Lesson 12

The Bad Samaritan

John 4:1-43

It was my privilege in 1978 to spend a month in the holy land. My trip me first to Syria and Jordan and ended in Turkey. But for two and a half weeks we crisscrossed Israel. I can still remember the excitement I felt as we crossed the Jordan River at the Allenby Bridge and set our feet on Israel. The bus drove through Jericho. Our first stop was in a tiny village which today is called Nablus but had a different name in the days of Christ. We stopped at a place known as Jacob's well. Jacob had dug this well 1800 years before Christ. It was incredible thinking about drinking from a well that had been dug 3800 years previously, about drinking from a well whose waters Jacob had tasted. I wondered how many of the people that I had read about in the Bible had tasted these waters. There was one who I could think of. Jesus. The Lord had arrived at this well one day weary, hot and thirsty and had had an incredible encounter with a woman. In the first 43 verses of John 4, we read the familiar account of the salvation of the woman at the well. Let us today, stop and rest for a while at this well and see what we can learn from our Lord. There are a number of important lessons that the Holy Spirit has for you and I to learn from Christ's conversation with the woman I call "The Bad Samaritan".

The Lesson Of The Well, 4:1-6

Christ Came To Seek And To Save The Lost

Jesus left Judea for Galilee, vss.1- 3. The Bible says that He must needs go through Samaria, 4. This was not a geographical necessity. In fact, traveling through Samaria was not normal for a Jew. There was a coastal route and a trans-Jordan route. This was a necessary way because of a needy woman. Jesus had to go through Samaria because he had an He had a woman to meet there. Timing was critical and Jesus was right on schedule! Thus, Jesus is displaying His love for sinners. Luke 19:10 "For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." That’s what he is doing here in Sychar of Samaria at Jacob’s well. Christ did not sit passively by and wait for people to come to him. He actively and aggressively pursued them.

There is something significant about the fact that Jesus is in Samaria and that that this woman was a Samaritan. Samaritans were hated by Jews. The Pharisees prayed that Samaritans would not be raised in the resurrection. If you wanted to insult a Jew, you might call him a Samaritan. They did that to Jesus, see John 8:48. Historically, Samaritans were descendants of Jews who had married local inhabitants during Assyrian captivity. Religiously they had rejected Jerusalem, had constructed their own Temple, had accepted Penteteuch only as holy scripture, and were idolatrous. Morally, they shamelessly practiced inter-family marriage.

At noon Jesus arrived at Jacobs well in Sychar. He is weary and thirsty. He begins a conversation with a woman. I suspect that Jesus sent His disciples into town for burgers and fries, mostly to get them out of the way. Their prejudice against Samaritans and women could have easily gotten in the way of His witness. Typically, women went to draw water at dawn or dusk. It was somewhat of a social gathering to meet and talk. That is woman is at the well at noon, under the heat of the impartial Palestinian sun, hints at her reputation. She is promiscuous with the men and avoided by the women. The well is what Jesus and woman had in common.

Jesus seeks the lost. He is willing to shatter age-old barriers and face great criticism to save them. Why? Because of his great love of humanity.

The Lesson Of The Woman, 4:7-9

God Is No Respecter Of Persons

The woman knew that this man sitting on the well was a Jew probably by the way he was dressed. She is shocked not only that a man would speak in public to a strange woman (taboo in that culture, see v. 27) but that a Jew would take a drink of water from the "unclean" vessel of a Samaritan.

The lesson of the woman is that God is no respecter of persons. That's what the Bible says in Acts 10:34. Jesus was willing to put his Jewish lips to her Samaritan cup. Jesus was not ashamed to take a drink from a woman for whom he had come to die. She is a vivid contrast with Nicodemus (John 3) - man/woman; named/unnamed; moral/immoral; Jew/Samaritan; respected leader/social outcast; learned/ ignorant; highest class (rich)/lowest class (poor); recognized Jesus as a teacher from God/no clue about who this man is; came to Jesus/Jesus went to them; night/noon; self-righteous/ sinful lifestyle. Nicodemus and this woman could not have been more different yet neither were beyond the reach of God’s love. Nicodemus might seem like the least likely to need salvation (but he did) and this woman would seem like the least likely prospect for salvation (but Christ actively pursued her).

