Jesus Gives Us Living Water

Jesus has come to save his people from their sins. And that's what we're seeing here. John chapter 4, verse 1.

The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John.! Although, in fact, it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. When the Lord learned of this, he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.

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. 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.

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. 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 said, what you have just said, is quite true. Sir, the woman said, I can see that you are a prophet.

Our fathers worshipped 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 worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.

For they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshippers 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. Good morning again to all of you.

It's always a bit like coming home when we come to Bremen, Indiana. And I've been known to complain to my wife on a few occasions that I'm jealous not only of this town, but also of my wife's upbringing, because everybody knows everybody for most of their life.

And they have these high school reunions, and they all get together. I've never been to a high school reunion. I would love, and then on Wednesday night, I'm talking to Dan. And I find out that we both went to the same school, and that his mother was my typing teacher.

And that was like my reunion I've been waiting for for all these years. And she is a great teacher. I still have great memories of her. And that was a wonderful surprise for me.

Today we'll look at John 4, on Jesus gives us living water. And I was thinking about even the Baltimore riots that have been in the news in the last several weeks, and I'm sure you're aware of all that, the racial tension that has developed, and some of our...

Ferguson is another example. The difficulties of some of us we have living with people that are not like us, the anti-police mentality. And there's a little bit of racial issues in Scripture that we are confronted with, sometimes within the kingdom of God.

And Jesus comes, and he overcomes a lot of those objections that we have for one another. You may remember what Augustine said, I'll paraphrase, centuries ago, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until it comes to rest in thee.

Our hearts are thirsty until they come to find our true quenching in thee. A couple of thoughts about John 4, and I'll combine this with John 3 this morning as we begin.

Number one, as I mentioned in Sunday school, John 1, 1-18 is like a roadmap or a blueprint for the entire Gospel. When we get lost in the Gospel, go back and read that prologue, and we are reoriented in our thinking.

Another thought, number two, John 3-4 are closely related. Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman. Both of these people, so different, need salvation.

Number three, John 3 is about Jesus speaking with a reluctant Jew. He's a bit skeptical in the chapter, Nicodemus. Number four, John 4 is about Jesus speaking to a Gentile woman, and even Gentiles later in the chapter, and they respond with faith.

And that illustrates the problem we encountered in the prologue, John 1, 11 and 12. He comes to his own. They do not receive him. Many do not. But those who will receive him become part of his family.

I think this passage today anticipates the movement of the Gospel from Judea into Samaria to the uttermost parts of the world. Jesus is showing us how that will happen as we read about that in Acts 1-8.

John 4 subtly reinforces the sad truth that many of Jesus' own ethnic people missed the fact that he was the Messiah.

We have some practical lessons here, I think, about evangelism that we will encounter today in John 4. And one statement that we wish we didn't have to say, but it's true in every Christian church.

It should be true in every Christian church. There is no room for racial, ethnic tensions in the church. Historically, our nation has had that. It's in every country, I believe. But that shouldn't belong.

It should not be welcome in the church. Another thought as we move later into chapter 4, that phrase, we worship in spirit and in truth. I don't think that's referring to our attitude in worship.

That's not the primary meaning. It's really talking something about this new temple reality that has come into this world. And then lastly, the second sign which ends chapter 4 tells us that many of the people in Jesus' day they had a fascination with signs but they missed the greater reality behind the sign.

We're in chapter 4 this morning and it ends kind of a little cycle, chapters 2, 3, and 4. And one author, C.H. Dodd, says this about this part of John's gospel. He says, John presents the replacement of the old purifications by the wind of the kingdom of God.

A contrast between the water of Jacob's well and the living water from Christ. Christ. And the worship of Jerusalem and gerism with worship in spirit and in truth.

That's a very important statement that I think is very helpful as we come to our first point in John 4, evangelize the lost. It's a very simple point but it's very practical.

