John 4:4-8 – Now I Get It – Bible study

John 4:4-8 Now I Get It One of the most important commands left to the church was to share the good news of what Jesus has sone with the remainder of the world. In this chapter, Jesus shared the news of Himself with another. It is, without doubt, one of the greatest examples of soul winning in all the Bible. But I do not want to look at the chapter from the prospective of the soul winner but of the one who is won. We sometimes forget that one reason people do not accept Christ is because they do not know enough truth to do so. This morning, lets look at this chapter from the womans prospective. Lets see what she learned. John 4:4 And he must needs go through Samaria. 5 Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Now Jacobs well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. 7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. 8 (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) I. \#6-7\ The woman learned that God was waiting for her. A. Can you imagine what it was like living in those days? 1. Some may not have to image. You pretty much did. 2. This was a time with no electricity, cooking over a pit, no plumbing, no hot water, no refrigerator. 3. Most women probably rose before dawn – build a fire, fetched fresh water, gathered eggs, fixed a breakfast, feed the chickens, then headed to the market for what the family might need for the day. a. Both the city well and the market place would have been gathering places, especially for the women. b. If there was a few moments in their day for visiting and pleasantries, it would have been at the well and at the market place. 4. Then they would be back home well before the noon hour so they could fix their husbands a lunch. 5. The men would be coming in out of the fields for a mid-day meal that would get them through the rest of the hard day. B. This womans schedule was different. 1. \#6\ She was arriving at the well at the sixth hour, that would be noon. a. That should be an hour when no one was at the well. b. The women should be feeding their husbands lunch, and the husbands should be eating their lunch. 2. I believe this woman had arranged her schedule so that she would be at the well when no one else should have been. 3. Why? We dont know for sure, but it may have been because she was an outcast. a. \#18\ Jesus will reveal that she had had 5 husbands and was now living with a man who was NOT her husband. b. We dont know how this came to be her life, but it is for certain that you dont marry five different men by accident. c. This woman was an adulteress. d. Apparently she liked men, and men like her; however, I am pretty sure that women didnt like her, and she didnt like women. 4. Because of the life she had lead, this woman did not want to socialize with the woman. a. This was not the type of woman that most women talked to but about. b. There were no pleasantries for her to exchange with them and none to receive. c. This woman probably wanted to go to the well at a time when no one was there. d. Can you imagine what she must have thought when she came into view of the well and saw a man sitting on the well? e. She probably sighed, "Oh no. Here we go again!" C. She had no idea 1. That God had entered the world in the form of man. 2. That earlier that very morning, maybe while she was building the fire for her mans breakfast, the God-man turned to His companions and said, "I must needs go through Samaria" \#4\. 3. That while she was stretching the last of yesterdays water to clean a little, feed and water the livestock, and put her mans lunch togetherall the while knowing that she would be gone to the well when he came home that God in flesh was walking through the dusty roads of Samaria to the well near her village. 4. That while she was picking up her bucket to head to the well, Jesus was sending the disciples into the village so that He could talk to her alone. 5. The woman had no idea that sitting on the side of the well, God was waiting for her a. God Who had traveled from heaven to Israel, from Israel to Samaria, from Samaria to her village, from her village to her well, to sit and wait for her. b. For her, an outcast, adulterous woman, with five past husband, who was almost completely alone in the world, who would rather go to the well when no one else was there. c. God was waiting for her. D. May I tell you that God was sitting on your pew waiting for you this morning? 1. It doesnt matter how bad you have been. 2. It doesnt matter how alone you feel. 3. It doesnt matter what the rest of the world thinks of you. 4. God has traveled from heaven to Green Pond, from Green Pond to this church, from this church to your pew, and God is waiting for you. E. The woman learned that God was waiting on her. II. The woman learned that she had an eternal thirst within her soul. John 4:9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. 10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. 15 The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. A. This was not a naive, innocent, gullible woman. 1. Shed been aroundfive husbands and living with a sixth. 2. You dont live that kind of life without learning some tough lessons. 3. Most of the laws favored the man in this time period so she had likely been thrown away five timesperhaps with some justification, perhaps not. a. Why do you suppose she didnt marry the sixth man? She had probably given up on trust, on commitment, on faith, hope, love, joy. b. You think she is going to just accept the words of this Stranger sitting on the well? c. No! 4. Even in \#12\, as she began to consider that this Man might be someone greater, there had been many in recent years who had made such claims. Our New Testament records three. a. Theudas \#Acts 5:36\ b. Judas of Galilee \#Acts 5:37\ c. Egyptian \#Acts 21:38\ B. But as she listens to Him, some thirst within her begins to grow. 1. I am not sure that she wanted that thirst to grow. a. Most people who have lived this type of life have turned off their inward feelings. b. Not so much because they want to, but because they have to. c. If they allow themselves to feel, their feelings always take them down. d. Regret, remorse, depression, and sorrow rush in on them. e. What some dont realize is that even though it may look like people are doing everything they can to ruin their lives and destroy their future, that is not really what they want. f. What you and I may see as the inevitable result of the choices they made, most of them are surprised and saddened that everything worked out the way it did. 2. Yet whether she wanted to or not, she had to acknowledge there was a thirst in her own soul! a. Penn Jillette, of the comedy/illusionist team, Penn and Teller (a Los Vegas headlining team with a hit CW television show) posted a video in 2009 about being approached by a Christian who offered him a gift. Now Penn Jillette is an outspoken atheist. He doesnt