In this sermon, Pastor Dave Capoccia begins examining the account of Jesus and the Samaritan town of Sychar in John 4:1-42. John presents the account of Jesus and Samaritan Sychar so that you will not miss out in dead religion but join humble outsiders in finding eternal life in Jesus. In John 4:1-14, Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s Well and offers her living water.
1. Jesus Offers Living Water (vv. 1-14)
1a. Jesus Arrives Weary at Jacob’s Well (vv. 1-6)
1b. Jesus Breaks Barriers Requesting a Drink (vv. 7-9)
1c. Jesus Has Better Water than Jacob (vv. 10-14)
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let’s go before the Lord in prayers we now look to hear from him through his word oh Lord God you are the Fountain of Living Water that’s the beautiful truth we’re going to talk more about today God I pray that you’ll help us to see this in such a clear and fresh way Lord I pray that you would show yourself to us Show Jesus to us show him in all his Beauty show him to be so satisfying oh God I pray that we indeed would move away from the things that are not profitable that are sinful that are just broken cisterns and God we would see oh there is such refreshment there is such satisfying water in you forever Lord open my mouth to declare this truth from your wonderful word and open our hearts to listen and apply it in Jesus name amen some of you may know that my wife Emma and I got to go on a study trip to Israel last year a wonderful privilege a great opportunity we went in May which is the beginning of the dry season there but it’s just before the really hot months of June to August but that doesn’t mean there weren’t any hot days for us there in May no indeed there were and one hot day was when we went to the ruins of geyser on the western side of the territory of Benjamin it was late in the day we had done a short hike up to the site and had toured and listened to our professor teach for about 30 minutes when a few in our number started to feel sick though we found that Hills in Israel often got a nice extra Breeze from the coast so it would feel a little bit cooler there was no breeze on the hill of geyser that day and the combination of the beating Sun the slightly humid air and temperatures above 100 degrees didn’t realize that until later well it was proving too much for our group some were not feeling well thankfully we were able to find some respite in a Ancient Cistern amid the ruins of geyser cistern is a water collection space and there were some stairs that went into the cistern so it was shaded and it was cool but you couldn’t go down too deep into the cistern because of the noise of all the bats and the stench of the bat guano so we kind of only went a certain way but after resting there for about a half an hour we were able to get back into our air-conditioned bus which had arrived and we headed back to the hotel by God’s grace everyone in our group turned out fine surviving gether became one of the things that we joked about and even celebrated we ripped our professor a little bit about it nevertheless the experience at gasser did make us all take more seriously the instruction our professor would give us every time we were about to get off the bus in Israel and look around for an extended period he would tell us you must make sure to take some kind of filled water container with you and you must drink from it preemptively before you start to feel overheated and if you don’t have a water container or you run out well there are cool bottles available for your purchase at the front of the bus for shackle of peace see we came to appreciate just how critical water is for our health even for our lives and though we were willing to settle for subpar water if we couldn’t find anything else we sought out the best water we could find water that was cool clean and pleasant tasting really the experience of Desiring good water in Israel became a way for us to connect to the Bible because even more than we did the peoples of the Old Testament and the New Testament they knew the importance of good water the value of good water and they didn’t have air conditioning Refrigeration bottled water modern plumbing yet they needed water to live especially in a land that is frequently hot and dry it’s no wonder that the ancient people’s prize good sources of water like Wells and Springs and it’s also no wonder that water even Springs and fountains become metaphors in the Bible for that which gives life joy and refreshment God himself is likened to a fountain of good water in contrast to false or polluted sources of water you heard one example of this concept in the passage we read earlier in the service Jeremiah 17 1-13 but let me give you two more two more passages both spoken in the Bible by God himself through His prophets using this metaphor you don’t have to turn there just listen Jeremiah 2 13 Jeremiah 2 13.
for my people have committed two evils they have forsaken me the Fountain of Living Waters to Hew for themselves cisterns broken cisterns that can hold no water Isaiah 55 Isaiah 55 1-2 additionally says oh everyone who thirsts come to the waters and you who have no money come buy and eat come buy wine and milk and or without money and without cost why do you spend money for what is not bread and your wages for what does not satisfy listen carefully to me and eat what is good and delight yourself in abundance and our next passage in the Gospel of John we’re going to see this water metaphor appear again this time it’s emphasizing something true about Jesus in contrast to all apparent sources of thirst quenching in the world Jesus gives Living Water that becomes within the Drinker of it a spring springing up to eternal life now what does that mean to whom did Jesus declare this and how should it affect us today that’s why I want to explore with you together this morning please open your Bibles to John chapter 4.
