John 4:43-54

After extending His stay in Samaria, Jesus traveled north back to Galilee. We are told, in verse 45, that the Galileans welcomed Him, because many had seen Him do miracles in Jerusalem when they had been there for Passover. They weren’t looking for a Savior, but they were excited to see miracles.

Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.


“Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.” (John 4:46-48)

Contrast the attitude of those in his home territory with those in Samaria! However, Jesus was always moved with compassion and love. He knew before coming to Earth that His own would reject Him, as would most of the world. But love compelled Him.

The royal official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.”


Jesus replied, “You may go. Your son will live.”


The man took Jesus at his word and departed. While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, “The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour.”


Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he and all his household believed.


This was the second miraculous sign that Jesus performed, having come from Judea to Galilee. (vs. 49-54)

If you are at all familiar with the story of the Roman centurion who came to Jesus about his dying son (Matthew 8), you can see the parallels and the differences. The Roman centurion knew that Jesus did not need to come to his son, but only speak the word and his boy would be healed. Jesus commended the faith of the Gentile soldier. However, in this scene, the Jewish official orders Jesus to come to his home. Nevertheless, Jesus healed the man’s son! What patience and forbearance He needs when dealing with us! How many times do we also “order” Jesus to do something for us? Lacking humility, we set our plans without asking for His input, then ask Him to bless them!

The redeeming feature of this royal official was that he took Jesus at his word! Jon Courson tells us that the man apparently trusted completely, because he certainly did not rush home. Courson writes that the distance between Cana and Capernaum is about a four hour walk, so he was not running home. When he returned to indeed find his son healed, he and his whole household believed - just like the story of the Roman centurion. So, even though the man’s attitude wasn’t the best and his faith may have been weak at first, he took Jesus at his word. And Jesus, because He loved the man and his family, performed a miracle for this miracle-seeking man - and this man and his whole household believed!

What more evidence do we need that God’s grace does NOT depend on us? How thankful I am that HE is the One who is faithful and true! His love endures forever!

 

John 4:39-42

Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers.


They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.” (John 4:39-42)

What a turnaround for the Samaritan woman! She could have kept to herself that she had found the Savior. After all, He had seen deep into her soul and knew exactly what her life had been like. It would be one thing to share that intimate knowledge with her Savior, but quite another to then go share her story with the villagers who held her in contempt. But because she was filled with joy after having experienced His compassion and love, she was compelled to tell others.

She did not have a prepared three-point sermon; she could not give exegetical evidence for her faith; but she could give her personal testimony. And the crowd was moved by it. They came to see for themselves. While their curiosity was piqued by what they saw and heard from the women, it was their own personal encounters with Jesus, during His two-day visit, that made many of them believers.

Never underestimate the power of your testimony! Even just your invitation to “come and see” may open the door to another. Who in your neighborhood or office might be just waiting for an invitation? If your coworkers have seen something different in you, they might be open to come to church with you or to join you at your Bible study. What changes in your attitudes might persuade your own family members to check out the Savior?

We can imagine that life was never the same for that woman in Samaria. Many who had previously scorned her would then be eternally grateful to her for transparently sharing her story. I find it interesting that we don’t know her name. We were given Nicodemus’ name, and the name o the disciples, of course, and even the names of several women who followed Jesus. But this one remains “the Samaritan woman.” I don’t suppose she cares, though, because she wasn’t one to seek attention. And she knows that Jesus knows her name. That’s all that matters! And in our era, when everyone seeks his or her fifteen minutes of fame, and when social media make it possible to promote oneself in a big way (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.), it’s refreshing to read about a woman who, two thousand years ago, just wanted to promote her Savior!

 

John 4:27-38

Just as Jesus makes His declaration to the Samaritan woman, the disciples return. I love how John describes their reaction to finding Jesus at the well with this woman:

Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?” (John 4:27)

Although none of them dared question openly, apparently they were certainly wondering what in the world Jesus was doing with such a woman. Jesus was going to set them straight!

Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” They came out of the town and made their way toward him.


Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”


But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”


Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?” (vs.31-33)

We finally see here the response of the woman to her encounter with Jesus: she left her water jar and ran to tell others about Jesus! Now, don’t you wonder if a few eyebrows didn’t raise when she said this man “told me everything I ever did,”? They surely knew her reputation, but with this declaration, she pretty much is admitting it all openly to these people who had scorned her. They were witnessing an immediate change in this woman who used to go out of her way to avoid their eyes.

