The Gospel of John - part 10

preached Nov 25, 2018

Jesus meets an outcast

Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. And he had to pass through Samaria. So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.

A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

John 4:1-14

Jesus rests at the well, because he is tired. It is helpful and right to remember that Jesus is both human and Divine. As a human, He needed water and rest at times. We should also note here the disciples have gone on a food run. Jesus, alone, has approached this woman creating great social tension.

First, Jewish men, especially rabbis, did not talk with women in public. Borchert in NAC notes they did not even talk with their wives in public. Even more so, they would not talk theology. Second, Jews in general did not associate with Samaritans. Samaritans were the “half-breeds” of Judaism. Understanding verse 9 requires a short history lesson:

When the Assyrians conquered Israel (See Chronicles and Kings) around 740 BC, they treated the Israelites as other conquered nations. They forcibly moved people out of their native lands and spread them across the empire. Additionally, they took some Assyrians and relocated them into Israel. The goal was forced assimilation. If the conquered people would identify themselves as Assyrians rather than their former people, then they would not rebel. Thus, some Jews inter-married with the Assyrians. Fast-forward past the time of the exile, and Ezra and Nehemiah lead the people back into Israel. However, they issue a call to purify their land and family by removing the pagan influence of idols and customs. Whoever would not fully submit to the Torah was to be cast out of Israel, even if it meant spouses or children. Some Jews would not comply, and they organized in Samaria appointing Mt. Gerizim as the place for the holy temple while the Jews placed their temple on Moriah.

Thus, the Samaritans were degraded by Jews, not just on issues regarding ethnicity, but also on the grounds they were considered blasphemers who allowed pagan influence and failed to stand against the Assyrian policies. You may have heard that Jews were travel around Samaria in order to avoid contact with them, but we should also remember that any route around the land of Israel presented ceremonial problems. Apparently, at the time, it was better for Jews to risk exposure to Gentiles than exposure to Samaritans. (History always seems to favor those who stand on convictions than to offer some half-hearted attempt at compromise.)

Thus, we have the first point for today:

Jesus values people over social conventions.

We must always remember that sometimes being like Christ means breaking social norms. It does not mean we are anarchists, but simply that if the choice is between upholding traditional conventions of ‘good society’ and leading someone to Jesus, we lead the person to Jesus. The great tragedy of any era in Church History is always when Christians fail to see the humanity in their fellow humans. Whether the Crusades, the Spaniard conquest of South America, the wars between Protestant and Catholics, or the international slave trade, all of these are examples of humans, and yes sometimes Christians, forgetting we are all cousins in the line of Adam.

Do not make the same mistake. No matter what category of people irk you the most, remember Christ died for them too. And even if it is a righteous irk, (what they do really is sinful and wrong) your attitude toward them should not stand between them and the Gospel.

In fact, as this story illustrates, the people most antagonistic to traditional values are those usually most willing to listen. They know they are broken. They just also know society offers little to help them.

Point 2: Jesus offers living water

‘Living water’ is a bit difficult to explain without a quick Greek lesson. The New Testament has three words that we typically translate as ‘life’.

Bios - used in the story of the woman who gave her last penny, in the parable of the sower when speaking of “life’s cares and worries”, and in 1 John 3:17 to refer to “worldly goods”. It is the earthly life we have that is deteriorating and will end.

Psyche - used in Matt 11:29 when Jesus says, “Take my yoke and find rest for your soul”, in 1 John 3:16 when referring to Jesus laying down His life. It is translated as ‘life’ and ‘soul’ almost equally. It refers to the soul or personality of a person. It could also be translated “way of life” in some cases, such as John 12:25:

“Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”

Zoe - Most used of the three in the NT; used here and throughout the New Testament to mean “eternal life”. John 3:16, John 10:10, and every promise of life from Jesus uses Zoe.

Why is this important?

