At the Well - living water is available

John 4:7 "...Give Me a drink..."

Context:

- Jesus left Judea for Galilee.

- He became weary from His journey. If the Son of God got weary, is it surprising that we sometimes get weary on our journey?

- He stopped at the Sychar rest area in Samaria, at Jacob's well. (My 1st date with my wife was at Jacob's Well, in Alma).

- His disciples were off buying food.

- He asks a Samaritan woman for a drink.

Why was this unusual?

- Jews had no dealings with Samaritans.

- She was therefore taken by surprise.

John 4:10 "...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..."

What was the gift of God?

What was available for the asking?

Why do people miss what is available?

- trapped in their circle of understanding.

- eyes not wide open.

John 4:13-14 "...Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life..."

Was Jesus' explanation clear?

Did the Samaritan woman understand?

- she thought He was talking about natural thirst and water.

- she could only think within her experience.

- Is there reality beyond what we've experienced?

John 4:16-18 "...Go, call your husband and come here ...You have correctly said, 'I have no husband'; for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly..."

How did Jesus expand the woman's understanding?

- by operating beyond the natural.

What was her reply?

- still trying to organize her thoughts according to her upbringing.

John 4:21-24 "...Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth..."

What was the problem with her worship? [worshiping what she didn't know]

Are people still guilty of worshiping what they don't know? Why is this a problem?

From where is salvation?

- "...salvation is from the Jews..."

- History has continuity from Adam, through Abraham, to Christ and the Church.

What does the Father want from people?

- true worship.

- worship in spirit and truth.

What does this mean?

- beyond the natural.

John 4:26 "...I who speak to you am He..."

Context:

- the woman is aware that Messiah was coming.

- the woman was expecting answers to all questions when the Messiah came.

Do you think her expectancy had any bearing on Jesus pulling into this rest area?

John 4:32 "...I have food to eat that you do not know about..."

John 4:34-38 "...My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work. Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest'? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest. Already he who reaps is receiving wages and is gathering fruit for life eternal; so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this case the saying is true, 'One sows and another reaps.' I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored and you have entered into their labor..."

Context:

- the Samaritan woman heads off and evangelizes everyone she knows.

- the disciples come back with food and try to get Jesus to eat.

What nourished Jesus?

- doing the will of the Father.

- accomplishing His work.

How does doing God's will strengthen a person?

- positioning on God's purposes is the only safe and secure way forward.

What is the sowing and reaping to which Jesus refers?

- the process of reconciling man to God.

- followers of Jesus are co-laborers in this divine purpose of God at many different levels.

Preaching Repentance - John is decreasing, Jesus is increasing.

Matthew 4:17 "...From that time Jesus began to preach and say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand..."

Mark 1:15 "...The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel..."

Context:

- Christ has come of age.

- Christ has been baptized.

- Christ has faced temptation.

- Christ has gathered a few disciples.

- The message of John the Baptist continues to be the central message.

What does "...the kingdom of God is at hand..." mean?

Why is repentance necessary?

Revelation 3:19 "...Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent..."

2 Corinthians 7:10 "...For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death..."

John 3:3 "...Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God...”

Luke 8:10 "...he said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand...’

The Holy Spirit convicts of sin. Godly grief produces repentance. Repentance leads to salvation. Being born again leads to seeing the kingdom of God and all the secrets that are hidden from the unrepentant.

Why do people avoid repentance?

Home Town Proclamation - Fulfillment of prophesy

Luke 4:18, 19, 21 "...The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor ... Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing...”

Context:

- In the synagogue on the Sabbath.

- Reading from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah.

Was the Spirit upon Jesus? [descended at baptism]

What was Jesus to proclaim?

- good news to the poor.

- liberty to the captives.

- sight to the blind.

- liberty for the oppressed.

- the year of the Lord's favor.

Do you know anybody on this list?

Why did He stop where He stopped in Isaiah?

- Isaiah 61:2 "...to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;..."

- Is the year of the Lord's favor the 1st coming of Christ?

- Is the day of vengeance of our God the 2nd coming of Christ?

** A reason the Jesus came: To fulfill prophesy.

Hometown Rejection - It happens

Luke 4:23-27 "...Doubtless you will quote to me this proverb, ‘Physician, heal yourself.’ What we have heard you did at Capernaum, do here in your hometown as well ... Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown. But in truth, I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and a great famine came over all the land, and Elijah was sent to none of them but only to Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was cleansed, but only Naaman the Syrian...”

Why aren't prophets accepted in their home towns?

What is the significance of the widow and leper references?

How well were His words received? [they tried to throw Him off a cliff]