Meanwhile, back at the well, the disciples were encouraging Jesus to eat what they had brought back, but He apparently had already eaten! The disciples were confused, not understanding that He was sustained and filled to the brim by doing the Father’s will. And then Jesus addresses their prejudice against the Samaritans. As the people of the town were making their way down the road to see Him for themselves, Jesus points out that these people, despised and rejected by the Jews, were ripe for the picking. They were hungry for and ready to hear the gospel:

“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”  (vs.34-38)

Jesus was challenging the disciples and us to open our eyes to see the needy people all around us who are so ready to hear the good news of salvation through Christ. Because we tend to view the world with worldly eyes, we are ignoring the “invisible” people right next to us in our neighborhoods, in our offices, in our classrooms. I know, as a teacher, that all teachers love working with the gifted kids. They are usually excited to learn, motivated to do their best, and they energize your classroom. But truly, they are the easiest ones to work with! It’s the quiet ones, the struggling ones who have no support at home and few friends at school, the ones you don’t even realize are absent until mid-morning, who are the ones who truly need a good teacher to take an interest. Jesus is telling me that these are where the harvest is!

First, let me make it clear that I do not evangelize children in a public school setting. I’m not there to actively witness to children. Their spiritual training is their parents’ responsibility (would somebody please explain that to the parents??). My job, as a Christian in a public school, is to LOVE these kids, do my best to teach them the curriculum, while also instilling a love for learning. I am responsible for doing my job in the best way possible. With that said, this message from Jesus this morning reminds me that it’s my low group - the ones who never do their homework or study for tests, the ones who appear destined to fail in the world’s eyes - these are the harvest!

Who are the “Samaritans” of your personal world? Do you see them through the eyes of the disciples or through the eyes of Jesus? I’ve been challenged here, how about you?

 

John 4:19-26 revisited

I want to revisit the last part of the dialogue between Jesus and the Samaritan woman, because this story is so poignant. Even when the woman confessed that she had been living a life of sin, she was not quite ready to deal with the personal issue. She was only comfortable with a general religious discussion:

“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” (John 4:19-20)

But Jesus made it clear that it is not WHERE you worship that matters. It’s not the special building, temple, or cathedral that counts. It’s WHOM and HOW you worship that God cares about.

“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” (vs.23-24)

The woman was finally beginning to get it, for she realized that she needed to be looking for the promised Messiah. And Jesus boldly claimed, “I who speak to you am he.” (vs.26)  Imagine her thoughts! The very One that she had been taught to wait for was standing right in front of her, a miserable sinner, a lowly woman! She had come to the well alone in the heat of the day to avoid the scorn of other women, and found the Messiah, the Savior of the world, waiting for her! She had spent her life trying to fill the void in her spirit by seeking her worth from multiple men, yet she had remained empty. In fact, I’m certain that void grew bigger with every futile relationship. While the people of this village probably judged her, Jesus LOVED her. He had come out of His way just to meet her!

I love this story! When we consider the lack of value given to women in general in those times, it is so wonderful to see Jesus treat her with dignity and compassion. He did not harangue her to repent, he just very gently showed her the reality of her life. Then He offered her hope in Himself, the Living Water. While His message is always the same - we need to be born spiritually from the inside out by His Spirit - that message is always personally delivered to each of us in a way that opens our hearts to receive Him.

What a personal God! How He loves us! How did He come to you? I’d love to hear your stories!

Next time, we will see the results of this encounter.

 

John 4:9-26

As we look at this dialogue between Jesus and the Samaritan woman, let’s note how Jesus is able to keep the discussion focused when she tries to sidetrack it.

When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)


The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)


Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” (John 4:7-10)

While we know that Jesus came to serve, not be served, there were times in His ministry when He allowed others to serve him, and this is one of those times. Instead of gallantly offering to get the water, he asks her to draw it for Him. It is so much easier for us to give sometimes than to be on the receiving end. It requires humbling to allow another to do something for us. However, when we do this, we are often providing an opportunity for blessing that the other person would have missed otherwise. Don’t be afraid to allow others to serve you once in a while. It may open the door to sharing the gospel, as it did in this case with the Samaritan woman.

