WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.080 We hope that you enjoy this teaching from Christ Church. 00:00:05.719 --> 00:00:09.500 This material is copyrighted and no unauthorized duplication, 00:00:09.880 --> 00:00:15.280 redistribution, or any other use of any part is permitted without prior consent from Christ Church. 00:00:15.640 --> 00:00:22.620 Please consider donating to this work in the San Francisco Bay Area online at ChristChurchEastBay.org. 00:00:22.620 --> 00:00:36.460 A reading from the Gospel of John, chapter 4, verses 5 to 29 and 39 to 42 as printed in the liturgy. 00:00:38.140 --> 00:00:45.000 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 00:00:46.120 --> 00:00:52.560 Jacob's well was there, so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. 00:00:53.619 --> 00:00:55.500 It was about the sixth hour. 00:00:56.699 --> 00:00:59.519 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. 00:01:00.599 --> 00:01:03.259 Jesus said to her, Give me a drink. 00:01:04.140 --> 00:01:07.560 For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. 00:01:08.560 --> 00:01:10.640 The Samaritan woman said to him, 00:01:11.200 --> 00:01:16.439 How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria? 00:01:17.439 --> 00:01:20.200 For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. 00:01:20.200 --> 00:01:22.640 Jesus answered her, 00:01:23.200 --> 00:01:28.700 If you knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you, give me a drink, 00:01:28.980 --> 00:01:32.859 you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water. 00:01:32.859 --> 00:01:40.180 The woman said to him, Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. 00:01:40.879 --> 00:01:42.819 Where do you get that living water? 00:01:43.539 --> 00:01:45.799 Are you greater than our father Jacob? 00:01:45.799 --> 00:01:52.120 He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock. 00:01:53.319 --> 00:01:59.140 Jesus said to her, Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 00:01:59.140 --> 00:02:04.980 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. 00:02:05.920 --> 00:02:12.400 The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. 00:02:13.500 --> 00:02:21.180 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. 00:02:21.180 --> 00:02:27.460 Jesus said to her, Go call your husband and come here. 00:02:28.460 --> 00:02:32.439 The woman answered him, I have no husband. 00:02:33.439 --> 00:02:40.120 Jesus said to her, You are right in saying I have no husband, for you have had five husbands, 00:02:40.659 --> 00:02:43.140 and the one you now have is not your husband. 00:02:44.120 --> 00:02:46.000 What you have said is true. 00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:52.060 The woman said to him, Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 00:02:53.659 --> 00:03:00.280 Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship. 00:03:01.379 --> 00:03:10.000 Jesus said to her, Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 00:03:11.219 --> 00:03:13.080 You worship what you do not know. 00:03:13.740 --> 00:03:15.120 We worship what we know. 00:03:15.120 --> 00:03:18.039 For salvation is from the Jews. 00:03:18.819 --> 00:03:25.860 But the hour is coming and is now here when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. 00:03:26.340 --> 00:03:29.439 For the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 00:03:30.620 --> 00:03:35.500 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. 00:03:35.500 --> 00:03:42.300 The woman said to him, I know that Messiah is coming, he who is called Christ. 00:03:43.060 --> 00:03:45.639 When he comes, he will tell us all things. 00:03:46.719 --> 00:03:50.560 Jesus said to her, I who speak to you am he. 00:03:50.560 --> 00:03:54.120 Just then his disciples came back. 00:03:54.259 --> 00:04:01.620 They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, what do you seek or why are you talking with her? 00:04:01.620 --> 00:04:11.219 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. 00:04:11.400 --> 00:04:12.960 Can this be the Christ? 00:04:12.960 --> 00:04:19.139 Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony. 00:04:19.660 --> 00:04:21.699 He told me all that I ever did. 00:04:21.699 --> 00:04:28.319 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 00:04:29.039 --> 00:04:31.579 And many more believed because of his word. 00:04:32.420 --> 00:04:37.480 They said to the woman, it is no longer because of what you said that we believe, 00:04:38.039 --> 00:04:44.480 for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world. 00:04:45.459 --> 00:04:47.099 This is the gospel of the Lord. 00:04:47.819 --> 00:04:49.300 Praise to you, Lord God. 00:04:51.699 --> 00:05:01.519 Thank you for that scripture reading, Terry, and good morning, Christ Church. 00:05:01.680 --> 00:05:02.459 My name is Andrew. 00:05:02.839 --> 00:05:03.920 I'm one of the pastors here. 00:05:04.039 --> 00:05:05.159 I missed you last week. 00:05:05.599 --> 00:05:10.939 Not that much, though, because I got to sit in a cabin and eat popcorn and throw snowballs at the youth 00:05:10.939 --> 00:05:14.819 and teach them about Jesus and the church, and it was a really good time. 00:05:15.899 --> 00:05:19.159 Why don't I open us up in prayer, then we'll dive into God's word this morning. 00:05:21.699 --> 00:05:31.139 Father, we want to declare with the Samaritans in this village that indeed, this is the Savior of the world. 00:05:32.339 --> 00:05:37.680 Would we dive into the depths of what it means that you are the Savior of the world, 00:05:37.860 --> 00:05:41.740 what it means that you are the Savior of this Samaritan woman? 00:05:41.740 --> 00:05:51.360 Would we be amazed, God, at the way that you deal with us, at the way that you have chosen to be our God among us? 00:05:51.939 --> 00:05:55.519 So be honored in the preaching of your word, and we pray these things in the name of Jesus. 00:05:56.120 --> 00:05:56.439 Amen. 00:05:56.439 --> 00:06:00.180 So we're continuing our series in the Gospel of John. 00:06:00.279 --> 00:06:01.920 We're now in chapter four. 00:06:02.060 --> 00:06:06.060 We're at the famous story of the woman at the well, Jesus and the woman at the well. 00:06:06.219 --> 00:06:10.160 And, you know, this is actually not the first time I've ever preached this text. 00:06:10.259 --> 00:06:12.500 The first time was maybe six to eight years ago. 00:06:12.860 --> 00:06:16.319 I was a seminary student in Philly at Westminster Seminary, 00:06:16.319 --> 00:06:22.099 and I tried looking for my old manuscript, my old audio recording, but I couldn't find it. 00:06:22.319 --> 00:06:25.439 And I was really disappointed because I had to start over all over again. 00:06:25.839 --> 00:06:32.000 But, you know, maybe it's for the best because while I remember being super excited as this young, aspiring pastor 00:06:32.000 --> 00:06:35.680 preaching this, you know, famous text about Jesus and the woman at the well, 00:06:36.159 --> 00:06:41.199 I also remember the sermon bombing pretty bad in northeast Philadelphia. 00:06:41.500 --> 00:06:42.480 Sorry to those folks. 00:06:43.079 --> 00:06:45.819 As in, it was definitely not the bomb, all right? 00:06:45.819 --> 00:06:53.300 It was one of those sermons where I came to church that Sunday, like, oh man, I'm not feeling this. 00:06:53.659 --> 00:06:54.719 I don't got it today. 00:06:54.860 --> 00:07:00.939 I mean, I feel like that most of the time here at Christ Church, but especially that Sunday, I was like, mm-mm. 00:07:01.259 --> 00:07:02.560 And the people, they knew. 00:07:02.899 --> 00:07:03.680 They were struggling. 00:07:04.379 --> 00:07:05.959 So hopefully it'll be better this time. 00:07:06.019 --> 00:07:07.980 I can't make any promises. 00:07:08.819 --> 00:07:13.939 But yeah, I went away from preaching this passage not feeling like I did it justice. 00:07:13.939 --> 00:07:16.560 And then came this week. 00:07:17.360 --> 00:07:19.139 And it was, it was like just as hard. 00:07:19.639 --> 00:07:24.439 It was just as surprisingly difficult to figure out how to preach this text. 00:07:24.579 --> 00:07:29.800 But I think this time around, I've kind of come to understand why this text is a little bit difficult to preach. 