John 4:1-26

Amen.

And first 26 verses again.

This story of the woman of Samaria.

Before we look at this, let's turn to the Lord in prayer again.

Let's pray.

Our Father in heaven, we thank you for this, your holy word.

And we ask you, trusting in Christ's merits and depending on your Holy Spirit's power,

that our reading and hearing of your word this morning would be effectual to save and keep saving us.

And so we ask for your help that we may listen diligently, readily and prayerfully.

Help us to receive your word with faith and love.

Lay it up in our hearts and practice it in our lives.

To the glory of your great name, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Well, as we read this encounter of Jesus and this woman in Samaria,

we are in a sense at the end of the first act of the good news story as John presents it to us.

He has played the magnificent overture in the opening of chapter 1,

where he's introduced us to the main character, which he starts by calling the Word.

And he's also called it the light.

And this is the light that does two things in this book.

It's the light that is.

The light who is creator.

The light who is the light of all men.

The light who is the reason for which and the means by which all people are created.

The light for whom we all live.

The light that makes itself known to all who are alive,

however much they might try and deny it.

The light that is.

And he's the light that comes.

Ever since darkness entered into the world,

the light who is, as creator, has been coming as redeemer.

The light that has been coming has been rejected by the darkness.

Not received by his own, his own creation.

But this light has kept coming.

Until a great climactic day when this light came as the Word became flesh.

And lived among us.

Full of the glory of God.

Jesus Christ, full of God's glory, came to be the tabernacle for God's people.

The meeting point between God and man.

And John has introduced us to another John.

John the Baptist.

Who introduced and prophesied the coming of this light into the world as a lamb.

Who would take away the sins of the world and reconcile us to God.

And as he did so, we see some of his disciples,

those who understand what he's saying,

transferring their discipleship to Jesus.

At which point, John presents us the big event in this first act of the story,

at a wedding in Cana.

And Jesus gives the first of seven signs that we see in this book.

A sign that would explain what he has come to do.

And John has given a lot of teaching about what Jesus has come to do,

since that scene.

Mainly in conversations with various people along the way.

Until we come to this final scene in the act.

This is the final scene change.

Before the end of this act.

And what John gives us in this scene,

on the one hand,

summarises all that he's said about Jesus so far.

But it also brings a new dimension to it.

It helps us to see it in a new light.

He literally takes us to a new place

to get this new perspective.

We even go beyond the Jewish territory into Samaria.

We see the beginning of the chapter.

And so here is the light arriving in a new place,

which allows us to see

what it looks like for the light to arrive somewhere new.

What is it like when Jesus comes on the scene

for the first time in someone's life?

And to get us ready for this summary

and for this fresh perspective,

John rocks the boat a little bit.

He makes us do a double take,

which is what he's doing in verses 6 and 7.

Imagine you're going on a journey

with some friends

and you take a break on the long drive

and you stop in a pub or a restaurant.

There's hardly anyone else in there

except for one woman who's just sat at the bar.

And while you're waiting for your food to arrive,

one of your friends goes up to this woman at the bar

and says,

Do you come here often?

You might understandably ask at that point,

What on earth is he doing?

Is he trying to chat her up or something

while we're in the middle of a long drive?

What is he doing?

That is basically what some of the readers in John's day

must have thought when they got to verse 7.

You might not think that immediately,

but it is a classic line that would make you think that.

Here's a man who's gone to a well

and he talks to a woman at that well

and asks her for a drink.

That is a classic, almost cliché,

chat-up line in the ancient world.

And you'll see that in the Old Testament.

That is exactly how Abraham's servant

found a wife for Isaac.

Jacob too, who had actually given this well.

Maybe it was even at this well that they met.

He'd given this well to Samaria.

That's exactly how he met Rachel.

That's exactly how Moses met his wife.

That if you'd watched a rom-com in those days

where the man goes to talk to a woman at the well,

you'd have complained about how unoriginal this story was.

Could it possibly be that Jesus is doing the same thing here?

Given everything that John has said about Jesus so far,

it is a pretty surprising turn of events.

On the one hand, John has spoken of Jesus as a bridegroom.

That has been there.

