JESUS ALWAYS HAS TIME

Jesus Always Has Time

John 4: “The Samaritan Woman”

CONNECT People today are always in a hurry.  Seems we get so busy we can't see anything going on around us.

Illustration: Richard and Lindsey Roberts…

TENSION Making time to see those around us who have needs.

SOLUTION We always have time to obey the voice of the Lord.

INSTRUCTION Let’s look at today's Jesus pic…

TEXT John 4:1-4 (NLT) Jesus knew the Pharisees had heard that he was baptizing and making more disciples than John (though Jesus himself didn’t baptize them—his disciples did). So he left Judea and returned to Galilee. He had to go through Samaria on the way.

Jesus only responded to the leadership of the Father. Here Jesus senses a necessity to go through Samaria, not around it, as was customary. Jews viewed the Samaritans as impure unbelievers who had compromised the true worship of God. They would have nothing to do with them.

John 4:5-6 (NLT) Eventually he came to the Samaritan village of Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime.

Jesus had been traveling for several hours and is tired. So he sits by the well while his disciples go get lunch.

John 4:7-8 (NLT) Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.” He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food.

Jesus breaks several social codes here. First, he is speaking to a Samaritan, and second, he is speaking to a woman!  Jesus loved to break traditions that had no foundation in Scripture. The woman points this out.

John 4:9-10 (NLT) The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink”? Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.”

Jesus takes advantage of the situation to speak the Gospel, to witness to her.

John 4:11-12 (NLT) But sir, you don’t have a rope or a bucket,” she said, “and this well is very deep. Where would you get this living water? And besides, do you think you’re greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his animals enjoyed?”

The natural response... Nicodemus responded the same way… the rich found ruler responded the same way…

The challenge response... “Who do you think you are? Holier than thou?”...

I Corinthians 2:14 (NLT) But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means.

John 4:13-14 (NLT) Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”

The essence of the Gospel: the world doesn't satisfy, only increases the thirst. Jesus satisfies our thirsty lives!

All my life long I had panted

For a draft from some cook spring

That I hoped would the burning

Of the thirst I felt within

Poor was I and sought for riches

Something that would satisfy

But the things I gathered round me

Only mocked my soul’s sad cry

But, Hallelujah, I have found Him

Who my soul so long has craved

Jesus satisfies my every longing

Through His blood I now am saved

John 4:15 (NLT) “Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me this water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get water.”

She responds on a natural, physical level. She didn't want to have to come get water again!  Many people come to Christ for selfish reasons.

John 2:23-25 (NLT) Because of the miraculous signs Jesus did in Jerusalem at the Passover celebration, many began to trust in him. But Jesus didn’t trust them, because he knew all about people. No one needed to tell him about human nature, for he knew what was in each person’s heart.

Matthew 7:21-23 (NLT) “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’”

Jesus now gets to the heart of the matter: sin. Jesus came to forgive sin.

John 4:16-18 (NLT) “Go and get your husband,” Jesus told her. “I don’t have a husband,” the woman replied. Jesus said, “You’re right! You don’t have a husband— for you have had five husbands, and you aren’t even married to the man you’re living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!””

Jesus uses the gift of discernment. God has given us spiritual gifts not as toys to display but as tools to obey!  Don't be afraid to use the gifts God has given you!

I Corinthians 2:4-5 (NLT) And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit. I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God.

John 4:19-20 (NLT) “Sir,” the woman said, “you must be a prophet. So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim, where our ancestors worshiped?”

The lost will make an appeal to his or her religious background or current belief system.

John 4:21-24 (NLT) Jesus replied, “Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews. But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”

Jesus did away with religious pretense and went straight to truth. No argument; just the truth.

John 4:25-26 (NLT) The woman said, “I know the Messiah is coming—the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” Then Jesus told her, “ I AM the Messiah!”

Salvation is a person, not a system!

John 4:27 (NLT) Just then his disciples came back. They were shocked to find him talking to a woman, but none of them had the nerve to ask, “What do you want with her?” or “Why are you talking to her?”

Sometimes the carnality of the disciples amazes me!

John 4:28-30 (NLT) The woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone, “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?” So the people came streaming from the village to see him.

The power of a personal testimony. People will gather where God is changing lives!

Jesus confronts his disciples with their mission.

John 4:31-38 (NLT) Meanwhile, the disciples were urging Jesus, “Rabbi, eat something.” But Jesus replied, “I have a kind of food you know nothing about.” “Did someone bring him food while we were gone?” the disciples asked each other. Then Jesus explained: “My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work. You know the saying, ‘Four months between planting and harvest.’ But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest. The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike! You know the saying, ‘One plants and another harvests.’ And it’s true. I sent you to harvest where you didn’t plant; others had already done the work, and now you will get to gather the harvest.”

Now let's see the power of one!

John 4:39-42 (NLT) Many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus because the woman had said, “He told me everything I ever did!” When they came out to see him, they begged him to stay in their village. So he stayed for two days, long enough for many more to hear his message and believe. Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not just because of what you told us, but because we have heard him ourselves. Now we know that he is indeed the Savior of the world.”

APPLICATION

Luke 19:10 (NLT) For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”

How did Jesus accomplish this task?

1. Jesus went where others didn’t want to go.

2. Jesus approached and engaged people who others didn’t want to talk to.  

3. Jesus stayed in relationship with people who others rejected.

What was the result?

The whole town got saved!

INSPIRATION

Think what one person can do!  I heard this on the radio this week. If you win someone to Christ this year and then lead them to do the same thing with you next year, you will have 4 new believers by the end of the second year, then 8, then 16, then 32, then 64, then 128, then 256, then 512, then 1024 by the end of ten years.  After 20 years you would have over one million, 1,048,576 to be exact!  That is more than the population of El Paso!  20 years; one person!

ACTION STEPS

1.     Get out of your comfort zone.

2.     Engage lost people.

3.     Build relationships with them.

INVITATION

Will you be the one?

Klaus, “Break Me for the Nations”