Amen. That last song goes well with where we are in John’s gospel and the encounter with the woman at the well, whereas that song begins with Jesus said, if I thirst, I should come to him. And we sang that song at the VBS camp that we did in Portugal and those of us who were on the trip came to know it very well. So that was a familiar song for us this morning.

Turn with me in your Bibles if you are able to John chapter four. John chapter four. We are back in the gospel of John. It’s been a few weeks since we’ve been in John. We finished John chapter three a few weeks ago. And as you remember, John three was a big chapter and there’s a lot in it and it took us a little while to get through John chapter three. And it began with an encounter just like John chapter four will. It began with Jesus’ encounter with Nicodemus, the teacher of Israel.

And in John chapter three, we saw that discussion really begin the chapter and then so much consequent theology followed that and explaining what it was that Jesus was communicating to Nicodemus. Jesus explained to this teacher of Israel, as we saw, that he must be born again. And after Nicodemus responded in confusion, Jesus then went on to explain salvation to this distinguished leader in Israel. And then we saw that Jesus emphasized both the sovereignty of God in salvation and the responsibility of man. He said that you must be born again, born from above. That’s all God’s work. There’s nothing that you can do to make yourself be born again. God has to do that.

But we also saw that you must believe in the Son of God. You must believe in the one who came from above. You must believe in the one who was lifted up on the cross like the serpent in the wilderness. You must believe in the Son in order to have eternal life. And once you do believe, eternal life has begun. And those are the things that we saw in John chapter three. And last time we were here in John, we finished with verse 36, the very last verse of John chapter three, where it says, he who believes in the Son has eternal life, but he who does not obey the Son will not see life. but the wrath of God abides on him.

The only way to escape the wrath of God that you are under and that will be fully poured out one day is to repent of your sins and believe in the Son of God who was slain for sinners. And so John 3 is a chapter that is full of the gospel. the good news of Jesus Christ. It’s a chapter that serves to accomplish John’s purpose in writing this book in the first place. We find that in John chapter 20, verse 31, as we’ve seen many times before, where it says, these things have been written so that you may believe. That Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. That’s what the book of John is for. And all that is in John chapter 3 serves this purpose.

And it all began with a single encounter. And that’s exactly what we see in John chapter 4 as well. John 4 begins with another encounter, and this time with the Samaritan woman. And this encounter and the following conversation goes all the way through verse 42. We’ll only be able to begin this section this morning. But here in this passage, there is so much to be found. There is so much that we will see and uncover. We see a clear model of Jesus evangelizing, sharing the gospel with someone who needs to hear it.

This is as clear of a example of Jesus Christ himself evangelizing as you’ll find anywhere in scripture. And that makes this a very instructive passage for us in that regard, and one that we should be very familiar with because of the lessons that we learn from it. But again, this story in John chapter four really serves the main purpose of John, and that is to prove to us who Jesus Christ is. Yes, there’s a conversation and an episode of evangelism that happens, but overarching it all, it shows us who Jesus is. That Jesus Christ is the Son of God. and that by believing in him, you will have life in his name.

So again, while this story focuses on the woman and this conversation, that is a secondary purpose. The primary purpose is to show us Christ, to put Christ on display to us. And in this account, we see the humanity of Christ. The humanity of Christ is on display as Jesus is weary and thirsty and He’s not acting. He really, truly is worn out and thirsty and in need of water. This is a picture and proof of the humanity of Christ, that He really was a true man. He’s not some sort of superhuman, some sort of man and God mixture that’s something totally different from us. No, He is just as human as you and I are. And just as you and I get tired and weary and thirsty, so did He. But He really was human, like we are, with all of our frailty and weakness.

But his deity is also on display. Both are on display. Because he meets a woman who he had never met before and yet he knows her entire history. He knows everything about her. And not only that, he offers something to her that only God can offer. And what makes this passage unique, this episode. unique is that up until now in the Gospel of John, it has been others who have been telling who Christ is. From the author John in the prologue describing who Jesus is to John the Baptist who presented him as the Christ, as the Messiah.