John chapter 4 we’re going to read verses 1 to 26 the title for today’s message is Jesus offers Living Water Jesus offers Living Water John 4 1-26 Pew Bible page 1061 if you are using the Bible s that we provide here now really the next section of John goes beyond what we’re going to read just now the next section is goes from verses 1 to 42 in chapter 4.
but that’s a lot to read for the sake of time we’re just gonna read verses 1 to 26 and examine verses 1 to 14 in the sermon today you’ll get the get some important context going up to verse 26.
but we’re going to focus on 1-14 today here’s John 4 verses 1 to 26.
therefore when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John although Jesus himself was not baptizing but his disciples were he left Judea and went away again into Galilee and he had to pass through Samaria so he came to a city of Samaria called saikar near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph and Jacob’s Well was there so Jesus being wearied from his journey was sitting thus by the well it was about the sixth hour became a woman of Samaria to draw water Jesus said to her give me a drink for his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food therefore the Samaritan woman said to him how is it that you being a Jew asked me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman for Jews have no dealings with Samaritans Jesus answered and said to her if you knew the gift of God and who it is who says to you give me a drink you would have asked him and he would have given you living water she said to him sir you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep where then do you get that Living Water you are not greater than our father Jacob are you who gave us this well and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle Jesus answered and said to her everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again but whoever drinks to the water water that I will give him shall never thirst but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life the woman said to him sir give me this water so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw you said to her go call your husband and come here the woman answered and said I have no husband Jesus said to her you have correctly said I have no husband for you have had five husbands and the one whom you now have is not your husband this you have said truly the woman said to him sir I perceive that you are a prophet our fathers worshiped in this mountain and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship Jesus said to her woman believe me an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the father you worship what you do not know we worship what we know for salvation is from the Jews but an hour is coming and now is when the true worshipers will worship the father in spirit and Truth for such people the father seeks to be his worshipers God is spirit and those who worship Him must Worship in spirit and Truth the woman said to him I know that Messiah is coming he was called Christ when that one comes he will declare all things to us Jesus said to her I who speak to you am he now just the section we read is beautiful famous really all the way down to verse 42 is wonderful but something you may have noticed Even in our reading up to verse 26 is that this passage features both repetition and contrast in a number of details we’ve already seen in the Gospel of John especially the conversation with Nicodemus in John chapter 3.
for both Nicodemus and this Samaritan woman we see a conversation in which Jesus graciously reveals God’s salvation to just one person this is an individual conversation and in both conversations Jesus explanation of this glorious salvation is at first misunderstood yet the persons to whom Jesus has these two conversations couldn’t be more different one Nicodemus the highly respectable man a Jewish fairsake religious teacher and the other is a social outcast an uneducated Samaritan woman furthermore the difference of outcome in these two conversations is quite striking Nicodemus and the Jews of Jerusalem they do not move beyond their tepid belief in Jesus but not only does the Samaritan woman end up believing but she becomes an instrument leading many Samaritans in her town to also confess that Jesus the Jew is the savior of the world now this parallelism and contrast is not accidental this is purposeful from the author to make a point here’s how I would put together the main idea for this next section in John 4 1-42 John presents the account of Jesus and Samaritan sidecar so that you will not miss out in dead religion but join humble Outsiders in finding eternal life in Jesus John presents the account of Jesus and Samaritan desires that you will not miss out in dead religion but join humble Outsiders and finding eternal life in Jesus now in exploring verses 1 to 42 I’m going to take us through in three parts one each week but in each of those parts I’ll give you subheadings so through subheadings as we go along today is the first part it’s the title that I gave you Jesus offers Living Water it’s verses 1 to 14.