00:07:29.899 --> 00:07:31.159 It's a pretty long one. 00:07:31.519 --> 00:07:32.740 It's got tons of details. 00:07:32.839 --> 00:07:36.339 It's overflowing with so many themes that you could pick to preach on. 00:07:36.339 --> 00:07:40.939 You could preach Jesus, the healer of racial and ethnic cultural conflict. 00:07:41.079 --> 00:07:44.500 Jesus, the uplifter of women and the outcast. 00:07:44.799 --> 00:07:48.339 Jesus, the living water that satisfies everyone's thirst. 00:07:48.459 --> 00:07:51.459 Jesus as a model for how to share the truth about the Christ. 00:07:51.560 --> 00:07:57.399 You could preach on Jesus in sex or marriage or singleness or on worship in spirit and in truth. 00:07:57.459 --> 00:08:01.179 There are a lot of ways that you could go with this text, John chapter 4. 00:08:01.180 --> 00:08:07.400 But I think what makes this passage really, really difficult, especially to preach in 25 to 30 minutes, 00:08:07.840 --> 00:08:14.180 is this kind of complicated dialogue between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well. 00:08:14.199 --> 00:08:22.040 It's got some really, really strange twists and turns, some really weird transitions throughout the conversation. 00:08:22.639 --> 00:08:23.120 I think about it. 00:08:23.120 --> 00:08:29.620 It goes from a conversation about water to living water to husbands and then to prophets, right? 00:08:29.620 --> 00:08:33.440 And then to mountains and then they talk about worship and then they talk about the end times. 00:08:33.940 --> 00:08:36.580 And then all of a sudden Jesus says, I am the Messiah. 00:08:36.919 --> 00:08:40.659 And she's leaving her water jug there going into the city and telling everyone, 00:08:40.860 --> 00:08:43.279 come see a man who told me all that I ever did. 00:08:43.580 --> 00:08:45.000 Thus saith the Lord, right? 00:08:45.379 --> 00:08:45.860 That's it. 00:08:46.620 --> 00:08:47.179 That's it. 00:08:47.360 --> 00:08:48.259 It's strange, right? 00:08:49.019 --> 00:08:53.919 Well, what I want to do today is I want to try to help us make sense of all these twists and turns in the story 00:08:53.919 --> 00:08:58.000 because I'm really convinced, I'm really convinced that if we can understand why, 00:08:58.519 --> 00:09:01.519 after this strange conversation with Jesus, 00:09:01.639 --> 00:09:06.399 why this woman all of a sudden leaves her water jug behind and goes back into the town 00:09:06.399 --> 00:09:09.639 and tells people to come and see a man who told her all that she ever did, 00:09:09.699 --> 00:09:14.240 I think if we can understand why she responded in this way to this encounter with Jesus, 00:09:14.879 --> 00:09:17.919 I think we'll get a wonderful glimpse of the heart of God 00:09:17.919 --> 00:09:21.219 and the goodness of the good news about Jesus. 00:09:22.059 --> 00:09:25.219 I think we'll get a sense of the pursuing love of the Father. 00:09:25.620 --> 00:09:27.860 We'll get a sense of the costly grace of the Son 00:09:27.860 --> 00:09:31.919 and of this communal fellowship of the Holy Spirit that He wants for us. 00:09:31.939 --> 00:09:37.579 A love, a grace, and a fellowship that free us and fill us to be the people, 00:09:37.719 --> 00:09:39.899 to live the lives we've always wanted to live. 00:09:39.899 --> 00:09:43.199 To live the lives that God has always wanted us to live. 00:09:43.899 --> 00:09:44.919 So are we ready to dive in? 00:09:45.399 --> 00:09:46.599 We don't have a lot of stories today. 00:09:46.600 --> 00:09:48.000 This is the story. 00:09:48.879 --> 00:09:50.659 Jesus and the woman at the well, right? 00:09:50.740 --> 00:09:52.440 Let's start at verse 5. 00:09:52.600 --> 00:09:55.279 You're going to want to have your printed text in front of you, your liturgy, 00:09:55.779 --> 00:09:57.720 because we're going to be looking down at this text a lot. 00:09:57.800 --> 00:09:58.779 Let's start with verse 5. 00:09:59.899 --> 00:10:03.500 So he, Jesus, came to a town of Samaria called Sikar, 00:10:03.920 --> 00:10:06.360 near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 00:10:07.180 --> 00:10:10.680 Jacob's well was there, so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, 00:10:10.759 --> 00:10:11.940 was sitting beside the well. 00:10:12.480 --> 00:10:14.620 It was about the sixth hour. 00:10:14.620 --> 00:10:17.679 Tons of things we could talk about here, but I want to talk about Samaria. 00:10:18.200 --> 00:10:19.419 What is Samaria? 00:10:20.399 --> 00:10:24.799 If you know nothing about Samaria, if you know nothing about the Samaritans 00:10:24.799 --> 00:10:28.039 and their relationship with Jesus' people, the Jewish people, 00:10:28.120 --> 00:10:31.440 what you need to know is that the relationship between the Jewish people 00:10:31.440 --> 00:10:36.120 and the Samaritans was incredibly hostile, and it had been for centuries. 00:10:36.960 --> 00:10:37.120 All right? 00:10:37.200 --> 00:10:39.960 Shortly after the death of King David's son, King Solomon, 00:10:39.960 --> 00:10:44.639 after the building of the temple, there was a civil war between the north of Israel 00:10:44.639 --> 00:10:45.920 and the south of Israel. 00:10:46.580 --> 00:10:49.300 And the south of Israel had its capital in Jerusalem, 00:10:49.620 --> 00:10:52.759 and the north of Israel had its capital in Samaria. 00:10:53.759 --> 00:10:56.120 And what you need to know about the history of Israel is that, 00:10:56.340 --> 00:10:59.220 while the southern kingdom, they did have a few good kings, 00:10:59.480 --> 00:11:02.379 the northern kingdom had all terrible kings, 00:11:02.379 --> 00:11:07.659 all kings who went their own way, did not follow the way of God. 00:11:08.340 --> 00:11:12.240 And then, eventually, for their own political ends, 00:11:12.320 --> 00:11:15.259 they set up their own place of worship outside of Jerusalem, 00:11:15.639 --> 00:11:18.779 away from the temple that God had told Israel to build. 00:11:19.299 --> 00:11:21.259 Like, now we're going to do our own thing. 00:11:21.899 --> 00:11:22.039 All right? 00:11:22.080 --> 00:11:25.320 So you can imagine, like, in the eyes of the southern Jewish people, 00:11:25.399 --> 00:11:27.659 how blasphemous this would have been. 00:11:27.659 --> 00:11:28.919 And then, to make matters worse, 00:11:29.379 --> 00:11:32.679 when the Assyrians came from the north and the east to come, 00:11:32.799 --> 00:11:34.579 and they first conquered the north, 00:11:35.000 --> 00:11:36.639 they first conquered Samaria, 00:11:37.360 --> 00:11:40.019 shortly after that, the northerners, they began to intermarry 00:11:40.019 --> 00:11:44.480 with these foreigners from the north and the east of Assyria, 00:11:44.659 --> 00:11:48.240 and they began to intermarry with people who did not worship Yahweh. 00:11:48.860 --> 00:11:51.199 And so the religion became even more impure, 00:11:51.659 --> 00:11:53.799 and you can imagine the hostility and the division 00:11:53.799 --> 00:11:55.959 between the Jewish people and the Samaritans 00:11:55.960 --> 00:11:58.960 growing and growing and growing over the centuries. 00:11:59.720 --> 00:12:02.900 In 110 BC, there's a Jewish king who comes up 00:12:02.900 --> 00:12:06.160 and actually destroys this sacrilegious temple in Samaria. 00:12:06.620 --> 00:12:09.600 And then you have another story of maybe six, 00:12:10.120 --> 00:12:12.240 I think it's six in the common era, 00:12:12.820 --> 00:12:16.480 where there are some Samaritans who sneak into Jerusalem. 00:12:16.680 --> 00:12:19.240 They sneak into the Jerusalem temple, and they defile it. 00:12:19.300 --> 00:12:21.820 They scatter human bones in it and make it unclean. 00:12:21.820 --> 00:12:24.720 There's just tons of animosity, tons of back and forth. 00:12:24.720 --> 00:12:28.680 But this is the history between the Jewish people and the Samaritans. 00:12:29.420 --> 00:12:30.300 They hated each other. 00:12:30.800 --> 00:12:34.620 To the average Jewish person, the Samaritan was a half-breed, 00:12:35.120 --> 00:12:37.300 an impure person with an impure religion. 00:12:37.440 --> 00:12:41.560 And to the Samaritans, the Jewish people were their judgmental relatives, 00:12:42.060 --> 00:12:46.180 the ones who rejected them and saw them as inferior and unfaithful 00:12:46.180 --> 00:12:50.120 and unworthy of association and utterly separated from God, 00:12:50.120 --> 00:12:52.779 even though they claimed Abraham as their father too. 00:12:52.779 --> 00:12:55.000 Now look down with me at verse 7. 