Our text for today is John chapter 4, verses 1 through 30.
While you're getting there, I just want to extend some appreciation to everyone who showed up over the last two days on Friday and Saturday to help with the project downstairs.
If you are unaware, about two-thirds of our building flooded downstairs and had to be remediated, flooring out, sheetrock cut, and we're putting it back together.
And not only am I thankful for all the help that showed up just because the project needs to get done, but it's a real clear expression that the church understands that it's not my project.
This building belongs to you all as much as it belongs to me, and I'm very glad for that.
So you didn't just show up and help me with my project, but we came together and rallied.
And especially thankful for Jake, who pulled together materials for us, and Tyler, who spearheaded and led the charge over the last two days.
And the long haulers.
And if you don't know if you're a long hauler, you're not a long hauler.
But I'm grateful for everybody who showed up, even those of you who could come for an hour or two and pitch in.
It was really, really helpful.
Very encouraging.
We'll keep at it.
It's not done quite yet.
So, John chapter 4, verses 1 through 30.
Let me pray before we read it.
Father God, help us as we study your word together this morning.
We humbly recognize that it was written for your glory and for our good.
We should.
We need your help to believe its promises and obey its commands and have affection for you, its author.
So help us, we pray, to this end.
Amen.
Verse 1, chapter 4 and following.
Now, when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John,
although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples,
he left Judea and departed again for Galilee.
And he had to pass through Samaria.
So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.
Jacob's well was there, so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well.
It was about the sixth hour.
A woman from Samaria came to draw water.
Jesus said to her,
The Samaritan woman said to him,
How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?
For Jews had no dealings with Samaritans.
Jesus answered her,
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.
The woman said to him,
Sir, you have nothing to draw water with and the well is deep.
Where do you get that living water?
Are you greater than our father Jacob?
He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.
Jesus said to her,
Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again.
But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.
The water that I will 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 will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.
Jesus said to her,
Go call your husband and come here.
The woman answered him,
I have no husband.
Jesus said to her,
You are right in saying I have no husband.
For you have had five husbands and the one you now have is not your husband.
What you have said is true.
The woman said to him,
Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.
Our fathers worshipped on this mountain,
but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.
Jesus said to her,
Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on 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 the hour is coming and is now here when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.
For the Father is seeking such people to worship him.
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 he comes, he will tell us all things.
Jesus said to her,
I who speak to you am he.
Just then his disciples came back.
They marveled that he was talking with a woman,
but no one said,
What do you seek?
Or, why are you talking with her?
So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people,
Come see a man who told me all that I ever did.
Can this be the Christ?
They went out of the town and were coming to him.
Okay, now, you may have noted in your bulletin that it says,
John chapter 4, verses 1 through 30, part 1.
If all goes to plan, you know, often I have a plan to do the entire text,
and then we end up splitting it into parts.
I am planning on doing it in two parts,
so this Sunday and the next Sunday,
because there's just so much richness to be pulled out of these verses.
And to aid us across this week and next in our study of these 30 verses,
I'm going to do something unique for my preaching,
perhaps for all preaching, I don't know.
We're going to consider the text with two outlines,
not just one, but two.
And my hope is that this will help us grasp the structure
and, therefore, the meaning of the text.
So our first outline for today,
Jesus is presented in four ways.
Number one, he is Jesus the living water.
I'll explain more, verses 4 through 15.
He is Jesus the prophet, number two, verses 16 through 19.
We'll try to cover those two today.
Thirdly, he is Jesus' savior of the world.
And fourthly, he is Jesus, Messiah.
So we're going to try our best to get to those two points of the four today.
And we're also going to use a second outline,
which will kind of be the more prominent outline.
First, if you're taking notes, this is probably the place you want to start.
First, the greatness of our sin.
And secondly, the surpassing greatness of Jesus' mercy.
The first of these outlines presents itself fairly obviously to me
as I sought to ascertain some direction for our study.
You may not have ever taught the Bible, but this is a thing we do.
We sit down, we read the text, we reread the text.
We're looking for some structure found within the text itself.
Some texts it's easier, some texts it's a little more difficult to ascertain
how you should structure what the structure of the text is,
therefore what the structure of the sermon ought to be.