Then you have the disciples of Jesus who have given their testimony to the fact that Jesus must be the Christ, the Son of God. And you have all these witnesses from the apostle to the Baptist to the disciples, but here in this episode in John 4, you see for the first time, Jesus proclaimed that he is the Messiah. He himself says, He is the Messiah. We find that down in verses 25 and 26 where the woman speaks about the Christ and the Messiah who will come and Jesus responds to her, I am him. I who speak to you am he. He is the Christ. He claims that for himself. And what makes that so interesting is that this admission from the lips of Jesus about who he truly is, is not given to any significant religious leaders in Israel. It’s not given in Jerusalem. Jesus could have said this to Nicodemus, but he didn’t.

It was given to a Samaritan. And not only that, but a Samaritan woman. And not only that, but it was given to an adulterous Samaritan woman. This was an outcast in Israel. The lowest of the low. This was an untouchable. Samaritans were a corrupted form of the Jewish race. They came from the Jews who remained in the northern kingdom after Israel was removed from the land. The ones who were left behind when the Assyrians came and took them captive in 722 BC. These were the Jews that remained after everyone else was taken out of the land. And they intermarried with all sorts of pagan and idolatrous peoples that came in. So they were this hybrid people mixed with the Jews and the nations that came in. And they mingled with these Gentile nations. And they did what was forbidden by God. And so they were considered outcasts and untouchables by the Jews.

So again, this was an immoral, outcast, Samaritan woman. And Jesus brings that up later. She was a woman who’d been married several times and was now living with her boyfriend. And the contrast that’s here intentionally between chapter three and chapter four, between Nicodemus and this Samaritan woman, we’re meant to see it. You have Nicodemus who was a devout religious Jew. And you have a immoral Samaritan woman. Nicodemus was an educated theologian. She was an uneducated peasant woman. Nicodemus recognized Jesus as a teacher sent from God. This woman has absolutely no idea who Jesus even is. Nicodemus came seeking Jesus. She had no interest in him at all until he spoke to her. He was wealthy and she was poor. He was a member of the elite in Israel and she was an outcast among the outcast people.

So the fact that Jesus chose to make himself known as the Messiah for the first time to this woman, This is meant to be seen as a rebuke to the people of God. The ones who rejected Him, even when He did reveal Himself to them. He came to what was His own, and His own received Him not. So here He goes to the Samaritans. But this is exactly who Jesus came for. He came to save His people from every tribe, and every tongue, and every nation. That’s why we read earlier from Acts chapter 10 where Peter begins to declare this. Peter says, I most truly comprehend now that God is not one to show partiality, but in every nation the one who fears Him and does righteousness is welcome to Him. God does not show partiality based on ethnicity. And that’s what we see in our encounter here in John chapter 4 today. It’s important to understand the context of what is happening and the fact that Jesus even speaks to this woman.

And we’ll see in John chapter 4 this morning, we’ll go verses 1 through 15. And this even really divides into two parts. First, you see the setting as John typically, as he typically does, gives us the where and the when of how this has taken place. And then in verses 7 to 15, we see the beginning of this conversation that we’ll see carry through a majority of this chapter four. So again, we don’t have time to cover the whole conversation this morning, but we’ll get an idea of where this conversation is going here in the first 15 verses of John chapter 4.

Allow me to read John chapter 4 verses 1 through 15 this morning. This is the word of the Lord. When Jesus 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 he went away again into Galilee and he had to pass through Samaria. So he came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the field 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. And it was about the sixth hour. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. And 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 do you, being a Jew, ask for a drink from me, being 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 water with and the well is deep. Where then do you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob 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 of the water that I will give him will never thirst ever. 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 back here to draw.

You see here the setting of this story in the first six verses as John is describing to his readers where this is taking place and how the events led up to this conversation that we see in the text. Really, you see in verse 1 a recalling of what had happened in John chapter 3. It says, it begins there with therefore. Apparently, the word of Jesus’ growing popularity was beginning to spread as well. We saw earlier in John 3 that John’s disciples, John the Baptist’s disciples, were unhappy that more people were going out to Jesus and following him. And John rebuked them for that. But here you see that even the Pharisees have found out that Jesus is getting these crowds.

It says in verse one, therefore when Jesus knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John. They had heard that he was making and baptizing more disciples. And as you remember, the Pharisees were not happy with John in the first place. John the Baptist, as he was growing in popularity, that made them unhappy. They sent people to find out what’s going on with this guy out in the wilderness. Well, now they have another problem. Another man that’s pulling people away from their religious system. And Jesus knows that they have found out. So, he’s on the move. Verse two, though, provides us with a clarifying statement as John explains that although Jesus himself was not baptizing, his disciples were. John has to interject there and clarify that Jesus himself didn’t actually baptize anyone.