John the Baptist has called him a bridegroom.

And he's even spoken about how he has no right to untie his sandal.

The way Boaz did have the right to take the sandal of an unworthy redeemer.

Jesus is the worthy bridegroom.

And John has no right to take his place.

He's the one who was the true master of the wedding feast at Cana.

But he made it very clear then that this was not his time.

This was not his hour.

But the way John has spoken about him,

even in calling him a bridegroom,

he has made it sound like it's about something much greater

than just finding him a woman to marry.

So when we read Jesus saying,

what is basically this classic Chesot line,

it catches us off guard.

You've got to wonder what on earth is going on.

Have I missed something so far?

Now you might be helped right in thinking about all the times

that water has come up in John's gospel,

and every time water has come up so far,

it's never just about the water.

So there might be something more going on.

But you're still bound to ask,

have I misunderstood what Jesus is looking for?

Would you take me through this again, John?

And that is exactly what he does.

And if we're surprised, we're not alone,

because the Samaritan woman was pretty surprised herself.

Our surprise is based on everything we've known about her,

about Jesus so far.

Her surprise too was based on what she knew about him.

Except all she knew about him was that he's a Jewish man.

That's all she knows about him.

And just as we're starting to ask ourselves questions,

it's the woman who actually gets to ask the questions to Jesus himself.

And so this woman is our guide, in a way,

as we look for some answers from Jesus.

And she's going to discover who Jesus is

in four steps as we go along this conversation.

The starting point for her, the first step,

as far as she knows,

is this man has nothing to do with me.

This man has nothing to do with me.

That's where she starts off.

That's what she thinks.

And she might understandably assume

that the feeling is mutual.

She would expect a Jewish man to think,

this woman has nothing to do with me.

A Samaritan woman.

But here he is asking for a drink.

And as she points out to him,

how weird it is for him to speak to her.

Verse 9,

How is it that you, a Jew, Jewish man,

ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?

John points out how weird it is in verse 10.

She's not wrong.

Jews don't have dealings with Samaritans.

Not to mention how strange it is for a man

to be speaking to a woman out in public.

And yet Jesus' answer is basically,

it isn't weird in the slightest.

Because if you knew what I have to offer,

if you knew what the gift of God is

that I am proposing to the world,

you'd be asking me for what I have.

So why wouldn't I ask you for what you have to offer?

It's rather an intriguing answer, isn't it?

So she takes the bait.

As she does so, she discovers in verses 10 to 15,

this man has something I'm interested in.

That's the second step of her discovery.

This man has something I'm interested in.

The beginning, of course,

she doesn't get what he's talking about.

Have you got some bucket hidden away somewhere?

Do you have some secret special well

that I don't know of?

Can you somehow do better

than our great patriarch Jacob

who gave us this well

and drank at this well with his family?

And Jesus basically says in verses 13 to 14,

yes, I am greater than Jacob.

I've got a far better well than this one.

I've got a well that stops you from thirsting again.

With this well,

you'll have a well springing up inside of you

to eternal life.

And boy, is she interested.

And not just because she's fed up

of having to fetch water every day.

Because look at what's going on here.

She's fetching water at the sixth hour.

That's that midday.

That is not normal.

Evening is when the women

would usually come out to fetch water.

This woman has chosen the least likely,

least convenient time to fetch water.

She comes in the blazing midday sun.

Nobody else in their right mind

would come at this time of day.

And that's probably just the point.

It's probably just what she wanted.

She'd pick the time when she's least likely

to bump into anyone else.

This woman is alone.

This woman is sad.

And she's ashamed.

And so she answers,

Oh, sir, give me this water.

So I will not be thirsty

or have to come here to draw water.

And at this point,

when she's shown some of her colours,

Jesus' response is to show her

that he's a prophet.

And so she comes to a third step

in discovering

who he is.

She learns,

This man knows me well.

He knows all about me.

Just as she asks for this water

that would spare her from thirsting

and having to make this painful daily trip

to fetch water alone,

Jesus, seemingly out of nowhere,

says,

Go get your husband.

And she replies,

But she has no husband.

Now at this point,

Jesus could keep on

with the diagnostic questions,

couldn't he?

