GASP! Jesus went to Samaria.
5 "So He *came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph; 6 and Jacob’s well was there. So Jesus, being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about [a]the sixth hour." John 4:5-6
He goes through and stops in the middle of the day.
7 There *came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus *said to her, “Give Me a drink.” 8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. 9 Therefore the Samaritan woman *said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 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 She *said to Him, “[a]Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water? 12 You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?” John 4:7-12
She falls back on tradition.
13"Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; 14 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.”
15 The woman *said to Him, “[a]Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw.” John 4:13-15
Water was a big deal. Her shame was relived every day as she walked to the well.
16 He *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 correctly said, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly.” 19 The woman *said to Him, “[a]Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet." John 4:16-19
God knows all our sin. He knows all our dark spots. He knows it all but He still offers His living water.
She brings up a religious argument. Her question goes back to religion.
20 "Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” 21 Jesus *said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 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. 24 God is [a]spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:20-24
True worshippers worship in Spirit and Truth.
Being filled with the Spirit.
Think of the disciples like us.
27"At this point His disciples came, and they were amazed that He had been speaking with a woman, yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Why do You speak with her?” 28 So the woman left her waterpot, and went into the city and *said to the men, 29 “Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not [a]the Christ, is it?” 30 They went out of the city, and were coming to Him.
31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” 32 But He said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33 So the disciples were saying to one another, “No one brought Him anythingto eat, did he?” John 4:27-33
Disciples uncomfortable with Jesus's actions but didn't confront him on them.
Woman took this encounter with Jesus and ran with it. Allowed it to change her! She goes to the ones who shun her and told them the Good News!
Jesus has just fulfilled His purpose with this woman. He was full. He gave. She accepted.
34"Jesus *said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work. 35 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. 36 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. 37 For in this case the saying is true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored and you have entered into their labor.” John 4:34-38
He stayed two days. The Harvest was in process!
39"From that city many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all the things that I havedone.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they were asking Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. 41 Many more believed because of His word;" John 4:39-41
Live water= running water
Do you have a stock pond or a river in reference to your faith? Is your faith a stock pond (stagnate) or a river (deep and flowing)?
Live water is overflowing, pressurized, bursting out. Spirit will overwhelm us.
37"Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “[a]If anyone is thirsty, [b]let him come to Me and drink. 38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From [c]his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” 39 But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified." John 7:37-39
#1 You gotta be thirsty.
#2 Come to Jesus.
#3 Drink!
What's keeping us from drinking from the well?
What's separating us from the living water?
What fears keep you from commitment?
Whose rules are limiting your witness?
What is stopping your harvest?
We're missing the harvest. God's harvest will happen, but are you giving away the opportunity to take part in that harvest?
Have you encountered Jesus in this radical way?
Have you asked for the living water?
Have you received the living water?
"Then he showed me a river of the water of life, [a]clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of [b]the Lamb, 2 in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve [c]kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; 4 they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. 5 And there will no longer be any night; and they [d]will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever." Revelation 22:1-5
Take it now!
10"And he *said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near."
Revelation 22:10
The time is near!
12 “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man [a]according to what he has done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” Revelation 22:12-13
He is coming soon!
He doesn't want us to be fans. He wants us to be followers.
What have you done for the kingdom of God?
Take them to the well!
Let the river flow!