Transcript

Well Taught-Part One

John 4:1-15
Sunday, October 13, 2002
Pastor Randy Smith

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Last week we discussed the one-time crucifixion of and ongoing mortification of self. We learned that the old self is opposed to the will of God. We learned that victorious Christian living allows Christ to manifest His life through the new self renewed according to the image of God. The remnant of the old self seeks wisdom, peace, joy and satisfaction apart from the fountain of God. Ultimately, the old self is in it for its own glory. The new self, however, yields to God. It is submissive to God. It delights in obeying God.

There is a battle waging as to whether we will live according to the old self or live according to the new self. Often in the Bible this is described as walking in the flesh or walking in the Spirit. The old self and the new self are opposed, just as the old self and doing the will of God are opposed. Therefore, when we walk in the old self, following God will be a chore. Our heart will be divided as it seeks to pursue its own emotions and goals and dreams and wisdom. People chasing this route will walk away frustrated and unsatisfied. Yet the new self thinks of itself as an unattractive vessel for God. The new self seeks after God's glory and rejoices to see His purposes accomplished.

It is so wonderful to know that the pursuit of God's glory and the pursuit for our own joy and peace are not contradictory. Victorious Christian living comes when we bow to the lordship of Christ and willingly permit Him to live His life through ours. Therefore our goal is to get to the point when His will is our will. When His glory increases and our glory deceases. When His joy is in sync with our joy. When His wants become our hearts deepest cravings.

As in so many other areas, Jesus was a perfect example of this. From the book of John alone, Jesus said, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to accomplish His work" (Jn. 4:34). "I can do nothing on My own initiative…I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me" (Jn. 5:30). "For the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish, the very works that I do" (Jn. 5:36). "I glorified Thee on the earth, having accomplished the work which Thou hast given Me to do" (Jn. 17:4).

Jesus always did the will of the Father. Even in His most desperate hour as He awaited the cross, He cried out, "Yet not My will, but Thine be done" (Lk. 22:42). Likewise, here in John chapter 4, Jesus had to do the will of the Father. Verse 4 says, "He had to pass through Samaria."

Jesus Christ had a divine appointment that was preordained from the foundation of the world. A woman on this particular day at 12:00 would come to Jacob's well to draw water. She came as a socially ostracized harlot. I believe after her encounter she left a child of the living God. Solomon said, "The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life" (Pr. 13:14). During this discussion, the Master teacher takes her from thinking about a physical water fountain to the disclosure that He is the Messiah, the way, the truth and the life. The One who can quench the parched desire of spiritual thirst.

1. ENGINEERED HER APPOINTMENT (1-6)

Let's move to the first point. In order to better understand the impact of this text, I believe it is imperative to present some pertinent background information.

Before the periods of captivity, the Jewish land was divided into two kingdoms, each kingdom ruled by its own king. To the south was Judah, and its capital was Jerusalem. To the north was Israel, comprised of 10 tribes, centered around the capital of Samaria (1 Ki. 16:24). In 722 BC, the Assyrians captured the northern kingdom and deported all the Israelites of substance. In their place they settled the land with foreigners. After time, the remaining Jews in the Northern Kingdom intermarried with the foreigners, creating a bloodline and religion now tainted in Jewish purity.

Shortly after, the Southern Kingdom, Judah, was also taken off to captivity, they by the nation of Babylon. When the Southern Kingdom was permitted to return from exile, 70 years later, they found a completely new nation occupying the territory to the north now called Samaria. The Jews viewed these racial half-breeds as political rebels engaged in corrupt worship. Great tension existed. The animosities grew when the Jews would not permit the Samaritans to assist them in the rebuilding the temple (Ez. 4:2). So the Samaritans built their own temple on Mount Gerizim in 400 BC. The animosities boiled over when John Hyrcanus, a ruler of Judea, went to Samaria and burned that Samaritan temple to the ground in 128 BC.

By the time of Jesus, there was a great hostility and spiritual separation between the Jews and the Samaritans. The Samaritans had developed their own religious heritage based only on the first 5 books of the Bible (the Pentateuch). They avoided Jerusalem and continued to worship on Mount Gerizim.

