01.19.2014 The Woman at the Well - The Spiritual Trumps the Physical

1.19.2014 from Grace Summit on Vimeo.

Thank You, that we can be together with You this morning. Our desire is to follow You with all our hearts and to be pleasing to You. We press toward that goal, because You gave Your life for us and because You love us. As we look at the Gospel of John, may we see You and have a deeper understanding of who you are and what You have done and that we might follow You more faithfully.
John 4 – the famous story of the woman at the well. This is the third time I have gone through this in the past 5 years – and as I look at this – it seems that there is layer after layer – and one could do 5-6 sermons on this and focus on a different aspect every time.
The Bible is the inspired word of God – and you get the sense of how amazing this book is. No individual person, without being inspired by God, could take this story and turn it into so much – with all the nuances of the story and it gives me a sense of WOW! God’s word is amazing! It is not just a book, but God was intimately involved.
I might leave out a section that you think is important – but I have sections I would like to focus on.
John4: 3 He left Judea and went away again into Galilee. 4 And He had to pass through Samaria. 5 So He *came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph; 6 and Jacob’s well was there. So Jesus, being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about [a]the sixth hour.
7 There *came a woman of Samaria to draw water.
Samaria – part of the northern kingdom – Israel, that historically had gone astray. Samaria was the capital of the northern kingdom. The southern kingdom was in the line of David and its capital was Jerusalem. They had good kings and bad kings.
In 722 BC, the northern kingdom fell to the Assyrians and were eventually scattered in what is called The Diaspora. Some Jews were left in the area – but what the Assyrians did was to resettle the area with foreigners, and there was a lot of intermarriage and a mixing of faith – part Jewish and part Pagan.
In 586 BC, Jerusalem fell and they were scattered as well.
In 76 BC, many of the Jews came back to the area, but there was still this division between the Samaritans and those who considered themselves true Jews.
This led up to Jesus turning the tables in the temple – who mixed the world with the Temple of God – He held nothing back in getting rid of them out the temple – and compare that with how He treats this woman who is totally mixed up – and Jesus approaches her differently, with grace and kindness. I think this shows us that God demands more from those who ought to know what is right. To him who is given much shall much be required!
Back to the passage…
It was the sixth hour… - noonish, maybe 1:00 – and women would go to the well – because it was a hot place, would go in the early morning or later in the evening because it was cooler. Also, it is understood that it was typical for women to go in groups. For a woman to be at the well in the middle of the day – this brings up red flags. Partly – when we find out more about the woman and her shame – she was probably ostracizes from the community and probably the women didn’t want to be around her and she didn’t want to be around with them.
Also, John contrasts night and day, light and darkness. When did the religious leader come see Jesus? In the middle of the night – darkness is not a good thing. But see what else John does – the Woman comes at the brightest point of the day.
The story goes on… Jesus *said to her, “Give Me a drink.” 8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. 9 Therefore the Samaritan woman *said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)
There is shock there – the Jews and Samaritans had animosity between them and a Jewish man would REALLY not talk to a Samaritan woman. Jesus is breaking down barriers of the culture – barriers that were constructed but never intended by God.
This woman has 3 strikes – 1) Woman -2) Samaritan – and literally translated – a woman – who is 3) a Samaritan Woman.
But this is Jesus. He is not only talking to her, but asking for help.
We know that He knows what is wrong with this woman. And the first thing He does – he affirms her humanity. This woman coming to the well in shame – He places Himself and her on equal footing. In the relationship that is what He is doing.
10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
We go back to Nicodemus and the turning of the tables in the Temple – they were asking – show us something to prove it – and Jesus responds with a spiritual answer. They respond back with a physical question.
Same with Nicodemus – you must be born again – speaking spiritually – he thinks it is physical…
Spiritual water – she thinks it is physical.
And we see through John that you cannot develop spiritual vision without the work of God in life. A person cannot see spiritual truths unless God reveals them to us – everyone misses it – until Jesus makes it plain.
11 She *said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water? 12 You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?”
She is a Samaritan – they go back to Jacob. Just like Nicodemus believed he was good because he was born Jewish – and Jesus responded – that is not good enough – you need a radical transition – you need to be born again. Then the woman is kind of saying - I am good because of my heritage in Jacob – and Jesus is saying – that is not good enough…
13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”
15 The woman *said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw.”
There is a monastery on top of Jacob’s well – and the thing that is unique – there is an underground spring that feeds into this well – it is like the prize of the Samaritans that gives them their place – but you have to keep coming out here – and it never fully satisfies.
