Text: John 4:5-26
Facebook live: The water of life is found in Christ!
23 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. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 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.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
When I was 13 or 14 a friend of my mother’s asked if I wanted to earn a little money. Her husband was replacing their driveway and he needed a helper. So, I walked a few blocks over for two days and helped break concrete and put the pieces in a truck. It was hard work. I was tired and worn out and I drank a ton of water, and at the end of two days the man told me that he was paying me a dollar an hour and he gave me 18 dollars.
23 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. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 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.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
When I was 13 or 14 a friend of my mother’s asked if I wanted to earn a little money. Her husband was replacing their driveway and he needed a helper. So, I walked a few blocks over for two days and helped break concrete and put the pieces in a truck. It was hard work. I was tired and worn out and I drank a ton of water, and at the end of two days the man told me that he was paying me a dollar an hour and he gave me 18 dollars.
Well, there was not a lot of grace in that pay day!
On his journey north with his disciples, Jesus came to the little city of Sychar, which was located almost in the center of Samaria.
Near this town there was a piece of land which the patriarch Jacob had given to his son Joseph in addition to his share of the country, Gen. 48, 22. It was on this piece of land that Joseph was buried. And here was also a well or cistern which Jacob had dug after his return from Mesopotamia. The well, which is now known as “Jacob's well,” is about a hundred feet deep and is protected by a wall. Jesus, being true man, had become very tired literally, tired out — by the long journey of the morning; for it was now high noon. So He sat down at the well.
P.E. Kretzmann NT vol. 1 pg 427
7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
Those of you who have ever worked outside or had been on long walks during the summer might have an idea of just how thirsty you can get.
A few summers ago, I replaced the wood on my deck. It was four long days of hard work and not being as young as I was when I built it, I was exhausted.
As we all get older and with the advent of air conditioning in every room and space we live, we can tend to get a little spoiled … especially me, who spent my entire work life in a cool office during the summer and a warm office during the winter. But outside in the heat of the day you feel it!
There were a few things going on here. First Jesus was tired and thirsty but the one who approached the well was a Samaritan and it was of her that Jesus had asked for a drink.
Israel had been carried into exile by the Assyrians in 722 BC and a small group of Israelites had remained behind who mingled with the pagan culture of Mesopotamia.
These are the people who became the Samaritans so there was a long and wide divide between the Jews and the Samaritans.
This explains her reaction to Jesus’ question:
9 …, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?”
There had not been much love between these two peoples and if you’ve had tension in your family or witnessed it you might know how this might play out … when two people that have not spoken to each other for years suddenly find themselves face to face.
Tension, can cause families to break and peace can at times be, only for a little while.
Divisions can divide people, evident in the current tensions in our world, but reconciliation must be truly on an individual basis.
The median used is water which can quench our thirst for a little while. It is something everyone can relate to.
Jesus knows both the Samaritan woman’s thirst and that He is the cure.
She sees the old problem and looks not to a solution but only at the problem.
11 … “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with
The immediate need is for a drink. The well and bucket fill that need. Jesus though, looks to filling her greater need saying:
“Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 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.”
Dear friends, even thousands of gallons of water will only quench our earthly thirst for a time before you and I get thirsty again. But Jesus gives us living water through faith in him and that takes away our sins and brings us to eternal life in his finished work.
The woman takes the bait of what Jesus wishes to give her saying:
15 … “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”
We all what our problem solved, whether water, food, money, the earthly needs continue.
Jesus tells her to “Go, call your husband, and come here.” Knowing full well that when she says “I have no husband,” he answers her that she has had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband.
To this He adds: “What you have said is true.”
Boy, that would get my attention and I’m sure yours as well and though this was probably not a well-kept secret on her part, the fact that Jesus knew this detail of her complicated life causes her to pause.
She now understands that this man, this Jesus, is something special - even calling him a “prophet” and turning the question from herself, she deflects the question to the age-old problem of Jews and Samaritans saying:
20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.”
Jesus could have said, what does that have to do with your current situation and the five husbands? But instead, he desires something better. He desires her to know him in spirit and truth neither on this mountain or in Jerusalem.
23 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. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Jesus tells her that not on the mountain and not in Jerusalem but true worship will be in spirit and truth.
Jesus is not looking to correct her living relationship until she has her eternal living relationship corrected.
25 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.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
This Messiah that she is expecting and is waiting for is right here with her!
This living Christ is right here for you!
This living Christ forgives your sin and cleanses you from all unrighteousness.
This living Christ call you to himself and by faith in him you are forgiven.
