The Woman At The Well - Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Maranatha Shabiba Conference 2021)

Meet me in the book of John, please, this morning. I praise God for last night because I am certain that, the enemy lost and Jesus was glorified. There's no doubt about that in my mind. No doubt about that in my mind. Let's give God glory.

Amen. This gospel still saves souls, and, you never fail to learn as you walk with Jesus. And and yesterday, I learned something about the person of the Holy Spirit. When Christ is exalted, his spirit manifests, and his conviction intensifies, and his comfort is magnified. And so we continue to prayfully exalt the person of Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit will help us do that.

And so you have your Bibles, I hope, this morning. Meet me in John chapter four as we continue in the book of John. Yesterday, we focused on that high priestly prayer, that intimate moment between Christ and the father, though in the presence of the disciples, for those words to be heard by them and by us. There are many reasons why the book of John is extremely unique in comparison to the other gospel accounts. In fact, 92% of what John says, you don't find in Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

And there are plenty of reasons why. As you know, John really focuses on the divinity of Christ, and we see these proclamations of this truth and who he is and what he's able to do and what he will do. But what makes John even more unique is not just the claims. It's not just the demonstrations of his power. What makes John unique is the conversations that take place in this gospel account.

What's interesting about this gospel account is that John, by the spirit, invites us to sit down and to listen in on these one on one dialogues that Jesus has with different people, and they're lengthy dialogues. It's not that Jesus doesn't do it in other gospel accounts, but in this case, it's stretched out. And it's in those conversations that we receive these wonderful truths of who he is. And you see it, right, with Nicodemus in John three, lengthy conversation. We're seeing it in John four with the woman at the well.

You can argue that it happens also in John nine with the man that was born blind. This is what John wants us to see, Jesus interacting with individuals. Because Jesus is a personal God. Jesus doesn't just love the world, and he just died for the world as a as a whole. No.

He died for me. Paul says he died for me, not just the world, not the church. He also died for me personally. And you and I get an idea of that as we see him coming face to face with different sinners of different backgrounds. And John four is one of the most touching, impactful encounters that we see Jesus having with this unnamed woman.

And what you're going to draw from this is just how glorious Jesus is when he deals with someone's brokenness, and their guilt, and their shame, and the vileness of their life. And so let's just read a few verses at a time. And just like yesterday, we're not gonna look at every single verse, but we are going to get just some revelation to relish in. But before we do that, why don't we pray? Father, we thank you for this morning.

Lord, we confess as we did last night, that this session is pointless unless your power is in our midst. Unless the Holy Spirit takes the ministry of the word and amplifies it with his grace and his wisdom and his authority, Lord, we might as well not be here. But we are here because we hunger and thirst for you. Lord, yesterday, you touched hearts. Would you do it again today?

You are not limited to one session at at nighttime, Lord. You can touch us right now after this session, during lunch. Lord, we pray that you administer your grace upon our lives. Lord, perhaps there are some people in here, even up to this point, that are not interested at all. They're just here because they have to be here.

Arrest them this morning. Don't let them escape, God. If they will willfully reject you, at least, Lord, manifest yourself to them so that they are without excuse. We ask these things, Lord Jesus, in your precious name. Amen and amen.

John chapter four verse one. Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John, although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples. He left Judea and departed again for Galilee, and he had to pass through Samaria. Let me say that again. And he had to pass through Samaria.

At this point in Jesus' ministry, he's getting really famous really quick. In fact, he's getting the attention of the religious leaders because they are realizing that his message and his ministry is gaining more popularity than that of John the Baptist. He's on the radar. And Jesus at this point does not want to encounter these Pharisees. He's trying to avoid this confrontation.

There's so much that he has yet to do, and so he chooses to do something. Depart from Judea and head towards Galilee. He wants to move on and he wants to go there specifically, but we are told here for some reason in verse four that Jesus, notice the language, had to pass through Samaria. Now, if you don't know this, the Samaritans were a people that lived among the Jews in the nation of Israel. And the Samaritan originally were Jews, but they were at this point a mixed breed.

They were a mixed breed of Jews because in second Kings 17, the northern parts of Israel were exiled from the Assyrians, and because of that exile, they intermarried, and then you can see how that brings about a mixed breed. And so their origins, there was a, there is a Jewish origin, but not in its purest form. It was a contamination in the eyes of the Jews. And over time, what happened with the Samaritans is that they begin to form their own culture, their own way of life, and more importantly, their own type of faith. They denied many of the books of the Old Testament.

They hold only to the few. The first five, specifically, books. And so you can imagine that over the years, there was a development of contempt. There was this tension between the Jews and the Samaritans, and it reached a feverish point where there was a mutual hatred. A mutual hatred so great that we are told here in verse nine, at the end of verse nine, for Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.

And so intense was this hatred between the Jews and the Samaritans that history tells us that it would be the case that Jews, when they wanted to travel to a specific area and Samaria was in the way, they would take the longer route. They would go the longer way just to avoid any contact with a filthy, stinking Samaritan. They didn't want any interaction. They didn't wanna cross paths because things would get ugly very quickly, and so it should interest and pique our curiosity for the Bible to tell us that Jesus had to pass through Samaria. Isn't that interesting?