Jesus is saying – Look – I have water that can fully satisfy – that can change everything you do about your life.
Just like all the other passages we have looked at – he is going back to the Old Testament – and John is saying – Jesus is the Messiah and He has come.
Zech. 14: 8 And in that day living waters will flow out of Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea and the other half toward the western sea; it will be in summer as well as in winter.
There is this concept of living water.
Jer. 2:13 “For My people have committed two evils:
They have forsaken Me,
The fountain of living waters,
To hew for themselves cisterns,
Broken cisterns
That can hold no water.
Jesus is telling them who He is through these metaphors.
16 He *said to her, “Go, call your husband and come here.”
Jesus totally changes the subject…
17 The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus *said to her, “You have correctly said, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly.”
He completely turns the tables on the woman – just like HE did in the temple – and what He does is to open her heart and to reveal her sin and brokenness and to reveal her true need – not for physical water, but for living water. This is the beginning of the conversion process for this woman. No one can come to Christ unless there is a sense of conviction in their souls and heart – a person must have an understanding of their sin and brokenness to come to Christ.
It is time for a commercial – if you watch sports – this was on several times – a Nissan commercial – 3 people in it – they are going to be late – so the car goes up this ramp – and jumps onto a train – and there is a disclaimer at the bottom – “This is not real – cars can’t drive on trains” –
In the same way, there should be a disclaimer here – Don’t go trying to convict people of sin – if you think you have something on the person – yes, speak the truth, but allow the Holy Spirit do the convicting. The preachers at OSU would point to people and call them bad things – and they didn’t even know the person. The Spirit does the work as we share the truth of the gospel – He brings conviction into hearts.
19 The woman *said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.
When someone tells you things about your life – you might perceive that he is a prophet. SO she asks the pressing question:
20 Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” 21 Jesus *said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.
He doesn’t ignore her, but deals directly with her question in kindness and gentleness. Maybe she is trying to divert the guilt – but He simply addresses her question. Tim Keller talks about Defeater Beliefs – things that prevent people from coming to Christ – or believing that God really loves them – like, if God is a loving God, why are there tsunamis that kill 200,000 people?
Another thing that happens – yes, there are worldview things that keep people from faith – but there are times there are things that Christians do, the way Christians act – that keep people from the faith. But Jesus turns it to her – it is about you.
22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. 24 God is [e]spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
It is not about a mountain, temple – it is about a person – and it is about a personal relationship with the God who loves you and gave Himself for You.
It is about you and your personal faith in a person, Jesus Christ.
25 The woman *said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.” 26 Jesus *said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”
Remember, the Samaritans live outside the mountain where Moses got the Ten Commandments – and said, I AM – and Jesus says – I am.
At this point – the three stooges came –and they were amazed…
27 At this point His disciples came, and they were amazed that He had been speaking with a woman, yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Why do You speak with her?”
Jesus is talking there – and no one would say a word to one another – and each was kinda’ saying – YOU go talk to Jesus about this!
28 So the woman left her waterpot, and went into the city and *said to the men, 29 “Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not [f]the Christ, is it?” 30 They went out of the city, and were coming to Him.
Think about this – all the people who would have gossiped about this woman – and who probably ostracized her – and she comes to them and says – this guy has told me everything I have ever done…
And it shows grace and acceptance – and instead of deep shame – she is proclaiming Christ – I don’t care what you think about me anymore, there is Someone who has brought me back… He not only restores her humanity – but restores her to the community.
31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” 32 But He said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.”
Spiritual/Physical – here we go again…
33 So the disciples were saying to one another, “No one brought Him anything to eat, did he?” 34 Jesus *said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work. 35 Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest. 36 Already he who reaps is receiving wages and is gathering fruit for life eternal; so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. 37 For in this case the saying is true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored and you have entered into their labor.”
In closing – the message for us – it is time to be about the Kingdom work – His disciples are into the work of this world – and we forget to be engaged in the unseen things – the spiritual things – the work of sowing and reaping – and He tells us how to do this by initiating – and engaging the world outside. Jesus passed through Samaria and engaged a Samaritan woman.
We all have Samarias – and Samaritan people placed in our lives – where God wants us to take initiative and engage to sow and to reap – to simply be able to tell our faith story – to live in such a way as to destroy their concerns.
IN our young adult group – one guy and another have a group of friends – and they don’t like Christians. When they found out we were Christians – they couldn’t believe it – by the way they were treating them. We have opportunity – and God is calling us to engage in the work of His kingdom.