00:12:55.839 --> 00:12:57.899 This is the history between the Jews and the Samaritans. 00:12:58.159 --> 00:13:02.079 Then verse 7, enter a Samaritan woman who's come to draw water. 00:13:02.579 --> 00:13:05.279 And this is where things really start to get interesting, 00:13:05.439 --> 00:13:10.579 because what was she doing all alone at the sixth hour at high noon 00:13:10.579 --> 00:13:13.000 drawing water from this well? 00:13:14.059 --> 00:13:16.959 Normally this was supposed to be a communal chore, 00:13:16.959 --> 00:13:18.939 a communal activity, the drawing of water, 00:13:18.940 --> 00:13:21.160 with all the other women in the town, 00:13:21.600 --> 00:13:24.520 and certainly not at the hottest time of the day. 00:13:24.940 --> 00:13:28.000 This was supposed to be a communal group chore done in the cool of the morning 00:13:28.000 --> 00:13:29.580 or in the cool of the evening. 00:13:29.680 --> 00:13:30.500 But here she is. 00:13:31.020 --> 00:13:33.260 She's all alone in the heat of the day. 00:13:34.300 --> 00:13:37.540 Something's up with this loner of a woman. 00:13:38.240 --> 00:13:40.160 And as the text unfolds in verse 18, 00:13:40.159 --> 00:13:42.959 that this woman is doing her chores in the heat of the day 00:13:42.959 --> 00:13:47.199 and in lonely isolation probably has something to do with the fact 00:13:47.199 --> 00:13:49.059 that she has a past. 00:13:49.159 --> 00:13:49.719 She has a past. 00:13:49.779 --> 00:13:53.419 She's had five husbands and is now with a man who isn't her husband. 00:13:53.500 --> 00:13:57.179 She's probably a despised social outcast. 00:13:58.039 --> 00:14:02.139 And yet, in spite of Jesus and this woman's weariness in the heat of the day, 00:14:02.139 --> 00:14:05.899 in spite of their people's centuries of ethnic hostility, 00:14:05.899 --> 00:14:09.600 and in spite of the patriarchal society that they lived in, 00:14:09.659 --> 00:14:12.899 in spite of the fact that Jesus knew everything about this woman's past, 00:14:13.819 --> 00:14:16.079 in spite of the fact that he was a Jewish rabbi, right, 00:14:16.519 --> 00:14:19.139 who if he was seen speaking to such a woman, 00:14:19.439 --> 00:14:20.919 it would jeopardize his reputation. 00:14:21.079 --> 00:14:22.240 In spite of all these factors, 00:14:23.399 --> 00:14:26.459 the most unlikely of conversations ensues 00:14:26.459 --> 00:14:31.419 between Jesus and this forsaken outcast of a woman. 00:14:31.419 --> 00:14:37.019 And thus begins the longest recorded one-on-one personal encounter with Jesus 00:14:37.019 --> 00:14:38.539 in all the gospel accounts. 00:14:39.079 --> 00:14:40.919 It's with this woman, of all people, 00:14:41.439 --> 00:14:43.500 the Samaritan woman at the well. 00:14:43.599 --> 00:14:45.419 It's a conversation between the Son of God 00:14:45.419 --> 00:14:48.759 and an unnamed outcast Samaritan woman. 00:14:48.919 --> 00:14:53.059 A conversation in which a righteous, faithful, and pure Jewish rabbi 00:14:53.059 --> 00:14:56.980 is willing to take an unclean Samaritan woman's cup 00:14:56.980 --> 00:14:59.360 and put it to his lips for a drink. 00:14:59.360 --> 00:15:03.039 It's a conversation in which the holy creator of the universe 00:15:03.039 --> 00:15:08.680 is willing to ask this destitute woman for a favor, for a drink. 00:15:09.340 --> 00:15:11.019 This is our God. This is Jesus. 00:15:12.159 --> 00:15:15.120 Now, the Samaritan woman is just as astounded 00:15:15.120 --> 00:15:17.320 as any Jewish person would be 00:15:17.320 --> 00:15:20.279 that Jesus has initiated a conversation with her 00:15:20.279 --> 00:15:25.200 and that he's even cool with drinking from her water jar. 00:15:25.200 --> 00:15:29.420 She's very aware of and even bound by the social conventions, 00:15:29.640 --> 00:15:32.620 the social norms that Jesus had just breached. 00:15:32.700 --> 00:15:33.800 And she says in verse 9, 00:15:34.600 --> 00:15:36.740 How is it that you, a Jew, 00:15:37.280 --> 00:15:40.940 ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria? 00:15:41.600 --> 00:15:44.080 For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. 00:15:44.160 --> 00:15:46.100 She's saying, Who do you think you are? 00:15:46.500 --> 00:15:48.040 Who do you think I am? 00:15:48.080 --> 00:15:50.560 And how can you ask such a favor from me? 00:15:51.419 --> 00:15:52.679 But Jesus says in verse 10, 00:15:52.839 --> 00:15:54.719 If you knew the gift of God 00:15:54.719 --> 00:15:56.019 and who it is that is saying to you, 00:15:56.119 --> 00:15:56.739 Give me a drink, 00:15:57.199 --> 00:15:58.139 you would have asked him. 00:15:59.039 --> 00:16:01.739 And he would have given you living water. 00:16:02.379 --> 00:16:04.559 He's saying, Oh, I know who I am. 00:16:05.139 --> 00:16:08.079 And if you only knew who I was too. 00:16:08.159 --> 00:16:09.019 If you only knew. 00:16:09.619 --> 00:16:11.019 You think it's crazy that I, 00:16:11.019 --> 00:16:13.000 a male Jewish rabbi, 00:16:13.259 --> 00:16:14.659 am asking you, a Samaritan, 00:16:14.839 --> 00:16:16.359 for a drink of water? 00:16:17.120 --> 00:16:18.560 I got something crazier for you, 00:16:18.600 --> 00:16:19.200 he says to her. 00:16:19.860 --> 00:16:21.100 I got something crazier for you. 00:16:21.159 --> 00:16:22.399 I can give you for free. 00:16:22.759 --> 00:16:23.720 You only need to ask. 00:16:23.960 --> 00:16:25.039 I can give you living water. 00:16:25.940 --> 00:16:27.120 Welling up to eternal life, 00:16:27.180 --> 00:16:28.860 a gift from God himself. 00:16:29.860 --> 00:16:30.820 And at this point, 00:16:30.879 --> 00:16:33.519 the woman thinks Jesus is just talking about 00:16:33.519 --> 00:16:35.000 some kind of running water maybe, 00:16:35.259 --> 00:16:36.560 some other source. 00:16:36.560 --> 00:16:39.060 And she meets Jesus with skepticism. 00:16:39.320 --> 00:16:39.820 Verse 11, 00:16:40.639 --> 00:16:42.720 Sir, you have nothing to draw water with. 00:16:43.060 --> 00:16:44.000 And the well is deep. 00:16:44.600 --> 00:16:45.720 Where do you get that living water? 00:16:45.720 --> 00:16:47.860 Are you greater than our father Jacob? 00:16:48.360 --> 00:16:50.519 He gave us the well and drank from it himself 00:16:50.519 --> 00:16:52.960 as did his sons and his livestock. 00:16:53.160 --> 00:16:53.639 She's like, 00:16:53.940 --> 00:16:58.279 Look, our forefather Jacob gave us this well. 00:16:58.759 --> 00:17:01.100 And here you are asking me for a drink. 00:17:01.480 --> 00:17:02.980 Bro, you don't even have a bucket. 00:17:03.620 --> 00:17:05.059 You don't even have a bucket. 00:17:05.140 --> 00:17:06.279 What are you talking about, man? 00:17:07.220 --> 00:17:08.539 But Jesus challenges her. 00:17:09.160 --> 00:17:09.799 Verse 13, 00:17:09.799 --> 00:17:12.379 Everyone who drinks of this water 00:17:12.379 --> 00:17:14.139 that Jacob dug up for you 00:17:14.139 --> 00:17:16.319 will be thirsty again. 00:17:17.039 --> 00:17:19.680 But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him 00:17:19.680 --> 00:17:22.220 will never be thirsty again. 00:17:22.720 --> 00:17:24.200 The water that I will give him 00:17:24.200 --> 00:17:25.639 will become in him a spring. 00:17:26.639 --> 00:17:29.919 A spring of water welling up to eternal life. 00:17:29.920 --> 00:17:30.640 And at this point, 00:17:30.720 --> 00:17:32.420 the skeptical Samaritan woman is just like, 00:17:32.840 --> 00:17:33.420 All right, sure. 00:17:33.779 --> 00:17:34.640 Sounds great. 00:17:34.980 --> 00:17:35.560 Verse 15, 00:17:35.680 --> 00:17:36.779 Sir, give me this water then 00:17:36.779 --> 00:17:38.700 so that I will not be thirsty 00:17:38.700 --> 00:17:40.019 or have to come here to drink water. 00:17:40.080 --> 00:17:40.660 That sounds good. 00:17:40.720 --> 00:17:43.039 If you really have that kind of living water 00:17:43.039 --> 00:17:45.759 that can forever quench my thirst, 00:17:45.960 --> 00:17:46.980 sure, I'll take some of that. 00:17:47.539 --> 00:17:48.320 I'll take some of that. 00:17:49.220 --> 00:17:51.300 And this is where things get really confusing. 00:17:51.940 --> 00:17:52.019 Right? 