The living water himself, Jesus, who quenches our eternal thirst is the one, who by the Holy Spirit’s work in us, brings us to believe and trust in him.
Our spiritual thirst is never to return because in Christ we have been brought into his family by faith and daily we live in him.
As the story unfolds the woman goes to tell others and brings them to Jesus!
The Samaritan woman’s faith was found in the Jew, Jesus Christ, at the well and by the word of God through faith she believed.
The water of life is found in Christ!
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit
Amen
On his journey north with his disciples, Jesus came to the little city of Sychar, which was located almost in the center of Samaria.
Near this town there was a piece of land which the patriarch Jacob had given to his son Joseph in addition to his share of the country, Gen. 48, 22. It was on this piece of land that Joseph was buried. And here was also a well or cistern which Jacob had dug after his return from Mesopotamia. The well, which is now known as “Jacob's well,” is about a hundred feet deep and is protected by a wall. Jesus, being true man, had become very tired literally, tired out — by the long journey of the morning; for it was now high noon. So He sat down at the well.
P.E. Kretzmann NT vol. 1 pg 427
7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
Those of you who have ever worked outside or had been on long walks during the summer might have an idea of just how thirsty you can get.
A few summers ago, I replaced the wood on my deck. It was four long days of hard work and not being as young as I was when I built it, I was exhausted.
As we all get older and with the advent of air conditioning in every room and space we live, we can tend to get a little spoiled … especially me, who spent my entire work life in a cool office during the summer and a warm office during the winter. But outside in the heat of the day you feel it!
There were a few things going on here. First Jesus was tired and thirsty but the one who approached the well was a Samaritan and it was of her that Jesus had asked for a drink.
Israel had been carried into exile by the Assyrians in 722 BC and a small group of Israelites had remained behind who mingled with the pagan culture of Mesopotamia.
These are the people who became the Samaritans so there was a long and wide divide between the Jews and the Samaritans.
This explains her reaction to Jesus’ question:
9 …, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?”
There had not been much love between these two peoples and if you’ve had tension in your family or witnessed it you might know how this might play out … when two people that have not spoken to each other for years suddenly find themselves face to face.
Tension, can cause families to break and peace can at times be, only for a little while.
Divisions can divide people, evident in the current tensions in our world, but reconciliation must be truly on an individual basis.
The median used is water which can quench our thirst for a little while. It is something everyone can relate to.
Jesus knows both the Samaritan woman’s thirst and that He is the cure.
She sees the old problem and looks not to a solution but only at the problem.
11 … “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with
The immediate need is for a drink. The well and bucket fill that need. Jesus though, looks to filling her greater need saying:
“Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 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.”
Dear friends, even thousands of gallons of water will only quench our earthly thirst for a time before you and I get thirsty again. But Jesus gives us living water through faith in him and that takes away our sins and brings us to eternal life in his finished work.
The woman takes the bait of what Jesus wishes to give her saying:
15 … “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”
We all what our problem solved, whether water, food, money, the earthly needs continue.
Jesus tells her to “Go, call your husband, and come here.” Knowing full well that when she says “I have no husband,” he answers her that she has had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband.
To this He adds: “What you have said is true.”
Boy, that would get my attention and I’m sure yours as well and though this was probably not a well-kept secret on her part, the fact that Jesus knew this detail of her complicated life causes her to pause.
She now understands that this man, this Jesus, is something special - even calling him a “prophet” and turning the question from herself, she deflects the question to the age-old problem of Jews and Samaritans saying:
20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.”
Jesus could have said, what does that have to do with your current situation and the five husbands? But instead, he desires something better. He desires her to know him in spirit and truth neither on this mountain or in Jerusalem.
23 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. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Jesus tells her that not on the mountain and not in Jerusalem but true worship will be in spirit and truth.
Jesus is not looking to correct her living relationship until she has her eternal living relationship corrected.
25 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.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
This Messiah that she is expecting and is waiting for is right here with her!
This living Christ is right here for you!
This living Christ forgives your sin and cleanses you from all unrighteousness.
This living Christ call you to himself and by faith in him you are forgiven.
The living water himself, Jesus, who quenches our eternal thirst is the one, who by the Holy Spirit’s work in us, brings us to believe and trust in him.
Our spiritual thirst is never to return because in Christ we have been brought into his family by faith and daily we live in him.
As the story unfolds the woman goes to tell others and brings them to Jesus!
The Samaritan woman’s faith was found in the Jew, Jesus Christ, at the well and by the word of God through faith she believed.
The water of life is found in Christ!
In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit
Amen
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