We too are called to evangelize those who are without Christ in our world. in the first 15 verses many people come to faith in Jesus Christ because of what?

Personal contact with people like you. There are many people that your pastors of this church or myself and our church we do not have contact with but you do in your circle of influence wherever you are this week.

You have people at work, you have people at school that you will meet that we will not meet. We are called to evangelize the lost in this world. Maybe you could pray even with an attitude right now, may I be able to share the gospel with one person this week?

Just one. The good news that Jesus Christ gives living water to those who are dying of thirst. Letter A, tell people about Jesus. It's very simple. Not about politics.

It's not about a lot of other things. It's about using your voice to tell people that they need Jesus Christ and they are dying of thirst whether they know it or not.

The first point we'll look at here under the first five verses is make time for the lost. It's hard, isn't it? We're all busy. Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing and I love that statement in verse 4.

Now he had to go through Samaria. That's the wrong part of town. Jesus, don't you know that? We don't travel through that part of town. And I want to focus for a moment on verse 4.

Jesus has to pass through Samaria. It was necessary for him to go this route on this particular day. And this is not just a comment about geography or the shortest route from point A to B.

He's in Jerusalem, right? He's got to go back up home to the north. And Samaria is the shortest. That's not what this is about. There's something deeper here than just a geographical note about the direction and the location of his travel.

That word in your translation, whatever it is, must, had, or necessary, to get an idea of how that word is used in other parts of John's gospel, consider this. In John 3, 7, you must be born again.

We know that, right? That is an absolute necessity for a sinner to find new life in Christ. You must be born again. In verse 14 of the same chapter, the Son of Man must be lifted up.

This is not optional, is it? It's very important. John 3, 30, he must increase, but I must decrease.

9, 4, 10, 16, 12, 34, and then in 20, 9, he must rise from the dead. There is no negotiating the fact that Jesus must go to Samaria.

It's not just a last-second whim, I think I'll take this road to the north. It is absolutely necessary. This is a big deal, that little word, he must go there.

We know that Jesus is traveling into a Gentile region. Historically, it was a Jewish part of the kingdom of David and Solomon, but it was lost after that, and eventually the Assyrians came in.

But this place, Sychar, verse 5, he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. This is a very important town historically, isn't it?

This area of what we call today Israel. Israel. It's mentioned, this location, in the book of Genesis chapter 48. Jacob had given this land to Joseph.

This is associated with the patriarch Jacob and Wells and so on. This was a historic place for not only the people of the Jewish nation, but even for the Samaritans.

That's the area near Mount Gerizim. Remember that in the book of Deuteronomy, the two mountains, the mountain of cursing and blessing. This is where Jesus is stopping at. This is where he is going to.

It is enormously important historically. I've been told that over that location an unfinished Orthodox church was built there, probably a Greek Orthodox church, but it was later destroyed by the Muslims in the Crusades.

Samaria is long destroyed at this point in Jesus' ministry, and Sychar is representative of Samaria and the entire region. What happens to this woman is something that needs to happen to all people.

Samaritans, Gentiles, and even Nicodemus, our Jewish reluctant inquire in chapter 3. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him, but to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become the children of God.

John 4 is early in the gospel in this chapter in this book, isn't it? We've just in a sense begun, if you're reading through from the first to the last chapter, but already there are evidences that the Jewish people have not welcomed their Messiah.

In fact, they have responded with unbelief. The last time we heard from a Jewish person in chapter 3, he's still skeptical. He knows the scriptures. He should have believed, but he still doesn't yet understand, and now we are encountering Jesus going into a Gentile region, people outside of the covenant, and she will believe in the Messiah.

It's a great example of the truth of John 1, 11, and 12. We believe that many devout Jewish people would not travel through this region.

What was their fear? They were willing to spend more gas in their car so that they didn't have to be in danger to becoming ceremonially unclean. But Jesus intentionally takes the shorter route, the route through the bad part of town, so to speak.