As I was studying this, Dr. John MacArthur made a good point about this verse, and he said that This doctrine, or this verse, really eliminates the doctrine of baptismal regeneration, that you need to be baptized in order to be saved, right? Because if Jesus did not baptize anyone, and yet Jesus came to seek and save the lost, well, what did he come for? He didn’t baptize anybody, so apparently you don’t need baptism in order to be saved. Baptism is a step of obedience showing that you’ve been saved. It’s something that comes after you’ve been saved. But in any case, Jesus knew the Pharisees were going to be seeking after him because of his growing crowds. And so verses three and four say, he left Judea and he went away again into Galilee and he had to pass through Samaria. So John is just giving us details as to where Jesus is going.

Now it says he had to pass through Samaria. Now, it wasn’t absolutely necessary as if that was the only way that Jesus could have gone. In fact, many Jews would take the longer route to avoid Samaria altogether because they had such disdain for these people. But Jesus was compelled to pass through Samaria and to stop in a certain place as we will see. And it wasn’t just to save time and steps on his journey. But Jesus had a divine appointment there. Jesus had a purpose in Samaria. Here we see this word that John uses frequently that means must or it is necessary. We’ve seen it already in John chapter 3 verse 14. Where the Son of Man must be lifted up.

When John uses this, it usually speaks of Jesus following the Father’s will, doing what was necessary to accomplish the things he was sent for. And that’s why he goes through Samaria, for the very conversation that he’s about to have. Jesus is always conscious of doing his Father’s will. We see that later on in chapter six, verse 38, where he says, for I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. That’s why he’s here, to do his father’s will. And so he must pass through Samaria. In verse five. John continues by explaining that he came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son, Joseph. You see details about this field in Genesis 33, where Jacob buys the field in Shechem, and then at the end of Genesis, where he is passing away, he gives the field to Joseph. And so those are all the details there for where this takes place.

And here, John, again, is giving context to exactly where this is happening, further solidifying the truth of this account, because the first century readers, those who would first read the Gospel of John, they would know exactly where John’s talking about. When he explains the field and the well, in their mind, they’re like, oh yeah, I know where that is. I know where this took place. This was a real occurrence. That’s why there is real detail here. And verse six continues that Jacob’s well was there. So Jesus, being wearied from his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about the sixth hour. So as Jesus comes to this area in Samaria, he comes to Jacob’s well and he is worn out. He is tired. It says it’s about the sixth hour.

So in the way the Jewish people kept time, the day began at dawn. That would be around 6 a.m., so when it says the sixth hour, it’s the middle of the day, it’s noontime. So it’s noon, it’s the middle of the day, the sun is at its peak, it’s hot, and Jesus is exhausted. He may have walked up to 20 miles this day, depending on how long it took him to get there, but the word there used for wearied, That word wearied in verse six. Jesus being wearied from his journey. This word means to be to the point of sweat and exhaustion. He is at his limit. His physical human limits. He is worn out. This is an extreme condition. And so he comes and he sits down at the well. And he needs a drink of water.

And again, you see the humanity of Jesus. He really was a man. He was not just some spirit being or some superhuman that never got tired and had superhuman strength and endurance and all these things. Jesus was truly a man. And he knew what it was like to be weary and thirsty and worn out and exhausted. And this is the very thing that makes him a sympathetic high priest to us, that he knows what we’ve been through, because he truly became one of us. He walked in our flesh. He understands even our physical weariness. So when you pray to God to be relieved of your physical ailments and weariness and the things that plague us in our physical bodies. You’re praying to someone who knows what physical weariness is. So that is the setting of this encounter, as John explains in the first six verses, the where and the when and how this came about.

So next, beginning in verse 7, you see the beginning of this conversation. Verse seven says, a woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, give me a drink. So as Jesus comes and sits by this well, he’s tired and he’s thirsty from his journey. It’s the middle of the day. There came this woman from Samaria to draw water. Now this itself is unusual because typically Understandably, they would go to draw water in the evening when it was cool. You see this in other places of scripture, like in Genesis 24 verse 11, where it describes how they would go out in the cool of the evening to get the water for the household. But this woman comes at high noon, probably to avoid public shame because of who she was. We’ll see eventually as we get more into this conversation, she had good reason to avoid the public eye. Jesus’ simple request of, give me a drink, is really quite shocking when you understand who he is, and who she is, and where he is. First of all, men did not speak with women in public in those days, not even their wives. and rabbis definitely didn’t associate with immoral women.

