[0:00] Let's turn together now to John chapter 4 and we're looking at this passage today that we read, verses 1 to 30. With a continuing of our study in the Bible of various conversions that are mentioned in the Bible, we've looked at two or three from the Old Testament and we can now look at some from the New Testament as well as we go on with that short series.
[0:25] So today we're looking at this anonymous woman, the woman of Samaria she's usually known as, who met with Jesus on this memorable day for her, possibly for him as well, but certainly for her as she met him at this well.
[0:45] Interviews are things which many of us, if not most of us, are involved in from time to time, whether it's an interview for a job or an interview for something else.
[0:55] And interviews are things which sometimes terrify people. They wonder how they're going to get on at interview. Or if you're actually engaged in carrying out the interview, it can be equally terrifying or formidable.
[1:07] What are you going to ask? How are you going to frame your questions? How are you going to deal with various responses from those that you're interviewing? So interviews can be very stressful, very often are very stressful, and stressful even thinking of it beforehand for those being interviewed or for those doing the interview.
[1:26] Well, here's a master class in interviewing. Because while you wouldn't necessarily deal with people in interviews the same way as Jesus dealt with this woman, You cannot look at this passage without stepping back and just admiring the sheer expertise and the skill with which Jesus interviewed this woman.
[1:51] And led the interview, as we'll see, from something very ordinary and a very ordinary request, very deliberately beginning with that and ending up with something of such crucial importance that it was in fact nothing less than eternal life that he led her to.
[2:10] So just admire the skill of Jesus, the expertise of Jesus, as he carries out this interview, as we go through this passage. But more than that, make sure that you too have what this woman came to possess.
[2:28] Make sure that you're looking at this passage today as we look at it together. I and yourselves, make sure, all of us, that we too know what it's like to sit beside Jesus and listen to him.
[2:41] And receive his instruction for our eternal benefit. It's one thing to admire the interview. It's one thing to see how amazingly Jesus dealt with this woman.
[2:54] How he took her step by step through this interview until he had reached the very thing that he was always intent on reaching with her. This eternal life that he mentioned as being in himself.
[3:06] But what's more important is that you are led and I am led by the same Jesus and willing to be led to that fountain of water that's in himself.
[3:19] Well then, three things from the passage. Firstly, a personal engagement. Secondly, a probing examination. Thirdly, a persuasive explanation.
[3:30] All on the part of Jesus as he led this woman in this interview. A personal engagement. Now notice the first four verses here because it tells us really something of the background to it.
[3:42] How they came together to this well at Sychar. Jesus learned something. What did he learn? He learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John.
[3:55] So he left Judea and departed again from Galilee. We're not told exactly why that was. There was some reason for it. Particular to Jesus himself. As soon as he heard this, he moved on.
[4:07] We're not told why. It's just a fact we're told. But then we're told that he left Judea and he had to pass through Samaria.
[4:19] Now that's not quite perhaps just as strongly as it should be in the translation. The old AV puts it very well. It uses the word must. He must needs go through Samaria.
[4:31] Now he didn't have to do that geographically. And in fact, he was really departing from the usual practice of the Jews in coming from Judea to Galilee.
[4:45] Because the Jews, because they did not have any dealings with the Samaritans, because they didn't want to touch anything Samaritan, very often, they would actually prefer to cross the Jordan twice, once in leaving one of these districts, and then bypassing Samaria and coming back again to the district they were coming to.
[5:04] Rather than pass through Samaria, they would cross the river twice than do that. Jesus didn't do that. He passed through Samaria. But the word must is used.
[5:14] He didn't have to in terms of any kind of geographical reasons for it. He didn't have to do it in one sense. But there is a must about it.
[5:26] There's a divine necessity about it. And the theology that John packs into his words and into his phrases and descriptions is really so amazing.
[5:37] As you go through this wonderful gospel, you can see how much John loves to pack teaching and theology and rich spiritual things into words such as water and light.
[5:52] And that's that sort of ordinary commodity or ordinary term. And John uses them to present to us such amazing truth.