That's often what he does.

And in these days,

under the new covenant,

singleness is a normal way to live.

That's not a strange thing to say,

I have no husband.

End of conversation.

But in this period here,

to be a single woman

was a strange thing.

It meant you had no provision.

It meant you were completely destitute.

So for Jesus to ask her,

and then to assume that she was married,

would be a normal thing.

And it would be a normal thing

to ask,

Well, how come?

What's going on?

Why didn't he ask for questions then?

He doesn't do that.

He takes this opportunity

to show her

that he knows what's going on.

He reveals who he is

and what he knows.

Verse 17,

You are right in saying,

I have no husband.

For you have had five husbands,

and the one you now have

is not your husband.

Now we don't know

whether she's been widowed five times,

or divorced five times.

And if they're divorces,

we don't know whether

the fault was hers

or the husband's fault each time.

Whatever happened here,

we can see that she's been stigmatized.

She's ashamed.

There are bound to be

rumours going around

whether or not they were right.

And she's in so much need

that her best bet now

was to accept a situation

where she lives with a man

who won't marry her.

And in this painful situation here,

here comes a man

who reveals to her

that he knows.

He knows her.

He knows what's happened to her.

He knows what is happening to her.

He knows where she is.

Here is a prophet

who knows her well.

He knows all about her.

And so in verse 19,

she says,

Sir, I perceive that you're a prophet.

And you might think

that many seem to do

that what she says next

is a sort of a diversion tactic.

He's asking personal questions.

But he's a prophet.

He's into theology.

So I'm not asking

a theological question.

And that will distract him

for a while.

But if we think that,

and a lot of commentators do,

I think that reveals

more about us

than about her.

And it's especially

recent commentators

who do this.

I think that reveals

more about our attitudes

than it does about her.

because don't you think

if she was trying to distract him

with something irrelevant

he'd been able to tell?

Do you not think

that he'd be able to spot it

and bring it back

to the heart of the matter

if that is the heart

of the matter?

Of course he could.

But he doesn't do that.

This conversation

is going the way

Jesus wants it to go.

On the one hand,

yes,

she does have these

relational issues

that need to be addressed.

But what has Jesus done

in revealing

his prophetic knowledge

of her situation

rather than just

asking questions?

He hasn't just brought

her situation

into the conversation

but he's brought up

God

and his knowledge

of the situation

into the conversation.

When she says

I perceive you're a prophet

she's not saying

wow, that was impressive

or how do you know that?

She knows

at this point

that in this man

God has come

to speak into her life.

And so she shows

that she knows

deep down

what she needs

more than anything

is reconciliation

with God.

But she belongs

to a people in Samaria

that has developed

their own practices

and beliefs.

They only accept

the first five books

of the law

for example

not the rest

of the Old Testament.

They've set up

an alternative

centre of worship

in Samaria

a different mountain

to worship on.

They've always

defied themselves

by not belonging

to the Jews.

So that question

is bound to hang

over her head

now isn't it?

And would have done

all her life

who's right?

Who really knows God?

Can I be reconciled

with God

being a Samaritan

if they're right?

And here is one

who clearly speaks

as one sent

by God

who can speak

to her

even in the

darkness of her life

in her sin

and suffering

but it's a man

of God

speaking to her.

And so in this

fourth step

she learns

this man

can sort out

the most important

question in my life.

This man

can sort out

the most important

question

in my life.

And the way

she frames the issue

is as an issue

of mountains.

Because that is

the main question

that has been

hanging over

these two rival

societies for centuries.

And she's not

asking this question

of which mountain

should be used

for worship

as though it's

just a bit of

theological trivia.

Just a bit of

theory to just

distract ourselves

with.

No, no,

she's really

wondering

how can you

a Jew

ask me

a Samaritan

at the beginning

and by now

she's wondering

how can you

speak of God's

gift to me

as a Jewish

prophet

speaking on

God's behalf

as though

this difference

between Jew

and Samaritan

didn't matter.

Of course it

matters.

We've got to

get this question

sorted.

Maybe she's

starting to wonder

if God is

speaking to me

through a Jewish

prophet

have we been

wrong all this

time?

