“John 4:1-26”

Sunday, May 17, 2020

“Therefore when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus Himself was not baptizing, but His disciples were), He left Judea and went away again into Galilee. And He had to pass through Samaria. So He came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph; and Jacob’s well was there. So Jesus, being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, ‘Give Me a drink.’ For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Therefore the Samaritan woman 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.) 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.’ She said to Him, ‘Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water? 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?’ Jesus answered and said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.’ The woman said to Him, ‘Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw.’ He said to her, ‘Go, call your husband and come here.’ The woman answered and said, ‘I have no husband.’ Jesus said to her, ‘You have correctly said, “I have no husband”; for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly.’ The woman said to Him, ‘Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.’ The woman said to Him, ‘I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I who speak to you am He.’”

---End of Scripture Verses---

Some observations:

Jesus got tired and thirsty (verse 6-7). When Jesus left heaven’s glory and took on the form of a bondservant, He gave up many of the prerogatives of deity (Philippians 2:6-8). Jesus was a human being, and as such, He grew weary from His work and His travels. Some people are considered “tireless workers”. I don’t think that’s an accurate description of diligent and dedicated laborers. They get tired too, they just refuse to make excuses and they work through their fatigue.

Jesus provides refreshment (verses 10-14). Jesus asked for a drink, but the Samaritan woman was truly the needy one. She needed the “living water” that only the Savior offers, as we all do. Jesus calls this living water “the gift of God.” What is this gift? In John 7:37-39 Jesus spoke of “rivers of living waters," and John said this was in reference to the Holy Spirit. Jesus also said here that this water would "spring up to eternal life," and in Romans 6:23, the “free gift of God” is said to be “eternal life”. Since there is a connection between these two gifts (the Holy Spirit and eternal life) that cannot be broken, Jesus likely had both in mind. Peter said in Acts 2:38 that when a person repents and is baptized for the forgiveness of sins, he receives “the gift of the Holy Spirit”. When a person hears, believes and receives the Spirit inspired word of God, that prompts Him to obey His commandments and receive His gift of salvation. Until a person refreshes His soul through the gift of God’s Son (John 3:16), he will never truly find satisfaction.

Jesus knows everything about you (verse 17-19, 29). Even though Jesus was fully human, He was also fully God. “For in Him the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form” (Colossians 2:9). Jesus looked into this woman’s past and told her things about her life that no mere human could possibly know. Jesus loves you and He died to save you, but He also examines you and He will judge you (John 5:22).

It matters how you worship God (verse 24). Jesus taught this woman that the most significant thing is not where you worship but how you worship. You don’t have to go to Mount Gerizim or even Jerusalem in order to pay proper homage to the Father. True worshipers of God worship Him in spirit and in truth (verse 23). If there are true worshipers of God, that necessarily means that many worship Him falsely. Jesus says we “must” worship God in spirit and in truth. Acceptable worship must be spiritual, but it must also be offered in accordance with God’s revealed truth. The Lord has not left it up to our own imagination, but He has specified explicitly in the New Testament how He wants us to worship Him.

Please read Luke 4:14-30 for tomorrow – Jesus Teaches in synagogues.

Have a blessed Lord’s Day!

-Louie Taylor

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