Break the walls down part 2

John 4:15-26

Break the walls down pt 2

The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.”

Last time, A Samaritan woman comes alone to draw water from the well Jesus had stopped at. The disciples had been sent into town to buy food. Jesus asks they woman for a drink, as he had no equipment with him to draw from the well. The Samaritan woman is shocked that anyone is speaking to her much less a Jewish man. She has come by herself to draw water, which we will address in more detail shortly, but if you were a woman drawing from a well alone there was no good reason why you were in that circumstance.

With one simple question Jesus breaks down two walls. The wall of cultural prejudice and the wall of gender prejudice. He then offers her living water that quenches the soul eternally.

The woman responds “Give me water that I may not thirst.” Some view this passage as the woman mocking Jesus or being sarcastic. I think in light of her circumstances this is not the case. I thinks she’s stunned to have another adult talking to her. I thinks he senses something different, something unique about this strange Jewish man that is not only taking the time to talk to her but ask her for help. She wants to know more. She wants to understand. It’s as if she is saying “Jesus if there is anyway you can make my life better, I will take it!”

This is how it starts in our walk with Christ. We have to realize that His way of doing things is better than ours. Now I want to be clear about something. I’m not talking about building a better mouse trap. My first youth camp was to Atlanta for this Christian music festival appropriately named Atlanta Fest. We were in the hotel room after some wonderful Rock N Roll and Worship settling down for the night. One of the guys was thirsty and he didn’t want to pay the $4 for the bottle of water in the fridge. There were no water fountains or drink machines in our section of the hotel we were staying at. There was only an ice machine. The guy comes out of the bathroom with a cup of water and goes I got my water! He had gotten a cup of ice from the ice maker and then spent the last 20 minutes using that tiny hotel hair dryer to melt the ice until it became water. I looked at him and asks “Why didn’t you just fill it with the water from the sink?” His response? “Shut up!”

When I say Jesus way of doing things is better that’s not really what I’m talking about. I’ve talked about my salvation experience plenty since I got saved in Feb of 1998. I didn’t’ walk an aisle or pray a prayer. I didn’t make a deep heartfelt confession where I poured my entire heart out. I simply had a moment of brutal honesty between myself and the Lord where I said, “Lord, my way of doing things is not working. I am going to try things your way now.”

What’s His way? God’s Word! Love God, Love your neighbor. Do Justice. Love Mercy, Walk Humbly. All things by His grace. She realizes her life is a mess and maybe this guy can help.

¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”

¹⁷ The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.”

Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’

What is Jesus response here? It’s very telling honestly. He doesn’t say walk this aisle, pray this prayer, fill out this good deeds check list and make sure you put your 10% in the offering plate and I’ll think about it. He also doesn’t gloss over the circumstances that she is in. In fact, He deals with the directly and immediately.

We can’t evangelize solely on all the gifts of God. In fact that quickly slips into prosperity gospel the whole “naming a blessing yourself, wealth and power, strong healthy teeth, a spot at the beach and story book romance.”

You want to know one of the quickest ways to spot false doctrine? They never mention sin or the fact that we are sinners. Jesus immediately gets to the heart of the problem, as He always does.

Within the two months of salvation God removed a lot of ungodly things from my life. I knew these things needed to go but I was powerless to get rid of them in my own strength. By the grace of God I was gradually able to let these things go. It was painful, but it was also worth it. To this day I neither miss those things nor regret making those decisions. You can’t come to Christ and not be confronted with your sin. It just doesn’t work that way.

 ¹⁸ for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.”

What does Jesus say? He says you’ve had 5 husbands and you’re currently living with a man that isn’t your husband. This sounds like a plot to the young and the restless! I’ve read a ton of theories and conjecture as to why she was married so many times. Some put the entire onus on the woman and paint her in as negative a light as possible. Some place the entire onus on the men, or society as a whole.

The bottom line is that we don’t know, because the scripture doesn’t tell us. In fact, I think a big part of this story is that we don’t know so we won’t focus on the wrong aspect of the story. We all love a good scandal don’t we? And 2020 has not disappointed on that front! This story is not about the woman’s scandalous past, it’s about her scandalous salvation!

