Sermon

Jesus is ___, Part. 5: “The Savior of the World”

GBCT Weekly Sermon Podcast

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  1. In life, there's a natural response that follows.

  2. You want to return to experience it again, and you can probably

  3. guess who's more excited about that.

  4. There's nothing wrong with that. God gives us good gifts to

  5. enjoy. He invites us to receive them

  6. with gratitude and joy. And in many ways, those moments

  7. are a reflection of His kindness toward us.

  8. And yet, even in the midst of something good, there's a quiet

  9. reality we all recognize. As meaningful as those

  10. experience are, they are not meant to be the place where we

  11. find our deepest and dissatisfaction.

  12. Because there's a deeper need in every human heart, one that no

  13. experience, no matter how good, can fully meet.

  14. That's why even after something, something we enjoy, we can still

  15. sense that that there's still something more we are looking

  16. for. And that gently reminds us of

  17. this truth. Whatever we have, no matter how

  18. good it is, will not be enough if we do not have the one we

  19. truly need. But the good news is that God

  20. has not left us to keep searching on our own.

  21. And this is exactly what we want to see in John chapter 4.

    John 4 chapter mention

  22. In this passage we are brought into a very ordinary moment, a

  23. woman coming to draw water. But as Jesus meets her there, he

  24. begins to generally feels what her heart has been longing for

  25. all along. And through this encounter, we

  26. begin to see who He is. So with that in mind, let's open

  27. your Bible to John chapter 4, verse 1 to 42.

    John 4:1–42

  28. And I will read all the passage from verse one to verse 42.

  29. John chapter 4, verse 1 to 42. Jesus and the woman of Samaria.

    John 4:1–42

  30. Now when? Now when Jesus learned that the

  31. Pharisee had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more

  32. disciples than John, although Jesus himself did not baptize,

  33. but only his disciples, he left Judea and departed again for

  34. Galilee. And he had to pass through

  35. Samaria. So he came to a town of Samaria

  36. called Cyker, near the field that Jacob had given to his son

  37. Joseph. Jacob, Jacob's well was there.

  38. So Jesus, weird as he was from his journey, was sitting beside

  39. the well. It was it was about the 6th

  40. hour. A woman from Samaria came to

  41. draw water. Just say to her, give me a

  42. drink, for his disciples had gone away into the city to buy

  43. food. The Samaritan woman said to him,

  44. How is it that you, a Jew, asked for a drink from me, a woman of

  45. Samaria? For Jews have no dealings with

  46. Samaritans. And Jesus answered her, If you

  47. knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you, give

  48. me a drink, you would have asked him, and he would have given you

  49. living water. The woman said to him, Sir, you

  50. have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep.

  51. Where do you get that living water?

  52. Are you greater than our father Jacob?

  53. He gave us all. He gave us the well and drank

  54. from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.

  55. He said to her, Everyone who drinks of this water will be

  56. thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will

  57. give him will never be thirsty again.

  58. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of

  59. water welling up to eternal life.

  60. The woman say to him, Sir, give me this water so that I will not

  61. be thirsty or have to come here to draw water, and just say to

  62. her, Go call your husband and come here.

  63. The woman answered him, I have no husband.

  64. And you say to her, You are right in saying, I have no

  65. husband, for you have had five husbands, and the one you now

  66. have is not your husband. What you have said is true.

  67. The woman say to him, Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.

  68. Our fathers worship on this mountain, but you say that in

  69. Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.

  70. This is said to her. Woman, believe me, the hour is

  71. coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will

  72. you worship the Father. You worship what you do not

  73. know. We worship what we know, for

  74. salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming and is

  75. now here, when the true worshippers will worship the

  76. Father in spirit and truth. For the Father is seeking such

  77. people to worship Him. God is Spirit and those who

  78. worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.

  79. The woman say it to him. I know that Messiah is coming.

  80. He who he who is called Christ, when he comes, he will tell us

  81. all things Jesus says to her, I who speak to you am He.

  82. Just then his disciples came back.

  83. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one

  84. said, what do you see or what are you talking with her?

  85. So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said

  86. to and say to the people, Come see a man who told me all that I

  87. ever did, can this be the Christ?

  88. They ran out the town and were coming to him.

  89. Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, Rabbi eat,

  90. but he said to them, I have food to eat that you do not know

  91. about. South.