[6:03] And what he's saying to us here is that Jesus must go through Samaria. There's a constraint upon him. There's a divine oversight.
[6:13] There is something here that really cannot be bypassed because the destiny of this woman in the eyes of God means that she must meet with Jesus that day.
[6:26] There's no alternative. This is something that God had planned from all eternity. That's what's really behind it. It's a theology of God's plan. She had to be there that day.
[6:36] Jesus had to go through Samaria that day. They had to meet at that well that day. Because that woman's life was going to be changed forever by that meeting.
[6:48] He had to go through Samaria. He had to meet with this woman. God had ordained it. God had planned it. This was the program for Jesus as laid out by himself, by God.
[7:02] And so it is for you. You had to be here today. Not an accident. It's not just something that happened because you desire to be here. It's not something that you've chosen.
[7:14] Yes, you've chosen to be here. Your desire is to be here. But it's in the plan of God that you be here. And just as it was with this woman, so let it be for you and for me today.
[7:26] The fact that God has planned this. That God has purposed this. That God has brought us to this place today where Jesus is going to, in the gospel, come alongside of us.
[7:40] That's not an accident. That's not insignificant. It's not just something that happens by chance. It's the theology of God's plan.
[7:53] From all eternity, God said, such and such a person will be under the gospel, will be listening to my word in Knockfrey Church Hall on this Sabbath in February 2015.
[8:07] Isn't that amazing? Doesn't that take your mind back to the greatness of God? The awesomeness of you being in God's plan that precisely?
[8:21] And it's like that with every aspect of your life. Everything that happens from day to day, none of it is accidental. However small the events might be.
[8:33] You get on the bus to go to school or you get a lift to school or you come and go from school every day. That's not an accident. Yes, you're in it because you've chosen to do it or your parents have sent you or whatever it is.
[8:46] But remember always, children, that God's plan involves you. And God's plan involves you deliberately. And God's plan involves you precisely. And in the detail of your life as you grow up.
[8:58] Always remember that you're in God's plan. That you look to God to guide your life. The God who has drawn the map of your life. He's the only one who can take you safely through every step of the path that he's given you to follow.
[9:14] And it's like that, of course, for all the adults as well. So this was really a planned appointment. It was in God's diary. In Christ's diary. From all eternity.
[9:26] And here it is. The appointment is now being kept. And then Jesus gets personal. And you can see that it's personal because there's only herself and himself there at the well.
[9:43] And what we mean by Jesus getting personal is the fact that conversion, which we're looking at, has this as a very crucial factor in it. Even if there had been a thousand people around that well that day, Christ's business was with that woman.
[10:01] And Christ was going to single out that woman. Out of everybody else that might have been present. Although there's just herself and himself. You can see that elsewhere in the gospel records as well.
[10:13] Take, for example, Luke's account of the conversion of Zacchaeus. He's not the only person in the scene. Far from it. There are vast crowds following Jesus. And Zacchaeus is so concerned that he sees Jesus for himself.
[10:28] And because he's so small and can't see above the crowd, he runs ahead and gets himself up into a sycamore tree to get a vantage point. So that he can see Jesus passing by and those that are following him.
[10:40] And then he gets the surprise of his life. Because when Jesus actually meets, comes to that spot, he stops at that point and he looks up to that tree. And out of everybody there, he says, Zacchaeus, you come down at once from that tree for today.
[10:58] I must go and stay at your house. We don't find conversions taking place in generalities.
[11:11] The Bible's account of conversion always brings you to Jesus and individuals together. To Christ, to God, dealing with individual people, with their individual circumstances, with their individual needs, with their individual personalities, with everything about them that God knows of them as individuals.
[11:32] That is how they come to be converted. God takes account of all of these things. God actually shows that he knows the detail of that person's life. And that's what we'll see in this as well.
[11:43] That's what we mean by Jesus getting really personal. Because he is dealing here with an individual, with her individual circumstances in life.
[11:54] And that's what he gets alongside to, that's why he gets alongside of her to really look into her life and get her to bring all of that out in his presence.