¹⁹ The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. ²⁰ Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.”

What’s telling her is the woman’s response. When we are confronted about our sin we typically respond with anger and defensiveness. “I don’t see how that’s any of your business!” “Well that’s my opinion and anyone that doesn’t like it can *!&&@”  My personal favorite is “Well where in the Bible does is say that?” Then you are shown and the response is “ Well I don’t care I’m going to do it anyway!” Then we wonder why our lives are such a mess.

She realizes that what she has suspected is true. This man is from God. She doesn’t yet realize the full truth of Christ but she is headed down the narrow way for certain.

She then asks a question that may seem like she is trying to change the subject. It’s not. She asks a very legitimate question. One about how you properly worship God.

Samaritan worship was a combination of Judaism and the various religions from all the Assyrian captives that had been forced to settle the land that became Samaria some 500 years prior. It was the largest source of contention between Jews and Samaritans. It’s no different than today with those multi religious services. Where officials of various religions take turns teaching the same congregation. The whole every religion is a different path up the same mountain to get to God is a lie. I know that’s unpopular, the truth often is, but Jesus says Himself in John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth and the life and no man gets to the Father expect through me.” I didn’t write it nor am I going to argue with the God who did.

She wants to know the truth about God and she knows she can get that from Jesus.   

²¹ Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. ²² You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. ²³ But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. ²⁴ God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

²⁵ The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.”

²⁶ Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”

Jesus pointed her to a time when worship would no longer be focused on places (neither Jerusalem nor Mount Gerazim). The greater work of Jesus would bring a greater, more spiritual worship. With these words Jesus described the basis for true worship: it is not found in places and trappings, but in spirit and in truth.

To worship in spirit means you are concerned with spiritual realities, not so much with places or outward sacrifices, cleansings, and trappings.

To worship in truth means you worship according to the whole counsel of God’s word, especially in light of the New Testament revelation. It also means that you come to God in truth, not in pretense or a mere display of spirituality.

She says, “I know that Messiah is coming, He who is called Christ, and when that one comes He will declare all things to us.” She wants to worship from the heart in truth. She knows the Messiah is the presenter of that Truth. Jesus says to her, “I who speak to you AM He.” There’s no “He” in the original language; it’s an I AM statement, the name of God. “I who speak to you AM.” The One speaking to you is the I AM.  The incarnate Christ is revealed. She has sought the truth and she has found the living embodiment of truth, the Logos of God. Twenty-three times in the gospel of John we read “I AM.” Seven times He says “I AM” something: the Bread of Life, the Branch, the Way, the Truth, the Life--all references to His eternal Godhood. He reveals Himself to her.

The world at the time would have said there’s to many walls that separate Jesus from this woman. Jesus says “ I AM” and every wall is broken down immediately and a scandalous woman, receives a scandalous salvation. Whatever walls may be between you and God presently just know a word from Him breaks them all down.

Break the walls down part 1

John 4:1-14

Break the walls down Pt 1.

Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John ² (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples), ³ He left Judea and departed again to Galilee. ⁴ But He needed to go through Samaria.

Jesus sees a pointless political debate brewing. He does the smart thing and the thing I have advised so many of you to do and every once in a while, one of you does it. He walks away.

Why is Samaria such a big deal in the New Testament? We hear it mentioned a lot. The Pharisees would accuse people of being Samaritans as an insult. Jews would take the long way around Samaria via the Jordan river with Samaria situated between Southern Judea and Northern Galilee this was a common trip to take. If you did not have time to go around Samaria, you went through it as fast as you possible could with minimal stops. Even the direct route could take three days. Why so much hatred for this group of people? It actually goes very far back.

Following King Solomon’s reign, Rehoboam took over as King of Israel. He was a selfish and cruel idiot. The northern tribes of Israel rebelled and created their own kingdom. The capital of it was Samaria. Fearing people would return to Jerusalem to worship they created their own religion. God was not happy with any of this.  Despite numerous warnings to return to God, the people of Samaria refused. God acted, or rather, God let them try and live life without Him.