  92. The disciples say to one another, has anyone brought him

  93. something to eat? You say to come to them, My food

  94. is to do the will of him who sent me and accomplished his

  95. work. Do you not say there are yet

  96. four months? Then comes the harvest.

  97. Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes and see that the fields are

  98. white for harvest already. The one who lives is receiving

  99. wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sour and

  100. Reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying it holds

  101. true. One soul and another reaps.

  102. I send you to reap that, to reap that for which you did not

  103. labor. Others have labored, and you

  104. have entered into their labor. Many Samaritans from that town

  105. believed in him because of the woman's testimony.

  106. He told me, oh, that I ever did. So when the Samaritans came to

  107. him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two

  108. days, and many more believed because of his word.

  109. They said to the woman. It is no longer because of what

  110. you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we

  111. know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.

  112. This is God's word. Could you bow with me and let's

  113. pray one more time. Our Father in heaven, as we come

  114. to your word, we ask that you would open our eyes to seek

  115. Christ. Clearly help us not just to

  116. understand this passage, but to be changed by it.

  117. Show us our need and lead us to the One who truly satisfies and

  118. guard us from destruction. Soften our hearts and give us a

  119. readiness to receive what You are saying to us today.

  120. We ask in Jesus name, Amen. So Church, in this passage we

  121. will see how He shows Himself as Savior in three parts. 1st, the

  122. Saviour who gives living water, verses 1 to 15.

  123. Second, the Saviour who refills the heart, verses 16 to 26.

  124. And 3rd, the Saviour who brings the harvest, verses 27 to 42.

  125. So first the Saviour who gives living water.

  126. Let's begin by looking at verses one and two.

  127. At this point in the story, Jesus ministry is clearly

  128. growing. More people are coming, more

  129. people are listening, and more people are becoming his

  130. disciples. As this happens, the Pharisees

  131. begin to hear about it. They are the religious leaders

  132. who pay close attention to the movements like this.

  133. They observe, evaluate, and respond to anything that gains

  134. influence among the people. And now their attention is

  135. turning toward Jesus. Now look at first 3.

  136. When Jesus becomes aware that the Pharisees are paying a close

  137. attention to him, he decided to leave Judea.

  138. And we should not misunderstand this moment.

  139. This is not Jesus being afraid or avoiding pressure.

  140. Throughout the Gospel of John, this always moves according to

  141. the Father's timing. He's never rushed and he's never

  142. delayed. His hour had not yet come.

  143. So he continues his ministry according to the Father's plan.

  144. But here is where the story becomes very interesting.

  145. In verse 4 it says now he had to go through Samaria.

  146. At 1st. At first glance it might sound

  147. like a simple cheerful note, but in this context it carries more

  148. meaning than that. Geographically, Jesus did not

  149. have to go through through Samaria.

  150. Many Jews, when travelling from Judea to Galilee, would actually

  151. go out of their way to avoid it. They would choose cross the

  152. Jordan River, trifle up on the eastern side, and then cross

  153. back again, adding distance and inconvenience, just so they

  154. would not have to pass through Samaritan territory.

  155. And why would they do that? Because the relationship between

  156. Jews and Samaritans was deeply broken.

  157. There was a long history of conflict, mistrust and

  158. hostility. So when John says he had to go

  159. through Samaria, he's talking about purpose.

  160. And that means there's someone in Samaria he he intends to

  161. meet. And also in verse 5 we are told

  162. that Jesus arrives at the town called Saikar near the field

  163. that Jacob had given to his son Joseph, that Jacob's well was

  164. there. Jacob was one of the great

  165. patriarchs and this well had served generation for his

  166. people. For the Samaritans it represent

  167. their heritage and God's past proficient for his people.

  168. And then in verse 6 we see that Jesus we read from his journey

  169. set down by the well, and John tells us it was about the 6th

  170. hour. Now pause there for a moment.

  171. First, we see something very real about Jesus.

  172. He's tired, physically tired. And here John is reminding us

  173. that Jesus did not just appear human, he truly become became

  174. human. He entered into our weaknesses,

  175. our limitation, even our willingness.

  176. And the timing also matters. It is noon, the hottest part of

  177. the day when people do not usually draw water.

  178. Women normally come in the morning or evening together, but

  179. she comes alone at noon, likely avoiding others.

  180. Yet in first seven we read a woman from Samaria came to draw

  181. water, and this is said to her, give me a drink.