but what’s our first subheading for this section well that’s 1A Jesus arrives Weary at Jacob’s Well Jesus arrives Weary at Jacob’s Well now let’s look at this and we’ll move through these 14 verses starting with verses one to three therefore when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John although Jesus himself was not baptizing but his disciples were he left Judea and went away again into Galilee all right so this next section of the Gospel begins with an announced change of scenery Jesus is moving from wherever he was in Judea going up north towards Galilee and we get the reason for the move right in verse one the Lord that is Jesus he knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus disciple making and baptizing Ministry was starting to supersede John the Baptists now we heard all about that development in the previous passage John 3 22-36 which is why verse 1 begins with therefore but why would the Pharisees hearing about Jesus expanding Ministry cause Jesus to move can’t say for sure but likely Jesus wanted to remove himself from new hostile scrutiny of the Pharisees and also prevent those Pharisees and other Jews from having any more reason to dismiss the ministry of John the Baptist so Jesus makes a move note that we learn as an aside in verse 2 that Jesus himself was not the one baptizing but he was having his disciples do it now why is that well again we don’t know perhaps doing so simply freed up Jesus to preach or perhaps this was part of training his disciples most likely though Jesus did this to forestall any kind of prideful misunderstanding later among his disciples at what it would mean to be baptized by Jesus own hands I mean can you imagine some of the disciples feeling pretty special about themselves I was baptized by Jesus himself I mean the same issue seems to be something that Paul wanted to forestall in his own Ministry we hear him telling the Corinthians in First Corinthians 1 14-17 that he was glad that he baptized so few of their people personally so that no one would boast about it and it would become a source of division in the church what’s important Paul emphasizes and in a way Jesus does too is not who baptized you but the fact that you were baptized and even more important than that is the gospel that you believe which is then symbolized in your baptism so they put the emphasis on preaching and baptism had secondary importance anyways Jesus leaves Judea and heads toward Galilee but how is he going to get there well let’s look at verses four to six now and he had to pass through Samaria so he came to a city of Samaria called saikar near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph and Jacob’s Well was there so Jesus being wearied from his journey was sitting thus by the well it was about the sixth hour notice the phrase had to in verse 4.
this is the new American Standards translation of a Greek word that we’ve seen a few times in this gospel already this is day d-e-i meaning must have to or it is necessary in what sense was it necessary for Jesus to pass through Samaria to get to Galilee well no doubt part of the answer is simply practical the shortest route to get from Judah into Galilee was to go north through Samaria and if you’re not familiar Samaria was the name of the capital city what eventually became the capital city in the Northern Kingdom of Israel during the divided Kingdom Period in the Old Testament that City’s name came to refer to the surrounding region of the city and even the whole northern kingdom so that by the time we get to Jesus day and we have the Romans in control the Roman province of Judea well the northern section of it was called Samaria that’s the region of course Samaria was also the place in which Samaritans lived and they did not have a good relationship with the Jews as we will discuss shortly so going through Samaria was the shortest route to Galilee but might Jews have avoided Samaria if they could and find some other way into Galilee I mean relations with the Samaritans aren’t good well there was another main route to Galilee in the East but it was much more arduous you had to go down into the Jordan River Valley crossed the Jordan and then go up on the other side and then he traveled North for a bunch of ways and then you had to do the same thing Crossing back over the Jordan and this is not like some tiny little Valley it’s rather arduous to go by foot down and up a valley twice not to mention when you are going north you’re going to pass through the region of decapolis which was a heavily Gentile region and you know how Jews feel about Gentiles Gentiles are icky too so it’s kind of pick your poison you can go through Sumerian have to deal with the Samaritans or you go through they go through the Eastern your view Eastern side of the Jordan and you have to deal with the Gentiles well might as well just take the shortest route the ancient Jewish Roman historian Josephus says it was customary for Jews if they wanted to go from Judea to Galilee or back again they just went through Samaria they didn’t like it but you know what that’s what they had to do so Jesus wanting to save time and energy he also had to pass through Samaria but is that the only reason well just as it was