Tales of Restoration
Sermon Notes
The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John, although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. When the Lord learned of this, he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee. Now he had to go through Samaria. So, he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.” “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” Then Jesus declared, “I who speak to you am he.” (John 4:1-26)
I. A search and rescue story of epic proportions
A. Barrier#1:“Jesus had to go through Samaria...”(racial)
Most direct geographically
But absolutely improper socially
Long animosity between Jews and Samaritans
Half-breed idol worshippers
Jews destroyed Mt. Gerazim in 2nd Century
Samaritans desecrated Temple in 1st Century and on another
occasion massacred Jewish pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem
Samaritans were not only undesirable but also dangerous
Jesus should have crossed the Jordan River, avoiding Samaria...
But Jesus “had to go through Samaria.” Why? Because Jesus sees the
world differently than the rest of us.
B. Barrier#2:A woman (gender)
The Talmud: “It is forbidden [for a man] to give a woman any greeting.!
Also the Talmud: “He that talks much with womankind brings evil upon
himself.!
C. Barrier#3:Will you give me a drink?”(religious)
Participating in a Samaritan’s hospitality
Never eat with a Gentile
So,we’vebarelygottenstartedwiththisstory,andJesushasalreadyblasted through three fairly immovable obstacles, but then there’s actually a 4th.
Barrier#4:“Tired as He was from the journey.”
If we’ve been paying attention to this story, John has made it clear that
Jesus is no ordinary man but God incarnate.
What do you mean, “God was tired?”
The scandal of incarnation
Creator of land had to walk
Creator of water was thirsty
Shows the divides that God was willing to cross to come to us.
II. The greatest barrier and her deepest need
A conversation about water is actually a conversation about Jesus (who He is)
“A Jew”
“If you only knew...”
“You don’t have a bucket...Who are you?”
Livingwater
This is not normal well water.
He’s talking about eternal life, satisfaction, joy
There’s a strong case to be made that the overarching theme of the book of John is joy
Jesus is offering her the life she has always dreamed possible.
But she can’t hear it (could you?)
Partially because Jesus is being cryptic
But far more because there’s something standing between her and
eternal life.
Shame
“Go call your husband.” a. A non-sequitur
b. But not really: “Why are you at this well all alone?” (in the heat of the day)
c. Jesus has identified that there is one last barrier, the most significant
d. Always keep her from receiving the love that He offers and the life that He brings
“You have had 5 husbands, and the man you are now with...”
We blame her, but...
We should be blaming him
Elements of shame
It was not just like she felt like she had done something wrong;
she felt like she was wrong, like there was something wrong with
her.
It was affirmed by the community (“Don’t go in there. Those kids
have AIDS.”)
It separated her from community.
It separated her from God (because you experience God in
community).
E. “Where do I have to go to be with Him?”
Not misdirection
What an amazing woman! The first question out of her mouth.
Difference between her and Nicodemus.
F. Jesus’ answer
Well, the Jews have the right Temple
But that doesn’t matter anymore.
Why? Because I AM here.
Most people travel to be with God (tell my story)
God traveled to be with her.
G. “Come see a man who told me everything I ever did.”
Not hiding anymore
Wants to share the story; this is how you know she has received love.