But as we read through that, and I gave you those first four points,
I imagine that it was fairly simple for you to see the point there.
It's sequential, Jesus the living water, Jesus the prophet, Jesus the savior of the world,
Jesus the messiah follows through the text in that way.
And of course, we do well to see what any text intends to inform us about our Lord.
We want to pay very careful attention to it.
What is it saying about Jesus in the case of the gospel of John?
So, why the second outline?
If that's easy to ascertain, why the second outline?
And I want to tell you, I want to give you a little bit of explanation.
So as I'm looking at this passage, I'm beginning to notice some patterns
that I want to show you that were emerging to me.
I'm going, I really think there's an interesting pattern going on in this text.
And so we need to talk a bit about the literary structure of chapter four.
Before doing it, though, I want to take two quick comments about preaching.
Some of you are guests this morning.
Some of you are pretty settled in here.
But number one, I'm just always baffled, just absolutely astounded
by the preacher who is constantly searching for relevant stories to help make Bible points.
I don't spend any time in the week watching TV or sports
and looking for an analogy that I can bring to the pulpit on Sunday morning.
Why?
The Bible itself is replete with Spirit-inspired stories.
We have one before us today.
I just want to say, not all preaching that has stories in it is bad,
analogies in it is bad.
But be wary of preaching that's always looking elsewhere to try to drive a lesson home.
It's right here.
It's right here in the text itself if we would be careful and really consider it.
Secondly, good preaching keeps your nose in the text.
What do I mean by that, right?
Good preaching is many things,
but a really good place to begin preparing a faithful sermon
is to consider how to have your hearers swim around in the text.
So when I say keep your nose in the text,
not that I really want any of you to do this, but this.
You're doing this.
You don't have to look at me.
I'm not very much to look at up here.
I wave my hands around frantically sometimes,
but you're better off in the text.
And I do a good job when I'm drawing you to it again and again and again.
We don't want to just read it and then move on in our preaching.
We want to contemplate it deeply so that the text might read us.
And beloved, this text, I mean, it is just rich.
The scripture is so incredible.
The times I've read this passage and not really understood the layers of its meaning,
and I will tell you humbly,
probably someday I will come back through the book of John
and there will be something else in there,
something I missed that will make it all the much more rich.
This past Monday at our elder meeting,
we had a discussion about literary structure
and how it aids in our preparation and delivery of faithful sermons.
We talk about things like that at elder meetings sometimes.
And we had some extended conversation about how much of that is helpful to listeners.
Like, how much time should we spend explaining things like literary structure?
But we also don't want to neglect it,
particularly when it's really important to the meaning of the text.
We want you, in hearing the way we preach,
to be able to go home and confidently study the Bible.
You can do everything I'm about to do this morning.
It's very possible for you to do it
if you could just take up and learn how it is that you're supposed to do it.
So, at the risk, I recognize,
at the risk of spending too much time on the structure before us this morning,
but with the hope of keeping your nose in the text
and with the aim of answering the second outline question,
why a second outline,
I want to talk to you about chiasmus.
I've used the term before.
I think it blows off the top of your head.
We're doing it again.
Chiastic structure.
And this word comes from the Greek letter,
the X in Greek, which is the chi.
So that's chiasmus is the plural of it.
Chiastic structure.
And these structures are found everywhere
in Hebrew, in Greek literature,
including the Bible.
So what that means is,
the starting point of the text
can kind of be folded over
to the ending point of the text,
and they reflect one another.
So the two things, you could fold.
So think of the X,
like you're following the pattern,
or if you want to follow it,
down to the point and then back out.
The two things fold over the top of the structure.
All over the place in the Bible.
Not forced into it.
And I'm going to show you this morning
that this text has a chiastic structure.
In fact, the entire book of John
has a chiastic structure,
and I can't wait to get to the center point of the text.
I'm so excited to get there,
but I'm going to wait for it right now.
Did you know that the entire Pentateuch,
the first five books of the Bible,
have a chiastic structure?
Brilliant.
Brilliantly written.
And meant to bring us to a place
to help us interpret the rest of it.
Why?
Why does this type of structure exist?