necessary for the son of man to be lifted up like Moses’s bronze serpent just as it was necessary for Jesus to increase and for John the Baptist to decrease so it was necessary for Jesus to go this way in the Galilee because God the Father willed that his son would have a profound conversation with a certain Samaritan woman on the way and that conversation is recorded for us that we too might behold Jesus Glory and believe in him now in verse 5 we read about the specific place that Jesus and his disciples stop in Samaria a place called psychar and this apparently was an unimportant town it’s not mentioned anywhere else in the Old Testament or new testament the details given in the passage though show us that sidecar was near Ancient shechem now shechem was a really important town in the Old Testament a lot of important events happened there but it had diminishing importance by New Testament times may not even have existed it could have even been replaced by Sidecar probably sits at the Modern site of ascar today there’s a little town called asgar sounds very similar in name and it would have been in the same place that psychar probably was askar is a little town just on the edge of Mount ebal on the route between Jerusalem and Galilee now psychar would have indeed as we read in verse 5 it would have been near the plot of land that Jacob bought for himself in shechem which you can read about in Genesis 33 18-19 it also would have been connected to the plot that Jacob gave to his son Joseph in Genesis 48 22.
and it would have been close to the feature that’s mentioned in verse 6.
Jacob’s Well now interestingly the Old Testament does not mention anything about a well belonging to Jacob in or near shechem however since Jacob did live in shechem he very likely did dig himself out uh well there because like I said in the beginning you need water in these days now shechem already had a number of Springs around it though so why did Jacob dig a new well those Springs were probably already taken different tribes or persons saying No this this is our water you have to go get your own so Jacob dug his own well and Jacob’s Well still exists today as a long tradition of a testament through the medieval period And even up to Modern Times it’s just half a mile from Modern asgar it currently sits in the Crypt of a Greek Orthodox church and it still produces good water that’s because Jacob’s Well is fed by a natural spring really the word for well in verse six is more uh commonly translated spring though in verse 11 we do see the word for a Dugout well so what we’re seeing this water feature Jacob’s spring was really a dug out well fed by a spring and it definitely would have provided good water had been a valuable resource in the ancient world so Jesus and his disciples arrive at sikar but Jesus doesn’t initially enter the town but he instead sits at the well Jacob’s Well outside of the town now why is that well because Jesus is tired he’s wearied from the journey that they’ve taken thus far after all we’re told it’s the sixth hour which is around noon so the day must be getting hot so like any true human and Jesus is a true human Jesus is tired from walking under the sun so he sits down to rest at this well Jesus arrives Weary at Jacob’s Well and the stage is now sent for a glorious gospel encounter we arrive at our second heading now for this first part and this covers verses 7 and 9. 1B Jesus breaks barriers requesting a drink Jesus breaks barriers requesting a drink look at the first part of verse 7.
there came a woman of Samaria to draw water I’ll just stop there for a second because if we are ancient persons this information giving it given at the beginning of verse 7 should cause our antenna to go up not the fact that a Samaritan woman comes to draw water but the fact of how she does so she comes alone which is not usually what women at that time did drawing water was considered women’s work back then and if you’re a woman tasked with this work well might as well make it a little bit more enjoyable and do it with your female friends and relatives all go get water at the same time so you can talk along the way and on the way back but this woman hasn’t done that doesn’t come with any of her friends she comes alone also she comes at the sixth hour of the day which is unusual drawing and carrying water is hard work so most women did it when the day wasn’t so hot either at the beginning of the day or at the end of the day but this woman comes in the middle of the day amid the day’s Heat huh finally we’ll read later that this woman is from psychar which if psychar indeed is where Modern asgar is today that is a half mile from Jacob’s Well I mean you can track that distance but there were closer Springs there were other closer sources of water this woman didn’t have to come all the way to Jacob’s well so why does she does she just prefer the taste of this particular water or is there some other reason maybe a reason that she would want to avoid anybody that she knows anybody who lives in her town and where they normally go for water well certainly in the situation in verse 7 is starting off strange and then it gets even stranger let’s look at the rest of verse 7 going all the way to verse 9.
