John 4:4-15      What Would Jesus See in You?

Rev. David Holwick  ZB                          Encountering Jesus in John

First Baptist Church

Ledgewood, New Jersey

September 6, 2015

John 4:4-29


WHAT COULD JESUS SEE IN YOU?



  I. Are you satisfied with your life?

      A. Apparently many are not these days.

          1) The infamous Ashley Madison adultery website leak.


               Some anonymous hacker uploaded all the information

                  on all the people who joined.

               It is a large number - 37 million, mostly men.

               It was leaked to the "dark web" but most of the material

                  is available through search engines now.


               Some have found their names and realize someone else

                  has used their identity.

               Other have found their names, and realize their wives

                  will, too.

               A Southern Baptist spokesman thinks that 400 church

                  leaders will end up resigning.

               Families will be broken up.

                  Some of those who are involved will take their lives.


               All of them thought it was anonymous, secret.

                  Now their secret is out.                            [1]


          2) A woman in Samaria would have appreciated Ashley Madison.

              a) She didn't have trouble meeting men.

              b) But none of them seemed to satisfy her.

              c) That is, until she met a very special guy from Nazareth.


      B. Relationships matter a great deal.

          1) I performed a wedding in Sparta on Friday.

          2) Tyler and Kyra will have theirs in two weeks.

              a) They don't spend all that money to be entertaining.

              b) It marks a significant point in their lives.


      C. There is a spiritual relationship that should matter more.

          1) Some of you have this right now.

          2) Some of you are still looking....


II. Some of her alienation came from birth.

      A. She was a Samaritan.

          1) A few hundred live in Israel to this day, perhaps the final

                generation.

          2) Their story goes back to the Assyrian exile.

              a) Northern Israel was defeated and many of the people

                    were shipped out to other nations. (Ten Lost Tribes)

              b) At the same time, foreign people who had been defeated

                    were shipped to northern Israel.

              c) The resulting group had a mixed ethnicity and ended up

                    with a mixed religion.

          3) Religious Jews could not stand the Samaritans.

              a) When the southern Jews, the area of Judah, had its own

                    exile by the Babylonians, the Samaritans maneuvered

                       to keep them from coming back.

              b) Samaritans were haters and heretics.

              c) Even though it took them an extra few days, Jews

                    preferred to walk the long way around that area

                       instead of going through it.

              d) Except Jesus...


      B. An unlikely conversation.

          1) The disciples arrived around noon (the sixth hour) which

                is the hottest time of the day.

              a) Women, who did the water chores, usually came in groups

                    in the morning or evening, when it was cooler.

              b) This woman came by herself at noon.

                  1> Perhaps she wasn't welcome in the company of other

                        women.

                  2> Jesus was also alone, but only because his disciples

                        were off on an errand.

          2) He asked the woman for a drink.

              a) Very unusual move for a rabbi.

              b) The strict rabbis forbade a rabbi to greet a woman in

                    public.


                 There were even some Pharisees who were called "Bruised

                    and Bleeding Pharisees" because they shut their eyes

                       if they saw a woman on the street.

                 This meant they walked into walls or tripped over dogs

                    and got all banged up.

                                                            Sermon #21549


              c) Jesus liked to break social conventions - he strikes

                    up a conversation with her.


      C. Something she doesn't know she wants.

          1) Jesus steers the conversation to spirituality - living water.

              a) She can only think in crass material terms.

              b) Water needs a bucket and a woman to haul it up.

          2) Jesus moves the focus to living water that quenches every

                thirst - eternal life.

              a) She still doesn't get it.

              b) In her mind, he has just promised she won't have to do

                    chores any more.

              c) She cannot or will not see the spiritual side of life

                    so Jesus backtracks to look at her real issue.


III. Much of her alienation came from her choices.

      A. Jesus tactfully pinpoints the source of her problems.

          1) His subtle reference to a husband leads to his revelation

                that she has had five husbands and is now living in sin.

          2) How do you react to people who have been married multiple

                times?

              a) Being married twice is pretty common.

              b) Five or six times?  Even a divorced person might form

                    a negative opinion about them, especially in a

                       conservative area like Israel.

              c) The obvious inference is that they want to find a

                    fulfilling relationship, but can't make it work.


      B. Jesus has gotten her attention.

          1) The stunned woman concludes he is a prophet.

          2) But she is so uncomfortable now, she forces a detour

                by bringing up religion.                             4:20

              a) Contentious religious issues, that have little to do

                    with the current topic, are a good way to stop

                       a conversation.

              b) "We have irreconcilable differences, so you should

                    go home now."

          3) Jesus does not evade her question, but uses it.

              a) It is not WHERE we worship but HOW we worship that

                    matters most.

                  1> In that sense, both Jews and Samaritans were

                        missing the point.

                  2> Many modern people miss it, too.

              b) Worshiping in "spirit and truth" is ultimate religion.

                  1> Means worship must come from a genuine heart, not

                        a hypocritical one.

                  2> Truth shows that what we believe is important, not

                        just warm and fuzzy feelings.


IV. The final deflection.

      A. Let the Messiah explain it.                                 4:25

          1) This puts it off into the distant, unknowable future

                and shuts down the discussion.

          2) She doesn't want to face the real needs of her soul.

          3) But she doesn't realize who she actually is facing.


      B. Jesus reveals himself.

          1) That Messiah is standing right in front of you.         4:26

              a) Literally, he says, "I am the I AM."

              b) This is the same thing God said to Moses out of the

                    burning bush.

          2) She rushes back into town, passing the disciples.

              a) It turns out they are as spiritually ignorant as

                    she is.

              b) They focused on the externals while he tries to point

                    them to the soul.


  V. Only Jesus can satisfy.

      A. All of us have made bad choices.

          1) We look for fulfillment in relationships, or money,

                or possessions.

              a) It is interesting how common it is for popular songs

                    to describe romantic love in religious terms,

                       as if we are in love with a goddess.

              b) None of these can give us what we ultimately need.

              c) Often, they end up blowing up in our face.

          2) The Good News of Jesus is that he offers something better.

              a) No matter what we have done, he can forgive us if

                    we repent and turn back to him.

              b) Even though he brought up her sordid past, Jesus

                    did not condemn the woman or make her grovel.

                  1> He offered her something better than what she

                        presently had.

                  2> All she had to do was put her trust in him.


      B. Who is Jesus to you?

          1) The woman had an understanding of Jesus that progressed.

          2) An ancient Christian teacher named Ephram the Syrian

                points out how she saw him:

              a) Thirsty man.

              b) Jew

              c) Rabbi

              d) Prophet

              e) Messiah

              f) Ultimately, the Savior of the World.                4:42

          3) Until you reach that final step, you aren't a Christian.

              a) We have to appreciate what God is saving us from.

              b) This woman knew it, and it seems to lift a burden

                    from her.


      C. The Samaritan woman became an unlikely evangelist.

          1) This woman who hid so much, wouldn't hide Jesus.

          2) Surest sign he satisfies you - you go and tell others.



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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:


[1] Adapted from various news reports and the article My Pastor Is On the

      Ashley Madison List, Ed Stetzer, Christianity Today, August 27, 2015;

      <http://www.donotlink.com/framed?769398>.


Sermon #21549  A Woman With A Past Finds A Future, Rev. Dave Wilkinson,

      Moorpark Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) of Moorpark, California;

      March 12, 2000; <http://www.moorparkpres.org/pages/sermons.html>.

      The Ephram the Syrian reference also came from this sermon.


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