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”
