Episode Transcript
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Let's turn our attention now to John
Chapter Four. We continue to read God's
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word this morning and I will continue
preaching through the gospel of John. I'm
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going to read a longish section.
If you need to sit, that's fine,
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but I'm going to be focusing on
the first six verses in my my
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sermon. But I'll read John for
one through forty five. Now, when
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Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard
that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples
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than John, although Jesus himself did
not baptize, but only his disciples,
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he left Judea and departed again for
Galilee, and he had to pass through
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Samaria. So he came to a
town of Samaria called scar, near the
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field that Jacob had given to his
son Joseph. Jacob's well was there.
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So Jesus, wearied as he was
from his journey, was sitting beside the
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well. It was about the sixth
hour. A woman from Samaria came to
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draw water. Jesus said to her, give me a drink, for his
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disciples had gone away into the city
to buy food. The Samaritan woman said
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to him, how is it that
you a Jew, ask for a drink
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from me, a woman of Samaria, for Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.
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Jesus answered her, if you knew
the Gift of God and who it
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is that is saying to you,
give me a drink, you would have
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asked him and he would have given
you living water. The woman said to
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him, sir, if you have
nothing to draw water with, or,
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sir, you have nothing to draw
water with and the well is deep,
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where do you get that living water? Are You greater than our Father Jacob?
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He gave us the well and drank
from it himself, as did his
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sons and his livestock? Jesus said
to her, everyone who drinks of this
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water will be thirsty again, but
whoever drinks of the water that I will
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give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him
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will become in him a spring of
water welling up to eternal life. The
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woman said to him, sir,
give me this water so that I will
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not be thirsty or have to come
here to draw water. Jesus said to
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her, go call your husband and
come here. The woman answered him,
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I have no husband. Jesus said
to her, you are right in saying
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I have no husband, for you
have had five husbands and the one you
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have now is not your husband.
What you have said is true. The
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woman said to him, Sir,
I perceive that you are a prophet.
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Our fathers worshiped on this mountain,
but you say that in Jerusalem is the
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place where people ought to worship.
Jesus said to her. Woman, believe
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me, the hour is coming when
neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will
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you worship the father. You worship
what you do not know. We worship
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what we know, for salvation is
from the Jews. But the hour is
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coming and is now here. When
true, when the true worshippers will worship
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the father in spirit and truth,
for the father is seeking such people to
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worship him. God is spirit,
and those who worship him must worship in
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spirit and truth. The woman said
to him, I know that the Messiah
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is coming, He who is called
Christ. When he comes, he will
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tell us all things. Jesus said
to her. I who speak to you?
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AM He? Just then his disciples
came back. They marveled that he
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was speaking with a woman, but
no one said what do you seek or
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why are you talking with her?
So the woman left with her jar and
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went away into the town and said
to the people, come see a man
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who told me all that I ever
did. CAN THIS BE THE CHRIST?
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They went out of the town and
we're coming to him. Meanwhile, the
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disciples were urging him, saying,
rabbi, eat, and he said to
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them I have food to eat that
you do not know about. So the
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disciple said to one another, has
he brought him some? Has Someone,
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has anyone, brought him something to
eat? Jesus said to them my food
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is to do the will of him
who sent me and to accomplish his work.
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Do you not say there are yet
four months. Then comes the harvest.
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Look, I tell you, lift
up your eyes and see that the
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fields are white for harvest all ready. The one who reaps is receiving wages
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and gathering fruit for eternal life,
so that the sower and the reaper may
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rejoice together, for here the saying
holds true. One sows and another reaps.
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I sent you to reap that for
which you did not labor. Others
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have labored and you have entered into
their labor. Many Samaritans from that town
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believed in him because of the woman's
testimony. He told me all that I
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ever did. So when the Samaritans
came to him, they asked him to
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stay with them, and he stayed
there two days, and many more believed
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because of his word. They said
to the woman, it is no longer
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because of what you said that we
believe, for we have heard for ourselves
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and we know that this indeed is
the savior of the world. After two
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days, he departed for Galilee,
for Jesus himself had testified that a prophet
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has no honor in his hometown.
So when he came to Galilee, the
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Galileans welcomed him, having seen all
that he had done in Jerusalem at the
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feast, for they too had gone
to the feast. The God bless his
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word to us. You may be
seated. Well, quite an amazing story,
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isn't it? This is a story
about the Gospel and the effects that
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the Gospel has. It's a story
that we will spend some time on because
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it's long and there are a lot
of a lot of things in it worth
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worth considering and making sure that we
we understand. It's a story about Jesus,
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who brings good news. It's a
story about how the Gospel affects things
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like class and gender and race.
