Chase Radford
Feb 1, 2024
John 4:1-26
4 Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John 2 (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), 3 he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. 4 And he had to pass through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.
7 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8 (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.”
13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 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.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” 19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.”
21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
Definitions
Faith can be defined as complete trust or confidence in someone or something. It can also be in reference to the doctrines (set of beliefs) of a religion.
It is because of our faith (trust) in something or someone that we are faithful to a thing or person — defined as to remain loyal; true to the facts; to give our full attention.
To be faithful to someone or something is to be focused on or give full attention to that person or thing.
To distract is to prevent someone from giving their full attention to something or someone.
A distraction is a thing that prevents someone from giving their full attention to something or someone else.
Who were the Samaritans?
The Samaritans were a group of people who believed they were the true descendants of Israel and keepers of the Torah. During the time of the New Testament, their chief religious site was Mount Gerizim. The Samaritans believed that the Jerusalem temple and priesthood were illegitimate. They were unfaithful to the Scriptures and as a result, unfaithful to God.
This is why in v 23-24 Jesus says to the woman, who believed that she, as a Samaritan, was from the lineage of Jacob, “true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Truth must always be at the core of what we believe because what we believe is what ultimately determines how we live.
Our worship, our lives, everything must be tethered (connected) to truth.
Unfaithful
This woman not only carried the baggage of being Samaritan, and as a result, unfaithfulness to God and His word. She was also unfaithful in her personal relationships with men.
In v 16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”
But why was she unfaithful?
Because of her false beliefs about God, who she was and how she was to live.
It’s here where I consider the text and I consider the landscape of the church at large — and when I think about the woman at the well I can’t help but see a reflection of so many people in the Church, the Bride of Christ today.
Far too many people who claim to be Christians seem to be having a very hard time making up their mind with what they believe — e.g. the Bible.
Jesus said in v 22, ”You worship what you do not know;”
Distracted From Truth: State of the Church
There were theological surveys conducted in 2022 and 2023. The data is from people who claim to be Christian.
Survey Data:
56% believe attending and belonging to a local church doesn’t matter
56% believe God accepts the worship of all religions — Christianity, Judaism, Islam, etc.
Only 46% believe God has a purpose for their life
Only 65% believe the purpose of life is to know, love, and serve God with all your heart, mind, strength, and soul. And only 50% believe success can best be described as consistent obedience to God
Only 44% believe Jesus lived a perfect life
67% admit to not reading or studying the Bible at least once a week
52% admit they are not committed to living out their faith
Every aspect of our life and how we live it ties back to the essential truths of the Bible — and whether or not we believe them.
Ps. 145:18 says the Lord is near to all who call on Him in truth.
Too many have gotten distracted and have lost their focus on the truth of who He is to them.
The Decision
Jesus loves us so much that He comes to us. This is what we see in the story of the woman at the well. We see an example of Christ meeting us where we are — not that we will stay where we are, but that we will respond. That we will make the decision to truly follow Him.
How did the woman at the well respond? What was her decision when she was approached by Christ?
John 4:28-30; 39-42
28 So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” 30 They went out of the town and were coming to him.
[…]
39 Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of his word. 42 They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”
What are you going to believe?
What you believe determines how you respond to Christ’s call and how you live. It’s a decision we must make every moment of our lives.
Extended Sermon Notes: https://parrots-notice-iuv.craft.me/GOMud8YqNJc8uu