He would not avoid it. Jesus needs to go to Samaria because he is the savior of the world. He is not just a savior of the Jewish people.

So John begins in chapter 4 by telling us, it was absolutely necessary that Jesus must go to Samaria. I like what one commentator said.

He says, Jesus had to stop in Samaria because he knows that the promises of Abraham need to be fulfilled. In you shall all the families and nations of the world be blessed.

Number two, remember Jesus as human. It's important, isn't it? We know that he is divine, but we also believe he is fully human.

Could be an easy point to overlook. Jacob's well, verse 6, was there in Jesus. What does it say? He was tired as he was from the journey set down by the well. It was about noon.

I sometimes like to ask my students in class when I think they're sleeping a question to catch them off guard. And sometimes I one time ask this student, does Jesus right now have a human heart that is pumping blood throughout his veins?

And he looks at me and says no. And I said yes he does. He is fully human, isn't he? He must be fully human in order for us to be saved.

We need to always emphasize that the word became flesh and dwelt among us. John 1.14 here before our eyes, the son of God is tired as he sits down at the well on perhaps the hottest part of the day.

The church fathers emphasize that if Jesus did not fully assume our human nature without the sin, he could not redeem that part of our lives. Hebrews tells us this is why Jesus is such a sympathetic high priest to us.

He knows what it is like to be human. He is fully human. Even this day, forever into eternity, he will always remain human. And we can be so thankful for that.

He's tired. He's hungry. It's lunchtime when he arrives at this well. Who does he expect to meet at a well? If you've ever been to some of these hot places of the world, no one goes to draw water at lunchtime.

It's like the worst time of the day to go, isn't it? You either go early in the morning when it's cool, or in the night when it's starting, the sun goes down. Jesus knows there's someone there that is going to need a lot of help.

And it's amazing how Jesus uses this physical thirst. Even he himself is thirsty. And he knows that this lady is thirsty. And he uses that felt need to address her greater spiritual need.

Her life is bankrupt. It's dry. Her soul is parched. God is teaching us that Jesus is the only one that can provide living water for our souls.

He is the only one that can save us. I like what J.C. Ryle says on this passage about the humanity of Jesus. In summary, he had a body like ours.

the word became flesh. He took on him in nature like our own in all things except sin like ourselves. He grew from infancy to you. He got tired. He is hungry.

He went through the range of human emotions and weaknesses that we experience. Letter B, meet sinners where they are in life. Isn't that so amazing about Jesus here in John 4 and many other parts of the gospel?

And by the way, this is not the only method of evangelism in John 4. Jesus does I think different approaches with different people. When you have an opportunity to share the gospel, just start with the basics about who Jesus is.

I think that's the most important point. There are many things that we believe and may be finer points of theology that never have to be brought up unless they are completely necessary.

Jesus doesn't do that here. number one, break social barriers to evangelize if necessary. In verses 7 through 9, the Samaritan woman came to draw water and Jesus said, will you give me a drink?

Can I get a drink from you? His disciples had gone into town. The Samaritan woman said to him, you are a Jew and I'm a Samaritan. She's shocked, isn't she? How can you ask me for a drink?

And then in parentheses, Jews don't talk to Samaritans and Samaritans don't talk to Jews. That's just the way it is. You have your people, we have our people, and there's a line between us, a wall between us.

We're not supposed to be talking, we're not supposed to be sharing water. Jesus doesn't have a water bottle today. And he is asking for a drink from her vessel. that's one reason why the disciples could have been shocked that a Jewish rabbi would share with a Gentile at a well.

There are a couple of things that we all know are a bit strange in this text. First, it's the hottest part of the day, and we have this lady coming to a well. Second, she's all alone at the well.

Remember in Genesis when Jacob arrives at the well, and he wanted to water the flocks, and the men sitting there said, there's not enough people to remove the stone from the well. Wait until more people.