It's a story about history, a story
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about geography. It's a story that
has, like a multilayered cake, a
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lot of richness to it, and
it's worth worth enjoying. It's a story
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about Jesus and this woman at the
well, about the disciples, about misunderstandings
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and and new understandings. Today I
want to consider with you just the first
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six verses. They are important for
a number of reasons, primarily because they
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set the scene. They explain the
context in which all of this is happening.
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There's going to be discussions about Jacob
and as well. There's a it's
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significant that he's in Samaria, and
this is all stated right up front,
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so we'll spend some time considering that
today. We'll consider how it is Jesus
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came to be here and and what
happens as a result. When John Writes
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and records these events for us,
it's helpful to remember that he's not experiencing
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this story for the first time,
he's remembering it right. That's what a
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storyteller does. They're remembering, and
there he's, as a historian, recording
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these these things. Verse Eight tells
us that John and the other disciples had
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been baptizing people in the name of
Jesus previous to this event. They were
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ministering that baptism which was greater than
John's, and he tells us what happened.
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He tells us that the Pharisees were
upset about this. John tells us
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that they were complaining in a way
about what he and the other disciples were
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doing. They're saying Jesus, this
Jesus is getting more disciples and is doing
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more baptizing than John did. Interestingly, there's a parallel between the way the
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people were coming out into the Wilderness
to see John and the way that the
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people are going to come out of
the Samaritan city of Siccar there but to
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see Jesus later on. This will
happen throughout the Gospel in many ways.
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John, you remember, testified.
He said this one who comes after me
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is greater than me. And yet
so often everyone seems sort of surprised by
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this fact. John says, he
who comes after me is greatly I'm not
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even worthy to untie his sandal.
And yet we see these concerns about Jesus
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and his supremacy over John and over
everything happening from very early on. So
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the Pharisees are upset about Jesus and
his disciples. They likely fear for their
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lives, as they often did because
of the Pharisees's and so they had to
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Galilee, going north through a land
called Samaria, which would have been the
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fastest route. John tells us that
it was about the sixth hour of the
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day, which tells us that it
was around noon, which is, no
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matter what time of the year,
the hottest part of the day. They
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had likely been traveling since morning and
usually around noon. They, like you
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are around noon, are hungry,
thirsty and tired, ready for some refreshment
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and rest. Jesus seems quite in
need. It says he's wearied. He
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asks for a drink. He needs
to ask it from this woman because his
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disciples weren't there, and his disciples
aren't there because they were going to buy
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food. The Bible tells us that
Jesus was tired. He was wearied.
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Jesus doesn't stay because, well,
they need nourishment, so why don't you
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guys go into town and get some
food? I'll be fine here. No,
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he stays because he can't go on. An interesting picture and it's important
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to note, because sometimes people forget, either on purpose or on accident,
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that Jesus is human natures, just
as human as yours or mine, as
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John's or judases. There were even
cases, as it's here, his humanity
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was perhaps even weaker than there's was, where they could physically continue on and
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yet he couldn't. And sometimes I
think we we act as though, or
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we think as though, Jesus was
sort of human, yes, but super
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human right, extra strong, extra
powerful, that he that he was able
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in his humanity to do things that
they could not. Now, Jesus,
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of course, was divine as well
as human, which means he could do
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things that they could not, like
walking on water or creating things out of
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nothing. But it also meant that
Jesus was, though, Jesus is fully
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divine, he is also fully human. A great mystery, and we see
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that here in a fair amount of
detail. He's tired, he's wearied,
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he needs to ask for a drink. Remember, then, what John Helped
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told us at the very beginning of
this Gospel. Is True that the word
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became flesh and dwelt among us.
This is not just true, it is
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the very hope of our salvation.
Jesus took on humanity in a true way.
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He became weak and poor and tired
and hungry so that weak and poor
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and tired and hungry people could be
saved. He became man, as we
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confessed in our creed this morning,
to save man. But wasn't his incarnate
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is hidcarnation, that saved us?
But it was what he did in his
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incarnation. This week and weary Jesus, who will preach the Gospel to this
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wretched center of a woman, this
Samaritan, he would have to be not
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just he would be unlifted up,
but not for a drink, but for
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death. Jesus and his our incarnation, in his weakness, in his humility,
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would not just one day rest by
a well, but he would rest,
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and rest is not the right word, would hang on a cross.