  182. So first, this is speaks to a Samaritan.

  183. That alone would have been unusual for a Jewish rabbi.

  184. Rabbi. Second, he speaks to a woman in

  185. public setting, which many teachers at the time would avoid

  186. it. And 3rd, as we will soon

  187. discover, this woman carries a complicated and painful story.

  188. In other words, everything about this situation would normally

  189. say do not engage and yet Jesus intentionally initiates the

  190. conversations. In first nine she replies how is

  191. it that you, a Jew, asked for a drink from me, a woman of

  192. Samaria? You can see and you can hear the

  193. surprise of her voice in her mind.

  194. This is not how the interaction is supposed to go and but listen

  195. carefully to how Jesus respond. In 1st 10 Jesus answered her.

  196. If you knew the gift of God and who is who it is that is saying

  197. to you, give me a drink, you would have asked him and he

  198. would have given you living water.

  199. So Jesus here brings her attention to two things at once.

  200. First the gift of God and the one who gives it.

  201. Those two always belong together because the gift only becomes

  202. meaningful when you recognize the giver.

  203. If you miss who Jesus is and you will misunderstand what he

  204. offers. So what is this gift of God?

  205. Jesus calls it living water, and as we read the rest of John's

  206. Gospel, we are given clarity. In John Chapter 7, this living

    John 7 chapter mention

  207. water is explained as the Holy Spirit given to those who

  208. believed in Christ Jesus Christ. So Jesus is not talking about

  209. something external or temporary here.

  210. He's speaking about the fairy life of God coming to dwell

  211. within a person. But the woman does not hear it

  212. that way. In verse 11 she says, Sir, you

  213. have nothing to draw water with and the well is deep.

  214. Where do you get that living water?

  215. Then she continues verse 12, since essentially saying this

  216. well has a story. Jacob himself gave us, gave it

  217. to us, It has a stain line for generation.

  218. Are you really claiming something better than this?

  219. So for her Jacob represent the greatness of the past and the

  220. well is the evidence of that greatness.

  221. What she does not realize is that she is standing before the

  222. God of Jacob. So the answer to her question is

  223. yes, he is greater. But notice how Jesus responds.

  224. He does not enter into a debate about Jacob because the main

  225. issue is not whether he is greater than Jacob.

  226. The real issue is whether see she is sees sees her need or

  227. not. So Jesus generally redirect the

  228. conversation toward exposing the deeper thirst in her life.

  229. And listen to what Jesus says in verse 13.

  230. Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but

  231. whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be

  232. thirsty again. Physical water, that's what it

  233. is meant to do. It meets a real need, but only

  234. for a time. You drink and later you need you

  235. need more, and Jesus uses that everyday reality to point to

  236. something beyond physical. Verse 14 explain why.

  237. Because the water that I will give him become in Him a spring

  238. of water welling up to eternal life.

  239. So the difference is not just in how long the satisfaction last,

  240. but in the nature of what is given.

  241. This is no longer something external that we return to

  242. repeatedly. It is something internal,

  243. something God places within a person.

  244. And when Jesus speaks about eternal life, he's not only

  245. referring to duration. He's describing A restored

  246. relationship with God since forgiven the heart renew and a

  247. person brought back into fellowship with the One who is

  248. the source of life. But at this point she still does

  249. not see it clearly. So in verse 15, she says, Sir,

  250. give me this water so that I will not be thirsty or have to

  251. come here to draw water. We can see here she is still

  252. thinking in practical terms. In her mind, this sounds like a

  253. solution to a daily burden. No more walking under the heat,

  254. no more drawing water again and again.

  255. But Jesus is not removing a daily task here.

  256. He's preparing to address the condition of the heart.

  257. Because the real issue is not the well, it is the thirst

  258. within her. So brothers and sisters, this is

  259. where the pastor speaks clearly directly to us.

  260. Because it's not only her story, it reflects something true about

  261. every human life. We all look for ways to make

  262. life feel whole, and we search in different ways.

  263. Some people pursue experiences, always looking for the next

  264. thing that will make them feel alive.

  265. Others pursue success, building a sense of word on achievement

  266. and recognition. Some place their hope in

  267. relationship, believing the right person will make life

  268. whole. Others look for stability,

  269. comfort, and control. These things are not necessarily

  270. wrong. In many ways they are part of

  271. God's good provision. But they are not designed to

  272. define life or sustain the heart.