What hatred can do in your heart? These Jews were willing to travel longer, spend more money, exhaust more energy because of one thing, I wanna avoid coming across a Samaritan. You know what's amazing about unforgiveness and bitterness? Would you like to know a secret? You know why people hold on to unforgiveness?

Because they feel like by holding unforgiveness, they're torturing the object of their hatred. They feel like if I have this grudge and I meditate on how I wanna hurt them and see them harmed and see them fail in life, they feel like by by rehearsing that, they're actually doing something to the person that they have an issue with. When in reality, just like we hear here, you're the one that's harming yourself. You're gonna lose in the end. You're gonna rob yourself of something.

And so the longer you hold on to that bitterness, the more you'll realize that life will not know its full potential of joy, freedom, and liberty. And that's what these Jews were doing. They didn't want any contact, and so they would do it the more difficult way. And I'll tell you this, life is much more difficult and complicated when you are riddled with bitterness. You need Christ to set you free this morning, and he will.

But what's amazing here is that though there were Jews that live with hatred in their heart and that would cost them, Jesus here did not have that hatred. He had to pass through Samaria. He had to go through this region because he did not have any contempt, any any condemnation towards any Samaritan. Would you like proof of that? Go to John chapter eight, and you'll see an interesting insight.

The Jews are speaking with Jesus, the religious Jews, and they come to a point where after he says a few things that they wanna insult him. And look what they say. It's amazing here in verse 48 of John eight. The Jews answer them, are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon? So for a Jew to call somebody a Samaritan was equal to being called the vessel of Satan.

It was a racial slur. It was a term of contempt. It was an assault. Hey, we're right in saying that you're a Samaritan. And so you can tell here that these people would even elevate the identity of being a Samaritan with an ugly label.

And you know what warms my heart? You know what blesses me tremendously? What did we learn yesterday? If we want revelation from the word of God, what are we supposed to do? Tell me, please.

Read slowly. Read slowly. Look how Jesus answers the slurs of these Jews in verse forty eight nine. Jesus answered, I do not have a demon, but I honor my father, and you dishonor me. Who caught it?

I do not have a demon, but I honor my father, and you dishonor me. He defends himself in saying that he is not influenced by Beelzebub. He is not, in fact, in contact with any evil spirit because he honors God. He exalts truth. He points people to the father.

But notice he doesn't engage with the insult of being called the Samaritan. He doesn't entertain the slur. He doesn't say anything to defend himself or to try to say anything bad or negative about a Samaritan. He had no issue being identified as a Samaritan. He did not entertain this lashed upon affliction because he does not think about Samaritans the way people think about Samaritans.

Jesus doesn't think about sinners the way we think about sinners. I want you in this morning session right now to think about the most vile wicked person you can even imagine. And I can tell you this, Jesus Christ sees that person much differently than you and I do. Jesus Christ sees hope for the Samaritan, future for the Samaritan, salvation for the Samaritan. And his disciples didn't get it.

The disciples even, not just these Jews that says, you're a Samaritan. He goes, I don't have a demon. And doesn't even correct the fact that they said you're a Samaritan. His own disciples didn't understand it. Go to Luke chapter nine and realize that Jesus sends his disciples to go through Samaria.

You heard this last night briefly. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. And I want you to see something glorious about Jesus in light of this truth of the Samaritans. In Luke nine fifty one, when the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him who went and entered a village of the Samaritans to make preparations for him, but the people did not receive him because his face was set towards Jerusalem.

So that proves the point that they would avoid the Samaritan area because if you try to cross and they knew you're going to Jerusalem, they said, get out of here. Go take the longer route. Now look here, verse 54. And when his disciples, James and John, saw it, they said, Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them? Other manuscripts would say as Elijah did, because Elijah did that in second Kings.

He called fire to come down from heaven, and it consumed troops 50 at a time. And they said, you know, I like that story. I like that story. I like that story that if people stand in my way or stand in the way of Christ, that I can consume them with just one word. And so they offer that suggestion to Jesus.

Jesus, why don't we just make them into ashes? Let's get rid of these guys once and for all. And in the King James, we are told that he rebukes them. He says, were you guys there at the Sermon on the Mount? That's a paraphrase.

That's not in the King James. But, essentially, he rebukes them because they didn't know what kind of spirit they were operating in. These are the followers of Jesus Christ. You can follow Jesus, see his miracles, hear his teachings, and still not get it. You wanna send fire on them?

And then he goes on to say in the King James, I did not come to destroy but to save. But let me make this case. They wanted fire to come down from heaven, and I believe Jesus wanted fire to come down from heaven as well. I believe Jesus also wanted fire to come down from heaven, but they got the wrong type of fire. The fire that Jesus wanted to come from heaven manifested itself in Acts chapter eight.