With that in place, let us return to our text. Verse 3 states that Jesus left Judea and departed into Galilee. Now to pass from one Jewish territory into another sounds fairly simple. Unfortunately, if you are familiar with the geography of the land, you know that both territories were separated by a large chunk of land. That land was named Samaria. For this reason, many of the devout Jews took a much longer route across the Jordan to avoid passing through Samaria. However, verse 4 says that "(Jesus) had to pass through Samaria." Ordained by the will of God, Jesus had to pass through Samaria by divine necessity. He had to make a divine appointment

The One who always did the will of the Father, went to Samaria to speak to this woman at the well. Put yourself in the sandals of a first-century Jew. If asked by God, would you pass through Samaria? Would you willingly lay aside your religious, nationalistic and gender preferences? Would you be willing to strain yourself physically if it meant such an opportunity for God's glory? Maybe I should put you in the $150 Air Jordan's of a 21^st century American. Would you quit gossiping? Would you quit being scared to mention Jesus? Would you reconcile your marriage? Would you speak to that Christian brother or sister you have been avoiding the past six weeks? Would you start reading the Bible as a family? Would you quit focusing on your flesh to do the will of God? Would you be willing to make these "sacrifices?" Jesus did! The humble Savior who came to "seek and save the lost (Lk. 19:10)" overcame all human barriers to lovingly share the gospel with this lost sheep and joyously fulfill the will of God. Do we have the same priorities, or are we allowing Satan to sidetrack us with the sinful trivialities of life?

2. ENGAGED HER ATTENTION (7-9)

The majestic God, tired, hot and thirsty from the journey, arrived at the well. Shortly after, as expected, verse 7 says, "There came a woman of Samaria to draw water."

It is puzzling to understand why and when the woman showed up at the well. The end of verse 6 says she came at the sixth hour, that's about 12:00 noon! Historical sources say people didn't fetch water at this time. She came by herself. Historical sources say women often came to the well in groups. Geographical sources make us question why she left the plentiful water near her house to come to this specific well.

I believe the only conclusion to these mysteries is that this woman chose a time and place where she could avoid the multitudes. As we will soon learn, she was a moral outcast, no doubt ostracized by society. She went to great lengths to avoid any human contact. All avoided her, all except Jesus.

Verse 7 concludes by mentioning that the wearied Savior said to her, "Give Me a drink." At one level this comment should be taken at face value. Though John has already made clear the deity of Jesus, he now reminds us that Jesus was also fully human. He was alone (vs. 8). He had journeyed from afar. It was high noon. He was tired. He was thirsty. In an arid land, where water was scarce He asked the women, "Give Me a drink."

In seeking this sinner, Jesus subjected Himself to physical discomfort. He was desperate for water! Yet in a couple years, in a greater desperation to aid lost sinners, Jesus would experience an even greater thirst on the cross. Geoffrey Bull, a missionary imprisoned on the Tibetan border in the 50's said this about Jesus' encounter with the Samaritan woman. "If she could have seen just then what Jesus saw, she would have glimpsed another noon-day when the sun would mourn in blackness and the same Stranger cry out from a Roman cross, "I thirst!" She would have seen in Him the shadow of a great rock in a weary land, the smitten Christ from whom the living waters flow…He was thirstier than she knew. He was speaking for the very heart of God. He was moving in the travail of His soul and looked for satisfaction in the restoration of this sin scarred woman."

On one level He was suffering from physical thirst. On another level, Jesus sought to engage this woman as He began His process of self-disclosure. The question from Jesus brought forth the response that we could have predicted. Verse 9, "The Samaritan woman therefore 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)." Her surprise was understandable! He was a Jew and she was a Samaritan! He was a man and she was a woman! It was a breach of social norm for Jesus to speak to her, even more preposterous to ask her for a favor (c.f. verse 27). In the Mishnah, written a generation later, we read that all "the daughters of the Samaritans are menstruants from the cradle" and therefore perpetually in a state of ceremonial uncleanness. Furthermore, John's parenthetical thought at the end of the verse further clarifies, "For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans." Literally this means the Jews did not share vessels used for food or drink with the Samaritans. In speaking to the Samaritan woman Jesus could have incurred ceremonial uncleanliness. Further uncleanliness would have occurred if Jesus had used her utensils to drink.