00:17:52.080 --> 00:17:52.420 She says, 00:17:52.680 --> 00:17:54.259 Yes, I like this living water 00:17:54.259 --> 00:17:54.940 that you're offering, 00:17:55.060 --> 00:17:56.300 but I kind of don't believe that you have 00:17:56.300 --> 00:17:57.220 because you don't even have a bucket. 00:17:57.220 --> 00:17:59.059 And then in verse 16, 00:17:59.180 --> 00:17:59.759 Jesus says, 00:18:00.660 --> 00:18:02.660 Go call your husband and come here. 00:18:03.640 --> 00:18:06.279 Like, what is going on in this conversation? 00:18:06.440 --> 00:18:07.720 They were just talking about water 00:18:07.720 --> 00:18:08.960 and the lack of buckets 00:18:08.960 --> 00:18:10.160 and all of a sudden, 00:18:10.299 --> 00:18:11.100 we're talking about, 00:18:11.600 --> 00:18:13.600 Go call your husband and bring him here. 00:18:14.360 --> 00:18:16.559 How in the world did this conversation 00:18:16.559 --> 00:18:18.640 go from living water to a husband? 00:18:18.819 --> 00:18:21.600 Is Jesus just completely changing the subject? 00:18:22.839 --> 00:18:24.660 Well, I think the answer becomes clearer 00:18:24.660 --> 00:18:27.000 if we follow the dialogue further. 00:18:27.000 --> 00:18:28.200 She says in verse 17, 00:18:28.299 --> 00:18:28.740 Look with me. 00:18:29.700 --> 00:18:30.619 I have no husband. 00:18:31.640 --> 00:18:33.839 She indulges this change of subject. 00:18:33.960 --> 00:18:34.059 She says, 00:18:34.119 --> 00:18:35.019 I have no husband. 00:18:35.799 --> 00:18:36.480 And Jesus says, 00:18:36.720 --> 00:18:37.339 You are right, 00:18:37.640 --> 00:18:38.839 saying I have no husband. 00:18:39.279 --> 00:18:40.740 For you have had five husbands 00:18:40.740 --> 00:18:42.359 and the one you now have 00:18:42.359 --> 00:18:43.599 is not your husband. 00:18:44.180 --> 00:18:45.900 What you have said is true. 00:18:46.400 --> 00:18:47.339 What's going on here? 00:18:47.720 --> 00:18:49.380 How did it get to this? 00:18:50.440 --> 00:18:51.720 Well, I think Jesus is doing, 00:18:52.039 --> 00:18:52.880 what he's doing here 00:18:52.880 --> 00:18:54.839 is that he's revealing to this woman 00:18:54.839 --> 00:18:56.599 her deepest thirst. 00:18:57.000 --> 00:18:58.519 Her deepest thirst. 00:18:58.599 --> 00:18:59.200 Jesus is saying, 00:18:59.400 --> 00:19:01.039 If you want living water, 00:19:01.980 --> 00:19:03.880 something that can forever quench 00:19:03.880 --> 00:19:05.359 your every thirst 00:19:05.359 --> 00:19:08.640 and turn you into a life-giving spring, 00:19:08.980 --> 00:19:10.420 welling up to eternal life 00:19:10.420 --> 00:19:12.480 for yourself and for others, 00:19:13.480 --> 00:19:15.160 you have got to come to terms, 00:19:15.700 --> 00:19:19.259 not just with your thirst for this well water. 00:19:19.259 --> 00:19:20.859 You have got to come to terms 00:19:20.859 --> 00:19:22.740 with your deepest thirst. 00:19:23.599 --> 00:19:24.339 And for this woman, 00:19:24.879 --> 00:19:27.440 it had to do with something with her past. 00:19:27.900 --> 00:19:28.960 Having had five husbands 00:19:28.960 --> 00:19:31.980 and now having a man who was not her husband. 00:19:33.079 --> 00:19:33.460 And you know, 00:19:33.559 --> 00:19:34.559 I don't want to judge 00:19:34.559 --> 00:19:36.819 or make too many assumptions about this woman. 00:19:36.940 --> 00:19:38.500 I think a lot of preachers and commentators 00:19:38.500 --> 00:19:39.839 can easily do that. 00:19:39.879 --> 00:19:41.000 We don't know the stories 00:19:41.000 --> 00:19:43.480 behind the first five husbands 00:19:43.480 --> 00:19:44.579 in this woman's life. 00:19:44.579 --> 00:19:46.439 Maybe they all divorced her 00:19:46.439 --> 00:19:48.399 each time for reasons out of her control. 00:19:49.039 --> 00:19:51.099 Maybe some of them passed away. 00:19:51.439 --> 00:19:53.659 Or maybe she really was unfaithful. 00:19:54.139 --> 00:19:54.919 To some of them, 00:19:54.980 --> 00:19:55.759 maybe to all of them, 00:19:55.839 --> 00:19:58.240 maybe she was shamefully promiscuous. 00:19:58.319 --> 00:19:59.299 We don't know. 00:19:59.379 --> 00:20:00.480 But what we can know 00:20:00.480 --> 00:20:02.839 is that her life is not at all 00:20:02.839 --> 00:20:05.460 what she had intended or wanted, right? 00:20:05.679 --> 00:20:06.960 We can know that at least. 00:20:07.099 --> 00:20:08.259 No one gets married 00:20:08.259 --> 00:20:10.139 planning to have four more spouses 00:20:10.139 --> 00:20:11.319 in their lifetime. 00:20:11.319 --> 00:20:12.599 No one gets married 00:20:12.599 --> 00:20:14.000 planning to end up with someone 00:20:14.000 --> 00:20:15.519 who isn't their spouse. 00:20:16.399 --> 00:20:17.220 And we can also know 00:20:17.220 --> 00:20:17.859 that her relationship 00:20:17.859 --> 00:20:19.159 with this six man at least 00:20:19.159 --> 00:20:20.500 who isn't her husband, 00:20:21.299 --> 00:20:22.559 it's not what God wants for her. 00:20:23.119 --> 00:20:23.240 Right? 00:20:23.279 --> 00:20:24.579 A sexual relationship 00:20:24.579 --> 00:20:26.240 relating to another person 00:20:26.240 --> 00:20:26.899 as a spouse 00:20:26.899 --> 00:20:28.419 who is not actually your spouse. 00:20:28.519 --> 00:20:29.480 This is not God's will 00:20:29.480 --> 00:20:31.000 or design for her 00:20:31.000 --> 00:20:32.099 or for any of us. 00:20:32.819 --> 00:20:33.639 And I think John Piper 00:20:33.639 --> 00:20:34.240 was so right 00:20:34.240 --> 00:20:35.639 in his sermon on this passage 00:20:35.639 --> 00:20:36.319 when he said that 00:20:36.319 --> 00:20:38.500 no one goes through five marriages 00:20:38.500 --> 00:20:39.500 and an additional 00:20:39.500 --> 00:20:41.279 extramarital relationship 00:20:41.279 --> 00:20:43.160 without either starting thirsty 00:20:43.160 --> 00:20:45.500 or ending thirsty. 00:20:46.619 --> 00:20:48.259 And Jesus was prophetically 00:20:48.259 --> 00:20:50.119 revealing this truth to her. 00:20:50.200 --> 00:20:51.000 You've got a thirst 00:20:51.000 --> 00:20:52.879 and it has to do 00:20:52.879 --> 00:20:54.779 with this past of yours 00:20:54.779 --> 00:20:55.980 with these five men 00:20:55.980 --> 00:20:57.279 and now this six men. 00:20:58.019 --> 00:20:59.160 Her pursuit of a husband 00:20:59.160 --> 00:21:00.799 and probably a happy home 00:21:00.799 --> 00:21:01.420 and a marriage 00:21:01.420 --> 00:21:02.660 and whatever supposedly 00:21:02.660 --> 00:21:04.220 normative status and lifestyle 00:21:04.220 --> 00:21:05.440 that came with such things, 00:21:05.539 --> 00:21:07.279 a pursuit not so unlike 00:21:07.279 --> 00:21:08.579 many of ours, 00:21:09.619 --> 00:21:10.379 it left her thirsty. 00:21:11.899 --> 00:21:13.579 It'll leave us thirsty too 00:21:13.579 --> 00:21:14.879 if we don't watch out. 00:21:16.200 --> 00:21:17.379 And now with this six men 00:21:17.379 --> 00:21:18.920 who is not her husband 00:21:18.920 --> 00:21:20.539 or maybe we could read it as 00:21:20.539 --> 00:21:22.160 who is not her husband, 00:21:22.299 --> 00:21:24.139 maybe he's someone else's husband, 00:21:25.039 --> 00:21:25.940 she's worse off 00:21:25.940 --> 00:21:27.299 than when she'd begun, 00:21:27.779 --> 00:21:29.299 thirstier than she's ever been 00:21:29.299 --> 00:21:30.960 in more ways than one 00:21:30.960 --> 00:21:33.059 at Jacob's famous well 00:21:33.059 --> 00:21:33.759 at high noon. 00:21:34.759 --> 00:21:35.879 She's here at this well, 00:21:35.960 --> 00:21:37.039 she thinks she's gonna satisfy 00:21:37.039 --> 00:21:37.920 some kind of thirst, 00:21:37.920 --> 00:21:39.340 but Jesus shows her 00:21:39.340 --> 00:21:41.480 you are so much thirstier 00:21:41.480 --> 00:21:42.840 than you even know. 00:21:44.019 --> 00:21:44.500 And you know, 00:21:44.539 --> 00:21:45.560 a lot of commentaries 00:21:45.560 --> 00:21:47.279 and preachers think 00:21:47.279 --> 00:21:47.820 that this woman 00:21:47.820 --> 00:21:49.320 tries to change the subject 00:21:49.320 --> 00:21:51.560 away from her sex life. 00:21:52.140 --> 00:21:53.680 They think that she's trying 00:21:53.680 --> 00:21:54.640 to move the conversation 00:21:54.640 --> 00:21:55.380 to something maybe 00:21:55.380 --> 00:21:56.340 more superficial, 00:21:56.720 --> 00:21:57.800 more intellectual, 00:21:58.519 --> 00:21:59.440 more theological, 00:21:59.840 --> 00:22:01.080 like talking to a prophet 00:22:01.080 --> 00:22:01.519 about something 00:22:01.519 --> 00:22:03.180 he might be interested in. 00:22:03.180 --> 00:22:05.120 But I wanna follow 00:22:05.120 --> 00:22:06.060 the commentators 00:22:06.060 --> 00:22:06.940 Leslie Newbigin 00:22:06.940 --> 00:22:08.080 and Herman Ritterbos 00:22:08.080 --> 00:22:09.160 because I think something else 00:22:09.160 --> 00:22:09.820 is happening here 00:22:09.820 --> 00:22:10.840 when she responds 00:22:10.840 --> 00:22:12.799 to Jesus' intimate knowledge 00:22:12.799 --> 00:22:13.860 about her five husbands 00:22:13.860 --> 00:22:15.039 and her current partner. 