So you go to Acts eight now, and you'll see what Jesus had in mind and why he rebuked his own. In Acts eight, we are told that Philip goes to Samaria, and he preaches the gospel. And when he preaches the gospel, revival breaks out. And when revival breaks out, word gets back to Jerusalem. And we are told here that when word gets back to Jerusalem in verse 14, now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and oh, look who's here.

Yeah. The same John in Luke chapter nine. Peter and John who came down and prayed for them, and here's the fire that Jesus wanted to come from heaven, that they might receive the Holy Spirit. We look at this sin soaked nation, and I think most Christians are pretty much fed up and like, let's just get rid of them once and for all so we can move on. And I wanna tell you that Jesus, although he is the righteous judge and he will judge the earth in his perfect righteousness, he has a primary plan and that's to send revival before he sends condemnation.

And if you think that it's so bad out there that Jesus can't do anything, I wonder what traveled through John's mind as he heard from the news in Samaria, people are getting saved by the masses. The same John in Luke nine wanted fire to consume them, and now being filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus sends them to lay hands on those people so that they can receive the fire of the Holy Spirit. Jesus has a different mindset than us. He has more hope and desire than most of us can think. And the more we get to know Christ, the more we can look at the most vile, perverted individual and have no doubt in our minds that God can change that soul.

And I believe that's even true within the context of the church. Man, you stay in the church long enough, and you'll realize there are some people that come to services, and they can hear messages, and they can hear sermons, and they can be through every single thing that you would need to experience. And they're just like they don't change. Sometimes you look and you're like, when are they gonna get it? When is it going to happen?

Like, what else do I need to do for them to see the truth of Jesus Christ? But no one is beyond hope. You might have come to this conference for ten years, and you're still the same person you were ten years ago. In fact, you're more lukewarm and worldly than you were then. If you know someone like that this morning, don't lose hope.

God can still change that soul. We come back to John and what happened? Well, he had to pass through Samaria. And when he passes through Samaria, we read something quite interesting. In verse five, so he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son, Joseph.

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, which is noon our time. So you can imagine as he traveled with his disciples in the the the peak of the heat of the day, we are told that he comes to this specific town. And the interesting part here is not that this man wearied, it's the fact that Jesus wearied. You know, John goes to great lengths to try to help us understand the divinity of Jesus Christ, but he also takes the time to help us see that he was human.

And Jesus here at this point got tired. He got tired. I don't know what that felt like for Jesus, but it was enough exhaustion for him to say, let's just stop right here, and let's sit down by this well. Now that might be like, what what's the big deal? Again, it is a big deal when you understand who Jesus is.

When you go to John chapter 12, John, who wrote Jesus wearied, also tells us by the spirit in John twelve forty one that the person that Isaiah the prophet saw and prophesied about was in fact Jesus Christ. Do you realize that? Isaiah says in John twelve forty one, Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him. So when Isaiah had that encounter in Isaiah chapter six where in the year that King Uzziah died, he he he's in this he's in this temple, and he sees the Lord of hosts sitting upon his throne, and the train of his robe fills the temple. And these strange creatures called the seraphim are exalting him and saying that he is in fact the Lord, the Lord, the Lord.

John tells us who Isaiah saw in that moment was in fact the same Jesus. The same Jesus that was sitting by a well and got thirsty. Now what's interesting is if Jesus is the Lord that Isaiah saw, Isaiah also said something else about the Lord that should put a question marks in our mind. See, before you come to John and you read about the Lord in Isaiah six, you go on in Isaiah and you read something else about the Lord that comforts me, should comfort you. In Isaiah forty twenty eight, you don't have to turn there.

Just listen. Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. Now look at this, he does not faint or grow weary.

He does not faint or grow weary. His understanding is unsearchable. So wait, you're telling me that Jesus is the Lord of hosts in Isaiah six, And the same Lord in Isaiah 40, we're we're told he doesn't faint or grow weary. And I come to John chapter four, and I see this Jesus, and he's tired. Why?

Because two thousand years ago, the lord of hosts on that throne, who is being loved and cherished perfectly by these creatures that if you saw even one of them, you might have been tempted to even worship it as John himself did in Revelation with an angel. That Jesus left that throne, came into this world, subjected him to human frailty. And not only because of that, he can identify with your temptation. Guess what? He can identify with your weakness.

Jesus knows what it's like to be tempted. That helps me in my temptation. But more than that, Jesus knows what it's like for you to be tired. I was tired this morning. I was.

And when I woke up, that thought came to my mind. Lord, you know what it's like for my body to be aching, for my eyes to be heavy. And because you can sympathize with my weariness, you're gonna help me this morning. You're gonna help me. He will help you.

Do you see how how close he is to you? Do you see that he so came into this world and he so became human that everything that you experience in this life, there's not one facet of your experience that Christ says, I don't get what you're going through. I'm sorry. Get up and be bold. Get up and be better than what you are right now.