It went the way it always goes when we try to do things our way because we think we know better. The Assyrians overran the nation in 722 B.C. They took many of the people captive. You can read about this in more detail in 2 Kings 17. The Assyrians then took captives that they had from other conquered nations and used them along with the poorest Samaritans to stay and work the land. They all inter married and the race of people known as Samaritans came to be, half Jew, half gentile.

The Jews from Judah also went into exile and capture thanks to their refusal to repent and constant ignoring of God’s messengers. They were captured by the Babylonians. However, thanks to Godly people like Daniel (as in Daniel and the lions den) when they returned to Israel they had managed to hold on to their Jewish heritage and religion. Instead of recognizing this for what it was, the Grace of God. They used it to view themselves better than the Samaritans  and taught there children to do the same.

Some 500 years have passed between the return and where we are now in the Gospel of John. Did they somehow realized that both sides were equally chastised by God? That only by God’s grace that they were who they were? No of course not! They blamed each other for their own problems and had only grown in their hatred of each other.

Sounds familiar doesn’t it? Two opposing sides with a similar heritage that constantly hate and blame each other for their own problems? Instead of putting aside differences and working together as the scriptures clearly command us to do.

Romans 14:10-12 “ Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; ¹¹ for it is written,

“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,
    and every tongue shall confess^[b] to God.”

¹² So then each of us will give an account of himself to God”

⁵ So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. ⁶ Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.

⁷ A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” ⁸ For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.

As I’ve mentioned earlier, it was roughly a three day journey if you took the direct route through Samaria. You have to remember that most of Jesus journey’s were foot powered. No car, no bus, no uber, no chariot and rarely even an animal. He walked, like pretty much everyone else did.

The drive from my house to church is right about 12 minutes most days. If I get stuck behind a tractor or something it might take 15 minutes. However, if I were to walk that 7 miles I’m looking at 2 hours or so for that trip.

Jesus stops at a well because they had been walking all day and were thirsty. He then sends the Disciples in to town to buy food. We overlook this part to focus on the conversation Jesus is has with the woman at the well. Yet, I don’t want you to overlook it.

The disciples had been brought up their entire lives to fear and hate the Samaritans. To take the long way around Samaria via the Jordan river and to never under any circumstances do business with them. Yet, Jesus intentionally sends them into town to buy food. This was a big test of their faith in the simple act of buying groceries. I bring this up to make two uncomfortable points. When you follow Jesus you won’t feel safe or comfortable, if you place your safety or comfort in anything other than Him. Which is why He places us in situations where we don’t have any other choice.

⁹ Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.

A Samaritan woman comes alone to draw from the well. Jesus asks her for a drink, as they had no equipment with them to draw from the well. This lady is shocked that anyone is speaking to her much less a Jewish man. She has come by herself to draw water, which we will address in more detail in a later message, but if you were a woman drawing from a well alone there was no good reason why you were in that circumstance.

With one simple question Jesus breaks down two walls. The wall of cultural prejudice and the wall of gender prejudice.

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.”

¹¹ The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? ¹² Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?”

¹³ Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, ¹⁴ but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

Jesus desired a drink of water. Jesus did not stop at this well out of convenience or happenstance. Jesus didn’t randomly send the Disciples away. Every last bit of this story was foreordained. Jesus was always in the right place at the right time for the right reason. What was that reason? To glorify God by spreading the gospel.

He found a common ground between himself and this Samaritan woman. He then used that to present the gospel. The world wants to focus on differences, walls and division. Yet, Jesus is about breaking down those walls and finding common ground.

He then takes that discussion about physical water and transitions to spiritual water. He points out the superiority of living water. It’s obtained without cost or effort and it satisfies both completely and eternally.

Anything that you love more than you love Jesus Christ is an idol. Don’t care who or what it is. It’s an Idol and God will have no idols before Him. I don’t know what God is doing with 2020 and I don’t dare speak for Him outside of His word. However, I have seen the systematic destruction of nearly every idol that we hold dear. Money, Health, Comfort, Safety, Politicians, Jobs, Entertainment. It’s all gone away in the blink of an eye. What’s been our reaction? For the majority of us it’s been to hold on to whatever is left of our idols as fiercely as we can! To long for the good ol days of 2019. Yet, these things are temporary, we drink of them we will be thiristy again. Now it’s time to drink and drink deep of the living waters of Christ.