Do I need

to move?

Do I need

to leave

all my family

and all this

community?

Do I need

to convert

over there?

Do I need

to swallow

my national

prize and

cross over

to another

mountain?

Should all

of us be

over there?

And the

answer is

on the one

hand that

God's dealings

God's salvation

yes does

indeed come

from the Jews.

On the one

hand yes you

have been

wrong.

You've been

worshipping

what you don't

know.

But Jesus

tells her

that there's

not only

going to be

a change

in her

own life

story.

It's not

just about

going to

move to

another

mountain.

There's

going to be

a shift

in the

story of

the whole

world.

The idea

of a temple

on a

mountain

was only

ever meant

to be

symbolic.

It was

only there

as a

temporary

picture.

God

doesn't live

in particular

temples on

particular

mountains on

earth.

God is

spirit.

He doesn't

have a

body like

man.

He is

spirit.

And so

he's

worshipped in

spirit and

in truth.

The day

that the

temple

symbolized

has come.

It is

coming.

It has

come.

The

worship of

God can

now be a

global

phenomenon.

Worship

will no

longer be

in sketches

and copies

as this

temple in

Jerusalem is.

even a

bad

sketch or

copy in

Samaria.

The real

thing, real

living,

fellowship

with God

is now a

worldwide

reality.

As people

from every

tribe, every

tongue, every

nation come

to the

heavenly

Mount Zion,

the heavenly

temple that

he has

established.

Just as

we've done

today in

gathering.

That is

where we

have come.

It's a

reality that

he himself

has come

to bring

in.

Not just

tell us

about, but

he's come

to bring

it.

That's

not something

she grasped

straight away

and so

she says,

well, we'll

at least have

certainty when

Messiah comes.

And so we

come to this

great climax

of the

conversation in

verse 26.

I who speak

to you am

he.

The word

order in

English does

make it

obvious, but

this is the

first time in

John's

gospel that

he uses

that phrase

I am.

I myself

am.

There are

seven times

in this book

where he says

I am

something.

I am

the good

shepherd,

I am

the way,

the truth

and life,

I am

the bread

of life.

And there are

seven times

when he just

says I am

or I

myself am.

Echoing God's

language of I

am who I

am in the

Old Testament.

And here's the

first, I

myself am

the one

speaking to

you.

And so here

she fully

learns.

this man

doesn't just

answer the

biggest question

in her

life, but

fully resolves

it, fully

sorts it

out.

Because he

doesn't just

answer the

question, he

shows himself

to be God

himself, seeking

that reconciliation

with his

people.

And so it

turns out he

has come for

her after all.

Suddenly we

see a whole

new layer of

meaning to

verse 4.

He had to

go to

Samaria.

Now it's not

just geographical

detail.

It is

geographical

detail, he

did have to

pass through

Samaria.

But Jesus

had to go

to Samaria

for her.

And if you

use John's

writing, you

realise there

was a point

to his

telling us

the time.

Not just

telling us that

it's the middle

of the day,

it's the sixth

hour.

And he

came to

a woman who

had had

six men

in her

life.

And we've

seen the

number six

before in

John's

Gospel, and

it always

suggests something

is incomplete

here.

And here

is Jesus

Christ saying,

I have

come at

this sixth

hour to

be your

seventh and

last man.

The only

man that

you will

ever truly

deeply

need.

But more

than that,

this is the

time when

worship has

been focused

on a single

mountain,

whichever

mountain it

is, that

was the

incomplete

time.

I've

come in to

bring in

the completion,

the perfection

of worship.

The time when

God is

worshipped in

spirit and in

truth.

He was

seeking a

bride.

But it

wasn't just

about this

woman.

Although it

is through

her that we

learn about

his seeking

for a

bride.

Through her

we learn

that God

is seeking

worshippers to

glorify and

enjoy him

forever, all

over the

world.

This body

of worshippers

is his

son's bride

that he

has come

to seek.

So what do

we learn from

this encounter

with the

woman of

Samaria?