Now even when I'm tired, Jesus, I know what that feels like. I was in a town called Saqqara at one point, and I knew what it was like to feel exhausted and needing a break. And so he he's there. He's weary, and we think that's why he stops in this town, but it's far greater than that. Because we read here in verse seven that perhaps this is far less about Jesus being tired and far more about a divine appointment.

And it is about a divine appointment. A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, give me a drink. What's interesting about that is because, again, there are no accidents in the Bible. You and I read in verse six that it was about the sixth hour.

It was high noon. The sun was blazing in that Middle Eastern climate, and it would pierce your skin. It would overwhelm you. And the scripture tells us in Genesis 24, just to give us an insight about why this is important, in Genesis 24 in Jacob's story that the woman came out at the evening time. And we are told in Genesis twenty four eleven, this was the time when woman came out to draw water from the well, When the sun was was losing its full strength, when it was becoming cooler in the evening, that's when the woman would gather their stuff and go and do heavy labor outside of the city to gather water.

But that's not what John tells us. John tells us that at noon, this woman comes to the well, showing us what? That she is clearly avoiding the common time when most people would be at the well, teaching us that she was avoiding any interaction with any individual, and we are about to learn in just a few verses why exactly she comes at noon. Because she has this reputation in town that has caused people to shun her and maybe even shame her. Poor woman.

Not only is she despised by the Jews, but her her own can't even accept her. Her own can't even stand to be in her presence. And so here she is willing to sweat, willing to be extra exhausted herself just so she can avoid what? She wasn't a Jew. She needed to avoid the interaction of her own people, And Jesus knew that very well.

And I love to see that sight that as that woman, perhaps, if you looked at it from a certain scene, you know, when that horizon is blurry because of the heat of the day, I would love to see that scene where this woman probably has two jars on her shoulders, and she climbs up a little hill expecting to find no one there as per usual. And all for a sudden, she sees a man, Maybe sitting there on some kind of a a a rock, maybe with his his elbows on his knees hunched over. And who knows what was running through her mind as she approached them all. Gosh. Here's a man.

And as she comes forward, to her amazement, she realizes that this man is actually willing to interact. And as she gets closer, she realizes it's not just a man, it's a Jewish man. And this Jewish man asked, give me a drink. That's amazing. You know, there's seven statements that Jesus makes on the cross.

And it is in John's gospel alone where while he's on the cross, we read, he says what? I thirst. I thirst. And here he is saying, give me a drink. You know, Jesus Christ, you know why he said, I thirst?

Not just to say that he was human, but so that you would never thirst again. He experienced that thirst in that moment, a thirst that you will never come to in this life because of the the the the the torture and the torment that he knew on that cross so that you could never say in your life, I thirst. Give me a drink. And you know what you and I are about to discover with this encounter with Jesus and this woman? Jesus is the master evangelist.

Jesus is the greatest soul winner out there. And what's incredible about what Jesus is saying here is you're going to see how he handles this woman, and how Jesus, when he meets with different individuals, does it in different ways. I mean, the apostle Paul, that man that was breathing out threatenings, the persecutor of the church, that one who thought he was doing God a favor by liquidating these Messiah followers and this Jewish man named Jesus Christ. Jesus doesn't go by him and say, hey, give me a drink. Jesus knocks him on his back, and he radiates his holiness.

And he tells him, you're actually persecuting me, Saul. But that's not what he does here. What he does here in understanding who this woman is is come with great compassion and kindness. He's not gonna change the message. He's just gonna change the delivery of it.

And so he comes to this woman with great patience and great kindness and great understanding and great concern of how she is going to receive what he's about to say. So much so that look at verse eight. For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Question for you. Does it take 12 men to go and buy lunch?

No. Jesus comes on the scene, the 12 follow them clearly because they're headed towards Galilee, and Jesus knew he had to pass through Samaria because he had to meet with this woman. And knowing this woman, her reputation, knowing her embarrassment, knowing that she wants to avoid people, that's why she comes at noon. He looks at the 12. He says, hey, boys, go grab lunch.

All of us, Lord? Yeah. All of you. Get going now. Go grab lunch.

And they all head on over. Why? Because Jesus is about to have a serious conversation with this woman, and he didn't need the 12 disciples to be there to hear it. He didn't wanna put this woman on the spot. He didn't wanna overwhelm this woman.

He didn't want the criticism of these men to be audibly known just like who? Remember that woman that came and anointed the feet of Jesus? Who is the one criticizing? His disciples. What is she doing here?

What a waste. So Jesus, go and grab lunch and come see me later. Think about Christ. Think about how he aware he is of people. You know, in our walk with one another, we are called to bring correction when needed.

We are called to sit down a brother who is in sin or a sister who is in sin. Do you realize that even in this, we learn how to confront someone? See, it's going back to the idea he's altogether beautiful. It's not just the fact that he's God and that he prays wonderful prayers and he does miracles. Zoom in.

Zoom in to the man's life. Zoom in to Christ's interaction and realize just how specific the bible is. I see he's altogether beautiful here in how he interacts with a sinner who is clearly self aware of her shame, and he's like, I'm not gonna embarrass her more than she needs to be embarrassed. So they leave. The 12 disciples go.