[12:11] And isn't that how it is with yourself? Isn't your great concern that you would know Christ alongside you? That you would know the experience of Jesus actually coming into your life, coming alongside you, coming to show that interest in you and to persuade you and to really be, so that you really be convinced that this Savior, this great person, this God, has you in his heart.
[12:44] Has your interest at heart. Has your eternity at heart. Has your service for him in this world at heart. You see, it's Jesus and ourselves in a personal way.
[12:58] Person to person. Face to face. Face to face. Side by side. Do you know that today? Have you come to experience what it is to sit with Jesus?
[13:10] To listen to his voice? To really be taken up with what he has to say to you? And to respond in the way this woman responded. That's crucial to conversion.
[13:24] You're not converted outside of this personal relationship. Interview with Christ. And that goes on. As Peter in his first epistle said about Jesus and his being the rock and we being the living stones when we've come to know him.
[13:44] To whom you keep coming. As unto a living stone. It's not just that you come to be with him when you first come to know him and you experience him drawing near to you.
[13:56] That's the beginning of things. But that goes on. And that relationship goes on. And that's why we try and say to people who are newly converted or to young people especially that the relationship that begins at conversion is one that they themselves have a responsibility to keep up.
[14:14] To read their Bible. To pray regularly. To have fellowship with Jesus. To come aside by themselves and be with him. And cultivate that practice of fellowship with Christ.
[14:28] And just having the two of you together. So that you're listening to him. And that he delights in fellowship with you. So it's a personal engagement.
[14:40] But secondly it's a probing examination. Now verses 8 and 9 if you look at these and then you go ahead to verse 27 what the disciples said when they came back. It shows that Jesus here broke with convention.
[14:55] His disciples had gone away into the city at this stage to buy food. And the Samaritan woman said to him how is it that you a Jew ask for a drink from me a woman of Samaria.
[15:07] And John explains in brackets for Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. And when the disciples came back they marveled that he was talking with a woman. There's two things in that where Jesus broke with convention.
[15:19] Firstly he was talking to a Samaritan and secondly to make matters worse in the eyes of Jews and Samaritans indeed he was talking to a woman of Samaria.
[15:32] Not just a Samaritan but a woman which no Jew would actually do in those days certainly not a woman on her own. And Jesus often breaks with conventions.
[15:47] You find him when he speaks to the Pharisees that he denounces them for their conventions for their practices for the ways in which they so often buried the law of God with their own commandments and traditions and things that they had invented.
[16:05] Why is Jesus breaking with convention here? Why is he breaking with convention at other times with the Pharisees? Is it just to make himself controversial? You do find people like that don't you? Sometimes you'll come across people that just seem to be doing this all the time and it seems to be just for the sake of doing it.
[16:22] They love to be controversial. They love to be going against the flow. They love people to see them standing out and being different to the norm and to what's expected.
[16:32] People like that just love to be controversial and they take a great delight to get a kick out of being controversial. That's not what Jesus is doing. Jesus is being controversial breaking with convention because what he's doing is just removing the layers of human tradition that have been imposed on such things as relationship between Jews and Samaritans and the relationship between people and the law of God that the Pharisees had buried by their traditions and you remember the kind of thing that they had imposed even on the Sabbath day to the most minute details of what you were and were not allowed to do.
[17:17] Jesus to really peel away these layers of human inventions had to make himself in this way stand out and break with convention.
[17:31] And that of course follows into our own life as well. Don't fall into the trap of going along with people who say oh well it's just tradition as if every tradition was really something that you could throw aside without thinking too much about it.
[17:49] There are traditions that are actually based on the truth of God and are themselves traditions that have come to be very valuable to Christians or to the church or to people. But when you come to something like the Pharisees or this idea that Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans that becomes an established law.
[18:08] It's a man-made law. And when you come to the point where you say to people you have to do that. It's expected of you. And then you ask well where did it come from? It came from human tradition.
[18:19] Then you have to stand up and say well I don't have to do it. If it's not required by scripture. It's not something that's a necessity. So that's what Jesus is really about here.
