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“Finding The Water Of Life” |
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A. In John 4, the apostle devotes forty-two verses to the story
of an encounter between Jesus and an unnamed woman, at
a well where she’d come to draw water. This meeting,
between the world’s Savior and this woman with a rather
sordid history, was a life-changing experience for her. In
our reading of this story, we can be assured that such a
significant section of Scripture would not be given to one
episode in Jesus’ earthly life if the lessons we can draw
from it were not supremely important.
B. It may not seem so significant to us, at first glance. In fact,
it strikes us, first, as rather an ordinary tale of an
anonymous woman performing a mundane task: coming to
a well to draw a daily ration of water for her household.
1. She came alone, and she came at a time when she,
no doubt, expected to find no one else at the well
(“. . . It was about the sixth hour”, John 4:6). Most
water was taken from the well early in the morning,
or later in the afternoon, not at Noon, as the text
gives the time here. This probably reflected the
woman’s social status in her village.
2. But, she found a Man sitting and resting near the
well. Jesus’ disciples had gone to the nearby
village to get food. As Jesus had no means to get
water from the well, He asked the woman to
provide Him with a drink.
3. That’s what started this story. It’s not dramatic, but
look closer at the details of the scene and you can
find things greater and more significant than the
superficial evidence suggests.
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II. The Location.
A. The place where this event occurred was “. . . Jacob’s
well . . .” (John 4:6). This wall was located on land
well-known to students of the Old Testament. It was in a
field Jacob had purchased so that he could set up camp in
the land of Canaan (read, Genesis 33:18-19). Jacob built
an alter at the site, “. . . and called it El Elohe Israel [which
means “the God of Israel”] (Genesis 33:20). This piece of
ground was the first inhabitable place that any Israelite ever
owned in this “promised land.” Abraham had bought a
field in Ephron, on which was a cave that became his and
Sarah’s burial place, but here was land where Jacob
intended to live.
1. John 4:5 tells us that this was the same piece of
land that Jacob deeded to his favorite son, Joseph.
It later became the place where Joseph’s remains
were laid to rest (Joshua 24:32). To later
generations of Israelites, the story of Joseph’s bones
brought from Egypt was taken as a reminder of
God’s faithfulness.
2. The well on the property was not mentioned in the
Old Testament, but its location was well-established
in Jesus’ time by centuries of Jewish tradition. The
well is very deep (John 4:11), accessible only by a
very long rope, through a hole dug through a soft
slab of limestone. And, its water was known for its
freshness and purity, as it was spring-fed.
B. Now, this well was located in the territory called
“Samaria.” For Jesus to be in this area at all was unusual,
even scandalous. Why? The Jews considered Samaritans
to be unclean.
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1. The text says Jesus and His disciples were moving
from Jerusalem to Galilee (John 4:3), and the most
direct way to do this was to go through Samaria,
which lay between the two points. But, self-
respecting Jews did not “. . . go through Samaria”
(John 4:4). They preferred a route to the east of the
Jordan River, then north through the Decapolis
(area of “ten cities”), to re-cross the Jordan in
Galilee. This added many miles to the journey, but
it avoided Samaria.
2. The Samaritans were a mixed race of people,
descended from Jews who had intermarried with the
Assyrian conquerors of Israel in the eighth century,
B.C. We have record in the Bible, going back to the
time of Nehemiah, of animosity between the two
groups.
3. In Jesus’ time, the Samaritans had their own distinct
culture built around a religion that blended aspects
of Judaism and paganism. Their place of worship
was Mt. Gerizim, where a temple had been build to
rival the Jewish Temple at Jerusalem. This temple
was served by a false priesthood. This false
worship had begun even before the Assyrian
invasion.
4. The Samaritans did hold to selected elements of
Judaism. They regarded the Pentateuch as sacred,
but rejected the Psalms and the prophets.
5. About a century and-a-half before Jesus came the
Samaritan temple was destroyed by Jews, but
Gerizim remained sacred to the Samaritans, and the
center of their worship.
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C. Jesus sitting at Jacob’s well, in Samaria, went against
Jewish sentiments. But He had a purpose to fulfill and
Samaria had a place in that purpose. John 4:4 says:
“. . . He needed to go through Samaria.”
1. In His human body, and nature, Jesus grew tired
(John 4:6), and thirsty (v. 7).
2. In His godly nature, He talked to a woman of
apparently low character and morals.
D. It astounded the woman that Jesus even spoke to her at
all (v. 9). When the disciples returned they were equally
shocked to find Jesus speaking to the woman (John 4:27).
Not only did Jesus talk to her, he asked the unclean woman
for a drink, which would make the very vessel that held the
water unclean, also.
E. What is so significant in this conversation, and in this
physical setting, is that Jesus chose this time, and place, to
explicitly reveal His true identity as the Messiah.