Christ is not in the business of exposing sinners in the sense of shaming them and embarrassing them. He's not in the business of bringing them to a place in which they're so overwhelmed with a sense of embarrassment that and they don't know what to do. No. The Bible tells us that people repent because of the goodness of God. They are drawn by his mercy and his tenderness.

So he says, give me a drink. And look what she says in verse nine. 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. 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.

Now look at this. 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? Are you greater than our father, Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself as did his sons and his livestock.

Jesus said to her, Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 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. So he begins this interaction by saying, give me a drink. There's something that's locked in now. There's an engagement, and he quickly turns the conversation into spiritual matters.

He wants to get to the to the heart of the matter here. This is why Jesus came. She's coming to this well and he has another well to offer her. But what's so incredible here is, yes, you just learn about the compassion of Jesus by telling his 12, go and grab lunch and come later, but we see it even extended here. Jesus is extremely patient with this woman.

Here he is introducing here the subject of deep spiritual truth, and she's not getting it. He's talking about living water, not being thirsty again. He's talking about something that he can offer her, and she's like, where's your jar? What well are you talking about? Do you realize I come here every other day to grab some water?

I would love to know where I can go and never thirst again. Do you have like a a supply chain? Where is it? I wanna know. And Jesus, as he's engaging with her, he's patient.

And not only that, look how she does it. She she hears what he's saying, and what does she do? She brings up the fact that she's a Samaritan early on. She brings the fact that he's a Jew. She brings the fact that Jacob, our father Jacob, are you greater than them?

And all these things. And so what is she what is she conversing about in light of spiritual truths? She's talking about the the cultural relationship she has, the tension of her day. She's talking about her Samaritan tradition. She's talking about all these other things, and it's a picture of how many people are so much more acquainted and knowledgeable in everything else except spiritual things.

Now listen, that is acceptable for a woman like this. That is not acceptable for someone who claims to follow Jesus Christ. It's amazing that Christians today are more exegetical, are more professional, are more knowledgeable in just about every other thing that this society offers except the word of God. We have great evangelist for republicans these days. So many more people know celebrities than they do men of God who shook the world for Christ.

How can that be? How is that possible? There's something there's something wrong there. It testifies something about where our interests are and our desires are. In fact, what's amazing is, this wasn't just a woman's problem, this was Nicodemus's problem.

You must be born again, Nicodemus. Just one chapter before this. He's like, so how do you go back into your mother's womb? And he goes, you're a teacher of Israel and you don't get these things? You're a teacher of Israel and you don't understand these things.

And so we see here that Jesus though with this woman is patient. She's not understanding it. She's not getting it. She's educated about just about everything else except spiritual matters, salvation, the person of Jesus Christ, and that's why we're doing what we're doing at this conference. But this woman was not like Lycomedemus.

You know why? Because she's not being rebuked for ignorance. She was a lost Samaritan. She's being taught one of the greatest truths about how you experience salvation, about water. You'll never thirst again.

You drink of this and you'll be satisfied. And listen, he wasn't talking about her need for physical water clearly. And he wasn't trying to point out that she was, in a sense, continually searching for this water and she's missing the mark. We all need physical water. He's pointing out the fact that what she's doing in the physical is parallel to what she's doing spiritually.

Because this woman, though she's coming to the well every day, this woman was doing something else with a pattern of her life. And you know what it was? It wasn't just coming to a well to drink. It was going from marriage to marriage to marriage, from boyfriend to boyfriend to boyfriend, from fiance to fiance to from wedding party to wedding from honeymoon to honeymoon to money honeymoon. She was unsatisfied, and she was trying to find some kind of solace, some kind of contentment in this realm called relationships.

Yeah. Because another guy is gonna fulfill your heart. That sinner, poor man is gonna be able to complete your heart like Jesus only can. And that's what Jesus is pointing his finger towards, and he's about to unveil that. This woman wasn't just unsatisfied physically.

We all need water. It was spiritually. She's trying to search for meaning, and she's trying to find a place where she can just remain content. I promise you that anything else other than Christ will evaporate from your soul. Try it.

Actually, don't. You know it. You know it. In this selfie age, man, where you only get highlight reels of people's lives, I can tell you those people are miserable. So miserable that your whole life is dependent upon how many likes, and if you got more likes on your previous post than your present post, you're depressed about it.

You're upset about it. You question what was it? Was it the angle? Was it the editing? What was it?

That's how you wanna live your life. That's how you wanna live your life. That's how you wanna live your life. From post to post to post. And this woman here is going from man to man to man.

And Jeremiah clearly told told us that unless you draw from the well of salvation, every other well is broken. And because it's broken, it's contaminated with filth, and it'll only leave you thirstier than when you started. You thought it was just something that would peak your curiosity, and you thought it would excite you. And now here it is disappointing you. Right?