This woman was surprised when Jesus spoke with her. After all, she was a despised Samaritan - and a woman to boot! Rather than get into an ethnic discussion, however, Jesus provoked curiosity in her by suggesting that He was the source of living water. She took Him literally, thinking He was speaking of physical water. Then she displays her knowledge of Old Testament history specific to the well.

“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?”


Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (vs.11-14)

Jesus was leading her into a spiritual discussion, showing her that her physical needs were not really what He was concerned with. He wanted to make her thirsty for His living water, because nothing the world has to offer will satisfy like Jesus does. Through the indwelling Spirit, He gives us a well that NEVER runs dry! And the Samaritan woman took the bait! But there was one issue that needed to be dealt with first: her sin. In order for her to receive this living water, she first needed to acknowledge her need through confession:

The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”


He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”


“I have no husband,” she replied.


Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.” (vs.15-18)

I wonder how hard that was for her to admit that. I wonder if she said it in a whisper, in shame. I’m thinking that Jesus’ love and the compassion He was showing just broke down those barriers and that confessing was probably a relief! But when He showed her that He knew the WHOLE truth about her ugly past, she was amazed! And maybe still a little uncomfortable, because she once again tried to turn the conversation from a personal issue to a general religious discussion about where to worship, rather than HOW to worship.

“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”


Jesus declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”


The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”


Then Jesus declared, “I who speak to you am he.”(vs.19-26)

Okay, when we are finally confronted with the outright claims of Jesus Christ, it is decision time. Jesus had gently drawn her to the main issue. Jesus said that we are required to worship in spirit and in TRUTH.  It matters WHOM and HOW we worship.  Now that she knew who He claimed to be, what was she going to do about it? This is the only question that will matter in eternity: Who is Jesus to you? He is offering living water, because He IS the Living Water! Are you thirsty? Jesus says, “Come.”

 

John 4:1-8

One of the sweet things you see in reading the gospels is how Jesus treated each person as an individual. His encounters with people were all unique, meeting the specific needs of each person’s heart. While Nicodemus was a well-respected religious scholar and leader, in chapter 4 we meet a woman who is emotionally needy and feeling completely unworthy. Jesus goes out of his way for this encounter!

Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. (John 4:4-6)

Jesus was headed from Judea, in the southern part of Israel, to Galilee, in the north. Most Jews would avoid Samaria, which is in the middle section of Israel, and go through Perea on the other side of the Jordan, because the Jews hated the Samaritans. This animosity dated back to the Assyrian invasion in 722 B.C. When the Assyrians took most of the Jews captive and back to Assyria, they left behind a few Jews. Then they sent some of their own people to settle in Israel, and these intermarried with the Jews that had been left behind.

So, the resulting Samaritans were considered half-breeds, and were despised by the Jews. While the Samaritans did believe in the books of Moses, they had been barred from the temple in Jerusalem. So they built their own temple on Mt. Gerizim, and they changed the details of some of the Bible stories so that the Garden of Eden was on Mt. Gerizim, Noah’s Ark had landed on Mt. Gerizim, and Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice on Mt. Gerizim! :)

With that background info, you can see that it was unusual for Jesus to purposefully go through Samaria. In fact, did you note that verse 4 tells us that he had to go through Samaria? He was compelled to go there, because He had this divine appointment with the Samaritan woman!

Verse 6 tells us that Jesus was tired from His journey - but never too tired to meet the needs of others. We’re told the time was the sixth hour, in the heat of the day. Most women would come to the well early in the morning or in the cool of the evening, but this woman came at the hottest part of the day, most likely to avoid the scorn of the other “respectable” women.

When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) (vs. 7-8)

How interesting that Jesus sent the disciples into town for food! He could have easily produced their food miraculously, but Jesus never performed miracles to satisfy His own needs. In fact, that was one of the temptations of the devil in Matthew 4, when Satan tempted Jesus, after 40 days without food, to turn stones into bread. No, Jesus did not come to serve Himself, He came to serve us. So, he sent the disciples away, because He needed to meet this woman alone. The woman was coming to draw water, but the Living Water was about to draw her to Himself. We’ll look at their dialogue tomorrow!