And what did he do? He muscled that big stone off all by himself. And here this lady is coming hoping probably no one is there, and then Jesus, a Jewish rabbi, asks for a drink of water.

This is a very strange day for her. And I think we can guess as you look at this text, there's probably a reason why she came to the well alone.

Maybe she doesn't want any help, right? Maybe this lady has some problems in her life. Maybe people in the town talk about her. Maybe she doesn't have the best of reputations as Nicodemus does.

Her social standing is probably not that great. Maybe she wants to avoid people. Maybe something happened in her life, gossiping about what happened with all of those guys.

That's a little bit embarrassing. I'm sure it wasn't they all died of a natural death. Probably she's been through five divorces, right? And she may not want to go with other people.

She may not have very many friends, and then she meets this, of all people, a Jewish rabbi, and we're not supposed to talk either. Where did the Samaritans come from?

Who were they? I think sometime after Solomon died, the kingdom we know split apart, and eventually that northern rebellious kingdom of ten tribes was conquered by the Assyrians, and the Assyrians did what many ancient people do.

They brought in some of their people, they took out all the smart people in the north, and they began to intermarry, and then you have these people who are not full-blooded Jewish people. And so the people in the kingdom of Judah in the south, they despised those people up north.

They eventually built their own temple, and it was right there at Jacob's Well. It was a place where the patriarchs were, and so they had some legitimacy. But they're half-breeds.

They are a mixture of Jewish people and Gentiles, and we know historically there are a lot of problems between these peoples. Even after the Assyrians came in and they begin to mingle around and their race gets mixed up.

The other thing that we notice in the history of the Samaritans, they had a different Bible than the Jewish people, didn't they? How many books of the Bible was in a Samaritan Bible? Five.

They had something called the Samaritan Pentateuch. Keep that in mind for something we will come back to later. They didn't have everything that Jesus had in his Old Testament Bible.

We know that there was hatred, mistrust, and probably a lot of animosity between these two. The parable of the Good Samaritan teaches us that, right?

There were lots of disagreements between these two types of people. The Jewish people were perhaps always fearful that if they went into this territory, if they associated with them too much, that they would become ritually defiled or unclean.

It didn't help the relationship when John Hyrcanus in 108 B.C. went up there and destroyed their temple. That didn't do anything for community relationships.

That makes Ferguson look like a picnic. And so there was a lot of ethnic tension, racial prejudice, hostility, rival religious viewpoints. They were socially, religiously, and politically, in a sense, enemies of one another.

And here Jesus must go there. And he asked to drink from the same vessel of water that the lady had. That too must be quite risky.

He is breaking some social barriers that you're not supposed to break in their culture. And so the point is if you find yourself in a situation that is quite similar to this, we should feel free in the grace of God to break some of those social barriers to evangelize people.

It's pretty radical. Feel free to break down some of these barriers that exist between human beings when it's all about who Jesus Christ is.

Keep it focused upon him. And I think there could be many points of application for this. Jesus initiated the conversation. Didn't he? We need to be perhaps more courageous in initiating conversations with people out of love to focus it on Jesus and find out where people are at in their life.

Jesus seems to be a master at doing that. don't be fearful to speak to people of different social classes even here in America. In the Philippines it's like that as well.

Don't be afraid to evangelize someone who is living in poverty or someone who is living in with great wealth. We should be ready Peter says to provide a defense but also in a sense an offense for telling people why we are Christians and why we think other people need to embrace Jesus Christ as well.

I hope we never would say to ourselves I don't want to share the gospel with that person. J.C. Ryle says about Jesus and his communication he does not wait for to speak to him.

He does not begin by reproving her sins though he doubtless knew them. He opens communication by asking a favor. Jesus didn't open the conversation by saying you are living in sin.

He opens it and he draws her into the conversation in a way that does not frighten her and she listens to Jesus. She's shocked but she is listening and he uses water as the theme to teach her about her need for living water.