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This is a pattern, in other
words, that we're seeing here at the
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beginning of this story that is going
to repeat throughout the Gospel and even repeats
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in our own lives. In a
way, the Jews that he aren't is
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right now fleeing, would one day
catch up with him, torture him and
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hang him on a cross. In
fact, John tells us that it was
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the sixth hour. Just as it
was the sixth hour when Jesus sat down
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by the well, it would be
the sixth hour when pilot said to the
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Jews, behold your king, and
they cried out, away with him,
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away with him, crucify him.
Pilot said to them, shall I crucify
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your King? The chief priests answered
him, we have no king but Caesar,
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and so he delivered him over to
them to be crucified. So they're
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as here. The needs of his
human nature continue. Jesus, is humanity
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that's expressed here at the well,
and being tired and being thirsty will also
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be expressed on the cross, or
made manifest on the cross, as he
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bleeds, as he streuss us,
as he as he struggles for bat breath,
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even, in fact, as he
is thirsty. John tells us in
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Chapter Nineteen, Verse Twenty Eight,
that after the soldiers had divided his clothes,
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he's hanging naked on a cross.
At this point, Jesus, this
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is a quote from the One thousand
nine hundred twenty eight. Jesus, knowing
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that all was now finished, said
to fulfill the Scriptures, I thirst.
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A jar full of sour wine stood
there. So they put a sponge full
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of sour wine on a hissup branch
and held it to his mouth. When
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Jesus had received this sour wine,
he said it is finished and he bowed
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his head and he gave up his
spirit. The things that are happening right
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here at the well are prefiguring his
death. The persecution of the Jews,
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the suffering the time, even down
to this detail, of the thirsting Jesus
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is, humanity is bringing him to
a low point. But it's not an
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accident. He came purposefully, in
a planned way, out of love.
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The word became flesh and dwelt among
us so that God would fulfill his covenant
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promises that he made to Jacob and
Abraham and Isaac and Joseph, these promises
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that he would be our God and
we would be his people. This is
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how he dwells among us, this
is how he is taking care of us,
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and that's why he will say these
things to this woman, and he
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says, if you would, even
if you knew who was was, ask
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of me and I would give you
water where you would never thirst again.
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She does give him a water,
it would seem, but on the cross
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that's not the case. He fulfills
that scripture that we read in Psalm six
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twenty one. They gave me poison
for Food and for my thirst, they
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gave me sour wine to drink.
But God is using all of this for
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good. What man intends for evil, God works for blessings, for even
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the whole world. By becoming man, by suffering, by dying, he
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did this so that man might believe
in him, have their sins forgiven and
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would no longer fear death. For
we who believe in Jesus have death,
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die in Jesus and are able to
live in him. And what's amazing too,
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is that this salvation then goes forth
to everyone, a salvation that's also
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anticipated here at Jacobs well. Jacob's
well in Samaria would go out into Samaria
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and all the world. We read
at the end of the story that what
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happens here in this place, as
he's sort of fleeing from Judea, fleeing
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from Jerusalem, going up to Galilee, going up through Samaria. What ends
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up happening is a lot of people
end up believing the Gospel. The end
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up believing that he is the Christ. They end up finding salvation in him
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because of what happens with this woman
and her testimony. And again these patterns
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that we're seeing here early in Jesus
Ministry are going to keep happening after Jesus
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is resurrection, after he defeats death
and rises from the dead. We read
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an acts one eight as he says
to John, who writes this, and
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to the other disciples, he says, but you will receive power when the
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Holy Spirit has come upon you and
you will be my witnesses, just as
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this woman was a witness, you
will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all
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Judea and Samaria and to the ends
of the Earth. So as Pau as
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John is writing this right as he's
writing about this woman at the well and
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these things that happened and Jesus is
early ministry and Samaria, he is also
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re membering the command that he himself
was given after the resurrection that the Gospel
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would go out from Judea, after
the crucifixion and Resurrection, to Samaria and
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even to the whole world. It's
amazing to think about here is God,
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the God of Abraham, Isaac Jacob
Joseph, keeping these promises that the world
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would be blessed through them and through
this offspring of Christ. This command that
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Jesus gives to them. In fact, is exactly what happens. Luke goes
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on to record and acts Chapter Eight, that Philip first goes into Samaria proclaims
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Christ and many receive that news and
believe. And then when they apostles at
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Jerusalem heard about Samaria that the work
of the spirit was happening in this way,
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that the the Samaritans had received the
word of God, they then sent
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to them Peter and John. So
here is John Right, John's baptizing in
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the wilderness with Jesus. They're baptizing
and in the name of Jesus they have
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to flee Judea. They have this
encounter with this woman in Samarian. At
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this point in time they're confused.