[18:32] But you see what we want to see especially how he led her to salvation. He broke with convention but in verses 10 to 15 he actually concentrated on salvation.
[18:43] As we said at the beginning look at how he began. He said in verse 5, 7 here give me a drink something very ordinary. Just taking ordinary water and his need because he was thirsty of a drink.
[18:59] He said to this woman give me a drink. He chose that deliberately because he knew at that stage that he wanted this woman to be led by him to think of the water of life.
[19:09] The water that's in him. The waters of eternal life. And this is how he began. Give me a drink. And expertly he leads her from that because she then says you don't have a vessel to draw water with and this well is deep.
[19:26] How can you get that living water? And of course Jesus had said if you knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you give me a drink you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.
[19:38] You see what he's doing? He's starting with ordinary water and then he's moving and taking a step upwards and now he's talking about living water. And he's saying to her if you really knew who I am, who I am the person that's talking with you, if you really understood who I am, you would have asked me for water better than this ordinary water in Jacob's well.
[20:03] You would have asked him for living water. And you can see actually the way that two things are joined together in that answer of Jesus that are so important to keep together.
[20:16] He talks about the gift of God and who it is that is saying this to you. In other words, the gift of God is eternal life. The gift of God is life but it's in Jesus Christ.
[20:28] You cannot separate the two. food. If you knew the gift of God, if you really appreciated eternal life and what it is and who this is that is talking with you, you would keep the two together, you would join the two together in your mind and you would ask him, give me living water.
[20:49] Give me the water that you alone are able to give. So you see, he's leading her on to thinking about something other than ordinary water, though that's what he's begun with.
[21:02] And he's including a focus on himself, the one who's talking with her, so that she will come to see, as indeed the conclusion of the interview shows us, that this in fact is the Savior.
[21:16] And he's taken the time to lead her to eternal life. Now this woman has many needs. She has many needs as became apparent as the interview went on.
[21:32] And you and I have many needs. We have social needs, we have practical needs, we have physical needs. But you learn from this that we have one need which is above every other need and that's our spiritual need.
[21:47] The need of our souls, the need of eternal life, the need of of the water of life. We need ordinary water. You can't live without ordinary water. We need things in the practical sense physically that we require from day to day to live our lives ordinarily and in this world.
[22:06] need of the need. But what Jesus is saying is make sure that you have your greatest need right at the top of your agenda. That you don't crowd your life with ordinary things, with physical things, with timely things, and put at the bottom the need of your soul.
[22:28] The other way about he's saying. If you knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you give me a drink. You would have asked him and he would have given you living water.
[22:39] Now you see in verse 14 here. As he led her on everyone who drinks verse 13 of this water will be thirsty again. But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never be thirsty again.
[22:54] In other words Jesus is actually saying here. Here is ordinary water. You need to come repeatedly to that water in order to satisfy your thirst.
[23:13] But the water that I shall give him. It means he'll never thirst again. It will be satisfying everlastingly.
[23:23] In fact he says it will come to be in the person that receives this water for me. I will give it to him and it will become in him a spring of water welling up into eternal life.
[23:35] And the contrast there I think is between this ordinary water and the fact that it's outside of us to begin with. And you have to go to it outside of yourself in order to take it into yourself.
[23:46] Whereas eternal life, the life that Jesus gives to his people comes to be in you. It's a fountain of life that flows out from inside your heart and flows out into all aspects of your life.
[24:00] You don't go once you have it to something outside of yourself for it every day. It exists within you because God lives within you. And Jesus occupies your heart.
[24:15] Not such a great truth really in itself. That contrast between what's outside of us and what's in. What is ordinary and what's spiritual. It will be that welling up he says, springing up, flowing up unto eternal life.
[24:31] But he didn't leave it at that. He broke with convention. He concentrated on salvation. He brought her to focus on the water of eternal life.
[24:44] And how that was joined to himself. That was in him. That he would give it to her. But then he exposed transgression. And up to now, it was relatively easy for this woman.
[25:03] In terms of her conscience. All she needed to do was just think about the difference between the water in this well. And the water that Jesus spoke of that he had to give her.