  273. And overtime that becomes clear. You reach what you once longed

  274. for, and for a moment it satisfies, but not deeply, not

  275. fully. Something remains unsettled.

  276. So what is missing? The Bible answer is direct.

  277. We were created for life with God, to know Him, to live in

  278. fellowship with Him, and to depend on Him as the source of

  279. life. But sin has broken that

  280. relationship. So the issue is not that we

  281. desire too much, but that we are looking in the wrong place for

  282. for what we were designed to receive from God.

  283. That is why every well in this world has limits.

  284. But here is where we need to be very clear, especially for us as

  285. Christians. Even those who have been born

  286. again still struggle in this area.

  287. Why? Because while we have been truly

  288. renewed, we have not yet been made perfect.

  289. The power of sins has has been broken, but its presence remains

  290. as scripture says. In Galatians 5, we are told that

  291. the flesh and the spirit are opposed to one another.

  292. Roman Chapter 7 Paul describes the tension of wanting to do

  293. what is right, yet still feeling the pulling of sin.

  294. So what happens? Even as believers, our hearts

  295. can drift. We begin to rely again on other

  296. things, comfort, control, approval, security.

  297. Not because Christ is lacking, but because our hearts are still

  298. being sanctified. And it is, and that is the

  299. difference. This passage help us to see not

  300. that some struggle and others do not, but that apart from God we

  301. are cut off from life, while in Christ we have been brought into

  302. life and are learning to depend on Him, to live for him out of

  303. that new life. And this is where the gospel

  304. gives us hope. Our hope is not that we will

  305. never struggle again. Our hope is that Christ remains

  306. sufficient and He continues his work in US.

  307. Philippians 1 verses 6 reminds us that he who began a good work

    Philippians 1:6

  308. in US will bring it to completion.

  309. So when we recognize that we have been relying on the wrong

  310. things, the answer is not to withdraw or despair.

  311. The answer is to return, to come again to Christ, to seek clearly

  312. and to receive what He gives. And this is what Jesus is doing

  313. with the Samaritan's woman, not to shame her, but to lead her

  314. step by step to the truth. So the question comes to us,

  315. where are you looking for life? What are you depending on to

  316. give you a sense of completeness?

  317. What you? What are you?

  318. What are you holding on to thinking it will finally satisfy

  319. you? It is found in being united to

  320. Christ by faith, restored to God through His work, renewed by His

  321. Spirit, and sustained daily as we continue to depend on Him.

  322. That means we no longer build our life on ourselves.

  323. We rest in Christ in what Christ has done, not what we can prove.

  324. And in this passage this is describes that life as living

  325. water, the Holy Spirit dwelling in US, welling up to eternal

  326. life. This is a life to knowing Him,

  327. of knowing Him. Not just knowing about Him, but

  328. walking with Him. A life of fellowship with God,

  329. where we come to Him, hear from him, and enjoy his presence even

  330. in ordinary moments. And as the Spirit works in us,

  331. he keeps pointing us back to Christ, reminding us that

  332. through Him we are made right with God, not by our effort, but

  333. by his righteousness given to us.

  334. So this life begins now, knowing Him, walking with Him.

  335. And it does not end here. It carries us all the way to

  336. eternal life, where we will be with God fully forever.

  337. So the woman came to the well expecting an ordinary day.

  338. She came looking for water, but she did not realize that she was

  339. standing face to face with the One who gives life itself.

  340. And patiently this is leading her to see who he is.

  341. And in order to bring her to that point, he takes the

  342. conversation one step further in the next part of the passage.

  343. So second, the Saviour who refills the heart, Look at 1st

  344. 16. The conversation suddenly

  345. shifts. Jesus says to her, go call your

  346. husband and come here. At first that feels unrelated,

  347. right? He was just speaking about

  348. living water, about the gift of God.

  349. Why bring up her personal life here now?

  350. Because Jesus is not just offering something, He's

  351. exposing something. He moves from the topic of water

  352. to the condition of her heart. The woman answered honestly, I

  353. have no husband. And Jesus replies in verse 17 to

  354. 18. You are right in saying I have

  355. no husband, for you have had five husbands and the one you

  356. now have is not your husband. In that moment everything

  357. changes. The issue is not only her past,

  358. but the issue is that Jesus knows it fully, accurately,

  359. without being told. He brings into the open what she

  360. has kept hidden and it shows what Scriptures clearly teaches

  361. us. A person cannot receive the life

  362. Jesus gives unless they first acknowledge their own sin and

  363. their need for Him. And when Jesus speaks, he does

  364. not stay at the surface. He goes to the heart.