Why are you talking to her? What's
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going on? But in just a
few years time John is going to be
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returning to this region to preach not
just the Gospel that the Christ has come,
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but that the Christ has come and
has been crucified and is risen from
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the dead and holds the power of
God to all who would believe and this
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eternal life that Jesus promises here,
initially to this woman and to those who
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come out just keeps growing and growing
and growing. What happens in a small
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way here is Jesus, is just
passing through Samaria, will blow up into
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big proportions after his resurrection. Amazing
note here, Christians. This is the
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work of God, in his power
and his sovereignty and his plan. There's
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another lesson here too. The suffering
of Christ leads to the blessings of Christ.
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Jesus hungered, was thirsty, tired, tempted so that you could be
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blessed according to the love and plan
of our trying in God. It happened
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here at the well, it happened
at the Cross and it happens in the
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church, to where Jesus continues to
dwell and to be present. God uses
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those who suffer in his name.
God uses you, who are called to
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suffer in his name, for his
purpose. To do what? To bring
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about blessings in his name. By
the time we get to act chapter thirty
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one, we read the the the
church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria
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had peace and was being built up
and walking in the fear of the Lord
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and in the comfort of the spirit. It multiplied, and now all these
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wonderful things, having happened according to
God's will, were then recorded for you
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and for me, so that we
might hear, so that we might believe,
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the testimony of the Samaritan Woman,
the testimony of John, of Peter,
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of Philip and many others, the
testimony that are perfectly divine God,
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who added to his divinity a humanity, human nature like ours. He did
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this so that, through his death, we might die and so that,
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through his life, we might live, and through this suffering and through this
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life we find a great blessing.
I want to mention one application and closing
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simply, this believe. Believe in
the one who is the Christ, believe
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in the one who thirsts because he
thirsts for you, and the one who
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dies because he dies for you,
the one who suffers, who drinks the
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cup of God's wrath so that God's
wrath would not fall on you. Jesus
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does these things. He is in
Judea and Samaria, in Galilee and now
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throughout all the world, through his
spirit, so that we who would believe
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on him would have that eternal life, that water which always quenches. And
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as you think about this story and
ask yourself certain questions, consider what answers
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are true and right. Do you
think yourself too much of a sinner to
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accept this gift? This woman didn't. She was in great sin and was
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saved. Do you think of yourself
as too good, that you don't need
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it? Well then, your self
deceived. Jesus knows your heart just like
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he knows hers. She's Coy,
she's protective, she doesn't tell the whole
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truth. It doesn't matter. Jesus
knows all. He exposes her sin,
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he exposes her heart. Why?
Not to shame hern, beat her down
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and embarrass her, but to save
her, to call her to repentance,
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to show her that the masks that
she wears she can take off in front
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of him. It's already removed.
You might as well believe Jesus offers himself
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to her, to the true her, to the sinful her. Or perhaps
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you think that he's too weak or
too human to be of any help.
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Or maybe you think that the gospel
of forgiveness is too good. If so,
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then you think yourself wiser than God, who took on your humanity to
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lift you up out of sin,
out of death. God is revealing himself
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to us here in the testimony of
his word and the testimony of this woman,
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in the testimony of the people around
you who have experienced these things for
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themselves, who, like the people
who came out from Samaria, said,
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well, she said it and we
heard and we saw, and now we've
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seen it for ourselves. You have
witnesses all around you testifying to you the
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truth of this salvation that we have
in Jesus. It's my prayer that God
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himself will help you to see things
as they truly are and, though Jesus
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is certainly weak and tired and suffers
and dies, that you would see that
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as as the very salvation that God
offers to you, because he suffers will
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willingly in order to bless. He
did it at the well, he did
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it at the cross, he does
it for you and he continues, as
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I'll say, and as just a
final word, he does this. He
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continues to do this in the church. Is God works in us. He
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calls us in a way, into
that suffering. Take up your cross and
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follow me, he says. We
don't suffer in atoning death like Jesus did,
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but we are called to continue on
this path of the cross, to
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suffer for the sake of his name, and sometimes that's hard and sometimes we
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get tired and sometimes we say this
doesn't seem right and I'm I'm I'm thirsty,
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and I'm hungry and I'm tired.
But my encouragement to you is do
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not lure, do not lose heart, because it is God who is at
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work within you. He knows your
humanity, he knows your calling and he
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has promised to heavenly things. He
knows how to work in the midst of
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tragedy, he knows how to bring
eternal blessings out of weakness and sin.
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If you embrace that, you embrace
him and as he holds us in his
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arms, His mercy and his love
shines and the world believes all of the
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praise and glory of our God.
I'm in