Ryle says it threw a bridge across the gulf which lay between her and him. It led to the conversion of her soul. Number two stay focused on Jesus. It is so easy isn't it to get sidetracked into the latest political issue that is embroiling our culture.

That's important but that's not as important as who Jesus is. I will tell you later in our update I talk to gay and lesbian students and atheists on a regular basis and it really makes me think about how to reach out to them to be patient with them even though there are big disagreements in the way that we think.

I've had some wonderful conversations with people of that way of life. Jesus answered if you knew the gift of God in verse 10 and who it is that asked you for a drink you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.

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? He's a patriarch.

As he did his sons and his livestock Jesus answered everyone who thirsts who drinks this water will be thirst. I have some better water than Jacob ever could give you.

But whoever drinks the water I give to him will never thirst. Indeed the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life. And the woman confused says sir give me this water so that I don't have to get thirsty again so I don't have to come out here at lunchtime again.

Do you have a closer well with better water? Where is it at Jesus? Will you tell me? Of course she didn't understand the significance of what Jesus said. And when you share the gospel with people and they miss something let it go and bring it back to Jesus.

Try start over again. We know that in the Old Testament the concept of water is often associated with salvation. With joy you will draw water from the wells salvation says Isaiah 12 3.

Jeremiah 2 is another interesting one about salvation and the bucket that doesn't hold water. I think Jesus is indicating to us here in this text through the writing of John that the final age is coming into this world.

The everlasting water that the Old Testament prophesies about it hopes in. And the Jewish people believe would return one day that the water from the rock would return in the end time.

Jesus is revealing to us that those final days are upon us and he is giving what the Old Testament promised would come. Zechariah 14 8 and Ezekiel 47 9 bring this concept of water and prophetic fulfillment into focus.

Even back in numbers water shall flow from his buckets and his seed shall be in many waters. water and spirit is mixed together in Isaiah 44 and blessing.

Isaiah 49 10 is another example of the combination of water and the power of the Holy Spirit which will come in the final days. Isn't that what the Old Testament prophesies about?

But she still doesn't understand Jesus. She's thinking in clearly literal terms not recognizing that Jesus is teaching something about a greater fulfillment.

What do you do when people object to your share in the gospel and try to change the topic? Do you know how to steer it back to Jesus? Jesus apparently is just a master at bringing the focus back upon the real issue, the real need, isn't he?

Even though she misunderstands and is looking for different water, a better well, Jesus is going to, he knows how to capitalize on that misunderstanding, he knows how to hone in and bring it right back and even in the process he is stimulating her curiosity.

It's a beautiful bridge that we see in his example here. And she is listening to Jesus, isn't she? She is misunderstanding but at the same time she is listening to Jesus.

Jesus. It's often a big temptation for us as we witness to people to try to start the conversation going in the direction of Jesus but before long we're off into politics or into some other different controversial issue and it never gets back to Jesus.

And sometimes in God's providence that's fine but we need to learn how to bring it back to Jesus. That's the most important point. Jesus comes to this Gentile region to speak to a broken woman about the water of life she desperately needs.

In the Philippines when we share the gospel with people we have good people of God that sometimes get sidetracked when they witness to Catholics.

And some people that I love in our congregation, congregation, they still have old superstitions that have come from their old life. And when they go to a Catholic home and they see a statue of Mary or the saints, they are struck with fear that there are demons in that idol.

And I try to tell them that's not important when you're witnessing to someone about Jesus Christ. You don't have to talk about all that. That can come later. Keep it focused on who Jesus is. It's just a piece of stone that someone made.

What are the things in your life that may distract you when you're seeking to share the good news of Jesus Christ? It could be doctrinal points that are important but are really not necessary for salvation.

I think that's the biggest concern we have in our circles of Reformed Theology. You don't have to tell the person everything about Reformed Theology. You need to tell them about Jesus Christ.