We see this in Luke chapter seven, where the Pharisees are rebuking Jesus because as a rabbi, he was associating with people he shouldn’t have. In Luke chapter seven, verse 39, it says, now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, saying, if this man were a prophet, he would know who and what sort of person this woman is who is touching him, that she’s a sinner. Rabbis are not supposed to be with the unclean. And on top of all of that, Jews didn’t have anything to do with Samaritans. It’d be one thing if this woman was an Israelite who was immoral and all the other things, but she’s a Samaritan. But Jesus ignored all of those barriers and he asked for a drink. And verse eight explains, four, his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. So Jesus is there by himself. He doesn’t have the disciples there to get him a drink for him. And so he asks the woman who was there. And the woman responds in the way that you would expect. In verse nine, therefore, the Samaritan woman said to him, how do you, being a Jew, ask for a drink from me, being a Samaritan woman.

The woman is like, do you understand the picture? Do you know who and what I am? She apparently could see what he was, a Jewish man, and she’s like, really? You’re asking me for a drink? This woman is stunned that Jesus would even speak to her, let alone ask for a drink. Again, it was culturally inappropriate in the first place for a man, especially a rabbi, to talk to a woman, especially this immoral woman, as we will find out. But her question reveals that the most surprising thing, the thing that was most important in her mind, was their ethnic differences. That you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan? And John explains that Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. And this word dealings, it literally translates as they don’t use the same vessels. They don’t drink from the same vessels. And John has to explain that for us so that we understand how taboo this is, how against the cultural norms this is. Jews literally viewed Samaritans as dogs.

So it would be like offering somebody a drink from a dog’s bowl. That’s what’s going on here. But Jesus, is God in the flesh. He could not be defiled by any Samaritan. Whatever he touched, whether it was the dead or the lepers, they did not defile him. He made them clean. But again, this woman is still surprised by his request. because this is a feud that goes back a long time. Everybody she knew and everybody who she knew knew would know that you don’t deal with Jews and Jews don’t deal with Samaritans. This goes all the way back again to the captivity. And in 2 Kings 17, it explains the settling of Samaria where the Assyrians come in and they take the Israelites out of the land And then they bring in new people and they intermingle with the Jews that were left over. And what resulted from this intermingling was this race of the Samaritans, this Assyrian Jewish people.

And so if you want to know what people we’re talking about here, what region this is, and the people that are represented in this region, not only then, but even today. Modern day Assyria, if you look at our maps of today, it is represented by parts of Iraq, and Syria, and Turkey, and Iran, and Saudi Arabia, and Lebanon. That’s those people. I don’t know if you’ve been paying attention to the news lately, but that feud is still running pretty hot. Those people still don’t like each other. It’s a feud that goes back a long, long, long time. These settlers from Assyria, they brought their idolatrous religion with them. Credit to the Sumerians, they eventually put that stuff away and did seek to worship the true God of Israel. but in their own way.

They did not worship the God of Israel the way that he prescribed them to, and we’ll see that later in Jesus’ conversation. Because even though they put their idols away, there were certain things that the Samaritans were known for, like only accepting the Pentateuch, or the first five books of the Bible, as scripture. They did not recognize the prophets, or the Psalms, or any of those other books of the Old Testament. And they worshipped God on Mount Gerizim, not in Jerusalem. And so they were worshipping the right God in their own way. And we’ll talk about, as we get later into Jesus’ conversation, as he tells this Samaritan woman how God is to be worshipped, we’ll speak more about this Samaritan worship that was happening. But you see more of this strife between the Samaritans And the Jews, when you read books like Ezra and Nehemiah, as the people come back to the land to rebuild the nation that they were torn out of. And the Samaritans, they offered to help in Ezra chapter four.

They offered to help Israel rebuild the walls, and the Jews refused their help. And that only enraged the Samaritans, and they, from then on, became bitter enemies. And this got even worse after the time of Jesus when these tempers continued to burn hot. And even today there are people that trace back to these Samaritan people.