  365. And suddenly this woman realized that she's standing before

  366. someone who sees her completely. Her history, her patterns, her

  367. relationships, her disappointments.

  368. Nothing is hidden. And it's not only true for her,

  369. that is true also for us. Jesus does not only see what is

  370. feasible, He sees the whole person, the life we present

  371. publicly and the life we keep private, the things we admit and

  372. the things we avoid. Hebrew 4.

  373. Hebrew 413 says No creature in is high is hidden from his side,

  374. but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must

  375. give account. And that raises a direct

  376. question for us. What are we trying to keep at

  377. the surface that Christ is already seeing clearly?

  378. Because we can be very active outwardly, even in spiritual

  379. things, while avoiding what is actually going on within.

  380. But Jesus does not allow that separation.

  381. If he had stayed with general teaching about living water, she

  382. might have remained. She might she might have

  383. remained interested but unchanged.

  384. She could have left with insight but without transformation.

  385. So Jesus here makes it personal. He shows her why she needs what

  386. he is offering and her response is very familiar.

  387. In verse 19 she says, Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.

  388. So you can see here she immediately shifts the

  389. conversation in verse 20. She says our fathers worship on

  390. this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where

  391. people ought to worship. Do you see what she is doing

  392. here? She moves from personal exposure

  393. to theological discussion, and we understand why, because it is

  394. much easier to talk about religious question than to deal

  395. with the condition of our own heart.

  396. It is easier to discuss where to worship than to us whether we

  397. are truly right before God and we do the same thing.

  398. It is easier to talk about church, theology or preferences

  399. than to us what is actually going on in my heart before God.

  400. We can stay busy with religious things and never deal with the

  401. deeper issue of our heart. But Jesus does not follow her

  402. into that diversion. He answers her question, but He

  403. goes deeper than she expects. He says the issue is not where

  404. to worship, but how you worship. In verses 21 to 24, He says the

  405. hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem

  406. will you worship the Father. That statement would have been

  407. shocking because for generation, worship had been tied to

  408. specific places. For Jews, it was Jerusalem.

  409. For the Samaritans, it was Mount Jerusalem.

  410. These places were not just location, they were central to

  411. identity and religious life. But Jesus says something has

  412. changed. Through him, access to God is no

  413. longer tied to location. Why?

  414. Because through Him people are brought directly to the Father,

  415. and then and then when he defines what matters.

  416. In verses 23, Jesus says the hour is coming and is now here

  417. when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and

  418. truth. This is the turning point of his

  419. answer. The question is no longer about

  420. the right place, but about the right kind of worshipper.

  421. And that leads directly to us, because the issue is not whether

  422. we worship, but whether we worship rightly.

  423. This gives to defining Marx spirit and truth.

  424. So what does that mean? First, to worship in spirit

  425. means worship comes from a heart that has been made alive by the

  426. Holy Spirit. It is not simply external

  427. activity. It's not routine, habit, or

  428. participation. A person can sing, pray, attend,

  429. serve, and still not worship God from the heart because through

  430. worship begins with a changed heart.

  431. This is why Jesus spoke earlier about being born again with that

  432. new life from the Spirit. We cannot respond to God as we

  433. should. Then this also says worship must

  434. be in truth. That means we do not approach

  435. God based on our ideas, our own ideas, or appear or preference.

  436. We come according to how He has refilled Himself, and in this

  437. gospel that revelation is centered in Jesus Christ.

  438. So worship in truth means we come to God through Christ

  439. according to who He truly is, not who we imagine Him to be.

  440. This is why Jesus says in verse 22 you worship what you do not

  441. know. The Samaritans had some

  442. knowledge of God but is what but it was incomplete and reshaped.

  443. They accept part of God's revelation but not all of it.

  444. They set up their own place of worship and followed tradition

  445. they had formed over time. And here's where this become

  446. very direct to us. Sincerity is not enough,

  447. activity is not enough. Familiarity with church is not

  448. enough. So the real question is not do I

  449. worship, but the real question is has my heart has been changed

  450. and I'm and am I responding to God as he truly is.