Yet these religious rituals and cultural taboos did not prevent Jesus. Jesus is not defiled by what is unclean; rather He sanctifies and purifies all that He touches. Jesus was not ashamed to take a drink from the vessel of a woman whom He had come to cleanse. For this purpose He had come. He came to teach the world that separation should not exist horizontally based upon language and gender and religion and culture. Any wedge that drives division between these parties is based on sin. Additionally, separation should not exist vertically between humans and God. Any wedge that drives division between these parties is also based on sin. Jesus came for the purpose of overcoming sin, reconciling humans to God and making all people one in Him. How could He not speak with this impure Samaritan woman who needed cleansing just as much as a righteous Jewish man named Nicodemus.

3. ESCORTED HER THINKING (10-15)

Despite the woman's amazement, Jesus continues in the dialogue in an attempt to win her heart. He takes the conversation to a higher plane from physical thirst to spiritual thirst. Look at verse 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." In other words Jesus is basically saying, "The amazing thing is not that I being a Jew am asking you for a drink of physical water. Rather the amazing thing is that you being a sinner are not asking Me for a drink of living water!" Water in a land subject to drought was viewed as a symbol of life, a special gift from God. But Jesus is able to impart spiritual life, a far greater gift from God.

The specific gift that Jesus has to offer in verse 10 is identified as "living water." Since the Samaritans rejected most of the Hebrew Bible, it is fairly evident that this woman was confused as to the meaning of this term. However most Jews at the time would have been familiar with the metaphor. Living water implies that only God is the One who gives true spiritual life. Psalm 36:9, "For with Thee is the fountain of life." Isaiah 12:3, "Therefore you will joyously draw water from the springs of salvation." Isaiah 55:1, "Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money come." No money is needed! It is free! It is a gift!

However, as it is told by the prophets, the people of Israel rejected the fresh running springs of God. They rejected His faithful goodness and chose for themselves the stagnant waters of worldliness. Unfortunately, we too have all come to know these cisterns that we dig for ourselves leave us unfulfilled with only temporary satisfaction. Jeremiah 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." When humans reject the refreshing waters of God and chose the cisterns of money, fame, power, sin to bring satisfaction, they sin against their great Provider and also find their souls parched for something greater. Only God is the One who can satisfy the thirst of the human heart with the precious gift of Himself. Psalm 42:1, "As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for Thee, O God."

The Samaritan woman was clueless. Her mind was still occupied with physical water. Her unregenerate mind was still blinded to spiritual things. In verse 11 she said to Jesus, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water?" Jesus promised her living water, but common sense told her that a man without a bucket standing over a well more than 100 feet deep would have a difficult time living up to His promises!

She presses Jesus even further. "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?" After all Jacob was the revered patriarch. Even Jacob, when he needed water was forced to dig a well and raise the water in a bucket. Who did this Stranger think he was? Did He dare imply that He was greater than Jacob?

Though the woman attempted to corner Jesus with His words, His words actually cornered her. She was forced to make a difficult decision. Who was this weary Stranger at the well? Was He indeed the most significant spiritual figure the world has ever seen? Her intellectual wheels were turning. Could this man be greater than Jacob? Could He possibly have better water to offer?

Jesus turns up the heat. In verse 13 He said, "Everyone who drinks of this water shall thirst again."

I can remember a time back in college during the first day of summer football practice when I was extremely thirsty. The sun baked on my exhausted (out-of-shape) body covered in 30 pounds of equipment. I was so dehydrated I thought I was going to die! I wanted water more than anything at that time! But then near the end of practice the sun hid behind the clouds and raindrops began to fall reverberating with a cracking noise each time they hit my helmet. I can remember the refreshment I experienced as the cool water was falling from the sky. Then when the final whistle blew. I sprinted with every drop of energy that remained in order to be the first in line at the drinking fountain. Despite the frustrated teammates, I drank and drank and drank. Oh how that water satisfied! That is, until practice began the following day.

This is the point that Jesus was trying to make with this woman. She cherished her well. She was proud of her water. And no doubt the water brought great satisfaction. But nevertheless, it is only physical water. The satisfaction is temporary. Within time, the thirst will reoccur!

Jesus is striking a parallel between the thirst in our body and the thirst in our soul. Just as physical thirst in never fully satisfied, our soul's thirst is never fully satisfied apart from Jesus Christ.