It is vitally important, because it prioritizes the Christian life. The things of this earth are the least important. They may still hold some importance, but not as much as eternity. Our bios will fade away. This whole world’s bios is fading away. That’s not an excuse to abuse the earth, but it is wise to remember that all things are temporary.

Likewise, our psyche is important in terms of living well on earth, but it is not the most important. Whatever lifestyle and personality we have on earth can be a good thing, but if it prevents us from entering heaven, then we must rid ourselves of it.

Typically, we think of a lifestyle that keeps us from God as a sinful life, and rightly so. However, we must also remember that ‘comfort’ and ‘complacency’ may not be overtly sinful, but if they block us from living the eternal life Jesus gives, then it is still a problem.

We must always strive for the zoe, the eternal life, that is found in Jesus. And when we drink from the living water that Jesus gives, we ourselves develop a spring of life inside us that flows to others. Christians are not just consumers of Godly Life, we are channels for others to find life as well.

Jesus cuts through the religious jargon

The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

John 4:15-26

The barrier to life is our sin.

Notice Jesus doesn’t tell her she should become Jewish or worship with the Jews. He asks her about her husband. Now, we don’t know why she has had so many husbands. They may have died, or she may have been divorced five times. In either case, she would still be seen by the people as cursed. Regardless, she is now living with a man who is not her husband.

This poor woman is broken. She is broken by her choices and how she has been treated by the people around her. I wish we had more of the story. I want to know what happens after she leads the city to follow Jesus. What happens with her boyfriend? What did Jesus tell her to do about how she has been living?

I want to know, because this story is so common in the world today. There are so many people who have been mistreated and cast away, because their life doesn’t fit the mold of society. How many women lament they seem to be attracted to bums and not a real man? How many men are willing to cast off their wife because something better came along? And if we accept that she was perfectly fine, but her husbands kept dying on her, that just brings up the number of people who feel like they are cursed, because life never seems to work out like they’d hoped. Time after time they have been tormented by the brutality of a fallen world.

It’s such a common story, because we are all afflicted by sin and its effects. When she asks where to find living water, Jesus brings up her marriages, because the root of her problems is sin. And that sin has led to multiple marriages. Again, we don’t know the details, but we know that this is a sensitive subject. After Jesus brings up her living conditions, she immediately changes the subject to ‘church’.

And isn’t that always the way?

Just when you think you’ve made progress witnessing to someone, they bring up something about the church. (Pro tip: that’s how you know you’ve hit a soft spot.)

But here’s what we know: Jesus offers the cure for our brokenness. He told her if she knew who she was speaking with, He could give her water that would help her to never thirst again. Our sin leads us dry and thirsty. We are always looking for something to quench it, but nothing ever really satisfies. We end up going day after day to the same well hoping for a fix, but knowing it won’t last.


Church! Stop looking for temporary fixes to your eternal problem: Look to Jesus for an eternal fix. Drink from the living water and be satisfied.

True worship is in spirit and truth.

Last, Jesus tells her the hour has come when true worshipers will worship in spirit and truth. It isn’t about physical locations, God is spirit and must be worshiped in spirit. Lifeless rituals and tokens of worship are not what God desires, He desires true worship from a heart that wants to worship Him.

Once we drink the living water that Jesus offers, our desires are transformed. We no longer worship because we have to, we worship because we want to. True worship is worship from a heart turned to God. External matters mean little. It’s the internal that matters.

True worship is an attitude of faith and rejoicing in good or bad. It reminds me of the old hymn, “It is Well”.

When peace like a river attendeth my way,

  When sorrows like sea billows roll;

Whatever my lot Thou hast taught me to say,

  “It is well, it is well with my soul!”

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,

  Let this blest assurance control,

That Christ hath regarded my helpless estate,

  And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

My sin—oh, the bliss of this glorious thought—

  My sin, not in part, but the whole,

Is nailed to His Cross, and I bear it no more;

  Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live;

  If dark hours about me shall roll,

No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life

  Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

Can you say, “It is well”? Can you say, “My thirst is quenched”?