This morning we’re continuing on in the story of the woman at the well…a great story about a nameless Samaritan woman…story recorded only in Gospel of John.
Over the next few weeks we’ll look at the stories of people who met Jesus face to face….to put a name on it you could call it “Conversations with Jesus” …some of the people you’re already familiar with like the story of Nicodemus and the woman at the well…while others will probably be new to you…these encounters are valuable for what they reveal about Jesus…and what they teach us about the common problems of life.
This story is about a woman who comes to draw water from a well…it was called Jacob’s Well…a well that had been dug some 2000 years earlier by the patriarch Jacob…the father of the 12 tribes of Israel.
Upon arriving at the well she sees Jesus sitting beside the well resting from His walk that day…so here you have a Jewish man and a Samarian woman alone at a remote well…two unlikely people from two different and adversarial backgrounds …each one’s families who were social, religious and political enemies of one another.
This simple interaction between this woman and Jesus may be the most dramatic and significant of any that occurred in Jesus’ entire ministry…two people who are confronted with multiple contrasts of race…religion…moral status…marital status…and social position.
Jesus begins a conversation with this woman that is the longest recorded conversation of anyone that had ever spoken with Jesus…including any conversation with any of his disciples.
Nothing happens by chance in this story… it’s no accident that this woman just happens to be at the well…every detail is presided over by God…this is the reason why Jesus is in Samaria…God in His providence arranged for Jesus to be at the well at the same time she was there.
The word ‘must’ in the Greek (δεῖ) has basically the same meaning in English…it means what was absolutely necessary…John uses this word extensively in his gospel… [7] ‘you must be born again’ … [14] the Son of Man must be lifted up.
John says [6] Jesus is sitting at the well waiting for her…it’s a divine encounter…a predestined meeting that had been scheduled millions of years in advance.
If you really believe that God is sovereign…then you’ll see this as not just a circumstance that just happened…but as God’s providence.
That’s also true with the people we meet…the circumstances in our life are not accidents…but are the result of divine opportunities to give glory to God by what we say and how we act.
Jesus engages in a discussion with her that relates to her spirituality…He makes statements that completely astonish her. [4:13-14]
From last week’s message we learned that Jesus makes an offer for her to drink from the living water He gives…the Greek text makes a clear distinction between the water from the well and the water He is offering.
The woman asks Jesus for this ‘water so I will not be thirsty’ not realizing that she has failed to meet the conditions necessary to receive that water.
In fact…Jesus actually refuses her request…of ‘give me this water’ …so what’s the problem…problem is she doesn’t understand what He’s speaking of…or what she’s asking for…she’s not ready to receive it.
Jesus’ response to her is ‘If you knew’ …knew what? …really three things:
…ONE, ‘if you knew the gift of God.’ Eternal life is a gift from God.
…TWO, who it is you’re talking to
…THREE, that you have a need…you just haven’t realized it yet.
Having knowledge of all those are the conditions needed before Jesus can give her ‘living water’ …BUT…because she doesn’t know those conditions…conditions that haven’t been met yet…she cannot be saved.
Jesus’ dialogue with the woman reveals three absolute truths about salvation:
Salvation comes only to those who recognize they are eternally lost.
Salvation comes only to those who confess and repent of their sin and desire forgiveness.
Salvation comes only to those who ask Jesus to be their Savior.
How many countless numbers of people will miss the opportunity in their life time for Salvation simply because they failed to know the simplicity of receiving eternal life…not realizing the conditions of: “If you knew… you would ask… and I would give.”
So far the conversation between Jesus and the woman has been talking about water and getting a drink…it’s apparent that the woman doesn’t understand what Jesus is saying on the spiritual level so He engages her attention in a different way.
16 “Go, call your husband and come back.” 17 “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband.
On one level it appears that Jesus is being insensitive…why bring up anything about her past? …is Jesus trying to embarrass her…purposely making her feel bad…the answer is no.