Jesus is coming to the rescue. And after sharing one of the most profound statements that have ever been echoed down the corridors of history, this woman asked for this water only that so she doesn't have to get up and come at noonday. And Jesus is trying to get her attention here. And look what happens. Look how patient he is.

I want you to notice the progression of a revelation of Christ. Look at verse 12 again. What are we told? She says here, are you greater than our father Jacob? Alright?

Are you greater than our father Jake Jacob? So that that's how she's she's trying to understand this man. Do you claim to be someone more significant than who Jacob is? Now look what happens down in verse 19. The woman said to him, sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.

So she goes from, are you any different than Jacob? Are you greater than Jacob? And then she realizes, you're actually a prophet. Now scroll down and see what happens in verse 29. Look what she says, come see a man who told me all that I ever did.

Can this be the Christ? Can this be the Christ? Do you notice the the progression? If you didn't see it here, go to John chapter nine and look at the story with a man who was born blind. John chapter nine, the same thing happens to him in verse 11.

He was healed of his blindness, and he's being interrogated. In verse 11, he answered, the man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, go to Siloam and wash. The man called Jesus, that's all he had about this Jesus. This man called Jesus, he he told me to do this and now I can see. Look at verse 17.

So they said again to the blind man, what do you say about him since he has opened your eyes? He said, he is a prophet. Yeah. At first, he was a man called Jesus, but I'm pretty convinced now that he's more than a man. I think he's a prophet.

And he gets kicked out of the synagogue. His own parents are, like they're being questioned. It's like, is this your son? Was he actually born blind? He's like, he's of age.

Ask him. Had nothing to do with this. And then Jesus comes on the scene and tells him about the Messiah. And look at John nine thirty eight. He, being the blind man, once blind man, said, lord, I believe, and he worshiped him.

Are you greater than our father, Jacob? I'm getting a hunch that you're a prophet. Can this be the Christ? Don't be discouraged when you witness to your family members. Don't be discouraged when you witness to your coworkers.

Don't be discouraged when you witness to your best friend and they're not getting it right away. Be patient with them. Jesus was patient with those that he preached to. And sometimes it can happen in a moment as it did for some last night. And even those last night, some were saying it took me a few months to get to this point.

God was getting my attention. He was opening my eyes slowly. Be patient. Sometimes those gaps between is he greater than Jacob to is he a prophet can be months and sometimes even years. And sometimes sometimes from he is a prophet to he is the Christ can be overnight.

Just trust that the Holy Spirit knows how to work in the heart. You do your part and you faithfully give truth and you lovingly be patient and sit down as long as they're willing to be led by your words and truth. Just trust that it can happen. We all want the Saul experience for others. We want God to just interrupt them as they're commuting to work and reveal himself to them.

And then the next thing you know, the next day they're preaching the gospel. God can do that. But look here in John. Are you greater than our father Jacob? I think you're a prophet.

You're the Christ. And Jesus did not hurry up the process. He was willing to wait and he did. And now we see something interesting in verse 16. Because this woman is not getting it.

Yes. Jesus is extremely patient, but he is also wanting to present the truth in the clearest manner. And what we're about to find out here is that the way he's going to do it is that while he's talking about this living water, he wants to excite her soul to be thirsty for this water. So you know how he does it? The way we think it doesn't work.

He brings up her sin. Why are people going to wanna be washed in the blood of Jesus if they don't realize that they are filthy in their sin? How can we present what's good news if there's no bad news? And that's exactly what the Lord is about to do. He's going to arouse that sense of need for this living water by bringing up the very thing that is causing her to be thirsty.

Jesus said to her, go. Call your husband and come here. Go. Call your husband and come here. Jesus knew that who she was with with at this time was not her husband, and Jesus knew that she had a handful of husbands before this moment.

And earlier, she says, sir, give me this water so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water. And he's like, k. She's not getting it. Why don't you go get your husband and come here so we can continue the conversation? If we're not willing to talk about people's sin, they're not gonna wanna drink from this water.

And he brings up her sin to do just that. And what's amazing here is that he's not doing so in order to, again, bring her to a place of such overwhelming shame that she runs away. And that is seen in the fact that he doesn't just say go and call your husband. He says go and call your husband and come here. We preach repentance.

We preach sin. We preach truth. Not so that people can run away from Christ, so that they can have the confidence to know that I can bring my sin to the Lord, and he will accept me as I repent of it. Go and call your husband and bring him here. I'm not showing you your sin so that you can run from me.

I'm showing you your sin so you can come to me. And he highlights it. And as he does, he's saying, I'm aware of your lifestyle. I know your past. I know the most perverse things that you've done in secret.

I know the pain. I know the things that you've even done to other men. And this is the difference between condemnation and conviction. Condemnation says go call your husband. It shows you you're wrong, and if you wanna decipher between what you feel when you do something wrong, if it's Satan speaking to your God, pay attention.

