Going Through Samaria - Part 1

“Going Through Samaria” - Part 1

11/26/2000 a.m. (John 4:1-29) Rodgers Park Baptist Church

You’ll notice that Jesus and the Pharisees had a little scrap in the first verses of John chapter four. The Pharisees were jealous of Jesus because He baptized more disciples than John the Baptist. (Sort of the way Baptist churches do today over who baptizes more in a given year). Actually, Jesus did not do the baptizing. The Bible says that His disciples did. That wasn’t the true reason they were jealous: it was just an excuse. They could have probably cared less about Jesus baptizing more disciples than John. They hated Jesus because He was bad for business. People were following Him instead of them. They were looking up to Him instead of them. That was the real issue here.

So, Jesus left that region and went to another. The story in the gospel account takes a strange turn. Instead of going to a popular Jewish town or city, Jesus went straight into the heart of forbidden territory. He went to Samaria. This was forbidden for the Jews because of the hatred between the Jews and the Samaritans. The Jews had never had anything to do with the Samaritans because of a century old feud. The Samaritans were a mixture of Jews and Gentiles by intermarriage of the Jews left in the land with colonists from Babylon and other regions sent by Shalmaneser, (2Chr. 30:6, 10; 34:9). The Jews considered them to be a half-breed. You might say they were bigoted because of their race.

APP: A person cannot help the color of their skin. They were born that way. They did not choose to be the color they are. As Christians, we must not be bigoted because of the color of a person’s skin. However, the color of a person’s skin and the choice of a person’s sin are two different matters. We have been accused of being bigoted against the homosexuals because of their preference. I want to be emphatic. Homosexuality is not a condition one is born with, but rather a choice one makes. It’s not a matter of skin, but a matter of sin. That’s the issue. That’s what we have to deal with.

Now, I want to share some principles with you on how Jesus dealt with the lost. I want you to understand this principle primarily.

BI - “Jesus will go to any length and to any place to reach the lost with the truth of the gospel. Shouldn’t we?”

Please notice first:

I. The Convoy of Hope - (verse 4)

“And he must needs go through Samaria.”

A. To a Particular Place - Samaria

1. Sychar - (ancient Shechem)

2. Jacob’s Well - (a 100’ deep cistern dug by Jacob a few thousand years prior)

B. At a Particular Time - 6th hour, 12:00 noon (Jewish time)

A time when the sun was at it’s peak, high noon. There was about to be a show-down at the well, but instead of someone getting hurt, they were about to be helped.

C. For a Particular Person -

Someone would be coming to draw water from the well. There was a divine appointment awaiting her, but she did not realize it. She would draw from a well, but it wouldn’t be Jacob’s well. It would be from another that would be much more satisfying.

That was the Convoy of Hope - Jesus passed through Samaria

II. The Contact with Heaven - (verse 6-7)

Joh 4:6 Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. 7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.

A. The Savior Sat by the Well -

It’s hard to imagine Jesus being weary from anything, but He was. Remember, He was the God-Man. He was 100% God and 100% man. He was a much God as though He were not a man, and He was as much man as though He were not God. That is the uniqueness of Jesus. He experienced everything we will experience in life with the exception of sin. So He was weary. But in His weariness there is purpose. Notice also:

B. A Stranger Came to the Well -

Now, this woman was no stranger to Samaria, but she was to Jesus. That is, He had never had any contact with her before. He knew about her, but their paths had never crossed.

APP: Dear friends, Jesus is omniscient God. There is no one in the sanctuary today that Jesus doesn’t know about. However, there may be some here today that are strangers to Jesus because your paths have not crossed to this point. Today is a divine appointment for you. Today Jesus can become your Savior instead of being a stranger to you. You may experience contact from Heaven this very hour.