Jesus said to her give me a drink for his disciples have gone away into the city to buy food therefore the Samaritan woman said to him how is it that you being a Jew asked me for a drink since I’m a Samaritan woman for Jews have no dealings with Samaritans in verse 7 Jesus makes requests of this Samaritan woman that she would use her water pot that she’s brought to give him a drink from Jacob spring and from one angle this request makes perfect sense Jesus is tired it’s hot he’s thirsty verse 8 tells us that Jesus disciples have all left him to go into sicar to buy food so that means there’s no disciple around to assist the rabbi and he doesn’t have a water pot himself so Jesus asked this woman who just happened to arrive hey would you give me a drink makes sense from one angle we’re from another angle this does not make sense this request is shocking as the woman herself points out in verse 9.
she doesn’t say yes or no to his request for water but instead how how do you being a Jew ask a drink from me being a Samaritan woman the end of verse 9 gives the explanation for any of John’s unfamiliar readers for Jews do not have dealings with Samaritans if you’ve read the New Testament gospels before you know that the Jews and Samaritans do not like each other generally ever ask yourself why the answer is a centuries-long history of rejection hatred and injury in 722 BC the Northern Kingdom of Israel centered in Samaria it fell to the Assyrian Empire and a serious policy of dealing with conquered peoples was to resettle them outside of their Homeland so these people be less likely to Rebel thus when the kingdom of Samaria fell most of the ten and a half Israelite tribes that were living in that Kingdom they were resettled elsewhere in the Assyrian Empire but not all of them were resettled some of the ten and a half tribes were left behind and then Assyria brought in other conquered peoples and settled them in the area of Israel’s previous northern kingdom Samaria and as often happens when different peoples live side by side for an extended period of time these Left Behind Hebrews began to intermarry with the new arrivals who were Pagan Gentile peoples this mental marriage not only muddied the bloodline of the ethnic inheritors of Canaan but it also introduced heinous syncretism into Samaritan’s religion the new people Samaria sought to serve Israel’s God Yahweh alongside the pagan gods of the intermarrying Gentiles thus the Hebrews of Judah the southern Kingdom they began to see the people of Samaria Samaritans as fundamentally impure consequently in 538 BC when the people of Judah came back in to Judah Judea from Exile in Babylon and they wanted to rebuild God’s Temple in Jerusalem some Samaritan Nobles showed up and they say hey we’d love to assist in the construction because we serve the same God as you do but the Jews unreservable knew that Samaritan worship was corrupt and they rejected the offer they say you have no part with us you can understand the Samaritans were not very happy about that the insulted Samaritans then harassed the Jews throughout the temple reconstruction process so even just in post-exile times relations between the Jews and Samaritans are getting off to a very bad start but it only got worse in the inter-testamental period in the time between the writing and the Old Testament and the New Testament by the time of Alexander the Great Samaritans had given up polytheism and returned to worshiping only Yahweh the god of Israel but Samaritans rejected most of the Hebrew Bible believing only in their slightly altered version of The Five Books of Moses the Torah and they believe this only was God’s true and authoritative word consequently Samaritans rejected the Jewish temple in Jerusalem which is supported by the rest of the Hebrew Bible not necessarily the first five books and they came to believe that God’s true chosen sight for sacrifice and worship was on Mount gerizim uh near shechem and this is because those two sites seem to have such prominence in the Torah Abraham Builds an altar on Mount gerizim the blessings that are recited by Israel once they come into the land they’re spoken from Mount gerizine so they said this must be where God wanted us to worship Him and sometime between 400 and 300 BC the Samaritans even built a rival temple on Mount garizi and you better believe that annoyed the Jews the zealous for God and zealous for the temple in Jerusalem fast forward to about 140 BC and the Jews in Judea under the hasmonean dynasty that’s the descendants of the successful Maccabee Rebels they’ve broken away from Greek Rule and they have established a new independent Jewish Kingdom centered in Jerusalem and though at first it really was just Jerusalem in the surrounding area this new Jewish Kingdom it gradually expanded it conquered the surrounding regions including the rest of Judah Galilee and Samaria and that conquest of Samaria involved a killing and enslaving of many