  451. Then Jesus explain why this is necessary.

  452. Verse 24 Jesus says God is spirit and those who worship him

  453. must worship in spirit and in truth.

  454. So because God is spirit, he is not limited to a place and is

  455. not approach to action alone. Worship is about how a person

  456. comes before him and the only way to come rightly is with a

  457. heart made alive by the Spirit and shaped by the truth He has

  458. refilled and that leads us to creation.

  459. We can, we cannot avoid what kind of worshipper are we?

  460. Because it is possible to participate in everything

  461. outwardly and still remain unchanged within.

  462. That is where this woman stands. She is familiar with religious

  463. discussion, tradition, and debates.

  464. But Jesus shows her that true worship begins when a person

  465. faces the truth about themselves and the truth about God.

  466. And this is exactly what Jesus does.

  467. He refills her heart and that truth leads to Jesus, to him.

  468. So in verses 25, the woman says I know that Messiah is coming.

  469. So the woman senses that the answers she needs about her

  470. life, her pain, her sin, and how to worship God must ultimately

  471. come from the Messiah. And I just explain fairly clear

  472. with clarity In verse 26, Jesus says, I who speak to you am He.

  473. This is one of the clearest self revelation in the gospel.

  474. The one sitting before her is not merely a prophet.

  475. He is not just a teacher. He is the Messiah, the Saviour

  476. who reveals the truth about our sin, the Saviour who restores

  477. true worship, and the Saviour who brings sinners back to the

  478. Father. So this moment invites everyone

  479. of us to respond, because when Jesus reveals himself, he can.

  480. We cannot stay neutral. When Christ is made known,

  481. people either come to him in faith or turn away in unbelief.

  482. His light exposes the heart and that acts for sure calls for

  483. repentance and trust. So the question is not whether

  484. we have heard about Jesus. The question is how we respond.

  485. Will we continue to avoid the deeper truth about our hearts?

  486. Will we keep everything at the level of ideas, discussion about

  487. religion, conversation about theology, while never allowing

  488. the truth to confront us personally?

  489. Or we will come honestly before the Savior who already knows us

  490. completely. The Samaritan woman came to the

  491. well thinking she was simply drawing water, but in reality,

  492. Christ was drawing her into the light.

  493. And the same thing happens whenever the Word of God comes

  494. to us. God's truth does not only inform

  495. us, but it reveals us. It change us.

  496. It transforms us. Scripture tells us that the Word

  497. of God is leaving an active, sharper than any 2 edged sword,

  498. discerning the thoughts and intention of the heart.

  499. So when Christ speaks, He addresses what is beneath our

  500. motives, our desires, our hidden patterns, the things we would

  501. rather leave untouched. That exposure can feel

  502. uncomfortable. It confronts the reality that

  503. the parts of our lives we try to manage or hide are fully known

  504. to him. But this is where the gospel

  505. becomes good news. The one who exposes our sin is

  506. the very one who came to save sinners.

  507. This does not refill our sin to condemn us, but to lead us to

  508. Himself for mercy and to give us what we cannot produce on our

  509. own, a new heart. So when we begin to see our sin

  510. clearly, we also begin to see our need rightly.

  511. We realize that we cannot repair what is broken within us.

  512. Our Air Force, discipline, even our religious activity, cannot

  513. cleanse the heart. Only Christ can do that.

  514. And that is exactly what Jesus does in this encounter.

  515. He meets one woman, He knows her completely, and he begins to

  516. change her from within. And it's important for us to

  517. understand because if you are in Christ, your heart has already

  518. been changed, not by your religious effort, but by Jesus

  519. himself. The change in you is not

  520. something you have produced, it is something He has

  521. accomplished. That means you're standing

  522. before. God is not built on how well you

  523. are trying to change, but on what Christ has already done for

  524. you. You are accepted because of His

  525. work, not your performance, and the truth reshapes how we come

  526. to Him. Worship finds its proper place

  527. not in outward location, ritual or routine, but in a heart that

  528. has been made through faith in Christ, a heart that respond to

  529. God in trust, in obedience, in love, because it has been

  530. changed by Him. Now we come to God because we

  531. know Him, not just because it is expected.

  532. We listen to His Word because we trust Him.

  533. We obey Him because we love Him. And what we see next is that

  534. this change does not stay private.