[25:14] Spiritual water. All she had to think of was the difference between Jacob who gave this well. And Jesus who was giving this water that he spoke of. But he wasn't finished with that.
[25:26] He said, go. Call your husband. And come back here together. And she said, sir, I have no husband. You see, he's touched her conscience.
[25:38] And she's trying to cover up. Which is what we ourselves do. Usually in the first instance. I said, I know you don't have a husband.
[25:49] Because I know you've had five husbands. And the one you're now living with is not your husband. In that you have spoken truly. When we come to sit alongside of Jesus.
[26:07] When we come to listen to and to accept his word. Our life is going to be turned inside out. Our conscience is going to be hit with his truth.
[26:19] What we are morally is going to come to confront us. Our sin is going to be exposed. Our transgression is going to be brought out before us.
[26:31] Here's this woman. Desperately trying to cover up. Because her conscience has been hit by what Jesus has said. And she knows that he's getting at the truth. Of what her life is like. And her life's a mess.
[26:42] And it's been a mess for a long time. She's had all of these people. For whatever reason. As husbands. She's now living with someone. He's not her husband. That's her background.
[26:52] That's her situation. And Christ has put his finger on something. That's very, very sore. Just like when you come to a broken joint. And you find somebody.
[27:03] If you've got a broken arm. Or a broken leg. And somebody comes to lean on it. Or just to press on whatever is sore. And your body. It hurts. So does your conscience.
[27:13] When Jesus lays his finger on your conscience. And brings your sin to light. It's not just because he delights to do it. It's not because he gets some perverse satisfaction out of doing that.
[27:26] It's so that you will come to be familiar with your greatest need. That you and I will come to know that sin needs to be exposed. If it's going to be cured and dealt with by him.
[27:37] He's not going to leave it lying. Buried unseen under the surface of your life. He's going to bring it out. So that together you will actually look at it. And he will say now. We have to actually get down to getting rid of this.
[27:50] Your guilt. And your sinful lifestyle. He exposed. Her transgression. That's something that all of us find difficult.
[28:06] And as we'll see in a minute. She really wanted to evade this issue. And change the subject. It's not surprising. Because. Just imagine what it would have been like.
[28:18] Jesus beside you. And all of a sudden your life is exposed. Brought right before you. In a few words. This man has actually got to the very root of your lifestyle.
[28:35] And he's brought it out. And every detail of it is known to him. But that's how it is with Christ. And you don't have to have Christ physically beside you anymore. That's not how it happens anymore.
[28:45] But when you hear Jesus. Speaking to you from the Bible. When he comes alongside of you in his truth. It's just as surely the case then. As it was with this woman. That he sits beside you.
[28:56] That he gets into your soul. That he exposes what you really are. Why? So that you and I will deal honestly with our need. To have our sin forgiven. And that's why.
[29:10] People don't like this. Because it means a whole change of life. It means a turnaround. It means the essential of repentance. And of turning around again.
[29:21] Starting a new life. Getting rid of the old. That's what conversion is about. That's why conversion involves exposing transgression by Jesus.
[29:34] So there's a personal engagement. There's a probing examination. And there's finally a persuasive explanation. Now as the interview goes on. You're following it through. You're amazed at how it goes on.
[29:46] And she says. Sir give me this water. Come and call. Go and call your husband. You're right in saying this. How does he then progress with the interview? Well she says. And again.
[29:56] She seems to be really changing the subject. To get away from this issue of her domestic situation. Sir I perceive that you're a prophet. And it's not just to get away from the subject.
[30:09] But she knows there's something. Now she's come to realize. There's something remarkable about this man. There's something amazing here. She has got really into the detail of her life.
[30:20] And she's never met him before. Sir I perceive that you're a prophet. And then there's this passage about dealing with worship. We're not going to go into that in detail.
[30:31] But looking at the way that he led her through that as well. That worship is in spirit and in truth. And then you come to the real climax.
[30:41] The real point. That he wanted to lead her to. In verse 25. The woman said to him. And by this stage you get the impression. That she's really thinking. This person could well be the Messiah.