Samaritans and as if that weren’t enough the Jewish Kingdom’s religious policy toward Conquest conquered peoples was forcible conversion the Jews thus tried to force the conquered Samaritans to adopt Jewish religion and Customs note you’re going to worship our way or else well the Samaritans resisted and so the Jews under the Jewish King at that time they destroyed shechem and they destroyed the Samaritan temple on malgerizim this was around 111 BC but that still didn’t bring about a breakthrough in conversions the unhappy Samaritans kept right on worshiping on their Mountain even without their Temple and the Bad Blood between the Jews and Samaritans was well established and continued right into the Roman period where Jesus appears now not every Jew hated Samaritans and on every Samaritan hated Jews but generally these people were hostile to one another they were suspicious of one another the Jews saw Samaritans as hopelessly corrupt and the Samaritans saw Jews as oppressive evil doers so with all this and background you can understand the Samaritan woman’s shock at Jesus request he’s asked a Samaritan woman for a drink even a drink from her water jar the Jews don’t have dealings with Samaritans actually that word translated have dealings with in verse 9 is literally used together with Jews do not use together with Samaritans and it could have the sense of use the same utensils as or share the same food dishes and there’s some good reason to take that translation because after all we see in verse 8 Jesus Jewish disciples went into the Samaritan town of sikar to buy food they’re having dealings with Samaritans there but to share the same utensils the same plates the same water jar Jews just don’t do that that’s a good way to become unclean now add the fact that this is not simply a Samaritan that Jesus is asking for water but a Samaritan woman a popular idea among Jews at the time is that Samaritan women are perpetually unclean menstruals from the cradle as one Rabbi later put it no wonder this woman is shocked at what Jesus says she knows what Jews characteristically think of someone like her you know she asks him he asks her to drink from her water jar Jesus is not like other Jews is he it’s not like other rabbis he thinks differently and isn’t this beautiful does this not show the wonderful heart of our savior and God he’s not afraid to break taboos and cultural barriers for the sake of God’s Kingdom he is happy he wanted the father and affirmed the Dignity of every single person made in God’s image far from shying away from people considered unclean and irredeemable Jesus went towards such people in love to make them truly clean from the heart is Jesus not worthy of adoration is Jesus not worthy of imitation Jesus breaks barriers requesting a drink but he doesn’t stop there like a skilled evangelist and a compassionate Soul winner Jesus quickly moves from talking about physical refreshment to something more significant so we come to our last heading for part one in verses 10 to 14 1C Jesus has better water than Jacob Jesus has better water than Jacob look at verse 10.
Jesus answered and said to her if you knew the gift of God and who it is who says to you give me a drink he would have asked him and he would have given you living water the situation just gets more and more surprising doesn’t it first Jesus the Jew asks a Samaritan woman for a drink but now he offers her a drink and assures her that if she only realized who she was she would have asked him and he would have gladly have given it to her now what is the gift of God Jesus mentions here most likely Jesus is referring to the gift of Salvation eternal life available by grace through all who believe in him and don’t we as Christians sometimes feel as Jesus says here with the people around us if only you knew if only you knew about the gift of God that was freely available to you now take a look at the key term at the end of the verse Living Water Zone living water is a term with which ancient people would have been familiar because living water is what they called running water or flowing water like water from a spring or a river Living Water you see is the opposite of what they call dead water of what we would call stagnant water like water from a cistern or pond if you had a guess which is better living water or dead water Living Water of course because living water is constantly flowing it doesn’t get the dirt the bugs the other pollutants building up in the water cistern water that dead water it might be all right if you have nothing else Spring Water Living Water that’s where you can find real life and refreshment so Jesus is essentially telling the Samaritan women I’ve asked you for living water from this well this spring but I tell you if you knew who I am and what I’ve got you would have asked me for living water and I would have given it to you give this response only confuses the Samaritan women but notice how she replies in verse 11.