They can learn about some of those things later. And there are many good things that can distract us from sharing the essence of the good news.

Jesus did not bring up, you only have five books in your canon of Scripture. Isn't that amazing? They had an incomplete view of God's Word and Jesus never brought it up in the conversation.

He could have. And it will come in a sense later but that's not the main focus in the order of how we evangelize people. We can often wisely overlook issues that are not essential to someone coming to faith in Jesus Christ and if they died that day there are many things they will never understand like a thief on the cross.

Keep the essence before their eyes. And may God give us wisdom in knowing what we can overlook and what we cannot overlook. I think one of our weaknesses may be that we think we cannot overlook things that we should be overlooking even as we evangelize in our modern culture today.

Number two, worship in spirit and truth. This is one of those great passages of John's Gospel that has probably been misunderstood and naturally we understand why it's been misunderstood.

I don't think John is talking about our personal attitude when we come to worship. he is talking about this is now the age when people will worship the spirit in this new worldwide temple that will fulfill Genesis 128.

Isn't that the purpose of God from the very beginning of this world that there would be a temple where his glory would fill it and cover the earth? That was Adam's mandate and everything came collapsing down, right?

But through Jesus Christ that goal of creation is now the same goal of redemption and the goal is when we share the good news of Jesus Christ and they come to faith, the temple is expanding because where God's people are the spirit is with us.

This new covenant reality of this worship and spirit and truth is too big for any building on earth. It is meant to cover the globe as the waters cover the sea.

Show compassion to the broken letter A. Jesus is so patient with this lady. He is firm yet he is patient. Yes he will expose her sinfulness but he does it in such a winsome way doesn't he?

It's remarkable. He knows that she is ignorant of some of the greater issues about how God revealed himself through history. Number one, expose sin with God's law.

This is something all of us know. Not your own opinions. You get that brothers and sisters? We expose God's sin. We expose sin in our lives or in the lives of unbelievers with the law of God not necessarily what we think about something.

He told her go call your husband. What a line to say and come back and she says I don't have a husband. She replied he says you're right when you say you have no husband.

The fact is you've had five husbands and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true. Sir the woman said I can see that you are a prophet.

Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem. Jesus shifts the subject from living water to the issue of her sinfulness in her life.

He brings up that seventh commandment. Jesus knowing all things knows the issue of her life. It's not an arbitrary change when he brings this up.

It's a calculated move isn't it? I don't have a husband. Well that may be true but you've had a few before the one you're living with now. One commentator writes about her abrupt change in subject.

Her answer was meant to end the conversation. She tries to go back into a dispute who's right, which mountain is correct. And perhaps we need to ask God for wisdom and skill when we ask people questions that hurt their conscience and they don't want to talk about it, right?

It brings up some really bad memories so again they want to shift the subject away from their guilt and the pain in their life and Jesus will not let her do that.

He is graciously bringing her back to confront her past, her sin, so that she can understand I am so thirsty, I need this living water and it's not found in Jacob's well.

I think the truth of the issue here is her life was a mess. It was a broken series of startings and failings in relationships and how similar it is to so many relationships today in our world.

Isn't it? Not much has changed from this perspective. perspective. We know that one of the primary reasons we can use the law of God when we speak to people about salvation is that it really pokes their conscience.

And she responds perhaps a bit defensive. I don't have a husband. But when Jesus exposed her past sin and when she's forced to confront it with this Jewish rabbi, it's the beginning of the turning point in her life and soon she will understand what this living water is all about.

Spurgeon says in a beautiful comment, the sharp needle of the law pierces and convicts us of sin, but the grace of the gospel is like the thread that follows binding. It sews everything back together.

And that's what the law of God does. The law of God exposes our sinfulness and it's an important tool in evangelizing people. Use that moral law when you need to, to speak with people when you evangelize.

And Jesus says this to her, it must have brought back a lot of painful memories in her life. But she is listening and she says, I perceive you are a prophet.