Condemnation highlights your sin, highlights your sin and so underlines it that you're aware of it and you sense the guilt that comes with it, and conviction feels very very similar. Conviction is in a lighter form of showing. In fact, conviction sometimes is even more intense than what condemnation feels like. The difference is condemnation puts a period mark at go and call your husband. Conviction says, go call your husband and come here.

It's that feeling of, I know what I did was wrong, but it's immediately met with a hope to be restored and forgiven by God. Condemnation says, there's no hope. You're done. You're sealed in your faith, and you will be judged by God. Conviction says, you're wrong.

It's shameful. You dishonor the Lord, but come and let me restore you and fill you with my spirit again. That's exactly what the Lord is doing here. And what's amazing is the woman, she does something incredible. She says in verse 17, the woman answered him, I have no husband.

Like, how brief is that? Go call your husband. I don't have a husband. She doesn't explain herself. She doesn't wanna dive in.

You know why? For the same reason that we just been discussing this whole time. She doesn't wanna get into it. The same way that so many people don't wanna bring up their sin. They wanna confront their sin.

They wanna sweep it under the rug, but I wanna tell you something. If you're not willing to be honest before God and be specific in your confession, he can't heal you because he gives grace to what? The humble. And the humble are not willing to pretend to be someone that they're not or pretend to be more righteous than they are. The humble say, Lord, this is what I've done.

This is who I am. If you don't believe that, remember when Jacob wrestled with God. And when Jacob wrestled with God, he was asked a question that was only asked once before, what is your name? Early on when he had a brother with him living in the same home, Jacob's father asked that, but Jacob deceived his father by putting on these things, these goatskins that would make him seem hairy. Tells you how hairy Esau was.

His father Isaac was so blind he can only feel them and he asked them for his identity and Jacob said, I'm Esau. Fast forward, Jacob is wrestling with God, and all of a sudden, God asked the questions. What's your name? Who are you? Who are you really?

And Jacob doesn't deceive. Jacob doesn't come up with another name. Jacob says, I'm Jacob. And that means I'm a trickster. I'm a heel grabber.

I am a deceiver. And only then when Jacob was willing to be honest with who he really was, God could say, but now I'm gonna call you Israel. And this woman, she's trying to divert the conversation. She's trying to switch it around, but the great physician wants to heal her. He wants to restore her.

He wants to do surgery on her soul, And so she evades the potential greater exposure. She goes, I I have no husband. And you know what else she does? You want a proof of that? She goes, I have no husband.

And then she starts talking about worship. I have no husband. Jesus said to her, you are right in saying I have no husband for you have had five husbands then one you have is not your husband. What you have said is true. The woman said to him, sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.

And then look what she says. Our fathers worship on this mountain. It's like, what does that have to do with anything? Our father's worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship. So where is that coming from?

We're trying to deal with your issue here. And Jesus is trying to bring it up and he even unveils it to a greater degree and she goes, you're a prophet, but, let's talk about worship. I wanna have a theological debate about where you think worship should be. You know what Jesus does? Is he say, I know what you're trying to do, you little sinner.

You can't change the conversation. You know what he does? You wanna you wanna know the master evangelist? You wanna know the compassion of Jesus Christ? He goes along with it.

He goes along with it. He sees that he's trying to divert it, and guess what? This is how amazing he is. He's willing to go down this rabbit trail, and he's gonna bring up spiritual truth anyhow. And that's where we get those wonderful truths about what true worship is.

But you have to understand that in his love, he does not hammer his point. He does not bring it to a point in which you are so he understands and how to communicate to us knowing who she is in her brokenness. He's being extra delicate with her. And sometimes like Nicodemus', who should know better, you have to confront and you have to point the finger and say, You should know better. Sometimes with Saul's, you have to kick them off their high horse, but with this woman who is so fragile, so beaten and bruised by her own sin and the sin of others, He's being extra tender with her.

So you wanna talk about worship? Let's talk about worship. And as he does, they begin to discuss and talk. And that glorious verse in verse 24, God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. We are told here in verse 25, the woman said to him, I know that Messiah is coming.

He was called Christ. When he comes, he will tell us all things. Jesus said to her, I who speak to you am he. You know what's so significant about what Jesus did here? This is one of the few, if not, you can argue, one of the clearest demonstrations of his defining of self without any parabolic veil.

He's just saying it straight up. I, who you say, who you're talking about, I am he. And he doesn't do it to a Jew, he does it to a Samaritan. He speaks so loud and clear to a woman who is least deserving in the eyes of his own brethren. I who speak to you am he.

You know what this woman does? Just then his disciples, verse 27, came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, what do you seek or why are you talking with her? Christ, obviously, in his divinity, but Christ also as a man had so much integrity that when they saw this interaction, they had no hesitation. They had no suspicion.

They knew who Jesus was. And as he's talking to this woman, they didn't try to interrogate him or question him or try to find out what his motive was. Look what this woman does. So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to people to the people, come see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?

She left the water jar. Why would the Holy Spirit highlight that? Because it wasn't just a physical water jar. She left the very thing that she was trying to scoop identity and purpose from behind. The very thing that she was trying to draw purpose from and vigor from and a sense of satisfaction from has been put aside.