[30:54] He could well be the promised prophet. That the Old Testament said would come. And be our Messiah. And be our Savior. Sir I perceive that you're a prophet. But now she's saying to him.
[31:06] I know that Messiah is coming. Who's called to Christ. When he comes. He will tell us all things. You see the link. Between what's now in her mind. And what she's just gone through.
[31:17] For these minutes before this. He has told her everything about herself. In the space of a few words. And now she's saying. In her own mind. She's saying. I wonder if this is the Messiah. So I'll test it out.
[31:28] She says. I know Messiah will come. When he comes. He will tell us all things. Then you just kind of. Get the impression.
[31:40] There must have been a pause. A silence. And that Jesus then looked her in the eye. And said. I who am speaking to you.
[31:54] I'm he. It's me. I'm the Messiah. Now if she was surprised.
[32:09] And becoming more and more amazed. As the interview went on. As we think she would have been. You wonder what she's like. At this moment. It's a jaw dropping moment.
[32:22] It's a moment. When you just imagine. She'd be just stunned. At least for a little time. With this incredible. Statement. Of this man sitting beside her.
[32:35] We know that Messiah is coming. This great figure. This savior. Who's been promised all over these centuries. I who am speaking to you.
[32:47] It's me. I'm he. And there's something in that. For you and for me too. Because there is no moment in life.
[33:00] Like the moment that you realize. That Jesus is the answer. To all your needs. The moment you come to be persuaded. That whatever other needs you have.
[33:12] This is your greatest need. That you will have him. That he will be your Messiah. And that God has sent him specifically. To sit alongside you in the gospel.
[33:23] So that you would come and hear him saying this to you. I am this Messiah that you're looking for. I am the one. Who can give you everything you need in this life.
[33:35] And beyond and for eternity. Have you known that moment? Isn't it a precious moment? Every Christian here can look back. And think of the time that this really became.
[33:49] A very persuasive point with them. Maybe they can't know the exact moment. But they know roughly. Or pretty accurately. When it was. And how it came about. That they came to realize.
[34:00] Whatever else I need. I need Jesus Christ. I need the salvation that's in him. I need him. To rule my life. And then she had a new interest.
[34:17] Because. We've not dealt with this as we've gone through the passage. But we'll deal with it now. She left her water pot. And went into. The town of Sychar. That she belonged to.
[34:28] Many people have. Thought that. Either there's a lot. In the reference there. To leaving her water jar. And having all kinds of. Speculation as to what that means.
[34:40] How to interpret it. And other commentators say. There's nothing in that. It's just a reference. To something that happened. Well I think there is. A lot in that. She had come to draw.
[34:51] Ordinary water. She was leaving. With the knowledge. Of spiritual water. In other words. She had moved from. Her original intention.
[35:03] To a new interest. And she's so taken up. With this new interest. She's forgotten. Why she came to the well. She left the water pot there.
[35:14] She'll probably come back. For it later. But at the moment. She's so caught up. In having come to know Christ. And to realize. Who this is. She's in such a hurry. She's so filled with excitement.
[35:24] She leaves the water pot there. And she just rushes. To her fellow townspeople. To invite them. To come to meet this man. For themselves. And that's what she does.
[35:37] She gives out. This excited. Invitation. But before we just finish with that. Let me just. Look at. Give you to. Cast your mind back. To the passage. And how it deals.
[35:49] So frequently. With the fact. That this well. Was given. By Jacob. To. Those that were then. Drinking of it. She said. Are you greater than our father Jacob.
[36:01] It mentions at the beginning. Of course. That. They had to pass through Samaria. To the well. That Jacob had given. To his son Joseph. Jacob's well. Jacob. The field that Jacob had given.
[36:12] To his son Joseph. Jacob's well. Was there. And then. As the interview went on. She brought up. The issue of Jacob. Are you greater than our father Jacob. He gave us the well.
[36:23] And drank from it himself. And his sons. And his livestock. And now she's left her water. But. You bring all that together. And what is it really saying to us. It's saying to us. That. The fact that Jesus is here.