believe in God, heaven, hell, sin or salvation. In the video, he tells how that after a show, he and Teller went down to shake hands, sign autographs, and so forth. There was a big man, about his age, off to the side. The man had been randomly selected to participate in the show the night before. Jillette recognized him. The man came over, reminded Jillette who he was, complimented his show and showmanship and then told him, "I want to give you this. I am kind of proselytizing." It was a New Testament and Psalms. He told Jillette, "I wrote in the front of it, and I wanted you to have it." He added, Im not insane. I am a businessman." Jillette was pausing as he remembered the details of the conversation. Jillette said, "I believe he knew I was an atheist." Then he said, "It was wonderful." Jillette spoke with great respect for this man. He spoke of his compassion, of his faith, of his meekness. b. By watching the video, I would say that Jillette never did much more than open that Bible. (1) He probably did not read it. (2) He probably did not keep it. (3) There was no evidence or even indication that his opinion about God or the Bible changed, but it was impressed with the representative that God used to give him that Bible. (4) I believe God was trying to reach Penn Jillette that night. (a) A thirst began to arise. (b) I am sure he did not want to be thirsty, but here he is recording the incident and posting on YouTube. (c) I saw it a couple of years ago and went back to view it again. (d) Its still there. C. A thirst doesnt mean a person gets saved. 1. A thirst means something inside starts to wake up. 2. Perhaps Penn Jillette put his back to sleep. 3. The woman at the well did not. D. The woman at the well learned that she had an eternal thirst within her soul. III. The woman learned that sin matters. John 4:16 Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. 17 The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: 18 For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly. A. Remember what was taking place in verse 15. 1. The woman was asking for the eternal water. 2. That is where most soul winners would draw in the net, but not Jesus. 3. Jesus had another lesson for the woman to learn, an important one, sin matters. B. Jesus told the woman to call her husband. 1. Of course, she couldnt. a. She didnt have one. b. She had a live in. c. By the way, if you are living with someone who is not your husband or wife, thats all you have too. d. "But, preacher, we are married by common law." e. Thats just another example of fake news produced by pagan government. 2. Why in the world would Jesus bring this up at this point? a. "Doesnt He know that this might offend the woman and drive her away." b. Because sin matters. c. "But you cant build a big church that way!" d. Maybe not, but sin matters; and you cant get into heaven without knowing that. C. Isnt Jesus marvelous? 1. He pointed out to the woman that sin mattered, but He did not pound her over the head with it. 2. Her soul was thirsting for that eternal water, but before she could drink from that well, she had to do something about her sin. 3. Why? Because sin matters. 4. Friend, I am not here to beat you over the head with your sin either, but you need to know the same thing Jesus taught this woman. 5. Your sin matter and must be removed. D. The woman learned that sin matters. IV. The woman learned that Jesus is Messiah and Savior. John 4:25 The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. 26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he. A. I dont have the time to go into detail, but the Samaritans had virtually duplicated the Jewish religion. 1. They were neighbors but not the same nationality. 2. They had a common ancestor: Abraham. a. The Jews came from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. b. The Samaritans and other nations around her came from Abraham through a different line. 3. God selected the Jews to be His people; and through them He would bring His Son and our Savior into the world; but the Samaritans took the Jewish Bible and rewrote it. a. Instead of the Jews being the chosen people, in the Samaritan Bible, the Samaritans were. b. Instead of the mount that Jerusalem was built on being the mountain to worship upon, Mount Gerizim was. B. So this woman had religious details. They were just skewed. 1. She knew a Messiah was coming. 2. One Who was to take away sin. 3. Her people, like the Jews, were watching for Him to come they were just looking in different places. C. But get what Jesus said to the woman. John 4:26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he. 1. Jesus told that woman that He was the One who came to take away sinher sin, your sin, my sin, the sins of the whole world! 2. Understand: a. She already WHAT Messiah would do, save the people. b. Now Jesus was telling her WHO He was. c. But she did not know HOW He was going to do it. 3. This is just John 4. a. The HOW sin would be removed was not recorded until John 20. b. There the Bible records the Messiah, the sinless Son of God, was crucified. c. There the Guiltless died for the guilty. d. There the Sinless died for the sinful. e. That is called substitution. f. Jesus took our place, not just on the cross but in hell itself. g. He paid for this womans sin, and your sins, and my sins, and the sins of the whole world. 4. All happened 2,000 years before we were even born. a. Jesus has paid for our sins, but the payment being made does not mean that you and I are in the clear. b. We must ask that the payment be applied to our sin accounts. c. Two things are required for Jesus payment to be applied to your sin account: one an action and one a request. (1) The action is, the best you know how, you must surrender to Jesus. He is God. That means you will quit doing what you want and the best you know how, you will start doing what He wants. (2) The request is, you must ask Jesus to save you, acknowledging that what He did on the cross is the only thing you will trust. 5. These two things, done together, cause a miracle to take place. 6. It causes the miracle of the new birth to take place. V. One last lesson the woman learned that day: Joy is good and should be shared. John 4:28 The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, 29 Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ? 30 Then they went out of the city, and came unto him. A. Here was a woman who had not be happy in a long time. B. She had become a hermit, a recluse, especially from the women. C. But on this day, she received salvation, forgiveness, and new life with not past, friendsof a different sort! D. She felt a joy so great that she forgot her water bucket and ran into town to tell others. I cannot promise you that your life will have no problems because it will. I can promise you that you can have the joy, salvation, forgiveness, and new life that she left with. I pray that you can see that this morning.