Well, it's a very useful device
for the memorization
and the transmission of thought.
It's really helpful for that.
And that structure can help lead us,
again, to some interpretive help
as we're looking at text.
Now, I learned this week,
if any of you listen to the Room for Nuance podcast,
which I commend to you a lot,
this was talked about this week
from the book of John.
I learned this week that Jewish children
were taught their alphabet this way.
I don't know the Jewish alphabet,
so I'm going to tell you in our alphabet.
First, right, sequentially in order
from beginning to end, right?
A, B, C, D, E, F, G, and so on.
Then, they learned it backwards.
So, in our alphabet,
Z, Y, X, W, V, E, U, T,
and yes, I typed the whole thing out backwards.
Because I couldn't do it otherwise.
Because we don't learn the alphabet that way, do we?
In fact, if you're anything like me,
you've got to sing the song every time.
You try to...
Then, then they would learn it
in a chiastic structure.
A, Z, B, Y, C, X, D, W.
What a way to know their alphabet
forward, backward, inside out.
I mean, you really know
where the letters belong in that sequence
if you memorize it in that way.
So, this is like in the water
of our biblical writers
and their initial audiences.
I think they would have seen them.
It should have been really apparent
what was going on.
We've got to recognize that they exist
and slow down a little.
So, that was what I was doing this week.
As I was looking, I'm going,
there's some things happening.
This is an interesting text.
Even odd.
What's going on here?
And then, praise God,
somebody smarter than me
actually built out the chiastic structure
and handed it to me in a book.
And I was able to take a look at it.
And I want to bring it to you.
Like I said already,
but regularly,
where the literary structure
meets in the middle,
the central point of the text
is being made
or a significant turning point happens
or a phrase that helps
the reading of the rest of the passage
is presented.
We're supposed to pay attention to it.
A little special attention
to what's going on
right at the center
of that text.
And so, we really do well
when we notice these patterns
emerging from the text.
So, I want to show you.
Now, the chiastic structure
begins in verse 4
and ends in verse 30.
The previous text
is also chiastic,
but the first three verses
belong to it.
So, I'm going to talk about
the first three verses
just briefly
and then I'm going to get
to the chiastic structure.
Again, I'm answering the question
why a second outline.
So, I'm just going to know.
There's structure here
that matters
for our study
of this text.
Okay, so first three verses.
Now, when Jesus learned
that the Pharisees had heard
that Jesus was making
and baptizing more disciples
than John.
He's rising in prominence.
His ministry is growing.
There's a concern
on Jesus' part
that the Pharisees
are going to take him
before his time.
We'll see this repeated
throughout the gospel accounts.
Jesus himself
did not baptize,
verse 2 says,
but only his disciples.
He left Judea,
the region
where Jerusalem is located,
and departed again
for Galilee.
He's going back to Galilee.
Okay?
So, that's where we pick up
the end of the other
classic structure
and the beginning
of this one.
Now,
nose in the text.
Are you ready?
I'm going to show it to you.
I just want you to see
how very cool it is.
I hope you think it's cool.
Okay.
First,
verses 4 through 6
correspond to verse 30.
Notice in verse 5,
he comes to a town,
he comes to a town
of Samaria.
And then what happens
in verse 30?
They go out of the town
and there,
in this language,
they're coming to him.
Okay?
So, see how that happens?
And inclusio,
he's going to the town,
eh,
there's some coming to,
coming out to him.
Okay?
So, I'm just showing you.
This is how you can kind of
see the pattern.
Go, eh,
there's some coming to
and some coming to
happening on both sides
of this.
Now,
watch again.
The first half of verse 7.
A woman from Samaria
came to draw water.
She would have brought
something with her
in order to do that.
A water jar.
Notice verse 28,
29.
So,
the woman
left her water jar
and went away.
Right?
So,
are you seeing
what's happening here?
So,
he's coming to,
then they come to,
and you step just inside of that.
She came to draw water
with a water jar.
What does she do?
Just before,
she leaves her water jar
and she goes back
to the town.
You see how it steps in?
I won't walk you through
the entirety of the text,
but I'm going to give you
another one.
Okay?
Jesus speaks
to the woman.
