Jesus With A Fallen Woman Series

“Encounters with Jesus: A Fallen Woman”

Introduction:

A lot of times we picture Jesus as an emotionless man that walked on the Earth 2,000 years ago. The more I read about our Lord the more I see quite differently about him. We learn throughout the gospels that he was a man like we are. We learn that he cared for people. We learn that he wept at the tomb of his friend Lazarus. We know he had compassion on the hurting. Jesus was a man of sorrows acquainted with suffering. I believe it was clear that Jesus showed his humanity and his deity in his encounter with the Samaritan woman.

After Jesus’ encounter with Nicodemus, Jesus left that area called Judea and was traveling back to Galilee. As he was traveling he went through Samaria and stopped at a city called Sychar. He stopped at what was called Jacob’s well. This was a well that his ancestor had dug himself and given to Joseph. Jesus sat at the well tired and hungry after a long walk. I picture the day that is talked about in the scripture as a hot day, the text tells us that it was about six in the evening. It was just about harvest time. I picture Jesus looking upward and seeing the famous Mt. Gerizim overshadowing that well. This mount would have been the home to the Samaritan temple. Jesus sat there by the well with only John with him, the other disciples were sent into the city to buy food. I picture our savior sitting down, tired, discouraged, and hungry. Then I picture this Samaritan woman coming into the picture to draw water from the well. I picture her looking timidly at Jesus because she would have recognized him as a Jew. She probably expected to be mocked becase of her Samaritan roots. The woman realized quickly that Jesus was not the typical arrogant Jewish man. I want to look at the way in which Jesus dealt with this fallen woman from Samaria. Perhaps Jesus would respond in a similar way to us. We all though are forced to confront certain aspects of our lives when we hear and learn about Jesus. The Samaritan woman was forced to confront certain aspects of her life because of her encounter with Jesus and so must we.

What I want to propose this morning is that when we encounter Jesus we are forced to consider certain realities in our life. We are forced to at least think about our lives and how we ought to live. Each time we hear God’s Word spoken we should examine our lives and see how we are living. We ought to see if there is something we need to change about ourselves. If we are convicted about a area of our life, we need to swallow our pride and change for the better. When the Samaritan woman encountered Jesus she was forced to confront many aspects of her life. We are all confronted by the same things 2,000 years later. How will you respond to your encounter with Jesus?

Text: John 4:1-26

I. Encountering Jesus Forces us to Confront the Truth

When the Samaritan woman encountered Jesus she was forced to consider several truths. I believe that the same is true of people today. Even though we do not encounter Jesus face to face, we encounter him through his word. There are certain facts that people are forced to confront when they first hear the gospel. The Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well was forced to confront who Jesus was. We today are still confronted with this same thing. Who is Jesus? Is he really who he said he was?

One thing that the woman at the well was forced to confront was who Jesus was. As she talked to Jesus she progressed in her view of Jesus. First she asked Jesus if she was greater than Jacob. Secondly, she asked Jesus if he were a prophet. Thirdly, she examined the possibility of Jesus being the expected Messiah. In fact as she mentioned the coming of the Messiah, