and restoring?
Do you know that to be true? If not, don't leave
today without working that out. Don't take the
exit ramp. Don't go around. Don't throw the red
herring out there and change the subject because
you have to. You have to. The Father wants such
people to worship him. Amen? If you don't share
your faith with others, is it because you're
just not sure how to do it or maybe you're not
sure you should do it? I want to tell you this
is the will of God. This is clear in the scriptures.
Go, make disciples. It's assumed. It's not just
a good idea. Who else can I share this with,
right? That's what a Christian missionary mindset
is. Like, I gotta tell somebody. That's what
the woman did. She's like, y 'all gotta come
back and see this, right? I mean, does that happen
in your life? All you gotta do is point them
in the right direction. You share your story,
and by God's grace and power, The power of his
gospel. You know what we hope they end up saying?
It's not because of what Bob told me. Like, that
drew me in, right? It's now because I've experienced
him for myself that I believe. He changed me.
Folks, Jesus is our hope. He is greater. The
father Jacob, he's greater than that thing that
you keep returning to, hoping that this time
that it will satisfy you. Or what's even sadder
is you know it ain't going to satisfy you, but
you go back there anyway, right? Yet you return
to it again and again, and it doesn't matter
who you are, how educated or uneducated. How
good or bad you see yourself as being, we're
all sinners and we fall short of the glory of
God. That is the good news of the gospel. He
meets us right where we are. He meets us at the
well of life and he's never satisfied to leave
us there. Here at Radiant, we live as a family
of servant missionaries, right? We do. Learning
to be and make disciples by being radiant reflections
of Jesus. That's what we're about. So I'm literally,
if the band would come up, our worship team,
that's a better way to say it. This ain't a show
here. This is a worship team leading us in worship
and in response. What is the Lord prompting in
your heart today? I hope something, right? There
is a message here for all of us, whether you're
the woman or you're the disciple, right? There
is a message here for us that Jesus is saying,
like, how is this with you? I hope that his Holy
Spirit is poking around in your heart and saying,
yeah, I'm talking to you. I'm talking, are you
giving him the highs? That's not Bob, guys, right?
The last thing in the world, Lord, anything that
I've said here today that would detract from
you, let them forget it before we even sing a
song, Lord, but anything that's real that you
would stick, stick in their craw today that like,
I have to. Bob doesn't change anything. The Holy
Spirit? I'm going to close with this. When Jesus
engages with this woman at the well, she first
catches sight of a thirsty man, then a Jew, then
a rabbi. After a bit, she sees a prophet, and
last of all, the Messiah. She tried to get the
better of the thirsty man. She showed dislike
of the Jew. She even heckled the rabbi, but she
was swept off her feet by the prophet, and ultimately,
she adored Jesus. That's all of our stories.
Along the way from beginning to end, that's all
of us. Where are you? Do you adore him? Because
he adores you. And he wants, the Father wants
such people to worship him. So as we move to
response through communion and song, I pray that
the Lord would do real work in your heart and
that you would respond to the one who knows everything
you ever did. And yet he still loves you. I encourage
you today as we stand, as we leave, please stand
with me. Like right now, don't hesitate. We're
going to move off to the side and then the back.
If that's you and you're just like, I want to
pray about this thing. I want to move action
on this thing today. Don't leave this place without
it happening. Lord bless you. As we move to...