Okay?
We see this at the very
beginning of verse
7.
Oh,
the last half of verse 7.
Excuse me.
Jesus said to her,
give me
a drink.
And what we see
in verse 27,
the disciples come back.
What do they do?
They marvel
that he was talking
with
the woman.
Are you seeing it?
I'm not making this up.
Right?
It's there.
And we can track it
all the way down
to the central point.
For the sake of time,
I'm not going to walk you
through the entire thing.
If you'd like to see it,
I'll be happy
to share it with you.
But what I do
want to bring you to
is the central,
the hinging point.
Okay?
And it is found
in verse 17,
the very first half.
We show you
on either side.
Again,
this is reflecting
on either side.
Jesus says to her,
go call your husband.
Other side,
he's speaking to her again.
Same phrase.
Jesus said to her,
you are right in saying,
I have no husband.
Last half of verse 17.
The beginning of verse 17.
The woman answered him,
I have no husband.
Isn't that fascinating?
If you understand
that these structures exist
and you can see the pattern,
and again,
it's a whole pattern.
It's built out here.
See the chiasm?
There's a whole thing.
The central point of it
is the woman said to him,
answered him,
I have no husband.
Fascinating, right?
The structure of the text itself
is communicating,
this is a turning point.
There's something going on here.
We should pay attention.
So this text fully intends for us
to behold Christ.
But this is not a text
that's teaching us
how to emulate Christ.
This is not a text saying to us,
look like Jesus in this way.
We could pull some things
by implication,
but that's not the point
of the text.
This text seeks to expose us,
to lay us bare.
This is what's going on,
right in the central point
of this text.
Jesus says to her,
go get your husband,
come back here,
and she says,
I have no husband.
He knows this already
when he asks her,
because how does he respond?
Yeah, you don't have a husband.
You've had five.
Five failed marriages,
and now the man
that you're living with
is not your husband.
Which is why the first point
of that second outline
is the greatness of our sin.
We're supposed to notice
this happening in this text.
The greatness of our sin.
This little point,
we have to start with it,
verses 16 through 19,
and this is where we see,
she makes the declaration
that Jesus is the prophet.
That second point
in the first outline
that I mentioned to you.
Jesus said to her in verse 16,
go call your husband
and come here.
Jesus has just said
some astounding things.
We read them earlier,
and we'll address them
in a moment.
Some astounding things
about living water.
Water that you will have,
and it will never go away.
Water that wells up in you
for eternal life.
I mean,
these words are worth
contemplating.
Roll these things over.
What is going on here?
And she is just
absolutely clueless.
I mean,
she thinks he's speaking
literally
as he's saying this.
And we can see in verse 15,
she says to him,
Sir, give me this water
so that I will not be thirsty
or have to come here
to draw water.
How great.
It tidies up my day
is what it seems to be doing
there on the surface.
And what does Jesus do?
That's what's so odd
about this text.
What does he do
when she says this?
He doesn't go,
wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.
Let me explain further
what I mean by this.
He just drops the analogy.
He stops talking
about it altogether.
He doesn't even revisit it
later in the text.
Like we move on later
to talk about worship
and where worship happens
and how worship happens
and who worship is
to be aimed at.
He just leaves it behind
altogether.
She doesn't get it.
And he just
seems to just
move on.
This response
seems so
very
strange.
but if we
understand the structure,
if we see the structure
and we see what's going on
and we can add
another little detail
into the mix,
it helps us comprehend
what is happening here.
Right?
So,
we come to the text.
Again,
our elders,
this past week,
we had a conversation
about textual structure
and I didn't get
to this point.
It was not where my head was
by the time we ended
our time together.
But we were all
kind of thinking
through outlines
and I was scratching my head.
I said,
I got some work to do
on this text.
Right?
It is odd.
And then I start
to notice patterns.
And then we pick up
a detail
in the last part
of verse 6.
When does Jesus arrive
at this well?
It was about
the sixth hour.
So,
about noon.
First hour was 6 a.m.
It's about
noon.
This is not
when people
went and gathered
water in the desert.
This is the hottest
time of the day.
They would go out
early in the morning
or they would go out
late in the evening
as the sun
was setting.