  535. What Jesus does in her life begins to move outward and

  536. affect others around her. And that leads us to the final

  537. part of this passage. So third, the Savior who brings

  538. the heart first. Now look at verse 27.

  539. The disciples returned from the town where they had gone to buy

  540. food, and they find Jesus still at the well, still in the

  541. conversation. John tells us they are surprised

  542. the Jewish rabbi speaking openly with a Samaritan woman in

  543. publicly and this is not what they are used to.

  544. And yet no one says anything. They do not yet understand what

  545. Jesus is doing, and while they are still trying to process the

  546. situation there, the focus of the story shifts again to the

  547. woman. The 1st 28th says so.

  548. The woman left her water jar and went away into town.

  549. Death detail is easy to miss, but remember why she came to the

  550. well in the first place. She came to draw water.

  551. That was her purpose, her routine, her plan for the day.

  552. But now she leaves the jar behind.

  553. Why? Because something greater has

  554. taken hold on her attention. The task that once seemed

  555. necessary is now secondary. She has encountered Christ and

  556. it changes what matters. She goes back into the town and

  557. begins speaking to others. Verses 29 tells us what she

  558. says. Come see a man who told me all

  559. that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?

  560. Notice how simple her testimony is.

  561. She simply she simply tells people what she has experienced

  562. and invites them to see for themselves.

  563. Come and see and notice the honesty of in her words.

  564. She does not. She does not hide her past.

  565. She doesn't minimize what Jesus revealed to her.

  566. In fact, she highlights it. The woman say He told me

  567. everything I ever did. The very thing she might have

  568. been ashamed of becomes part of her testimony.

  569. And she asked a question. Can this be the Christ?

  570. Her understanding is still growing.

  571. She does not yet have everything clear, but what she has seen is

  572. enough to move her to speak. And God uses that.

  573. Verses 30 says they went out of the town and were coming to him.

  574. The entire town begins moving forward.

  575. Jesus. And while the townspeople are

  576. coming to see Jesus, the disciples are focused on

  577. something else entirely. They are worried.

  578. About lunch verse 31 they say it says.

  579. Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying Rabbi eat.

  580. From their perspective this makes sense.

  581. Jesus has been travelling, he's tired, he must be hungry.

  582. But listen carefully to Jesus response.

  583. I have food to eat that you do not know about, Jesus explained

  584. in verse 34. My food is to do the will of him

  585. who sent me and to accomplish His word.

  586. In other words, what satisfies Jesus, what sustains Him, is

  587. doing the Father's will and completing the work He has been

  588. sent to do. This moment with this woman is

  589. not accidental. It is part of of the Father's

  590. plan to bring salvation to sinners.

  591. And now Jesus invites his disciples to see beyond what is

  592. in front of them. He says in verse 35, do do you

  593. not say they are yet for months? And then comes the harvest.

  594. Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes and see that the fields are

  595. white for harvest. In that moment, as the people,

  596. as the people from the town are coming toward him, Jesus is

  597. saying the harvest is already here.

  598. And he continues in verse 36, he says the one who reaps receive

  599. wages and gathers fruit for eternal life so that sour and

  600. Reaper may rejoice together. So the disciples are stepping

  601. into a work that has already begun.

  602. Others have sown through the Scriptures, through the through

  603. God's past, dealing with his people, and now they are being

  604. called to participate in the harvest.

  605. And this shows us something important.

  606. The mission of God does not depend on one person doing

  607. everything. God is always at work across

  608. time, using different people, using different time in

  609. different ways. Some sow some rib, but all of it

  610. belongs to Him. And when we see and then we

  611. begin to see the result. Look at verse 39.

  612. Many Samaritans from the town believed in him because of the

  613. woman's testimony, her simple words.

  614. He told me all that I effort did become the means God uses to

  615. draw others. And it is important for us to

  616. see God often uses fairly ordinary and imperfect words to

  617. accomplish his work. The woman simply speaks about

  618. what Jesus has done in her life and God uses that.

  619. Isn't that encouraging? It reminds us that the

  620. effectiveness of our witness does not depend on our ability

  621. or until we feel ready, but on God's power.

  622. He's able to use even simple, incomplete and imperfect words

  623. to draw people to himself. And it's exactly what we see

  624. happens here. After meeting Jesus personally

  625. and hearing His teaching, the people says in verse 42, it is

  626. no longer because of what you had, because of what you said

  627. that we believe. For we have heard for ourselves

  628. and we know that this is indeed the Saviour of the world.