she said to him sir you’ve nothing to draw with and the well is deep where then do you get that Living Water you see what she’s thinking like Nicodemus in John 3 and the Jews in John 2 she misunderstands the figurative nature of Jesus words and thinks he means to give her literal Living Water At first she points out he can’t mean that he would give her water from Jacob’s Well since Jesus clearly has nothing to draw with and the well is deep it’s actually over 100 feet deep and probably was even deeper in ancient times so she concludes that Jesus is offering living water from another source maybe a different well or spring thus she asks where then do you have this living water where do you get the Living Water that she doubts Jesus has what he claims comes out on what she says next in verse 12.
you’re not greater than our father Jacob are you who gave us the well and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle this is the question that expects a negative reply you’re not greater no Jacob as one of the Patriarchs represented in the Torah was revered by the Samaritans they remember they accepted the first five books of Moses so they loved Jacob and Jacob indeed was pretty great to as she points out find this great spot for a well right on a spring he dug the well and then he used the well to provide for himself his sons and his animals that’s a lot of Living Water from One Source good job Jacob so she poses the question to Jesus if you’re not going to use water from this well do you have a better well that you’ve dug out that can provide more and even better water I doubt it now the exact tone in her question is unknown she’s saying this with curiosity sarcasm playfulness it’s not enough evidence to say but we can say that she has some doubt in her question she expects that Jesus is not greater than Jacob and does not have better water imagine her surprise at Jesus reply in verses 13 to 14 affirming the opposite Jesus answered and said to her everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst but the water that I will give him will become in him a well springing up to eternal life Jesus first points out that as good as the spring is of Jacob’s Well all its drinkers will thirst again everyone Jesus says everyone who drinks of this living water from this well be thirsty again no exceptions and by the way the same is true for any of you today who are looking to drink from sin or the vapors Treasures of the world everyone who drinks of the water of prideful accomplishment will thirst again everyone who drinks of the water of romantic relationships will thirst again ever new drinks of the water material Pleasures will thirst again you will be thirsty thirsty thirsty until you die whatever that particular treasure or Source you’re going to is you’re going to keep having to Lug your water jar so to speak all the way to your chosen source of satisfaction in life all the while the hot sun is beating down on you and you’re never truly satisfied and you won’t be saved but there’s another water source that you could go to instead and Jesus says it’s available to all whoever Jesus says doesn’t matter who you are doesn’t matter what your background is what you’ve done whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst and I love the way the Greek expresses he will never thirst more literally the text says he will not not thirst forever you see the double negative in Greek is not like the double negative in English in English if you use a double negative those two negatives cancel each other out so if you say I am not not tired well that means that you’re tired because you’re not not tired but in Greek the double negative doesn’t work that way it’s used for extra emphasis extra certainty in other words Jesus says there is absolutely no way that anyone who drinks from his water will ever be caught thirsty or unsatisfied again never not for all eternity why not is the Drinker satisfied with just one gulp forever well look again at how Jesus explains in the last part of verse 14.
