JOHN 4:1-26

APRIL 30 / MAY 7, 2017

JESUS AND THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA

INTRODUCTION:

1. The opening of Chapter 4 marks the end of the first phase of Jesus’ public ministry in Judea. There was clearly an uneasiness on the part of the Jewish leaders which caused Him to withdraw from Judea at this time, and return back to Galilee. Verse 1 indicates that the Pharisees had now come to see Jesus as a greater threat than John the Baptist.
2. Not bound by the prejudice common among the Jews, Jesus would pass through Samaria in route to Galilee.
a) Samaria lay to the north between Judea and the southern Province of Galilee.
b) At the time, Samaria was inhabited by a mongrel race, part Jew and part Gentile. This situation dated back to the Assyrian captivity of the northern tribes, at which time heathens were placed in the cities of Samaria. (II Kings 17:24ff)
c) Most of the stricter Jews would not even pass through Samaria, lest they should be defiled, but would bypass it, taking the trans-Jordan route.
d) Nevertheless, Jesus takes this more direct route, not for convenience sake, but rather out of a certain necessity.

3. Thanks to John’s Gospel we have recorded one of the most remarkable incidents of all of our Lord’s earthly ministry. What an amazing story this is!!
4. The account of Jesus and the woman of Samaria is not only remarkable in itself, but it is also of great typical significance in that it represents the first-fruits, as it were, of the conversion of the Gentile world.

I. FIRST WE HAVE THE ACCOUNT OF THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE THAT ARRANGED THE MEETING BETWEEN JESUS AND THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA. (VERSES 1-6)

A. THE SITUATION THAT OCCASIONED JESUS’ DEPARTURE FROM JUDEA IS GIVEN. (VSES. 1-3)
1. Jesus sensed the uneasiness of the Jewish leaders over reports that He was making and baptizing more disciples than John. (Verse 1)
a) In Verse 2 John adds a note of clarification, explaining that Jesus did not Himself perform the baptisms, but His disciples did them by His authority.
b) In this way Jesus was showing His unity with John, but at the same time, His superiority to him.
2. Jesus here, as at other times, avoided conflict with the scribes and Pharisees by getting away from them. (Vs. 3) Of course, that was merely a secondary reason for His departure. His every step was ordered by His Father, whose will He was here to do. Whatever the secondary reasons for His movements, His primary motive was ever the same. (Luke 2:49)

B. IT WAS BY DIVINE NECESSITY THAT JESUS PASSED THROUGH SAMARIA IN ROUTE TO GALILEE. (VERSE 4)
1. What necessity could possibly dictate the actions of the Son of God? The answer is simple. He was moved and guided in His Divine Mission, according to the will of the Father.
2. “He must needs go through Samaria,” because there, even in such an unlikely place, resided one of the lost sheep that He was come to save.
3. Jesus came to seek and to save all of His sheep that are lost. He seeks them out one by one, and brings them into His fold. (Matt. 18:11-14)

C. JESUS CAME TO THE CITY OF SYCHAR, AND SPECIFICALLY TO JACOB’S WELL, WHICH WAS JUST OUTSIDE THE CITY. (VERSES 5, 6)
1. Sychar was the ancient city of Shechem, an area given by Jacob to his son, Joseph. (Vse. 5; see Gen. 33:19;48:22)
2. After the Assyrian takeover, a heathen temple was built atop Mount Gerizim, very near this place.
3. The Jews, in order to show their contempt for the Samaritans, called it Scheker, which means falsehood, or Schekar, which means liquor.
a) They called it the city of falsehood and drunkenness.
b) Yet, here came One to this city Who is the essence of truth and sobriety.
4. Jesus came here to Jacob’s well at about noon, and sat on the well, being weary from His journey, as well as thirsty, and one would suspect hungry.
5. Thus, Divine Providence has set the stage for a predetermined meeting between Jesus and a certain woman of Samaria.
a) The prospect of this meeting constituted the necessity which Jesus was under in coming here.
b) This meeting will result in the salvation of a Samaritan woman, now famously known as “The Woman at The Well.”