Preparing for the day,
putting it away
in the evening,
getting ready for
the next day.
This woman,
by herself,
as far as we can tell,
this woman
is out there
in the middle
of the day
gathering water.
It's extremely
significant.
The woman answers
Jesus.
She says,
I have
no
husband.
Jesus says to her,
you are right
in saying
I have no husband
for you have had
five husbands
and the one you have
is not your husband.
what you have said
is true.
Five failed marriages.
This number,
I mean,
this is a true story.
This number
is an astounding number.
Less so in our day,
but still in our day.
And she's now
in a cohabitation
situation.
This woman
has either
first looked
for satisfaction
in men
and they have
failed to satisfy
her.
Or she has been
the desired
satisfaction
of these men
and she has
failed to satisfy
them.
Or,
and likely,
as we know,
the nature of human
relationships,
both things
are true.
She
is
dry.
She has
looked for life
and she
has failed
to find it.
She is
out there
in the middle
of the day.
This is some
sanctified imagination,
I know,
but cultural
details help us
to understand
she is avoiding
the scorn
of others
and she is
collecting water
by herself
in the midday heat.
She comes
to that well
in the middle
of the day
with great
shame.
It's why
she's there
and it's
why Jesus
encounters her
in this
very
moment.
She doesn't
get what he's
talking about,
about living
water.
Why does she
not want to
come back
to the well?
She could
avoid it
altogether,
right?
I don't have
to be around
the shame,
I don't have
to come out
in the midday
heat instead
of gathering
early in the
morning or
late in the
evening,
I could avoid
it all
together.
And Jesus
turns to
expose her.
You've been
looking for it
in the wrong
place,
is what he's
saying to her.
The relief
of your shame
isn't found
in a midday
gathering
of water,
it's found
in me,
the source
of living
water.
Earlier this
morning in our
liturgy,
Jake read
from Jeremiah
chapter 17
verses 5
through 13,
I want to
reread some
of that
for you.
This is
verses 5
and 6.
Thus
says the
Lord,
cursed is
the man
who trusts
in man
and makes
flesh
his strength,
whose heart
turns away
from the
Lord.
He is
like a
shrub
in the
desert
and shall
not see
any good
come.
He shall
dwell in
the parched
places
of the
wilderness
in an
uninhabited
salt
land,
dry,
dry land.
land.
Then down
to verse
9,
the heart
is deceitful
above all
things and
desperately
sick.
Who can
understand it?
And then
verse 13,
O Lord,
the hope
of Israel,
all who
forsake you
shall be
put to
shame.
Those who
turn away
from you
shall be
written in
the earth,
for they
have forsaken
the Lord,
the fountain
of living
water.
That wasn't
an accident.
We planned
that,
him reading
that earlier
for our
benefit.
You may
not comprehend
just how
dry a
desert
is.
Water is
life in
these places,
right?
In a stark
way,
right?
It's life
for all
of us,
but it's
in a stark
way.
It is
precious.
It is
carefully
saved in
the desert.
desert.
We here
are like
fighting
against
water all
the time,
right?
We're
trying to
keep water
out of
stuff like
our
basements,
right?
It's the
enemy often
where we
live,
but not
at all
so,
right?
This idea
of a water
that satisfies,
that gives
life forever,
it's a really
vivid thing
that Jesus
is saying
to her
as she
confuses
it all
together.
Jesus'
response
to her
failure to
understand
what he
told her
about
living
water
makes
perfect
sense
when we
can understand
the cultural
and literary
context,
right?
Keep your
nose in
the text.
Keep your
nose in
the text.
It's a
rich,
rich
book.
Let it
read
you.
We are
no different
from this
woman.
I feel like
we're always
reading the
Bible.
There are
others all
the time.
Don't let
it be lost
on you.
You and
I have
searched
for satisfaction
for life
in so
many places
where it
cannot be
found.
We should
not read
this text
and go,
well,
I haven't
been married
five times
and now
I'm
cohabitating
with somebody
else.
This is
clearly a
story about
somebody who's
that bad
off.
Not at
all.
Every single
one of us
has tried to
find satisfaction
in something
that will
not provide
satisfaction.