His instruction to her to call her husband obviously made her uncomfortable…she doesn’t want to go into detail so she simply replies, “I have no husband.” Now that was true but it wasn’t the whole truth.
She knew she was hiding the truth but what she doesn’t know is that Jesus knows it too…and so he proceeds to reveal the rest of the story
18 (fact is) ‘you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband.’
It is important to understand that the Greek word (ἄνδρα-andra) can be translated as ‘husband, adult male, or man’ implying she has had 5 partners and she is currently in a relationship with a man who is not her husband.
AGAIN…is Jesus being cruel? …why this statement about her previous marriages …where does this come from…there’s an important spiritual principle at work here… without the conviction of sin there can be no conversion.
The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin (John 16:8). What being convicted of sin is NOT:
—it’s not simply a guilty conscience or feeling shameful about something you did. —conviction of sin is not the sense of fear about God’s punishment.
—conviction of sin is not merely the acknowledgment I did something wrong.
To be convicted of sin is to experience the utter dreadfulness of it…coming to the
realization that I have offended God…without the conviction of sin there can be no salvation…. No one is saved apart from the Spirit’s convicting.
God sees behind the mask…until we come to grips with our sin and our own willful disobedience to God we cannot be saved.
His object was to lead her to consider her own state of sinfulness…Him just telling her that she’s a sinner accomplishes nothing.
Pointing out someone else’s shortcoming in life…telling them all about themselves …how messed up they are…when in actuality you know nothing about them…or their situation…BUT they know how you’re living your life…is a bit contradictory.
Here’s how people perceive you…pointing out someone else’s shortcoming in life …when they know how you’re living your life…it only further convinces them that you’re the hypocrite…not them…goes back to making judgments about other people that you’re not in a position to make.
Jesus has delicately spoken to the woman’s conscience in such a manner as to give her the opportunity to view her lifestyle of sin…making her see that she’s a sinner by showing her that He knows her life.
19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet.
This is the manner in which Jesus leads her to perceive that He is the Christ…He proceeds to show her that He is acquainted with her life and with her sins without ever having previously met her…but…her reply falls short of revealing any moral fault.
She is almost but not quite saved…she is near the kingdom door but hasn’t quite crossed the threshold…Jesus has revealed what she thought she could keep hidden.
Though a stranger to her…Jesus has convinced her that He’s not some ordinary person she’s been having a conversation with…He’s not just some weary traveler as she first took Him to be.
Jesus has done with this woman the same exact thing the Holy Spirit does with every person who turns to Jesus as Savior…every person who desires salvation is always confronted with a similar command… ‘Go and bring’.
FIRST…go and bring those things from your life that you consider to be worthy of eternal life …everything you’ve done that you think earns you the right to have eternal life…and I will show you how worthless they are.
SECONDLY…go and bring those things you have harbored in your life that are contrary to God’s law…everything that lacks conformity to the moral character of God…I want you to bring them to Me.
What Jesus does here He does in every conversation He has with people…the command ‘go call your husband’ is given to every person…it’s symbolic of the full knowledge that Jesus is aware of their sinful condition in life.
That always makes sinners uncomfortable…knowing that God knows as much about you as you know about yourself…SO, she changes the subject.
The woman begins to use the tactics of every person who is presented with the Gospel…she begins to argue or question Jesus about insignificant stuff.
Jesus isn’t confronting the woman’s adulterous lifestyle…He’s not asking her, “Who have you been sleeping with?” Jesus is talking to this woman about spiritual things and her response is to focus on where the correct place is to worship.
20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
Back when the Jews and Samaritans went their separate ways, they established their own centers of worship…for the Samaritans it was Mount Gerazim…for the Jews was Mount Zion…if the Jews and Samaritans were to be reconciled, one would have to come over to the other’s place of worship.
She is directing the conversation away from herself and her conviction of sin… instead she’s wanting to get into a debate on where’s the best place to worship.
Words of advice…don’t argue the Bible because it’s pointless…Jesus never argued the Bible with Satan or the Pharisees… Jesus was unconcerned with proving his deity…even when Satan or the religious leaders tempted him to do so.