00:22:15.799 --> 00:22:16.980 Look with me at verse 19. 00:22:18.180 --> 00:22:19.279 In verse 19, 00:22:19.380 --> 00:22:19.960 when she says, 00:22:20.380 --> 00:22:20.600 Sir, 00:22:21.140 --> 00:22:23.160 I perceive that you are a prophet. 00:22:23.779 --> 00:22:24.680 Our fathers worshipped 00:22:24.680 --> 00:22:25.400 on this mountain, 00:22:25.519 --> 00:22:26.799 but you say that in Jerusalem 00:22:26.799 --> 00:22:27.500 is the place 00:22:27.500 --> 00:22:29.160 where people ought to worship. 00:22:29.799 --> 00:22:31.240 I don't think, actually, 00:22:31.320 --> 00:22:31.920 that she's trying 00:22:31.920 --> 00:22:34.660 to deflect Jesus' prophetic words 00:22:34.660 --> 00:22:35.400 into her life. 00:22:36.259 --> 00:22:37.539 I think she's actually 00:22:37.539 --> 00:22:38.680 beginning to acknowledge 00:22:38.680 --> 00:22:40.460 who Jesus is. 00:22:41.360 --> 00:22:42.080 You're a prophet. 00:22:42.600 --> 00:22:43.279 What is a prophet? 00:22:43.800 --> 00:22:44.460 I think a lot of times 00:22:44.460 --> 00:22:45.080 we think of a prophet 00:22:45.080 --> 00:22:46.480 as someone who makes predictions, 00:22:46.720 --> 00:22:47.980 but most properly, 00:22:48.140 --> 00:22:49.000 a prophet is someone 00:22:49.000 --> 00:22:50.860 who speaks the words of God 00:22:50.860 --> 00:22:52.660 and opens people's eyes 00:22:52.660 --> 00:22:54.160 to their waywardness. 00:22:54.460 --> 00:22:55.100 A prophet is someone 00:22:55.100 --> 00:22:56.340 who calls people back 00:22:56.340 --> 00:22:58.080 into right relationship 00:22:58.080 --> 00:22:59.180 with God. 00:22:59.920 --> 00:23:00.320 After all, 00:23:00.380 --> 00:23:01.340 isn't she trying to 00:23:01.339 --> 00:23:03.419 if she's trying 00:23:03.419 --> 00:23:04.599 to divert Jesus 00:23:04.599 --> 00:23:05.799 into another topic, 00:23:06.079 --> 00:23:07.199 seems like she would 00:23:07.199 --> 00:23:07.899 have been successful 00:23:07.899 --> 00:23:08.839 because Jesus goes on 00:23:08.839 --> 00:23:09.740 with this topic, right? 00:23:10.599 --> 00:23:11.459 But I think what's really 00:23:11.459 --> 00:23:12.319 going on here 00:23:12.319 --> 00:23:13.939 is that she has received 00:23:13.939 --> 00:23:15.159 the prophetic words 00:23:15.159 --> 00:23:15.799 of Jesus 00:23:15.799 --> 00:23:16.779 about her deviation 00:23:16.779 --> 00:23:17.399 from God 00:23:17.399 --> 00:23:18.619 in her sex life. 00:23:19.339 --> 00:23:20.119 And recognizing 00:23:20.119 --> 00:23:20.939 that Jesus 00:23:20.939 --> 00:23:21.740 is at least someone 00:23:21.740 --> 00:23:22.819 who speaks the words of God, 00:23:22.899 --> 00:23:23.959 she is now bringing to him 00:23:23.959 --> 00:23:25.439 a genuine concern 00:23:25.439 --> 00:23:27.119 that she now has. 00:23:27.139 --> 00:23:27.980 And this is the concern. 00:23:28.459 --> 00:23:28.799 She says, 00:23:28.879 --> 00:23:29.220 All right, 00:23:29.399 --> 00:23:29.879 you're right. 00:23:29.880 --> 00:23:31.580 I've been unfaithful 00:23:31.580 --> 00:23:32.180 to Yahweh. 00:23:32.300 --> 00:23:33.340 I've been unfaithful 00:23:33.340 --> 00:23:34.000 to the Torah. 00:23:35.020 --> 00:23:36.360 I've been with this man 00:23:36.360 --> 00:23:37.760 who is not my husband. 00:23:38.820 --> 00:23:39.480 But now, 00:23:39.700 --> 00:23:40.280 this is problematic 00:23:40.280 --> 00:23:40.940 for me, 00:23:41.320 --> 00:23:41.860 Mr. Prophet. 00:23:43.000 --> 00:23:43.820 This divide 00:23:43.820 --> 00:23:45.180 between us Samaritans 00:23:45.180 --> 00:23:45.860 who worship here 00:23:45.860 --> 00:23:47.100 and you Jewish people 00:23:47.100 --> 00:23:48.340 who worship in Jerusalem, 00:23:48.480 --> 00:23:48.560 well, 00:23:48.600 --> 00:23:49.480 that's a huge, 00:23:49.560 --> 00:23:50.620 huge problem 00:23:50.620 --> 00:23:51.340 for me now. 00:23:52.200 --> 00:23:52.380 Look, 00:23:52.440 --> 00:23:52.860 Mr. Prophet, 00:23:52.940 --> 00:23:54.220 I'm already an outcast 00:23:54.220 --> 00:23:56.020 here in Samaria. 00:23:56.960 --> 00:23:57.740 They won't even let me 00:23:57.740 --> 00:23:58.700 worship and offer 00:23:58.700 --> 00:23:59.960 sacrifices to atone 00:23:59.960 --> 00:24:00.480 for my sins 00:24:00.480 --> 00:24:02.160 here on Mount Gerizim. 00:24:02.940 --> 00:24:04.160 But if you are right 00:24:04.160 --> 00:24:05.160 and the right place 00:24:05.160 --> 00:24:05.680 to worship 00:24:05.680 --> 00:24:07.080 is where the Jewish people 00:24:07.080 --> 00:24:08.140 say in Jerusalem, 00:24:09.140 --> 00:24:09.299 well, 00:24:09.340 --> 00:24:10.039 how could I, 00:24:10.160 --> 00:24:11.059 of all people, 00:24:11.860 --> 00:24:12.600 ever deal 00:24:12.600 --> 00:24:13.900 with my sin? 00:24:15.680 --> 00:24:17.000 I must be hopeless 00:24:17.000 --> 00:24:19.299 if you are right. 00:24:20.380 --> 00:24:21.500 And at this point, 00:24:21.580 --> 00:24:22.720 all hope seems lost 00:24:22.720 --> 00:24:23.519 for this woman 00:24:23.519 --> 00:24:24.299 at the well. 00:24:24.299 --> 00:24:26.079 But the good news 00:24:26.079 --> 00:24:26.700 of the gospel 00:24:26.700 --> 00:24:28.519 is that with Jesus, 00:24:28.659 --> 00:24:29.879 there is always hope 00:24:29.879 --> 00:24:31.440 for Jesus is not only 00:24:31.440 --> 00:24:32.460 the prophet who reveals 00:24:32.460 --> 00:24:33.419 our waywardness, 00:24:33.680 --> 00:24:34.680 but he is a prophet 00:24:34.680 --> 00:24:35.599 who shows us 00:24:35.599 --> 00:24:36.500 the way, 00:24:37.059 --> 00:24:38.240 the way to life, 00:24:38.359 --> 00:24:39.480 the way to living water, 00:24:39.559 --> 00:24:40.619 the way back to God. 00:24:40.720 --> 00:24:41.480 He is himself 00:24:41.480 --> 00:24:42.460 the very way, 00:24:42.680 --> 00:24:43.440 the very truth, 00:24:43.539 --> 00:24:44.419 and the very life, 00:24:44.500 --> 00:24:45.180 and no one comes 00:24:45.180 --> 00:24:45.700 to the Father 00:24:45.700 --> 00:24:47.079 except through him. 00:24:48.180 --> 00:24:49.099 Listen to what he says 00:24:49.099 --> 00:24:49.419 to her. 00:24:50.039 --> 00:24:50.919 He doesn't shrug 00:24:50.920 --> 00:24:51.320 and say, 00:24:51.560 --> 00:24:52.000 it's okay, 00:24:52.080 --> 00:24:53.039 as long as you're sincere 00:24:53.039 --> 00:24:54.320 and you mean well, 00:24:54.380 --> 00:24:55.080 you're close enough, 00:24:55.160 --> 00:24:56.140 just have a good spirit 00:24:56.140 --> 00:24:56.640 about it, 00:24:56.779 --> 00:24:57.800 and you'll be accepted 00:24:57.800 --> 00:24:58.560 as a true worshiper 00:24:58.560 --> 00:24:58.860 of God. 00:24:58.880 --> 00:24:59.360 He's honest. 00:24:59.480 --> 00:24:59.980 Verse 22, 00:25:00.100 --> 00:25:00.460 he says, 00:25:01.320 --> 00:25:01.720 you worship 00:25:01.720 --> 00:25:02.600 what you do not know. 00:25:03.240 --> 00:25:03.779 We worship 00:25:03.779 --> 00:25:04.380 what we know 00:25:04.380 --> 00:25:04.960 for salvation 00:25:04.960 --> 00:25:06.440 is from the Jews. 00:25:06.560 --> 00:25:06.740 Yes, 00:25:06.820 --> 00:25:08.080 the Samaritan religion 00:25:08.080 --> 00:25:09.660 is a deviation 00:25:09.660 --> 00:25:11.220 from the truth. 00:25:11.920 --> 00:25:12.440 But he says 00:25:12.440 --> 00:25:13.120 in verse 21, 00:25:13.279 --> 00:25:14.180 believe me though, 00:25:14.900 --> 00:25:16.140 the hour is coming 00:25:16.140 --> 00:25:16.880 when neither 00:25:16.880 --> 00:25:17.820 on this mountain 00:25:17.820 --> 00:25:18.820 nor in Jerusalem 00:25:18.820 --> 00:25:19.740 will you worship 00:25:19.740 --> 00:25:20.240 the Father. 