Well just

like this

Samaritan

woman, we

learn that

while we

may think

that Jesus

is someone

who has

nothing to

do with

us, or

mainly

someone who

has something

we're interested

in, Jesus

is the one

who knows

us better

than we

know

ourselves, and

has come to

sort out the

most important

question in

our lives, the

problem of

worship.

That's

essentially what

it means every

time you see

the mention of

the word

covenant in

the Bible,

the God who

made you has

stooped down

to you even

in your rebellion

against him, to

establish a

deep loving

friendship with

you forever.

This is what

the light coming

into the world

has all been

about.

From that

first day of

Adam's sin

in the garden,

he promised to

kill that serpent

and win at

our friendship,

from our

friendship with

evil to

friendship with

God, to

worshipping

God.

And as he

came to

Abraham and

to Isaac and

to Jacob and

he came to

Moses and

he came to

David and

to the

prophets, what's

he doing?

He's seeking

worshippers.

He's preparing

a bride for

his son.

And as

Jesus came,

became flesh,

went to the

cross to

save his

people, as

he rose up

and sent his

apostles to

make disciples

in all nations,

what was he

doing?

Seeking

worshippers

and preparing

his bride.

We can so

often think that

Jesus doesn't

really have

anything to

do with

me.

Unless I

ask him to,

that is.

So Jesus

might be for

you, but

he's not for

me.

I don't

need to

bring Jesus

into the

picture.

I'm doing

just fine,

thank you

very much.

Or maybe

he's got

something I'm

interested in,

sort of

useful, I

guess.

Maybe I

could give

it a go.

And yet

here he

comes as

one who

knows us

inside and

out,

saying he

has come to

sort us out,

sort out the

most important

question in

our life,

to provide

for the

biggest need

in our

lives.

Now when

he came

here this

morning,

you probably

expected to

hear something

about Jesus,

but maybe

you're thinking,

I didn't come

here to have

Jesus barge

into my

life like

this.

Who is

Jesus to

make demands

of me?

I didn't

sign up for

him to know

everything about

me like this.

Can I opt

out?

Who is he to

tell me what

I need?

I was

asked recently

back in

Paris,

does he

really know

everyone?

What about

people who

don't want

him in

their lives?

What about

people who

don't necessarily

believe in

God?

What will

happen to

them if

they don't

believe in

God,

but they've

never really

done anything

awful?

What if at

the end they

discovered God

was real all

along,

but they weren't

really that bad?

Is that enough

just to get

them in?

Well the

only answer

to that is

what if I

came to

your house

and settled

in and

squatted and

treated it

like my own

home and

used your

food and

water and

utilities and

completely ignored

you and

anyone else

who lived

there and

any rules or

practices you

might have

there?

Is it

enough for

me to

not do

anything

seriously

bad?

Or isn't

that just a

terrible thing

for me to

do in

itself?

And if you

simply see the

way I'm

behaving and

living in

your house,

is that

snooping or

is that just

you simply

observing what

I'm doing as

I go about

in your

house?

This is

God's world.

He made

it.

The very

fact that we're

alive screams

to every person

each day that

we owe

everything to

him.

The existence

of every human

life is a

light trying to

break through

this darkness

that we keep

creating to

try and smother

it.

And Jesus

is that

light, that

life, that

creating and

redeeming light,

the word of

God literally

in the flesh.

And he's

come seeking

his bride,

seeking

worshippers

for his

father,

seeking to

make us

to be what

he made

us to be

in the

first place.

If you

think I'm

only talking

at this

point to

people who

aren't

professing

Christians,

not, let's

be honest,

it is

frighteningly

easy for

all of us

to forget

about Jesus,

think that

there are

maybe at

least parts

of my life

where I can

decide how

much of a

say Jesus

gets to

have in

that part

of my

life.

It is

painfully

easy to be a

practical

atheist,

isn't it?

And how

easy it is

for us

just to

think of

him as

one who

has

something

I'm

interested

in.

Be that

inner peace

or friends,

clear conscience,

a bit of a

fire insurance

policy.

Even if I

just go to

him to get

forgiveness of

sin,

that's just

about ticking

a box and

getting me

into heaven,

but I'm not

really concerned

about him

being there.

it's just

about what

I want,

me and

my wants.

