BREAKING BARRIERS 2 LIVING WATER

TEXT JOHN 4:4-42 http://www.biblica.com/bible/verse/?q=John4&niv=yes

BREAKING BARRIERS 2 LIVING WATER

PARAPHRASE JOHN 4:4-42

In traveling from Judea to Galilee, Jesus went through Samaria an area Jews usually avoided. Coming to the town of Sychar, he walked near a plot of land Jacob had given his son Joseph and had dug a well. Tired from his journey, Jesus sat down by the well while his disciples went into town to buy food. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus asked her for a drink which shocked her because Jews believe they will become defiled if they come into contact with Samaritans. He tells her that if she knew of God’s gift of grace and who he really was, if instead she were to ask him, she would receive living water - eternal life.

Misunderstanding Jesus, she asks him where living water comes from and how he could be greater than Jacob who dug the well for them. He tells her that drinking from Jacob’s well only temporarily satisfies one’s thirst, while drinking his water satisfies one’s thirst forever - leading to eternal life. She then asks Jesus to give her some of his water so she will never be thirsty again and have to return to Jacob’s well.

Jesus then tells her to go and get her husband because it is improper for him to be talking to her alone, at which point she tells him she has no husband. Knowing this, Jesus tells her that she has had five husbands and that she is telling the truth when she says she is not married to the man she is now with. Recognizing Jesus knowledge of her personal life is a sign that he is a prophet, she diverts the discussion away from herself to a religious conflict between the Samaritans and Jews about where the proper place to worship God is - Mount Gerazim vs the Jerusalem Temple. Jesus tells her that a time is coming when the God will be worshipped in neither place because the Samaritans worship what they don’t know and the Jews worship what they do. He tells her that salvation comes from the Jews and that the time has come when true worshippers won’t worship God in a place but in spirit and truth - something God desires. He tells her that because God is spirit his worshippers must worship Him in spirit and truth. The woman responds that when the Messiah comes he will explain everything to them at which point Jesus reveals to her that he is the Messiah.

When the disciples return from town they are surprised to find Jesus talking to a woman because of the customs of the day. Simultaneously, the woman leaves her water jar and goes back to town and tells everyone to come with her to see a man who could be the Messiah because he knew everything about her. As the town’s people come out to see Jesus, the disciples urged Jesus to eat, but he tells them his food is to do the will of God. He also quotes to them the proverb, “Four months more and then the harvest”, telling them in so many words to open up their eyes so they can participate in harvesting the crop of souls who are coming their way. He reminds them of the truth of another saying, “One sows and another reaps” telling them they have been sent to reap what they have not sowed. Others such as the prophets and him had done the hard work of sowing with the town’s people of Sechar, while they (the disciples) will reap the benefits of their labor as the town’s people come out to see him (the Messiah) for themselves.

Many of the town’s people believed because the Samaritan woman testified that “He told me everything I ever did.” When the Samaritans came out to see Jesus they asked him to stay with them and so he did for two days. As a result of his words many more believed and they told the woman that they no longer believed solely because of her testimony, now that they had heard Jesus for themselves and knew he was the Savior of the world.


PRINCIPLES JOHN 4:4-42

CIT = Central Idea of the Text, INT = Interrogatory, ANS = Answer)

JOHN 4:4-42

A. First Century Readers

CIT: John tells his first century readers that Jesus was God’s gift of living water leading to eternal life.

INT: How does John tell his first century readers that Jesus was God’s gift of living water leading to eternal life.

ANS: John told his first century readers this by Jesus breaking down barriers:

I. He Went through Samaria

II. He Talked to a Woman

a. He Asked Her for a Drink

b. He Offered Her Living Water

c. He Told Her about Her Life

d. He Told Her about True Worship

e. He Told Her He was the Messiah

III. He Stayed with Her People


B. Readers Today

CIT: John tells us today that Jesus is God’s gift of living water leading to eternal life.

INT: How does John tell us today that Jesus is God’s gift of living water leading to eternal life.

ANS: John tells us this today by our breaking down barriers:

I. We Go to Forsaken Places

II. We Talk to Forsaken People

a. We Ask Them for a Drink

b. We Offer Them Living Water

c. We Tell Them about Their Lives

d. We Tell Them about True Worship

e. We Tell Them about the Messiah

III. We Stay with Them


PRAYER

Our Father, we give You praise for Your gift of Living Water, of Eternal Life, in Your Son, Jesus Christ.

Our Father, we thank You that Your Son, the Messiah, broke down the barriers that existed in this world, offering His Living Water to all.

Our Father, we thank You that we also can break down barriers in proclaiming Your Son's Living Water to the world.

Our Father, embolden us to go wherever and to whomever You desire us to go with Your gift.

Our Father, forgive us in the past when we have not responded to Your call.

Our Father, may our worship be as You desire, in spirit and in truth and may we bring this worship with us wherever You might send us to do Your work.

Our Father, humble us to ask others for the drink that we need as we build the relationships necessary to talk with them about their lives and the Salvation the Messiah brings.

We ask all of this in the Name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen.

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