From this moment on, we have every reason to believe that she stopped running from man to man, from marriage to marriage, from person to person, from wedding to wedding. Why? Because she met the God man. She met this man and because she met this man, she wasn't craving the affection, the attention of many men. That'll give you hope whether you're a guy or a girl.

Men, if you're thinking that you won't be satisfied in this life until you have that, it's a wonderful gift. It's a wonderful truth. But I'll tell you, you're gonna head into that relationship with great disappointment. You're gonna realize that you're a sinner. You're gonna realize that she's a sinner, and you're gonna realize that this wasn't the fantasy that my single mind thought it would be.

Same thing with you, sisters. The best way to enter in a relationship is to first establish your relationship with Christ. Bring Christ into the relationship and find somebody who has a relationship with Christ, and you'll have more likely chance of having a heavenly relationship. She left the jar behind because she encountered a man. She finally drank from this well as she realized, here is a man who is able to highlight my sin and still say come to me.

Here is a man who is willing to sit with me and speak of my issues and offer hope to me. Here is a man who fulfills me like no other man could fulfill me. And I would like to use those words in closing. I who speak to you am he in this way. The person that we just learned about, the person that we just read about is the same person that we sang to today.

He is. And I wanna let you know today that no matter what kind of past you have, no matter what kind of secrets you have, you'd be amazed to know of how many people who sit in church can't fully expand their wings in their faith because of something that they have done in the past that is holding them back. And it's been a decade, man. Come on. It's been twenty years, sister.

Come on. The Lord is willing to heal you. And brother, sister, if you know the Lord, do you see the example that he brings when he interacts with a broken soul? What patience he has, what tenderness he has, what mercy he has, what hope he has, That even a woman like this, where the entire nation said she is beyond hope, her own people said, this woman might as well call her a prostitute. Out of all the people that said, and all the people that excluded, and all the people that marked her off, Jesus comes.

I want you to leave this conference knowing that you're going back into your world and that might be on Zoom, that might be in the office, and I want you to look at the most blasphemous, the most vile wicked individual you know, and in your heart be able to say, Christ can get him. Christ can get him. And maybe he'll do it through you if you were to just take the wisdom found in this chapter and to ask the Holy Spirit to show how you can communicate divine truths in the way in which God calls you for that specific moment, Jesus will do it. I don't know about you. I read a chapter like this and I fall in love with Jesus more.

I love that about Jesus. Boys, go get lunch. I'll see you in a bit. Hey. Go call your husband and come here.

I don't have a husband. Let let's talk about worship. Okay. Let's talk about worship. Wanna talk about worship?

Let's talk about worship. I'm the Messiah. And the way he handled her won her heart. Brothers and sisters, it's not enough to know what we believe. It's how we communicate what we believe.

It's not enough to just go and just rapid fire evangelism and spread the truth. Sometimes that's applicable. But the patience look what John shows us. The patience that Jesus has for one soul. You know, one of my favorite things I see not just in this case, Jesus who is the greatest not just evangelist but teacher.

Do you realize he was willing to expound? Wish I wish that the Holy Spirit included in the Bible. Had a conversation with my dad about that chapter in Luke 24 when he walks with those two, and he expounds the Old Testament, everything about him. Wouldn't you love that they added an extra couple of chapters in Luke just to see where Jesus pulls out truths about himself? You know, the reason why I don't think he did it is so that we can do it, go to the Old Testament for ourselves.

Go to the Old Testament and study and find me. But you know what I love about that? The fact that Jesus was willing to have a bible study with two people and probably give one of the greatest teachings of the Old Testament. And you know what you have today? You have high profile preachers that won't go to a church and preach a conference unless there's a number set of people.

How many people are coming in? 5,000? Alright. Jesus had a bible study with two. Jesus was willing to travel long distance just Imagine Maranatha only had two people.

I wonder what conference speaker would say, how many people do you have a year? Two? Okay. That's the heart of Jesus. Zoom in.

Zoom into your bibles. Go beyond the things that are obvious and look at the things that he does tucked in between those wonderful truths and see how he talks to people, how he answers people, how he sits with people, how he exercises his beauty and his gifts. And I guarantee you, you will fall deeper in love with him. Let's pray. Lord, you've warmed our hearts with the truth of who you are.

Open our eyes to see the not so obvious in your word. Not for the sake of knowledge or insight, but for our hearts to be warmed by your embrace. Lord, in this place, we wanna just worship you in the little things and how you handled the situation and how you dismissed and how you invited and how you introduced and how you set this whole scene up. Surely, you love sinners. Lord, let faith arise that you are able to save Samaria as you did in Acts eight when your own said, let's send judgment on them, and you are able to save the one from Samaria who no one wanted to have any interaction with.

Lord, you are altogether lovely. You're incomparable. We wanna follow you in your ways. So we worship you in this place this morning to give you glory, to give you glory. In Jesus' name, we pray.

Amen.