It will
not.
It cannot.
And we
walk around
in this
world,
apart from
the forgiveness
of Christ,
with great
shame and
guilt.
Metaphorically,
for us,
we're looking
for all kinds
of ways to
avoid it.
And we
drown it in
things.
Even those
who have
been delivered
from the
power and
the guilt
of sin,
we drown
the way we
feel with
all sorts
of unsatisfactory
things.
We,
so often,
are midday
at a well.
What we need
is living
water.
to the point
to the
point,
draw our
attention to
this woman.
We might
see the
greatness of
our sin
as we
behold
her.
How does
she respond?
The woman
says to him,
Sir,
I perceive
that you
are a
prophet.
He knows
things that
he couldn't
possibly know
without her
having told
him.
And her
conclusion that
he is a
prophet is
absolutely
correct.
Jesus holds
that office.
It's certainly
not all that
he is,
but he
certainly is.
She's saying
a true
thing there.
She's taking
a step in
the right
direction.
We'll see
next week where
her thinking
leads her.
It doesn't
take off the
way you might
hope that it
would.
but we
do see
in verse
29,
she says,
come see
a man
who told
me all
that I
ever did.
Can
this be
the
Christ?
The
greatest
person
and
ours.
But
praise God
we get to
step out
beyond that.
We're not
left miserable
in the middle
of the text.
So we
also want
to note
the surpassing
greatness of
Jesus'
mercy.
The opening
song,
kind of the
song that's
kind of meant
to gather
your attention
and get
us together,
although that
seemed to
be slow
this morning.
So you
might have
missed the
first verse
of his
mercy is
more.
This is
what love
could
remember
no wrongs
we have
done.
Omniscient,
all-knowing.
He knows
all about
this woman's
sin.
Omniscient,
all-knowing,
he counts
not their
sum.
Thrown into
a sea without
bottom or
shore,
our sins,
they are
many.
His mercy
is more.
Praise the
Lord,
his mercy
is more.
Stronger than
darkness,
new every
morn.
Our sins,
they are
many.
His mercy
is more.
Surpassing
greatness
of Jesus'
mercy.
So let's
back up in
the text
and look
at what it
teaches us
about that.
Verse 4
says he
had to
pass through
Samaria.
Now,
Jesus has
left Judea
and he's
traveling back
to Galilee.
We see that
detail in the
text.
He did not
have to
travel through
Samaria
in a
geographical
sense.
It was
the fastest
way,
it was
the most
direct way
to complete
his journey,
but there
were two
routes that
circumnavigated
the region
and most
Jews went
out of their
way to
avoid
encountering
Samaritans.
They went
around the
long way
to not go
through the
region of
Samaria.
But John
says Jesus
had to
pass through
Samaria.
Why?
The verb
that John
uses here
translated
had to,
he also
uses to
speak of
Jesus
fulfilling
the mission
that the
Father had
given him.
He uses
that same
verb
repeatedly
throughout
his
gospel
account.
Jesus
had to
pass through
Samaria
because this
was a
mercy-filled
divine
appointment.
He was
compelled to
go there
by God
the Father
that he
would be
at this
well,
at this
time,
to speak
words of
life to
this woman.
What a
merciful God.
He was
meant to
encounter
her.
Now I
mentioned that
Jews went
out of their
way to
avoid
encountering
Samaritans.
Some
historical
context is
helpful here.
Samaria was
a region,
I mentioned
that already,
but the
people named
after the
region were
viewed with
disdain because
of their
mixed
ethnicity.
after the
fall of the
northern kingdom
of Israel
to the
Assyrians,
the ten
tribes of
Israel,
this is in
2 Kings
chapter 17,
were exiled
from their
own land
to Assyria,
and the
king of
Assyria
brought people
from Babylon,
Kutha,
Ava,
Harnath,
and
Safarazim,
something like
that,
and placed them
in the cities
of Samaria
instead of the
sons of Israel,
and they
took possession
of Samaria
and they
lived in
its cities.
They
intermarried
and were
therefore
viewed as
unclean
by the
Jews.
Not only
that,
for some
time,
the Samaritan
people had
mixed together
pagan idolatry
with Judaism.