Sharing the gospel with someone and having constructive conversation is good… but arguing and debating with them is certainly not.
She begins to engage in a theological debate…He’s a Jew and she’s a Samaritan… the Jews worshipped in Jerusalem and the Samaritans worshipped at Mount Gerizim…so she wants to know where’s the right place to worship…Jesus doesn’t bother debating with her.
Just as before when she attempted to derail the discussion on whether or not He was greater than Jacob…Jesus doesn’t condemn her faulty theology or say, “You’re stupid to worship at Mount Gerizim, you need to come over to Mount Zion” that wouldn’t go over well…and would probably have ended the conversation.
She has already perceived that ‘You are a prophet’ …slowly the truth is dawning on this woman…knowing that…Jesus says to her
21 “Woman believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.
He tells her that a time is coming when geography won’t matter…it had long been a matter of dispute between the Jews and the Samarians where the correct place of worship should be…in Jerusalem or Mount Gerizim.
Up until now…even for the Jews…the worship of God had been confined to one place… Jerusalem had been the correct place to worship God.
The worship of God would no longer be confined to a single place…to a building …the place of worship would have no significance at all…God may be worshipped anywhere.
Jesus takes this woman’s implicit question and inquiry about where the correct place to worship God is by defining the three kinds worship:
22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
Three kinds of worship.
First, there was the ignorant worship of the Samaritans… [22] “You Samaritans worship what you do not know.” Nothing changed…people still worshiping what they don’t know…just like the Samaritan woman people get caught up in where they should worship…big churches make you feel more spiritual…hymn music brings you closer to God…not realizing true worship is God-centered worship.
Second kind of worship [22] … salvation is from the Jews. …meaning only the Jews possess the true knowledge of God…again…not my intent to speak ill of other denominations…but we see the same arrogance in the church today…those who want you to believe they are the true church:
Catholic Church is the only true church
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/catholic-church-only-true-church-vatican-says-1.669714
The LDS is the only true Church
(Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p.164-165).
The Church of Christ is the one true church. http://www.netbiblestudy.net/church/
Finally, Jesus spoke of the new worship…the spiritual worship which He Himself came to introduce and to bring about…worshiping in spirit and in truth.
23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
Two truths emerge from this verse:
God is seeking true worshipers.
God is seeking worshipers who will bring him glory…not just for an hour on Sunday…but every day…through all their activities…throughout their whole life.
True worshipers must worship Him in spirit and in truth.
Here’s that word ‘must’ again…indicating that this kind of worship is not an option.
24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.
Those who worship God must, of necessity worship Him in the spirit…true worship is engaging the whole heart…true worship is to worship God with all your HEART …with all your SOUL…and with all your MIGHT…Jesus expanded this to include ‘MIND’ and ‘STRENGTH’ [Mk. 12:30]
Unless there’s a real passion for God, with a desire to glorify him there is no worship in your spirit.
This is one of the first truths of religion… [24] makes a clear point that God Himself is spirit…He is not simply a more complex physical being…or a limited creature… He’s without a body…invisible…not confined to time and space …not restricted to being in a single location like the false gods of most religions.
This is the first recorded instance in Scripture where Jesus defines who are the true worshipers and what true worship includes.
God hates…He hates a lot of things as a matter of fact…one of the things He hates is the misuse of religion…people “worshiping” out of obligation to God…He hates people who follow what Churches prescribe as worship but only out of custom and superstitions…he hates people who don’t want to change their lives…their habits… or to conform to God’s will.
I’m not sure if John wrote this conversation down more for our benefit or for the Samaritan woman…I have no doubt this woman was completely overwhelmed by what Jesus said to her.
People today are still overwhelmed by what Jesus said…true worship is knowing Jesus and trusting in Him as Lord and Savior…not just acknowledging His existence.
To worship “in spirit and truth” can only be attained in and through Jesus alone…it is only through Him that the worship of God can be “in spirit and in truth.” for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.