And the reason why I think that is so important is because remember they have a five book scripture in one of the only passages in the book, the Pentateuch is Deuteronomy 18.

It's about the prophet that will come. And the Jewish people knew that that reference was about this great prophet that would come greater than Moses and her eyes are beginning to open and she's beginning to realize this is no ordinary rabbi who is speaking to me.

Number two, worship follows conversion. It follows successful evangelism. She says, our fathers worshiped on this mountain but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.

Jerusalem, she brings up the old dispute of the Jews and the Samaritans. Deuteronomy 12.5 prophesied that God would announce the place to build the temple and the Samaritans changed that verse in their version.

Isn't that funny? They changed the tense of the verb to state that he had chosen gerizim for his temple. And so the old rivalry of mountains is back in the conversation.

Our fathers worshipped on this mountain Jesus. You cannot deny that Jacob was there and others. Yes, that's true. In Moses' day it's all mentioned. And then Jesus says something surprising in verses 21 to 24.

This is the key statement, isn't it? He says to this lady, believe me, 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 now has come. That's the paradox of the kingdom. The time is coming and it's already here when true worshippers will worship the Father in the spirit and in the truth.

For they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. God is spirit and his worshippers must worship in the spirit and in the truth. That is a statement, a shocking statement of replacement and fulfillment.

And even today Christians struggle. What does Jesus mean by that? F.F. Bruce says, the answer the woman received was quite different from anything she could have expected.

The time when there was any point in the argument about the claims of Gerizim versus those in Jerusalem had now come to an end. And Jesus says, if you really want an answer for that, neither mountain matters anymore.

There's a greater mountain in heaven. There is a Mount Zion in heaven. He doesn't say that, but that's what we believe Hebrews teaches us. The question is not where you're worshipping, it's how we are worshipping.

Like William Cowper says, Jesus, where thy people meet, there they behold a mercy seat where they seek thee, though are found in every place is hallowed ground.

Now Jesus corrects her ignorance in verse 22. She says, well, you really are not worshipping. You're ignorant in your worship. If you want to answer to your question, well, the real mountain is Mount Zion between those two mountains historically.

And Jesus comes back and he addresses the issue. He says that doesn't matter anymore. And while F.F. Bruce says, the prophets had spoken of a coming day when not one central sanctuary alone, but the whole earth would be the habitation of the name and glory of God.

And I think that's what Jesus is describing. He's describing this new reality. There is now a new temple and where the spirit of God is, that's where God's temple is.

The hour is coming and is now here. To worship in spirit and truth is to worship the Father through Jesus. Because Jesus is the true temple, John 2.

To return to earthly temples on earthly mountains, is to fail to see the significance of what it means when Jesus comes into this world. The hour of salvation has indeed come.

And then in verses 25 and 26, my understanding is this is the first time in John's gospel where he reveals himself to a Gentile woman and says, I am he.

She understands the Messiah, the Christ is coming, and he says to her, I am he. B, believe that God still saves sinners.

This is an illustration of the beauty of John 3.16, isn't it? God so loved the world, number one, rejoice in God's great harvest. As the disciples returned, they were surprised, and they were surprised, I think, for a number of reasons.

We will not get into all of them today. Why are you talking with her, they say, in verse 27. 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.

That reflects John 1 when Jesus tells those first disciples, come and see. Find out for yourself if it's worth it to follow me. There's a human element of responsibility and divine sovereignty all throughout John's gospel, and both of them are true.

Could this be the Messiah? They came out of the town and made their way toward him. That is a fascinating set of verses we are encountering. We all know the Jewish prayer by the Rabbi Yoshi Ben Yohanan that denigrated women.

He said, prolong no conversation with a woman. The point I'm trying to make at this point in John's gospel is this, no one is a waste of time to evangelize. We don't just evangelize people that look like us or men to men or so on.