In Jesus'
day,
they had
departed from
the idolatry,
but they
had a
pretty odd
version of
Judaism.
They only
read and
studied
the
Pentateuch,
the first
five books
next week,
but the
Jewish people
just viewed
them as
unclean,
outside of
the grace
and mercy
of God.
So,
a further
mercy,
right?
He is sent
through this
region to
encounter
this woman,
a Samaritan.
Jesus does
not see
this Samaritan
woman,
or the
Samaritans
of her
village,
we'll see
later in
the chapter,
as being
outside of
the reach
of his
mercy.
So,
he prompts
a conversation
with her,
verse 7,
right?
He asks her
for water,
give me a
drink,
and we get
the parenthetical
insertion,
verse 8,
his disciples
had gone
away into
the city
to buy
food,
and she
responds
to him,
how is it
that you,
a Jew,
ask a
drink from
me,
a woman
of Samaria.
And then
John inserts
again,
for Jews
had no
dealings
with
Samaritans.
Further,
it was
breaking
a societal
norm
for a
rabbi
to speak
with a
woman.
At very
best,
it was
seen as
a waste
of time.
This is
why the
disciples
marveled
that he
was talking
with a
woman.
Further
mercy.
The
original
readers of
this would
have been
like,
why is
Jesus
spending
any
time
with
her?
Jesus
answers
her.
If you
knew the
gift of
God and
who it
is that
is saying
to you,
give me
a drink,
you would
have flipped
it around.
You would
have asked
him and
he would
have given
you living
water.
If you
have any
idea of
who I
am,
you would
get that
the point
is not the
water in
the well.
everyone,
verse 13,
who drinks
this water
will be
thirsty again,
but whoever
drinks of
the water
that I
will give
him will
never be
thirsty
again.
Fully
satisfied.
He does
not mean
that we
won't have
to drink
water.
He's not
talking about
our temporal
life.
He's talking
about our
eternal
satisfaction.
Never
be thirsty
again.
The water
I give
him will
become in
him a
spring
of water
welling
up
to
eternal
life.
Here
Jesus
presents
himself
as the
living
water.
Great,
great
mercy to
this woman.
He presents
himself as
the living
water.
But why
not the
giver of
living
water?
Again,
back to our
Jeremiah
chapter 17,
verse 5
through 13,
reading from
before.
This time,
let me read
to you
verses 7
and 8.
Blessed
is the
man who
trusts in
the Lord,
whose trust
is the
Lord.
Trust in
the Lord,
whose trust
is the
Lord.
He is like
a tree
planted by
water that
sends out
its roots
by the
stream and
does not
fear when
heat comes,
for its
leaves remain
green and
is not
anxious in
the year of
drought,
for it
does not
cease to
bear fruit.
The picture
is a tree
planted by
a stream
that continues
and continues
and continues.
Even in a
year of
drought,
the water
continues to
flow.
Does that
sound familiar
at all?
Back to
verse 14.
The spring
of water
that wells
up to
eternal
life.
And again,
verse 13,
O Lord,
the hope of
Israel,
all who
forsake you
shall be
put to
shame.
Those who
turn away
from you
shall be
written in
the earth,
for they
have forsaken
the Lord,
the fountain
of living
water.
That's why I
think Jesus
is presenting
himself as
the living
water.
John's
Jewish readers,
this imagery
would have been
just firing
off in their
brains as
they're reading
this recorded
word of
Jesus'
teaching to
this woman.
God's
love of
So,
we get to
see in the
first part
of this
passage,
in our
first week
in it,
the greatness
of our
sin,
the surpassing
greatness
of Jesus'
mercy as
he presents
himself as
the living
water and
as the
prophet.
I hope
that our
time in
thinking about
this lays
us bare.
we recognize
our great
need of
a merciful
savior.
And close
with a
quotation from
Charles Spurgeon,
it's on the
back of your
bulletin.
He's once
said,
God's mercy
is so
great,
God's mercy
is so
great,
that you
may sooner
drain the
sea of
its water,
or deprive
the sun
of its
light,
or make
space
too
narrow,
than
diminish
the great
mercy
of our
God.
Let's pray
together.