II. SECOND, WE HAVE THE ACCOUNT OF THE MEETING BETWEEN JESUS AND THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA. (VERSES 7-26)

A. JESUS ENGAGED THIS WOMAN SO AS TO STIR UP SPIRITUAL INTERESTS, AND RAISE HER THOUGHT TO THINGS ETERNAL. (VERSES 7-15)
1. He began by surprising and obliging her with a single request. (Verse 7)
a) His simple request, “Give me to drink,” took the woman by surprise because it disregarded an age-old wall between the Jews and the Samaritans. (Verse 9)
b) His request obliged her by asking of her a basic human service that no social or religious barrier should prevent. The woman, though she was surprised that He would engage a Samaritan in this way, did not refuse His request.
2. His disciples were gone away into the city to buy food, which allowed Jesus the opportunity to discourse with the woman one on one about spiritual things.
3. Jesus, by requesting of the woman a drink of water to satisfy His thirst, was laying the groundwork for speaking with her about her need for “living water.” (Verse 10)
a) Literally, this is running water, as from a spring. However, He gives it a higher meaning based on “the gift of God,” and His true nature. “Who it is that saith to thee…”
b) He speaks of salvation, which He alone is able to give. “Thou wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.”
c) The woman, taking Him literally, raised some practical questions. (Verses 11, 12) (Just as Nicodemus did not understand the spiritual nature of the new birth, she did not understand that living water is a spiritual drink that satisfies spiritual thirst.)
(1) She wanted to know how Jesus, with no drawing vessel, could get this “living water” out of this deep well. (Verse 11)
(2) She wanted to know if He was greater that Jacob who dug this well, and himself drew water from it for himself, his family, and his livestock. (Verse 12)
4. Jesus would next come to the point, and turn the woman’s thoughts from things literal and temporal to things spiritual and eternal, even eternal life. (Verses 13, 14)
a) The living water of which He spoke could not be drawn from Jacob’s well. Even a miraculous provision of spring water would still provide only temporary relief. (Verse 13)
b) Jesus was speaking of spiritual water that constantly quenches the thirst of the soul. (Verse 14)
c) He is talking about “everlasting life” that comes by faith in Him. (John 7:37, 38)
5. The woman, seeing how satisfying and convenient that water so miraculously could be, asked Jesus to give it to her. (Verse 15)
a) Clearly, she had not yet come to see the spiritual nature of this water, nor of her soul’s need of living water.
b) Some think she said this is jest. “Give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come here to draw.” This view is plausible, for even if one needed no water to drink, they would still need to draw water for other purposes.
c) But, whether she was being sarcastic, or asking sincerely, she clearly had not yet come to a spiritual understanding of Jesus’ offer.
(1) The fact that she addressed Jesus respectfully would suggest that she was sincere and not sarcastic in her request. “Sir…”
(2) Yet her desire did not rise above temporal satisfaction and personal convenience. “…that I thirst not, neither come here to draw.”
(3) Her faith at this point was no better than those who “believed…when they saw the miracles.” (See Ch. 2:23, 24)
(4) Too many who profess to be Christians have no better faith than this.
(a) It is all about temporal satisfaction and personal convenience.
(b) It is entered into without repentance.

B. JESUS SUCCEEDED IN BRINGING THIS WOMAN TO GENUINE REPENTANCE AND FAITH. (VERSES 16-26)
1. He made her to face her state of sin. (Verses 16-18)
a) Desire for eternal life is not enough; sin must be owned and forsaken.
b) In asking about her husband, Jesus brought to light her sad moral state.
c) She had been married five times, and was now living in adultery.
2. He made her to face her religious error. (Verses 19-24)
a) Sinful as she was, this woman had strong religious persuasions.
b) Being impressed with Jesus, thinking that He had to be a prophet, she raised the issue of the essential difference between the Jews and Samaritans. (Verses 19, 20)
c) As the true Prophet, Jesus revealed the nature of true religion. (Verses 21-24)
(1) It does not consist in a certain place. (Verse 21)
(2) It is based in clear knowledge, not merely tradition or sentiment. (Verse 22)
(3) It has for its great object the worship of God the Father. (Verse 23)
(4) It does not consist in ceremonial observances, but in spiritual exercises, springing forth from “truth in the inward parts.” (Verse 24; Psa. 51:6)
(a) Its temple is the “spirit” (heart) of man.
(b) Its dogma is “truth.”
d) Jesus was inviting this woman to become a true worshiper. (Verses 23b, 24)
(1) God is even now seeking true worshipers in the Person of His Son.
(2) This woman was sought and brought to this knowledge, that she might become such a worshiper by faith.
3. He brought her to faith and submission. (Verses 25, 26)
a) Notice, this woman somehow knew of, and expected Messiah. (Verse 25)
b) She recognized divine qualities in Jesus that caused her to think that He might be the Messiah. (Verse 25b)
c) Jesus announced to her that He was, indeed, the Messiah. (Verse 26)
4. This woman’s faith was immediately demonstrated. (Verses 28-30) This we shall consider more fully in our next study.

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