We are called to evangelize all human people and invite people to faith in Jesus Christ. And so as disciples in verse 31, they urge him to eat something and again a misunderstanding, I have food to eat that you don't know about.

And they're wondering what store he went and bought food at. Jesus said, my food is to do the will of my father. That's why I had to come to Sychar to Jacob's well.

We all know Deuteronomy 8, we do not live by bread alone, but every word of the mouth of God. And Carson says, no one has ever exemplified the truth of this like Jesus.

This is planting season, isn't it? Springtime. Some of you are experts in agriculture. You plant in the spring and you harvest in the fall and it takes three to four months, right? I think in the kingdom of God you can plant and harvest on the same day.

Isn't that amazing? In verses 35 to 38, there's four days to harvest and Jesus, look, it's harvest time now. It's planting and harvest time now. The age of the spirit has come.

It's the time to reap and take part in this kingdom activity of sharing the good news of the kingdom of heaven. And this is the greatest harvest we could ever involve ourselves in in this life.

And that's the point about rejoicing in this harvest. You could share the good news with someone today and God could save them and today there could be a spiritual harvest. harvest. That's why we have hope every time we gather to worship.

If someone is here that doesn't believe in Jesus, they could hear the planted seed of the gospel and the spirit could germinate and suddenly there's a harvest in our very midst. That is the beauty of the kingdom of God and that is why evangelism is so important.

Jesus is the greatest sower. As Bruce said, he himself is the grain of wheat falling into the ground and dying so as to produce an abundance of fruit.

In verses 38 to 42, she tells her village people, the Samaritans, and apparently they come to this conclusion, this is the savior of the world.

Jesus witnessed to one person she believes, she tells others, and many believe. And that is sometimes the way it works, isn't it? You witness to people day after day, month after month, and maybe after a few years, one person comes to faith in Jesus Christ.

God can use that one person to reach a thousand. We need to be faithful in sharing the good news of Jesus Christ.

Lastly, number two, maintain and develop faith in God's word. Verse 46, he arrives back in Galilee and they welcome him. And we are told there it's near the time of the Passover. Jesus gets back home and again, there's going to be a final sign, an official, perhaps a Gentile, sick son.

Jesus does a long-distance miracle. He rejoices and believes. And the people back in Galilee are just thinking, we want a greater show of more signs. They have missed again the essence of who Jesus is.

They are fixated in the sign and it didn't lead them to understand this is the Messiah. It is the Savior that has come into this world to forgive us and redeem us of our sins.

And the chapter ends in verse 46 through 54. He's back there again in Cana. That's the place he turned water into wine and here he does his second sign, verse 54. And as we conclude this morning and think about the passage of John chapter 4.

If you're not a Christian, has Jesus satisfied your spiritual hunger today? You may be a young person, you may be someone who's heard the gospel many times. Come everyone who thirsts, come to the waters, Isaiah says, and he who has no money, come buy and eat.

Come buy wine and milk without money and without price. Today Jesus offers living water to those who really need it, who are still sinners and this is the only way that we can be saved.

Come to faith in Jesus Christ today and he will quench your thirst forever. And Christians, are you participating in God's great harvest? Can you share the gospel gospel with just one person this week?

May God give us grace to be good evangelizers in this age of harvest. Heavenly Father, we thank you for John 4. We thank you for the divine necessity. The Son of God walked to the well of Jacob to share the good news of the living water of salvation with a woman, a Gentile woman who was broken.

Lord, you led her into your kingdom. We pray that you would use us in our day and in our age to be faithful proclaimers of Jesus Christ to our friends, to our neighbors, to our office mates, our classmates at school.

And Father, we pray that you would use us in your kingdom to see a great harvest even in our age. We pray, Lord, that you would send your living water, your Holy Spirit to work in the hearts of sinners today.

We thank you for these opportunities you give to us in our lifetime to share the good news. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Amen.