Consider a man named Abdalrahman who was the 8^th century Monarch of Cordova. In language resembling Ecclesiastes, he said, "I have now reigned above 50 years in victory or peace; beloved by my subjects, dreaded by my enemies, and respected by my allies. Riches and honors, powers and pleasure, have waited on my call, nor does any earthly blessing appear to have been wanting to my felicity. In this situation I have diligently numbered the days of pure and genuine happiness which have fallen into my lot; they amount to fourteen: O man, place not thy confidence in this present world!

Now in the 21^st century, bombarded with all the deceptive promises of happiness, people still attempt to quench their thirsty souls apart from the living God. I read this week about people who drank blood, urine, poison-one man even drank radiator fluid-in desperation when they were dying of thirst. In the same way, many drink in the spiritual poison of sin to try and quench the soul's thirst. The one true "Thirst Quencher" is Jesus Christ. Pastor Kent Hughes said, "To try to quench our thirst with the things of this world is much like those unfortunate sailors who, when they become famished, let themselves drink the ocean, only to find themselves more wretched than they could have imagined possible."

It was during those days back in college when I was enabled to realize that being a football player doesn't satisfy! That having big muscles doesn't satisfy! That getting good grades doesn't satisfy! That having many girlfriends doesn't satisfy! That winning fights doesn't satisfy! That partying doesn't satisfy! I achieved what the world promised would bring me joy, and I was betrayed! I was depressed! And I believed with all my heart that there had to be something greater out there!

In 1989, God led me to that well that never runs dry. I found true satisfaction in pursuing God through a relationship with Jesus Christ. I was able to forsake the broken cisterns of the world. In contrasting these broken cisterns, Jesus said in verse 14, "but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life."

Within each of our hearts, God has placed a well that can only be filled by Him. British scholar, F.F. Bruce once said, "The soul's deepest thirst is for God Himself, who has made us so that we can never be satisfied without Him." All of our soul's longing for love and companionship and protection and intimacy and joy and peace and meaning and satisfaction can ultimately be met only in God. Unfortunately most humans try to fill that well with the dirt of the world, and they walk away disappointed and frustrated. That is because the well was intended to hold water, Living Water that bans thirst forever and brings permanent satisfaction. Was this not the heartbeat of Christ when He said elsewhere, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied" (Mt. 5:6)? This Living Water, none other than the Person of the Holy Spirit, dwells within each believer as a perennial wellspring of refreshment and down payment of eternal life. Is it a wonder that we are even commanded as Christians to be "filled with the Holy Spirit?" And even as Christians, God has not removed our thirst for Him, but every need is quenched through the water continually poured out upon us in the Spirit. How dare we choose to drink from the broken cisterns labeled world, sin and Satan. No longer do we have a dry well, but now we have a fountain springing up where both we and others can find eternal life.

Despite all of this rich spiritual teaching, the woman at the well could not get beyond the naturalistic plane. In verse 15 she said, "Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty, nor come all the way here to draw." Like so many, she is still not concerned about her soul's satisfaction, rather she is infatuated with the satisfaction of her physical needs. She'll gladly receive any water Jesus has to offer if it eliminates her ongoing thirst and frequent journeys to well.

Though she appeared eager to receive the gift that Jesus had to offer, He did not give her the living water at this time. He was not looking for a cheap conversion. As we will learn next week in the verses that follow, Jesus wanted her to understand His identity and her true spiritual need to overcome sin. Beloved, only Jesus Christ can satisfy a thirsty soul as it searches for something more fulfilling in life.

George Sanders was at one time a leading man in Hollywood who had been married to Zsa Zsa Bagor and Benita Hume. He was a graduate of Cambridge University and was a brilliant mathematician. He was a man of exceptional mental and social abilities. But the final note he ever penned, contained an element of Samaritan dissatisfaction and despair. "I am committing suicide because I am bored. I feel I have lived long enough. I leave you all in your sweet little cesspool and I wish you luck."

The Bible calls it a broken cistern; the successful George Sanders called it a cesspool. Tragically, Sanders was right. He learned his own lesson all too well. Satisfaction will never be found in the cesspool. We must decisively turn to the refreshing waters that quench thirst forever and spring up to eternal life.