III. The Conversation.
A. Most likely, Jesus said these first words to the woman
casually and in a friendly tone: “. . . ‘Give Me a drink’”
(John 4:7). But, it’s not phrased as a question, but as a
command. The woman was surprised Jesus would even
speak to her, much less drink from: “. . . ‘How is it that
You, being a Jew, ask a drink of me, a Samaritan
woman?’. . .”
B. Bypassing the woman’s question Jesus replies to her:
(re-read verse 11). Here we begin to get the real message
Jesus wanted to communicate to this woman.
1. What a claim! Her response is in verses 11 and 12
(re-read).
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2. In fact, Jesus was greater than Jacob, and that’s the
point He wanted to demonstrate to the woman. His
focus was on the spiritual, not the physical “water of life”
(re-read verses 13 and 14).
3. The curiosity this declaration raised was evident in
the woman’s next statement: “. . . ‘Sir, give me this
water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to
draw.’” (John 4:15).
4. Did the woman understand Jesus was talking about
spiritual, and not physical, water? Maybe by now
she did. Her request of Jesus for “. . . this water. . .”
still carried with it a more physical aspect: “. . . that
I may not . . . come here to draw.” To have water
that would satisfy one’s thirst once-and-for-all
would mean an easier life for her. But, you cannot
help to believe she understood Jesus’ statement as a
metaphor.
C. Jesus’ next statement gave the woman a dilemma. Having
offered her something very good, Jesus now brought up
something very bad. (“. . . ‘Go, call your husband, and
come here.’” (John 4:16).
1. How could she tell this stranger the truth? How
could she admit to this stranger she was not just
another woman with a husband? This was not her
life. So, she replied with a half-truth: “. . . ‘I have
no husband.’” (John 4:17).
2. She found that she didn’t have to admit anything.
This man already knew her story. Rather than
rebuke her as a liar, Jesus commends her for the
portion of truth she told. She didn’t deny her sin,
but she expressed no pride in her situation, either.
She was not defensive about it.
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3. When the woman later recounted her meeting with
Jesus, what left the strongest impression on her was
the fact that this Man: “. . . told me all things that I
ever did. . . .” (John 4:29).
4. Even knowing all about her less-than-perfect life,
Jesus still offered her the “water of life.”
D. Who was this Man, and how did He know so much about
her and her life? Did this Man have special knowledge
from God? Apparently, the woman thought so, as she
acknowledges that she sees Him as a “prophet” (verse 19).
If He is, indeed, one with divine knowledge He could
answer a question that was the main point of religious
contention between the Jews and the Samaritans. Who was
right? Was worship to be at Jerusalem, or at Gerizim?
Jesus gave her a brief, but meaningful answer: (Read
John 4:21-24). With this reply, Jesus accomplished several
things:
1. He let the woman know where you worship is not
the issue. True worship is defined by who you worship and by how you worship.
2. He made it clear that the religious tradition this
woman had known was completely false (v. 22).
3. He steered her back to the main point of his telling
her about the “living water.” A new time was
coming soon, and neither the traditions of the Jews
nor the Samaritans will apply under the new
covenant He would institute.
E. “The woman said to Him, ‘I know that Messiah is
coming.’” (Who is called Christ). “’ When He comes,
He will tell us all things.’” (John 4:25).
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1. Here is a Samaritan woman, born and raised in
a religiously corrupt culture, her personal life a
shambles and sinful, yet with a messianic hope.
2. Here is a Jewish Man who had told her what true
religion would be, and had also told her “. . . all
things . . .” about herself.
F. Having looked at the location, and listened to the
conversation there remained only the revelation – who is the true Messiah, the real “living water” that satisfies thirst for eternity?
IV. Conclusion.
A. It is interesting that this conversation between Jesus and
the Samaritan woman follows a similar pattern to the
discussion Jesus had with the Pharisee, Nicodemus.
1. Jesus’ statement is misunderstood and taken in a
more-physical than spiritual sense (“born again”;
“living water.”).
2. Jesus re-words His statement in a more-vivid way,
but it is still not fully understood (“. . . born of
water and the Spirit. . .” (John 3:5); “. . . a fountain
of water springing up into everlasting life”
(John 4:14). Nicodemus said: “. . . ‘How can these
things be?’” (John 3:9). The Samaritan woman
said: “. . . ‘give me this water that I may not thirst,
nor come here to draw.’” (John 4:15).
3. Then, Jesus compels each person to face the truth
for themselves.
4. This was Jesus’ way of teaching.
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B. Just as Nicodemus did, the woman took the words of Jesus
literally, when He meant them to be understood spiritually.
C. At the center of this conversation is the fundamental truth
that human beings thirst for something that only Jesus can
satisfy. To discover who Jesus really is, and what He can
really offer, is to find that “living water.”