00:25:20.240 --> 00:25:21.000 Verse 23, 00:25:21.240 --> 00:25:22.180 the hour is coming 00:25:22.180 --> 00:25:23.640 and is now here 00:25:23.640 --> 00:25:26.079 when the true worshipers 00:25:26.079 --> 00:25:27.380 will worship the Father 00:25:27.380 --> 00:25:28.819 by the Spirit 00:25:28.819 --> 00:25:30.539 and the truth 00:25:30.539 --> 00:25:31.200 for the Father 00:25:31.200 --> 00:25:32.220 is seeking such people 00:25:32.220 --> 00:25:32.940 to worship him. 00:25:33.000 --> 00:25:33.539 Do you realize 00:25:33.539 --> 00:25:34.299 what Jesus is saying 00:25:34.299 --> 00:25:35.380 to her right here? 00:25:36.319 --> 00:25:37.299 This is the gospel. 00:25:38.099 --> 00:25:38.940 This is the gospel. 00:25:39.259 --> 00:25:40.240 Confronted by her sin 00:25:40.240 --> 00:25:40.960 with some man 00:25:40.960 --> 00:25:42.220 who is not her own husband, 00:25:42.519 --> 00:25:43.700 she sees the wide chasm 00:25:43.700 --> 00:25:44.599 between God 00:25:44.599 --> 00:25:45.200 whose temple 00:25:45.200 --> 00:25:45.980 is in Jerusalem 00:25:45.980 --> 00:25:46.680 and herself 00:25:46.680 --> 00:25:47.519 as an immoral, 00:25:47.859 --> 00:25:48.519 outcasted, 00:25:48.720 --> 00:25:49.400 Samaritan woman 00:25:49.400 --> 00:25:50.000 and yet here 00:25:50.000 --> 00:25:50.720 Jesus is saying 00:25:50.720 --> 00:25:51.100 to her, 00:25:51.660 --> 00:25:52.700 the hour is coming 00:25:52.700 --> 00:25:53.860 and is now here 00:25:53.860 --> 00:25:54.800 because I'm here, 00:25:55.040 --> 00:25:55.600 because God 00:25:55.600 --> 00:25:56.580 is among you, 00:25:56.700 --> 00:25:57.740 because the true temple 00:25:57.740 --> 00:25:58.240 is here, 00:25:58.400 --> 00:25:59.360 I am the true temple 00:25:59.360 --> 00:26:00.800 and true worshipers 00:26:00.800 --> 00:26:01.900 will worship the Father 00:26:01.900 --> 00:26:03.060 not by their own effort, 00:26:03.920 --> 00:26:05.080 not by figuring out 00:26:05.080 --> 00:26:05.960 a way to sneak 00:26:05.960 --> 00:26:06.759 into Jerusalem 00:26:06.759 --> 00:26:07.680 as a Samaritan 00:26:07.680 --> 00:26:09.140 to offer right sacrifices, 00:26:10.240 --> 00:26:11.019 but the way 00:26:11.019 --> 00:26:12.920 to be in right relationship 00:26:12.920 --> 00:26:13.500 with God 00:26:13.500 --> 00:26:15.080 as a true worshiper, 00:26:15.079 --> 00:26:16.319 Jesus says, 00:26:17.099 --> 00:26:17.980 is by the Spirit 00:26:17.980 --> 00:26:19.759 and by the truth, 00:26:20.319 --> 00:26:21.119 for the Father 00:26:21.119 --> 00:26:22.639 is seeking such people 00:26:22.639 --> 00:26:23.759 to worship Him. 00:26:24.679 --> 00:26:25.539 Jesus is saying, 00:26:25.839 --> 00:26:26.399 you're right, 00:26:26.759 --> 00:26:28.079 the chasm is far 00:26:28.079 --> 00:26:29.099 too wide 00:26:29.099 --> 00:26:29.960 for you to cross 00:26:29.960 --> 00:26:31.399 the gap on your own, 00:26:32.159 --> 00:26:33.740 but through the Spirit's power 00:26:33.740 --> 00:26:34.859 and through me, 00:26:35.119 --> 00:26:35.819 the truth, 00:26:36.299 --> 00:26:37.319 and because the Father 00:26:37.319 --> 00:26:38.000 is the one 00:26:38.000 --> 00:26:39.000 actively seeking 00:26:39.000 --> 00:26:40.939 and pursuing worshippers, 00:26:41.240 --> 00:26:42.859 there is a way 00:26:42.859 --> 00:26:43.799 to be right 00:26:43.799 --> 00:26:45.019 with God once again, 00:26:45.379 --> 00:26:46.439 apart from your 00:26:46.439 --> 00:26:47.319 insufficiencies 00:26:47.319 --> 00:26:48.259 and despite your 00:26:48.259 --> 00:26:49.919 insurmountable obstacles, 00:26:50.099 --> 00:26:50.879 it's by the Spirit, 00:26:51.099 --> 00:26:51.819 it's by the truth 00:26:51.819 --> 00:26:53.359 and by the ever-seeking 00:26:53.359 --> 00:26:54.099 Father, 00:26:55.379 --> 00:26:56.539 the pursuing Father. 00:26:58.759 --> 00:26:59.799 And as this woman 00:26:59.799 --> 00:27:00.779 hears the good news 00:27:00.779 --> 00:27:02.219 of this hour 00:27:02.219 --> 00:27:02.859 that is coming 00:27:02.859 --> 00:27:03.699 when she will actually 00:27:03.699 --> 00:27:04.579 be able to worship 00:27:04.579 --> 00:27:05.979 and be restored 00:27:05.979 --> 00:27:07.559 into a right relationship 00:27:07.559 --> 00:27:08.299 with Yahweh 00:27:08.299 --> 00:27:08.979 by His Spirit 00:27:08.979 --> 00:27:09.699 and His truth, 00:27:09.759 --> 00:27:10.579 she can't wait. 00:27:11.399 --> 00:27:11.959 Wouldn't you believe 00:27:11.959 --> 00:27:12.779 that to be good news 00:27:12.779 --> 00:27:13.220 for you? 00:27:13.940 --> 00:27:14.940 She cannot wait 00:27:14.940 --> 00:27:15.759 for that hour 00:27:15.759 --> 00:27:16.539 to come 00:27:16.539 --> 00:27:17.039 and she says 00:27:17.039 --> 00:27:17.879 in verse 25, 00:27:18.399 --> 00:27:19.440 I know that Messiah 00:27:19.440 --> 00:27:20.160 is coming, 00:27:20.759 --> 00:27:22.440 He who is called Christ. 00:27:23.240 --> 00:27:24.000 When He comes, 00:27:24.099 --> 00:27:24.879 He will tell us 00:27:24.879 --> 00:27:25.859 all things. 00:27:26.619 --> 00:27:27.279 I can't wait. 00:27:28.599 --> 00:27:29.720 And yet to her surprise 00:27:29.720 --> 00:27:31.180 and to her delight, 00:27:31.619 --> 00:27:32.399 Jesus says to her 00:27:32.399 --> 00:27:33.299 in verse 26, 00:27:33.819 --> 00:27:34.660 literally in the Greek, 00:27:35.240 --> 00:27:36.720 ego emi, 00:27:37.599 --> 00:27:38.299 I am. 00:27:39.180 --> 00:27:41.180 His very first statement, 00:27:41.180 --> 00:27:42.500 I am the one 00:27:42.500 --> 00:27:43.460 speaking to you, 00:27:43.560 --> 00:27:44.660 I am He. 00:27:44.779 --> 00:27:46.680 I am the Messiah 00:27:46.680 --> 00:27:48.160 that you're longing for. 00:27:49.299 --> 00:27:49.840 And this changes 00:27:49.840 --> 00:27:51.360 everything for the woman. 00:27:51.779 --> 00:27:52.640 This changes everything 00:27:52.640 --> 00:27:53.019 for her. 00:27:53.060 --> 00:27:53.600 And she leaves 00:27:53.600 --> 00:27:54.680 her water jug behind 00:27:54.680 --> 00:27:55.340 and she returns 00:27:55.340 --> 00:27:55.840 to her town 00:27:55.840 --> 00:27:56.600 and she invites 00:27:56.600 --> 00:27:58.120 everyone in the city 00:27:58.120 --> 00:27:59.440 to come and see a man 00:27:59.440 --> 00:28:00.700 who told her everything 00:28:00.700 --> 00:28:03.100 that she had ever done. 00:28:03.099 --> 00:28:05.339 And I want to wrap up now 00:28:05.339 --> 00:28:06.159 by highlighting 00:28:06.159 --> 00:28:07.059 this incredible 00:28:07.059 --> 00:28:08.240 response of hers 00:28:08.240 --> 00:28:09.299 and I want to talk about 00:28:09.299 --> 00:28:10.699 what prompted this response 00:28:10.699 --> 00:28:11.799 and then how this is 00:28:11.799 --> 00:28:12.679 relevant for us. 00:28:13.399 --> 00:28:14.000 Now check it out 00:28:14.000 --> 00:28:14.779 in verse 28, 00:28:15.500 --> 00:28:16.599 how she leaves her water jug 00:28:16.599 --> 00:28:17.719 behind with Jesus. 00:28:17.919 --> 00:28:19.199 She just leaves it behind, 00:28:19.740 --> 00:28:20.480 leaves it right there 00:28:20.480 --> 00:28:21.359 with Him at the well. 00:28:22.779 --> 00:28:23.399 I want you to imagine 00:28:23.399 --> 00:28:25.480 her love-hate relationship 00:28:25.480 --> 00:28:27.539 with that jug of water 00:28:27.539 --> 00:28:28.919 before she met Jesus. 00:28:29.779 --> 00:28:30.619 On the one hand, 00:28:30.619 --> 00:28:32.259 it's the very instrument 00:28:32.259 --> 00:28:34.639 that she daily depended upon 00:28:34.639 --> 00:28:36.000 to secure her own survival 00:28:36.000 --> 00:28:37.839 and to quench her thirst 00:28:37.839 --> 00:28:39.000 again and again and again. 00:28:39.079 --> 00:28:40.779 She can't live without it. 00:28:41.919 --> 00:28:42.959 And yet on the other hand, 00:28:43.059 --> 00:28:44.539 she daily strains herself 00:28:44.539 --> 00:28:45.879 to carry that heavy jug 00:28:45.879 --> 00:28:47.319 back and forth 00:28:47.319 --> 00:28:48.879 by the sweat of her own brow, 00:28:49.239 --> 00:28:50.079 wishing she never had 00:28:50.079 --> 00:28:51.199 to draw water with it 00:28:51.199 --> 00:28:51.939 ever again, 00:28:52.239 --> 00:28:53.579 wishing for an eternal spring 00:28:53.579 --> 00:28:54.339 instead. 00:28:56.139 --> 00:28:57.399 Does that sound familiar? 00:28:58.359 --> 00:28:59.419 Does that sound like 00:28:59.420 --> 00:29:00.580 our lives, 00:29:00.720 --> 00:29:02.660 the paradoxical relationship, 00:29:02.840 --> 00:29:03.019 right, 00:29:03.080 --> 00:29:04.720 between the exhausting grind 00:29:04.720 --> 00:29:07.240 of life we seek freedom from, 00:29:07.920 --> 00:29:09.160 but also our dependence 00:29:09.160 --> 00:29:10.180 upon the grind 00:29:10.180 --> 00:29:11.279 for our survival 00:29:11.279 --> 00:29:12.480 and meaning? 