So as you see this conversation beginning, you gotta understand there’s a lot undergirding what’s happening here. This is a conversation that should not be taking place in the cultural norms of that day. In fact, when the Jews wanted to insult Jesus, they called him a Samaritan, as if that’s the worst thing you could ever be. See that in John 8, 48. And so that just paints this picture for us of the conversation that’s about to happen. All of these things are present here in this Samaritan woman and this Jewish man. And that doesn’t slow Jesus down a bit. Jesus isn’t instructed by the cultural norms of Israel of that day. You have a thoroughly Jewish man in Jesus asking for a drink from an immoral, adulterous Samaritan woman. This is exactly what God had ordained. This is exactly what God wanted to happen. Jesus is doing the will of his father.

You see in verse 10, Jesus answers her bewilderment at his request. She says, you’re a Jew. I’m a Samaritan. What are you doing? And Jesus answers in 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, you would have asked him. and he would have given you living water.” Jesus turns the tables. He speaks right past all of the cultural barriers and says, if you knew who you’re talking to, none of that other stuff matters. If you knew who it is who asked you to give me a drink, you would ask him for living water.

When the conversation began, he was the thirsty one and she was the one with the water, but now he speaks as though she’s the thirsty one. She’s the one who needs the water that he has. And as usual, it takes people a few minutes to catch up to what Jesus is actually talking about. Because in verse 11, she said to him, You have nothing to draw water with and the well is deep. Where then do you get this living water? She literally says, hey, you don’t even have a bucket. What water are you even talking about? You see, just like Nicodemus, she missed the point. The living water that he offered her is salvation. and all that comes with it. It was forgiveness of sin and the ability to desire and live an obedient life that actually glorifies God.

The Old Testament uses this metaphor of living water to describe the spiritual cleansing and new life that comes with salvation through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. In fact, God rebuked Israel for forsaking the living water that he gave them. In Jeremiah chapter 2, as the prophet is beginning his rebukes to the nation who had forsaken their God, in Jeremiah 2 verse 13, Yahweh is speaking and explaining what his people have done. He says in verse 13, for my people have done two evils. They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, to hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water.” This is a picture that God is painting for his people to see what they’ve done.

God had given them a way of salvation through faith in him that was displayed in obedience to his law. But they didn’t want that water. They didn’t want that way of salvation, so they dug their own wells. Instead of the well full of living water that he gave them, the salvation he provided for them, they dug their own wells. They decided it was actually the law keeping that would save them. And if they obeyed well enough, then God would accept them. And they rejected God’s way of salvation.

Later, in chapter 17 of Jeremiah, in verse 13, the prophet says this, O Yahweh, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you will be put to shame. Those who turn away on earth will be written down because they have forsaken the fountain of living water. Even Yahweh. Those who turn away from God, they will be put to shame. He says they will be written down because they have forsaken the living water that God has provided. God is the fountain, the source of living water, the source of salvation. He is the only one who can save. He is the only one who can truly satisfy. Jesus is telling this Samaritan woman that this very living water is found in him.

This way of salvation that God had provided his people through faith in him, this living water is found in him. Later on in the book of Revelation, Jesus again described himself as the source of living water and the water of life. And it’s all speaking about salvation. At the end of Revelation, some of Jesus’ last words in Scripture Chapter 21, verse 6, I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. And then in the last chapter of the Bible, Revelation chapter 22, verse 17, the spirit and the bride say, come. And let the one who hears say, come, and let the one who is thirsty come. Let the one who wishes to receive the water of life without cost.

There is nothing you can do to purchase this living water, this salvation. Salvation is only found in Christ. And those who reject God’s way of salvation are digging their own wells and there’s no water in them. And the woman’s confusion at this point continues in verse 12. She says, are you greater than our father, Jacob, who gave us this well and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle? Her question expects a no answer. And she’s saying to this stranger she just met, who do you think you are saying that your water is greater than the water from Jacob’s well? You don’t really think you’re greater than Jacob, do you? See, Jews and Samaritans often had a problem with ancestor worship. Because of who I come from, that makes me something special. So it would be ridiculous in her mind for someone to think that they could be greater than someone like Jacob.

So Jesus answers her. And interestingly, his tone with her is very different than his tone with Nicodemus. He says in verses 13 and 14, 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 will never thirst ever. But the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life. So rather than rebuking her ignorance like he did with Nicodemus, he patiently and calmly meets her confusion and misunderstanding with a gracious answer.

