The Story Of The Woman At The Well Series

INTRODUCTION

• SLIDE #1

• We live in a time where may feel a high level of hopelessness and worthlessness.

• For some, life is not good, for some, rejection is a way of life.

• Today, we are going to look at a familiar story in the Gospel of John, the story entitled the Woman at the Well.

• Jerry and I have preached on this story in the recent past, but today as we continue with our Spring into Life series, I want to put our focus on what happened with this woman after she had her encounter with Jesus.

• This message is important both to those who feel a sense of worthlessness or hopelessness because of how life has been for them so far and to those for whom life has been good.

• We are all broken vessels, but some of us feel like we are more broken than others.

• Many folks feel like they are beyond broken, to the point that they are shattered and cannot ever be used or fixed.

• This causes one to spiral down into the throes of depression and frustration.

• From the conversation that Jesus has with the woman at the well, one could picture this woman as feeling as though life has no hope for her.

• After all, from the woman’s answer to Jesus’ request for her to get her husband, one can see that life has been hard on her and that she was morally corrupt.

• Yet, here is Jesus, talking to this woman, a woman who was a Samaritan, a person a Jew would not normally strike a conversation with.

• I mean, as we have talked about before, as a Jew, Jesus should not have even been in Samaria.

• SLIDE #2

• For those for whom life has been good, we need to know that God wants us to take the message to those who are broken vessels.

• I hope that as we examine the story that it will help us all to see that no one is so broken that God cannot fix them and use them for His glory!

• Jesus gave His time to those that society would not give the time of day too. Zaccheus, the man born blind, and today, the Samaritan woman at the well.

• So that you will have the context to where we will be in today.

• Jesus’ group was making and baptizing more disciples than John the Baptist and the Pharisee’s had taken note.

• So, Jesus and his disciples were leaving Judea to head to Galilee and Jesus took the unusual route through Samaria.

• They came to the town of Sychar near Jacob’s Well. The disciples went into town to get some food and Jesus stayed at the well and a woman of Samaria came to draw some water from the well.

• Jesus asks her for a drink, she is shocked that a Jew would speak to her, and from there, Jesus continued a conversation with her.

• During the conversation, the woman started to realize something was different about this man.

• She perceived Jesus was a prophet. They had a discussion about living water, her current living situation, as well as the subject of worship.

• Then in verse 25, she asked the question about the Messiah! Jesus told her HE was the one, the Messiah!

• Now the disciples come back, and they are astonished that Jesus was talking to this woman, of course, none of them said anything to Jesus about it!

• So, what did the woman do, the broken vessel?

• SLIDE #3

• John 4:28–30 (CSB) — 28 Then the woman left her water jar, went into town, and told the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” 30 They left the town and made their way to him.

• When this woman had contact with Jesus, she was different, she left her water jar and headed straight for town to do something.

• I find a couple things amazing about what was about to take place. First. Jesus did not tell her to go back into town and do what she was going to do.

• She did this all on her own. What she does is a natural response to bringing Jesus into one’s life!

• The second thing that impresses me is that she cared enough for her fellow citizens to drop what she was doing to tell them about Jesus!

• Let’s turn to verse 39

• SLIDE #4

• John 4:39 (CSB) Now many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of what the woman said when she testified, “He told me everything I ever did.”