00:29:13.460 --> 00:29:14.740 Maybe we're not so different 00:29:14.740 --> 00:29:15.980 from the Samaritan woman, 00:29:16.120 --> 00:29:16.560 are we? 00:29:17.039 --> 00:29:18.480 Laboring day after day 00:29:18.480 --> 00:29:19.880 to quench our thirst, 00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:20.820 believing the lie 00:29:20.820 --> 00:29:21.759 that Jacob's well 00:29:21.759 --> 00:29:23.500 and her water jug 00:29:23.500 --> 00:29:24.720 were the best shot 00:29:24.720 --> 00:29:25.640 that she had 00:29:25.640 --> 00:29:26.539 at survival, 00:29:26.640 --> 00:29:27.220 the best shot 00:29:27.220 --> 00:29:27.819 that she had 00:29:27.819 --> 00:29:29.400 at somewhat quenching 00:29:29.400 --> 00:29:30.339 her thirst. 00:29:31.100 --> 00:29:32.160 Until boom, right, 00:29:32.200 --> 00:29:33.140 she meets Jesus 00:29:33.140 --> 00:29:34.559 and her relationship 00:29:34.559 --> 00:29:35.200 to the well 00:29:35.200 --> 00:29:36.120 and her relationship 00:29:36.120 --> 00:29:37.380 to that jug of water 00:29:37.380 --> 00:29:38.519 are completely transformed. 00:29:39.600 --> 00:29:40.779 And she isn't thirsty 00:29:40.779 --> 00:29:42.519 like she was before. 00:29:43.860 --> 00:29:44.819 I also want us to notice 00:29:44.819 --> 00:29:46.640 how she runs not away, 00:29:47.600 --> 00:29:48.579 she doesn't run away 00:29:48.579 --> 00:29:49.039 from the town, 00:29:49.100 --> 00:29:49.940 but she runs toward 00:29:49.940 --> 00:29:50.819 the very town 00:29:50.819 --> 00:29:53.160 in which she was an outcast 00:29:53.160 --> 00:29:55.220 of promiscuous repute. 00:29:55.220 --> 00:29:56.880 this woman who approached 00:29:56.880 --> 00:29:59.319 the well as an ashamed loner 00:29:59.319 --> 00:30:02.559 is now running toward people. 00:30:03.180 --> 00:30:03.900 And this woman 00:30:03.900 --> 00:30:05.240 who has had five husbands 00:30:05.240 --> 00:30:06.460 and is most recently 00:30:06.460 --> 00:30:07.500 with a man who is not 00:30:07.500 --> 00:30:08.279 her husband 00:30:08.279 --> 00:30:10.140 is now openly telling people 00:30:10.140 --> 00:30:10.779 in verse 29, 00:30:10.940 --> 00:30:12.059 come and see a man 00:30:12.059 --> 00:30:13.100 who told me all 00:30:13.100 --> 00:30:14.180 that I ever did. 00:30:15.420 --> 00:30:16.779 Who would do that? 00:30:17.799 --> 00:30:18.980 Especially with a past 00:30:18.980 --> 00:30:19.920 like hers. 00:30:20.600 --> 00:30:22.019 Who would highlight that? 00:30:22.079 --> 00:30:23.160 Who would broadcast that? 00:30:23.160 --> 00:30:24.580 Come and see a man 00:30:24.580 --> 00:30:25.660 who told me 00:30:25.660 --> 00:30:27.380 how much of an adulterer I was. 00:30:27.820 --> 00:30:29.120 How immoral I am. 00:30:29.320 --> 00:30:30.220 How much of a sexually 00:30:30.220 --> 00:30:31.900 perverse deviant I am. 00:30:33.259 --> 00:30:34.220 Someone asked the question, 00:30:34.420 --> 00:30:35.300 what was it about 00:30:35.300 --> 00:30:36.460 this woman's encounter 00:30:36.460 --> 00:30:37.060 with Jesus 00:30:37.060 --> 00:30:38.560 that led to 00:30:38.560 --> 00:30:40.540 such an incredible response? 00:30:41.759 --> 00:30:42.240 Well in short, 00:30:42.380 --> 00:30:43.660 I think she found, 00:30:44.140 --> 00:30:45.140 I think it's that she found 00:30:45.140 --> 00:30:45.700 the man 00:30:45.700 --> 00:30:46.940 she'd always needed 00:30:46.940 --> 00:30:49.060 but never knew to seek. 00:30:49.480 --> 00:30:51.000 Never knew she even wanted. 00:30:51.000 --> 00:30:52.559 When she looked 00:30:52.559 --> 00:30:53.460 to quench her thirst 00:30:53.460 --> 00:30:55.259 with man after man 00:30:55.259 --> 00:30:56.680 through marriage and sex 00:30:56.680 --> 00:30:58.200 and maybe domestic dreams, 00:30:58.720 --> 00:30:59.380 Jesus said, 00:30:59.599 --> 00:31:00.819 all you need is me. 00:31:01.440 --> 00:31:02.160 All you need is me, 00:31:02.220 --> 00:31:02.819 the living water. 00:31:02.940 --> 00:31:04.400 You don't need this well. 00:31:04.519 --> 00:31:06.039 You don't need that water jug. 00:31:06.099 --> 00:31:07.460 You don't need these other men. 00:31:07.819 --> 00:31:09.460 All you need is me. 00:31:10.220 --> 00:31:10.619 Is that a word 00:31:10.619 --> 00:31:11.500 for some of us today 00:31:11.500 --> 00:31:12.799 from Jesus to us 00:31:12.799 --> 00:31:14.720 that all you need is me? 00:31:15.420 --> 00:31:16.400 Because see in Jesus, 00:31:16.579 --> 00:31:17.259 she found a man 00:31:17.259 --> 00:31:17.920 who loved her 00:31:17.920 --> 00:31:20.019 like she'd never been loved before. 00:31:21.000 --> 00:31:22.480 Like she'd never been loved before. 00:31:23.019 --> 00:31:23.859 A man who though 00:31:23.859 --> 00:31:24.900 he had every reason 00:31:24.900 --> 00:31:26.059 not to speak to her, 00:31:26.440 --> 00:31:27.660 every reason not to enter 00:31:27.660 --> 00:31:29.500 into a relationship with her, 00:31:29.720 --> 00:31:30.380 she found a man 00:31:30.380 --> 00:31:31.220 who wanted to give her 00:31:31.220 --> 00:31:32.460 a free gift. 00:31:33.019 --> 00:31:34.079 She would just ask. 00:31:34.359 --> 00:31:34.440 Right? 00:31:34.519 --> 00:31:34.900 Verse 10, 00:31:35.200 --> 00:31:36.440 if you knew the gift of God 00:31:36.440 --> 00:31:37.299 and who it is 00:31:37.299 --> 00:31:38.160 that is saying to you, 00:31:38.259 --> 00:31:38.779 give me a drink, 00:31:38.819 --> 00:31:40.039 you would have just asked him 00:31:40.039 --> 00:31:41.579 and he would have given you 00:31:41.579 --> 00:31:42.180 living water. 00:31:42.299 --> 00:31:43.000 This is the gospel. 00:31:43.140 --> 00:31:43.660 It's free. 00:31:44.319 --> 00:31:45.019 You just ask 00:31:45.019 --> 00:31:46.599 and he wants to give it to you. 00:31:46.680 --> 00:31:47.299 She found a man 00:31:47.299 --> 00:31:48.059 who loved her 00:31:48.059 --> 00:31:49.259 unconditionally. 00:31:49.259 --> 00:31:50.960 A man who knew her 00:31:50.960 --> 00:31:51.480 to the bottom 00:31:51.480 --> 00:31:52.400 and loved her 00:31:52.400 --> 00:31:53.059 to the heavens. 00:31:53.180 --> 00:31:54.000 A Jewish man 00:31:54.000 --> 00:31:54.900 who though, 00:31:55.220 --> 00:31:56.099 knowing everything 00:31:56.099 --> 00:31:56.940 she ever did, 00:31:57.119 --> 00:31:58.579 still wanted to talk to her. 00:31:59.079 --> 00:32:00.220 Still wanted to give her 00:32:00.220 --> 00:32:01.079 living water for free. 00:32:01.160 --> 00:32:02.299 Still believed that she could be 00:32:02.299 --> 00:32:03.160 in right relationship 00:32:03.160 --> 00:32:03.640 with God 00:32:03.640 --> 00:32:04.599 as a true worshiper. 00:32:05.180 --> 00:32:06.000 Still told her 00:32:06.000 --> 00:32:07.500 that she was worth pursuing 00:32:07.500 --> 00:32:08.619 and not without hope 00:32:08.619 --> 00:32:10.539 and that she was even able 00:32:10.539 --> 00:32:11.359 to be filled with 00:32:11.359 --> 00:32:12.660 the spirit and presence 00:32:12.660 --> 00:32:13.599 and power of God. 00:32:13.700 --> 00:32:14.579 That God had a plan 00:32:14.579 --> 00:32:15.460 for this woman 00:32:15.460 --> 00:32:17.039 to make her 00:32:17.039 --> 00:32:19.339 a spring of life-giving water 00:32:19.339 --> 00:32:20.759 even for others. 00:32:21.839 --> 00:32:22.859 In Jesus, 00:32:22.980 --> 00:32:24.000 she found a security 00:32:24.000 --> 00:32:26.079 and a steadfast love 00:32:26.079 --> 00:32:26.879 unlike any 00:32:26.879 --> 00:32:28.539 she'd ever experienced. 00:32:29.139 --> 00:32:30.179 And all of a sudden, 00:32:30.740 --> 00:32:31.460 she was freed. 00:32:32.159 --> 00:32:32.839 She was freed 00:32:32.839 --> 00:32:34.599 from the judgmental opinions 00:32:34.599 --> 00:32:36.159 of others toward her. 00:32:36.619 --> 00:32:37.359 Who cares 00:32:37.359 --> 00:32:38.679 what the townspeople think 00:32:38.679 --> 00:32:39.399 if I have 00:32:39.399 --> 00:32:40.939 the steadfast love of God? 00:32:40.940 --> 00:32:43.160 That's how 00:32:43.160 --> 00:32:44.360 she could run back 00:32:44.360 --> 00:32:45.420 into this city. 00:32:46.299 --> 00:32:46.920 Come and see 00:32:46.920 --> 00:32:48.100 a man who told me 00:32:48.100 --> 00:32:49.420 all that I ever did 00:32:49.420 --> 00:32:52.000 and still loved me 00:32:52.000 --> 00:32:53.720 with all that he is. 00:32:54.400 --> 00:32:55.980 And still included me. 00:32:56.440 --> 00:32:57.460 And still wanted 00:32:57.460 --> 00:32:58.980 to be my savior, 00:32:59.559 --> 00:33:00.180 my Messiah. 