He says, yes, in fact, I am superior to Jacob. And my gift is superior to Jacob’s well. And my water is superior to Jacob’s water. And my well is superior. And my sons and daughters are superior to Jacob’s sons and daughters. Nicodemus should have known better. But she was ignorant of this truth. And so Jesus explains to her, it’s not about Jacob. It’s not about this well. It’s not about the water. It’s about him. It’s about what he truly has to offer her. Jacob ought to be respected by the Jews and Samaritans, but as Jesus pointed out, anyone who drank from his well would be thirsty again. And so Jesus shows his superiority, his incomparable greatness. Because whoever drinks of the water that he will give will never thirst ever. He will truly satisfy.

The water that he will give not only satisfies, but it reproduces. It becomes a well of water springing up so that others can drink of his water. So that your life can be spread to others so that they too can come to the true source of living water. This was the true living water of spiritual life that her soul desperately needed. But she was still thinking on the physical level. And you see that in her response in verse 15, where we’ll end this morning before we get more into Jesus’s response in the coming verses.

But in verse 15, she says to him, sir, give me this water. So I will not be thirsty nor come back here to draw. She still doesn’t get it. She doesn’t get it yet. It’s not about her physical desire for water. It’s spiritual life that she needs. Whatever else this living water does, she just doesn’t want to come back to the well anymore. She wants to eliminate a problem in her life. Her view is still on her temporal life. And at this point, you begin to see exactly what Jesus is doing.

He is showing this woman what she really needs. And he does that through a conversation with her. She doesn’t see it yet, but he does. She needs water to live, yes, that’s true. but she needs his living water to live eternally. And Jesus is about to show her that in the coming conversation. Jesus tells her about this water of eternal life. And she seems ready to accept it, but he hasn’t explained to her how yet. And as with any lost sinner, this woman needs to understand two things. before she can drink from this living water. And we’ll see that in the coming conversation.

But what Jesus will show her is number one, the reality of her sin. Because that’s where Jesus goes next. The reality of her sin. That she’s a sinner. And he knows that. And she needs to realize that too. And secondly, And only after her realizing her sin, secondly, she needs to see that He is her Savior. And that’s where the remainder of this story will go. Jesus points out her sin and reveals that He is the Messiah. But up until this point, all of this is setting this conversation up. Jesus is leading this woman to where she needs to be. He is showing us how to share the gospel. He meets her at her level of understanding and leads her along to see her need for a savior.

He doesn’t just say that God loves you and has a great plan for your life. He’s about to show her her sin, the thing that nobody wants to talk about. All of those husbands that you have and the one you live with now is not your husband. Yeah, I know about that. And I know you don’t want to talk about it, but you need to see what it is. And that’s what he goes to next. He shows her what we all need to see. That we, like her, are sinners. And that we too are dead in our sin and without any hope on our own. But he came to save sinners just like her. Just like you and me. And this passage shows us Christ. that he really came as a human. And he really understands the physical ailments and weariness and weakness that we go through. And he can sympathize with us. But most importantly, he can offer us eternal life because he’s also truly God.

He came and he lived and he died in our place. And he alone can offer us this living water. If we, like the Samaritan woman, as we will see, come to see him as our true savior, as our Messiah, as the one who came to save sinners like her and like you and like me. Those who seem like they are out of reach. Those who seem like they are untouchable. They are beyond the grace of God. Jesus knows better than that. And if you trust Him as your Savior, you will live forever with Him. So have you come to Him yet? If you haven’t, you need to come to Him today. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you’ve done. Jesus is your only Savior. He is the only well of living water. Don’t dig your own well. Come to the source of living water. Because if Jesus can save a woman like her, He can save you too. It’s like the song we sang earlier. Jesus said that if I thirst, I should come to him. He is the true source of living water.

Let’s stand and close in a word of prayer this morning. God, we thank you for your word. How you reveal to us our need for you. How you reveal to us our sin and our inability to save ourself. Lord, I pray that if there’s anyone here this morning who is trying to find salvation in their own well, that they would turn from that and come to you, the true source. of salvation and eternal life. We thank you for who you are and we praise you for your goodness and your way of salvation. We pray all this in Christ’s precious name. Amen.