  629. Notice what they call him, Saviour of the world.

  630. Do you see what has happened? A woman who dwell in isolation

  631. becomes the means through which an entire town encounters

  632. Christ. People who had been excluded,

  633. dismissed, and despised now recognize something profound.

  634. They were now convinced that Jesus is the Savior of all

  635. people, Samaritans as well as Jews.

  636. That is the scope of the gospel. Jesus is not merely the savior

  637. of a tribe, a culture, or a religious group.

  638. He is the Savior of the world. So, brothers and sisters, as we

  639. look back over this passage, we begin to see the whole picture

  640. come together. A woman came with a thirst she

  641. did not fully understand, and Jesus offered her something no

  642. ordinary water could provide, the fairy life of God within

  643. her. Then we saw the Saviour who

  644. refills the heart and restores through worship.

  645. This has brought her life into the light, not to shame her, but

  646. to show her truth about her sin, about her need, and about the

  647. kind of worship the Father seeks.

  648. And now we see the Saviour who accomplishes the Father's work

  649. and bring the harfest. One life is changed and through

  650. that one life many others come to believe.

  651. All of it points to 1 unchanging reality.

  652. Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, the one who gives

  653. life to Sinner, restores them to the Father and get us a people

  654. for for himself from every place.

  655. And the truth calls us for a response.

  656. Some of you may be still standing at the well.

  657. You are searching, trying different things, hoping that

  658. something will finally satisfy what you feel inside.

  659. And maybe you have found moments of relief, but the thirst keep

  660. returning. Jesus speaks into that reality

  661. and says that what is different, the life He gives does not run

  662. out. It becomes a source within you.

  663. So do not stay at a distance. Come to him.

  664. Some of you familiar with the things of Christianity, you know

  665. how to talk about God, you understand Christian teaching.

  666. But if you are honest, you have never really dealt with your sin

  667. before God. There are things you avoid,

  668. things you keep hidden. Jesus already knows, and he does

  669. not expose sin to push you away, but to bring you him to Himself,

  670. where there is forgiveness and mercy.

  671. South, do not stay in hiding. Come to him.

  672. And for those who already know Christ, this presence, lift our

  673. eyes beyond our lives. The Saviour is still at work.

  674. He's still drawing people to himself.

  675. He's still meeting people in ordinary places.

  676. He's still taking lives that seem unlikely and using them in

  677. ways that reach others. The fields us are still ready.

  678. So lift your eyes up, look around you and the people God

  679. has placed in your life, your family, your friends, your

  680. coworkers, your neighbors, People who like this woman, are

  681. searching, carrying burdens, and needing to encounter Christ.

  682. Because the same Savior who met one woman at the well at a well

  683. in Samaria is still gathering his people today.

  684. And remember how the story moves forward.

  685. It was not a trained speaker or a religious leader who first

  686. brought the town. It was one person who simply say

  687. come and see. And that is still the calling of

  688. us as a church. And the joy of the church is to

  689. point people to Christ, to say come and see.

  690. Come and see the One who gives living water.

  691. Come and see the One who forgives Sinner.

  692. Come and see the One who brings us back to the Father.

  693. Come and see Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world.

  694. Amen. Let's pray.

  695. Father, thank you for showing us Christ, the One who gives lives,

  696. refills the heart and draws ourselves to you.

  697. Help us to come to you, to trust you, and to point others to you.

  698. In Jesus name we pray, Amen. So church, as we remain seated,

  699. let's take a moment to personally reflect on God's word

  700. that was just preached to us. Reflect as you ask yourself, how

  701. would my life be different if I truly believe this truth in

  702. God's word? If you need a little help there

  703. here are a few questions to guide you as we reflect on what

  704. this passage shows us that our hearts often look for life in

  705. the wrong places. When have I been turning to

  706. something other than Christ to satisfy me?

  707. If Jesus is the one who truly gives sleeping water and knows

  708. you completely, what is keeping us?

  709. What is keeping me from coming to Him more honestly and fully?

  710. If Christ is still at work drawing people to Himself, who

  711. is God's place in my life that I can begin to point Him, even in

  712. simple ways? So take a few moments to bring

  713. your honest thoughts before the Lord, and after a few minutes we

  714. will continue in our response together.