00:33:01.640 --> 00:33:02.779 Do we understand 00:33:02.779 --> 00:33:04.860 the liberating power 00:33:04.860 --> 00:33:05.759 of Jesus? 00:33:06.700 --> 00:33:07.640 The freedom 00:33:07.640 --> 00:33:08.960 of this gospel 00:33:08.960 --> 00:33:09.820 that is preached 00:33:09.819 --> 00:33:11.639 here by the church. 00:33:12.539 --> 00:33:13.259 That the good news 00:33:13.259 --> 00:33:14.259 that we don't need 00:33:14.259 --> 00:33:15.480 what we think we need 00:33:15.480 --> 00:33:16.500 and that 00:33:16.500 --> 00:33:17.659 the living water 00:33:17.659 --> 00:33:18.319 of eternal life 00:33:18.319 --> 00:33:19.500 is completely free 00:33:19.500 --> 00:33:20.480 for whoever 00:33:20.480 --> 00:33:22.220 simply asks. 00:33:22.960 --> 00:33:23.919 That this good news 00:33:23.919 --> 00:33:25.000 that we can be both 00:33:25.000 --> 00:33:25.859 fully known 00:33:25.859 --> 00:33:27.240 in all of our sin 00:33:27.240 --> 00:33:29.019 and fully loved 00:33:29.019 --> 00:33:29.899 by God's 00:33:29.899 --> 00:33:31.339 abundant grace. 00:33:32.200 --> 00:33:32.779 This good news 00:33:32.779 --> 00:33:33.500 that even when 00:33:33.500 --> 00:33:34.659 we are running away, 00:33:35.319 --> 00:33:36.539 the Father is seeking 00:33:36.539 --> 00:33:38.179 those who will worship him. 00:33:38.240 --> 00:33:38.720 The good news 00:33:38.720 --> 00:33:39.319 is that we cannot 00:33:39.319 --> 00:33:40.640 outrun his spirit 00:33:40.640 --> 00:33:41.740 or render false 00:33:41.740 --> 00:33:43.380 his truth in Christ. 00:33:43.500 --> 00:33:44.079 Christ's church, 00:33:44.200 --> 00:33:45.819 do we really understand 00:33:45.819 --> 00:33:48.220 this liberating gospel 00:33:48.220 --> 00:33:48.880 of Jesus? 00:33:50.079 --> 00:33:50.740 Can we, 00:33:51.039 --> 00:33:52.240 with the same enthusiasm 00:33:52.240 --> 00:33:53.319 of this woman 00:33:53.319 --> 00:33:54.100 at the well, 00:33:54.200 --> 00:33:54.960 can we invite 00:33:54.960 --> 00:33:56.019 and call others 00:33:56.019 --> 00:33:57.220 with the same vulnerability 00:33:57.220 --> 00:33:58.000 and confidence, 00:33:58.160 --> 00:33:58.980 the same humility 00:33:58.980 --> 00:34:00.019 and boldness, 00:34:00.079 --> 00:34:00.720 can we approach 00:34:00.720 --> 00:34:01.319 our friends 00:34:01.319 --> 00:34:02.140 and our family 00:34:02.140 --> 00:34:02.740 and our colleagues 00:34:02.740 --> 00:34:03.400 and our neighbors 00:34:03.400 --> 00:34:04.019 saying, 00:34:04.319 --> 00:34:05.460 come and see a man 00:34:05.460 --> 00:34:06.480 who told me 00:34:06.480 --> 00:34:08.260 everything I ever did. 00:34:09.059 --> 00:34:09.900 Come and see a man 00:34:09.900 --> 00:34:10.519 who knows about 00:34:10.519 --> 00:34:12.139 my porn addiction. 00:34:12.400 --> 00:34:12.940 Come and see a man 00:34:12.940 --> 00:34:13.460 who knows about 00:34:13.460 --> 00:34:15.480 my aberrant sexual life, 00:34:15.559 --> 00:34:16.740 my marital unfaithfulness, 00:34:16.960 --> 00:34:18.079 my multiple partners 00:34:18.079 --> 00:34:19.059 and flings and affairs. 00:34:19.400 --> 00:34:20.099 Come and see a man 00:34:20.099 --> 00:34:20.559 who knows about 00:34:20.559 --> 00:34:22.280 my selfish, greedy heart 00:34:22.280 --> 00:34:22.820 and habits, 00:34:22.900 --> 00:34:23.920 how I use my time 00:34:23.920 --> 00:34:25.240 and how I use my money. 00:34:25.480 --> 00:34:26.199 Come and see a man 00:34:26.199 --> 00:34:27.280 who knows all the hatred 00:34:27.280 --> 00:34:28.820 and contempt in my heart 00:34:28.820 --> 00:34:29.500 for my spouse, 00:34:29.659 --> 00:34:30.139 my boss, 00:34:30.220 --> 00:34:30.639 my parent, 00:34:30.920 --> 00:34:32.320 this or that kind of person. 00:34:32.480 --> 00:34:33.519 Come and see a man 00:34:33.519 --> 00:34:34.559 who knows the deepest, 00:34:34.780 --> 00:34:35.639 darkest secrets 00:34:35.639 --> 00:34:36.860 of my past. 00:34:38.699 --> 00:34:40.000 Like what if the strength 00:34:40.000 --> 00:34:40.820 of our witness 00:34:40.820 --> 00:34:42.460 didn't depend on 00:34:42.460 --> 00:34:43.259 how much we knew 00:34:43.259 --> 00:34:44.840 or how much we were able 00:34:44.840 --> 00:34:46.380 to reason and debate 00:34:46.380 --> 00:34:47.440 and explain our faith 00:34:47.440 --> 00:34:48.860 like Nicodemus surely was? 00:34:49.699 --> 00:34:51.039 But what if the strength 00:34:51.039 --> 00:34:52.019 of our witness 00:34:52.019 --> 00:34:53.219 has more to do 00:34:53.219 --> 00:34:53.940 with the magnitude 00:34:53.940 --> 00:34:55.400 of the forgiveness 00:34:55.400 --> 00:34:56.679 and the grace 00:34:56.679 --> 00:34:57.980 poured out upon us 00:34:57.980 --> 00:34:58.940 in Christ? 00:35:00.280 --> 00:35:01.480 What if the people 00:35:01.480 --> 00:35:02.280 in our lives 00:35:02.280 --> 00:35:04.000 knew even just some 00:35:04.000 --> 00:35:06.000 of what Christ's blood 00:35:06.000 --> 00:35:08.100 has atoned for 00:35:08.100 --> 00:35:09.660 in our lives? 00:35:10.500 --> 00:35:11.360 What if the millions 00:35:11.360 --> 00:35:12.480 of people out 00:35:12.480 --> 00:35:13.400 in our world today 00:35:13.400 --> 00:35:14.760 who struggle every day 00:35:14.760 --> 00:35:16.340 with not being enough, 00:35:16.740 --> 00:35:18.100 with not measuring up, 00:35:18.400 --> 00:35:19.920 with guilt upon guilt, 00:35:20.260 --> 00:35:20.900 what if they knew 00:35:20.900 --> 00:35:21.700 the man who though 00:35:21.700 --> 00:35:22.420 knowing all that 00:35:22.420 --> 00:35:23.100 they ever did 00:35:23.100 --> 00:35:24.320 chose not just 00:35:24.320 --> 00:35:25.760 to be God among us 00:35:25.760 --> 00:35:27.300 but a thirsty God 00:35:27.300 --> 00:35:28.360 among us? 00:35:29.280 --> 00:35:30.380 A thirsty God among us 00:35:30.380 --> 00:35:31.700 not just at Jacob's well 00:35:31.699 --> 00:35:32.379 at the sixth hour 00:35:32.379 --> 00:35:33.379 but at the sixth hour 00:35:33.379 --> 00:35:35.019 upon the cross. 00:35:36.079 --> 00:35:36.819 Would they 00:35:36.819 --> 00:35:38.279 and would we with them 00:35:38.279 --> 00:35:38.899 astounded 00:35:38.899 --> 00:35:40.079 that neither death 00:35:40.079 --> 00:35:40.719 nor life 00:35:40.719 --> 00:35:41.379 nor angels 00:35:41.379 --> 00:35:41.899 nor rulers 00:35:41.899 --> 00:35:42.579 nor things present 00:35:42.579 --> 00:35:43.259 nor things to come 00:35:43.259 --> 00:35:43.819 nor powers 00:35:43.819 --> 00:35:44.480 nor height 00:35:44.480 --> 00:35:45.019 nor death 00:35:45.019 --> 00:35:46.039 nor anything else 00:35:46.039 --> 00:35:47.199 in all of creation 00:35:47.199 --> 00:35:48.939 could ever separate us 00:35:48.939 --> 00:35:50.399 from the love of God 00:35:50.399 --> 00:35:51.259 in Christ Jesus 00:35:51.259 --> 00:35:52.179 our Lord? 00:35:52.419 --> 00:35:53.399 What if they knew that? 00:35:54.159 --> 00:35:55.179 What if they knew that? 00:35:56.039 --> 00:35:56.879 That's what we're saying 00:35:56.879 --> 00:35:57.579 when we say come 00:35:57.579 --> 00:35:58.319 and see 00:35:58.319 --> 00:35:59.519 a man 00:35:59.519 --> 00:36:00.480 who told me all 00:36:00.480 --> 00:36:01.500 that I ever did. 00:36:02.400 --> 00:36:03.360 If they knew that 00:36:03.360 --> 00:36:04.840 if we all knew that 00:36:04.840 --> 00:36:06.900 would we all not 00:36:06.900 --> 00:36:07.539 declare 00:36:07.539 --> 00:36:08.920 along with the rest 00:36:08.920 --> 00:36:09.779 of the Samaritans 00:36:09.779 --> 00:36:11.239 from this woman's village 00:36:11.239 --> 00:36:12.319 in verse 42 00:36:12.319 --> 00:36:14.380 that this is indeed 00:36:14.380 --> 00:36:15.759 this is indeed 00:36:15.759 --> 00:36:16.840 the Savior 00:36:16.840 --> 00:36:18.440 not just of the Jews 00:36:18.440 --> 00:36:20.699 not just of the Samaritan woman 00:36:20.699 --> 00:36:22.460 not just of you 00:36:22.460 --> 00:36:23.400 and me as individuals 00:36:23.400 --> 00:36:24.259 this is the Savior 00:36:24.259 --> 00:36:25.659 of the world. 00:36:25.659 --> 00:36:27.199 Let's pray.