[36:35] Means. The old testament is done. It's done its work. It's finished. Because it really just. Was given by God.
[36:46] To lead up. To the coming of Christ. Chapter 1. In John's gospel. Says the same thing. Two disciples. Of John the Baptist. They stopped being with John.
[36:57] They moved over. And began to follow Jesus. That's the old testament. Moving into the new. That's you. That's them taking. The step. From the old testament situation.
[37:08] To the new. In Christ. You find the same in. Chapter 2. The water pots. That were there. Were to do with. Purification rites. Of the Jews. When he turned the water.
[37:18] Into wine. At the wedding. It's not just a miracle. It is a miracle. But it's a miracle. Packed with theology. What's it saying? It's saying the old. Purification rites. Of the Jews.
[37:29] The old testament. Structures. These are now. No longer. How the. People of God. Are to live. They've moved into the new. Age. The new. Testament.
[37:39] They're moved into. What Jesus called here. Not in Jerusalem. And not in Samaria. As it to be worshipped. But in spirit. And in truth. It's a new age.
[37:51] And she. Has left her water pot. It represents. What was in Jacob's well.
[38:03] Compared to what's in Christ. It represents the contrast. Between Jacob. As he stands. For the old testament. Here if you like. And the provision.
[38:14] That Jacob made. Or that. God made through him. For his people. That's come to an end. Now. Because it's fulfilled. In Jesus himself. I who speak to you.
[38:26] I'm he. I'm the one. Who's fulfilled. All of these. Old testament. Things. And here I am. And she's realized. This is indeed.
[38:37] The case. That's what John. Is packing. Into this reference. She left her water pot. I'm not saying. That she knew. That her water pot. Represented.
[38:47] The old testament. Or anything like that. But the way John. Is telling. This historical account. Of the incident. This is what he actually. Brings to it. So that we will see. As we read.
[38:59] This wonderful interview. That this woman. Has a new interest. In a new age. As well as a new life. For herself.
[39:09] And when she goes. And says. Come and see a man. Who told me. All that ever I did. Can this be the Christ.
[39:19] Shouldn't that be. Is this not indeed. The Christ. As you find. In some translations. Well no. Because. The Greek text here. Shows that there's still. A little measure. Of uncertainty.
[39:30] With her. Well that's how it is. For ourselves. Isn't it. When we're starting off. As Christians. There are things. That we're not sure about. Even about Jesus himself. Things that we still.
[39:41] Have to learn. But she's positive. Enough about it. She knows enough. She's convinced. Enough. At least to the degree. That she's giving. This excited. And open invitation.
[39:52] To the people. Of the town. Come. Come and see. This man. Who told me. All things that I ever did. Is this not. The Christ. And then you read about it.
[40:06] As you go through. The passage. They came out. They listened to him. They believed him. Because of the woman's testimony. He told me all that ever I did.
[40:19] When they came to him. They asked him. To stay with them. And he stayed there two days. You see. There it is. Somebody shows you. The way to Christ. Somebody shows you.
[40:29] Christ. As the answer to our needs. But you don't leave it there. You actually ask him. To stay with you. To teach you himself. When you get to know himself. Then what happens?
[40:39] Well. That's what they said. Many more believe. Because of his word. And they said. It's no longer because of you. And what you said. That we believe. For we have heard him. For ourselves.
[40:51] And we know. That this is indeed. The savior of the world. May you and I leave here today. Able to say that. Of ourselves. I have heard him for myself.
[41:06] And I know indeed. That this. Is my savior. And the savior. Of the world. Let's pray. Gracious Lord.
[41:19] We pray that you would. Bless your word to us today. When you have brought to us. In your word. Such a remarkable incident. An incident. In which we know. You are involved.
[41:30] In your own journey. Through life. In this world. We thank you. That we have it. That you have given us. These details. So that we may apply them. To ourselves. We pray that you would.
[41:41] Enable us by your spirit. To do so this day. Go before us Lord. Now into this day. And as we seek your guidance. We pray that you would. Keep us close to your truth. We pray this for Jesus sake.
[41:52] Amen.