You must

realise that

here is a

man who

knows you

inside out.

Here is a

man who

knows your

needs much

better,

much more

deeply than

you think.

You must

realise that

he knows

your greatest

problem is

your relationship

with God.

Your greatest

need is

reconciliation

with God,

to be brought

back to

him.

He knows

to have

communion,

friendship with

God is

literally what

you were made

for,

and he should

know it's

what you were

made for,

because it

was his

reason for

making you.

Not only

does he know

that,

he has come

to make that

a reality

himself,

where we so

miserably have

failed.

He is the

one who came

to seek

worshippers

for his

father,

come to

seek his

dear bride.

He is the

one who came

to provide

this living

water that

never leaves

us thirsty.

He is the

one who came

to put living

springs inside

us to give

us eternal

life.

But of

course that

was at the

cost of

his own

thirst.

As he would

say,

hanging on

that cross,

I thirst.

It was at

the cost of

his life.

He came to

love his

bride and

lay his

life down

for her.

He came

to do

all that

was needed

to reconcile

us to

God.

When the

father raised

him to

life by

the spirit,

he gave

him the

holy spirit.

He is

now the

life-giving

spirit.

He is the

great well,

the source

of our

life.

Not just

in the sense

that everyone

is alive,

but the

source of

our spiritual,

eternal,

resurrection,

life.

friends,

if you're

still mainly

feeling miffed

at the idea

of Jesus

making all

these claims

on your

life,

and ignoring

the infinite

blessing he

has come to

be for you,

there will

be a day

when you

will regret

resisting him.

You'll

regret not

acknowledging him

as your

maker.

And sadly

that day

could be too

late.

But I

assure you,

I promise

you in

God's name,

acknowledging

Jesus Christ

as your

Lord and

Saviour,

will never

be something

you regret.

It doesn't

mean your

life will

be easy.

People all

around the

world suffer

for Jesus

every day,

but they

suffer an

even face

death knowing

that it's

completely

worth it.

Because he

has come to

sort out the

biggest problem

in their

lives.

And he's

come to do

the same

for you.

He has

come to

bring you

back to a

loving friendship

with God,

forever.

Let me

urge you

then,

in Christ's

name,

simply to

ask him

for that

living water.

Come to

him.

Come to

him not

as someone

you'd like

to let

in,

as though

it's for

you to

say,

but as

your God,

the one

who made

you.

Come to

him.

Come to

him not

as someone

whom you

can use,

but as

your God

and bridegroom

come to be

reconciled

with you.

Come to

enable you

to glorify

and enjoy

your God

forever.

Come to

him as

the one

who will

give you

eternal

life.

And what

is eternal

life according

to Jesus?

It's not just

living forever.

In John 17

he tells us

eternal life

is to

know God

and Jesus

Christ whom

he has

sent.

Have communion

with him.

Come to

him with

these brothers

and sisters

that you

see around

you.

And help

others to

come with

you to

him.

Come to

him no

matter what

your past

has been,

no matter

what your

future holds.

Come to

him each

day.

He will

not reject

you.

He won't

be like

this woman's

six man

who can

live here

but I'm

not going

to marry

you.

He has

come for

you.

Come to

him.

You might

be asking

what do

you mean

come to

him?

Where?

As man

he is in

that heavenly

temple

where we

have come

by faith

together this

morning.

As God

he is

spirit he

is everywhere.

Coming to

him simply

means to

believe in

him, to

trust in

him fully.

Ask him

in prayer

for what

he is

offering you.

It means

stop resisting

him.

Stop

rejecting

him.

Maybe

you are

thinking

well

rejecting

him,

disobeying

him,

even

just in

this one

part of

my life

has sort

of become

my thing

now.

I'm

sort of a

bit in

too deep.

It's

sort of

stuck in

a pattern

now.

And this

woman may

have felt

the same

thing,

especially

if all

her failed

marriages

were her

fault.

Jesus

is saying

no you

haven't,

it's not

too late,

come on,

come and

drink.

I want

to give

you a

new life

of love

and worship,

come to

me.

So let's

go to him

now in

prayer,

let's pray.

Amen.