but the water that I will give him will become in him a well or better a spring because it’s the same word used back in verse six it will become a spring of water springing up to eternal life do you see how this works it’s not that the person coming to Jesus suddenly never has a desire to drink again rather he has a new source to drink from that’s always there to satisfy him and this source is not external it’s internal it Springs or leaps up with Incredible liveliness inside of him to quench his thirst again and again and again Jacob’s Well has got nothing on this kind of Living Water of course the big question now is what is this living water what is this living water that Jesus offers this water that continually satisfies a person forever and results in eternal life we don’t see a specific explanation in the immediate context but the rest of the chapter and the rest of the Gospel are going to make the answer clear what is Jesus life-giving water it’s God it’s God or more specifically it is the experience of knowing the father by the Sun through the Holy Spirit did not the Old Testament Proclaim that God himself is the Fountain of Living Water he doesn’t just give Living Water he is the Living Water and Jesus will say in John 7 John 7 37-39 if anyone is thirsty let them come to me and drink he who believes in me as the scripture said from his innermost being will flow rivers of Living Water and then verse 39 explains but this he spoke of the spirit whom those who believe in him were to receive for the spirit was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified and of course Jesus will also say in John 17 3. I hope you’re memorizing this verse by now by how many times I’ve said it to you John 17 3 this is eternal life what is it that they may know you the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent now brethren how I wish that each one of you would grab tightly to this truth this morning I say to you along with the psalmist taste and see that the Lord is good I say to you along with Jesus himself this morning if you only knew the gift of God and here it is who asks you for a drink you would have asked of him and he would have given you living water Brethren do you have the Fountain of Living Water springing up inside of you all the way to eternal life or are you too busy drawing from the broken cisterns of the world and of sin you won’t stop drawing from the wells of Pride and anger and unforgiveness and fear and laziness and greed you won’t stop panting after the fleeting satisfaction of alcohol drugs sex video games movies television you won’t stop being dismayed when the cisterns of marriage children work school they just don’t give you the satisfaction that you’re looking for Brethren Jesus has definitively answered the question that was raised by the Samaritan women that doubting question he is far greater than Jacob and the water that he gives in himself is so much better and makes it so that you are never caught thirsty again forever even in the days of drought even in the days of heat even in the days of extreme pain and trial it says Jeremiah 17 says if you have God if you have the Fountain of Life and Living Water you will be like a well-watered tree because you’re not disconnected from the source it’s always there it’s always there for your refreshment for your joy for your life brethren we sing all the time that Jesus is better than life because he is our life but do you believe that do you really believe that are you experiencing that do not settle for a dead religion and would you affirm all the true ideas about God but you never know God himself you never experienced God and never experience the Abundant Life of walking with him and just getting to know him do you want Abundant Life it’s there it’s available to you Jesus offers it to you today so believe in Jesus for real receive his spirit get to know him become one of the humble Outsiders give up everything for his sake and you will find the Living Water that both satisfies and saves forever that is a promise that is guaranteed from God’s Bible today Jesus freely offers Living Water have you taken it every other cistern is broken in reality it holds no water but Jesus has the living water in the truest sense and that water never fails wonderful wonderful truth but the Samaritan woman doesn’t get it not yet look at verse 15 you can see that she’s still thinking on the Earthly level well next time we’ll see how Jesus redirects the conversation get her understand who he really is what he’s really offering and what worship of God is really all about let’s pray Jesus how wonderful you are how satisfying you are Lord we think of Psalm 16.
what David was teaching us that you are your people’s portion you don’t just give things to your people and that’s their portion you are your people’s portion you are the joyful inheritance you are the lines that have fallen into Pleasant places it is at your right hand that there are Pleasures forever you are the source of life and joy and God we believe that we’re so excited that you like that Samaritan woman had an encounter with us where you revealed yourself to us and we believed and we began to experience that spring of the spirit inside of us but God it is so easy to drift away to somehow not drink from the spring that we have and start to look at the other Springs of the world and say Hey you know that’s pretty good yeah I’m going to try and find my satisfaction over there yeah this is what’s going to secure me and then becoming so surprised becoming so surprised when those Springs turn out to be dry when the water turns out to be stagnant and when we find ourselves still thirsty oh Lord I don’t know everything that the people in our congregation are going through today but I know this I know that your word is true and that if you say that those who believe in you have the kind of Living Water that satisfies in any circumstance I know that it’s true for each person here this morning so God I pray that they would see that I pray that they would know that by faith they would take hold of your promise they would drink your living water and they would be satisfied not just satisfying now not just experience eternal life now but that they would know that their autonal life is secure forever we experience in part now but the true satisfaction the full satisfaction is to come we will always have life because we have the Living Water of God thank you God if there’s anyone here who’s never experienced this who’s never known you God I pray that you would open their eyes today you’d have an encounter with you just like we did just like the Samaritan woman did they would repent and believe and they’d find there all in you Lord Jesus glorify yourself God you are worthy of it in the name of Jesus Amen