The Lesson Of The Water, 4:10-19

Everyone Who Thirsts May Come

Her Need - Jesus used His physical thirst to introduce the subject of her spiritual need. Suddenly it is not Him who is thirsty and her who has the water but just the opposite! It is she who is the thirsty one and He who has the water. The issue was no longer His physical thirst but her spiritual need. He is offering living water for her dry soul. There is a need in her life. Something is missing. There is a lacking and a longing. She has an inner thirst. She needs some satisfaction and a sense of fulfillment. Where do you go to get that inner thirst quenched? Some drink at the spring of success or wealth or fame or like this woman, who seemed to be looking for love, and yet come up thirsty still, finding no lasting inward satisfaction nor enduring personal fulfillment. But Jesus offers to meet this need. He can quench her thirst. His water is different, It quenches that inner thirst forever and creates an inexhaustible fountain of life. The "gift of God" which He is offering her is salvation! When Jesus spoke to Nicodemus, he compared salvation to birth, a new birth, a brand new life, a new beginning. Here, he compares salvation to water, eternal water that forever satisfies that which is missing in your life. And the lesson of the water is that everyone who thirst may come. See John 7:37-38. Isaiah. 55:1,7 "Ho every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy and eat: yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." Rev. 22:17 "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that hearth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."

At first, this woman, like so many others does not fully understand what Jesus is talking about, vs. 11-12. He is speaking spiritual - she is thinking only physical. That seemed to happen several times. See John 2:19-20 Temple; John 3:3-4 - Birth; John 4:32-33 - Food. Her initial response seems to be skeptical and even sarcastic. Verse 12 is a "Who-Do-You-Think-Are?" kind of question. Are you greater than Jacob who gave us this will? Do you really think that you can quench my thirst? Surely, she says, you don’t claim to be greater than Jacob who gave us this well (1800 years prior)? If only she knew how great He is! Far greater than Jacob

In verses. 13-14 - He explains that this is spiritual water not physical. Physical water only quenches thirst momentarily. My water takes away your thirst forever and becomes a well springing up into everlasting life!

Verses. 15 records her emotional response to His offer. Give me this water so that I will never be thirsty again and so that I won’t have to come back here continually to draw. Is that all there is to salvation? Realize your need of life and respond emotionally to Christ's provision? No. The conversation doesn't end here. Salvation is more than just an emotional response to an unsatisfied need. It begins with a person realizing their need and Jesus’ provision for that need but there are other issues which must also must be faced. Jesus will not give her the living water until she confronts her sinfulness and His identity.

Her Sin - Vs 16-18 - Jesus has an interesting way of confronting her sinfulness and revealing his identity. Go, get your husband and come back. She tries to avoid that statement with "I have no husband." You got that right! You’ve been married 5 times and right now you’re shacking up! Jesus is confronting her sinfulness, her immorality and at the same time revealing that He is no ordinary man. He has personal knowledge of the intimate details of life. "I perceive that thou art a prophet" is a great understatement! And a great confession (she is saying, "You are right about me." She is confessing her sinfulness.

Her Conviction - It is clear that this woman is under deep conviction. She doesn't want to speak any more about her sin. She tries a diversion tactic, vs 19-26. She would rather speak of the differences between Samaritans and Jews, than about her immorality and sin. This is one of those distracting, peripheral matters which often come up when you are witnessing to someone and they came face to face with their sinfulness. - What's the difference between Baptists and other churches? - How do you know that the Bible is true?- Is it creation or evolution? - All things that unbelievers bring up to change the subject away from them, and their sin and on to religion in general. In this section, Jesus has some important things to say on the subject to of worship - the fourth lesson in this event - The lesson of worship. But I want to save that for another sermon.

She concludes in verse 25 with "I suppose that the Messiah when he comes will explain it all." Somewhere in her life, in her past, someone had planted a seed. This woman, though a Samaritan, had knowledge that Messiah was coming with all the answers to life's problems. In verse 26 Jesus said, "I am the Messiah." John the Baptist had announced that Jesus is the Messiah. Andrew told Peter that he had found the Messiah. Philip told Nathaniel, and Nathaniel had seen for himself that Jesus is the Messiah. But now, Jesus himself says for the very first time that He is Messiah. Both in the Gospel of John and in the recorded life of Christ, this is Jesus' first personal disclosure of himself as Messiah and notably, perhaps as a rebuke to the self-righteous Jewish leaders, Jesus revealed himself as Messiah first to an adulterous Samaritan woman. The least likely prospect for salvation, was the first one to hear Jesus say that He is the Messiah.

Do you see in your Bible the white space between verses 26-27? This the spot in the story when this woman was saved! How do we know that she believed?

Her Fruit, vs 28-30, 39, 41-42. She became a witness to others of who Jesus is.

Let me conclude by quickly reviewing the important lessons from this story.

The Lesson of the Well - Christ came seeking/saving the Lost.

The Lesson of the Woman- God is no respecter of persons.

The Lesson of the Water- Whoever thirsts may come.

The Lesson of Worship- (which we will consider tonight)

The Lesson about Witnessing- (save for next week)

Whoever you are, Christ came seeking for you to be saved. Today, He will give you the water of life that satisfies eternally, if you like, this woman, will come to Him with your need, acknowledging your sin, believing that He is the Savior of the world.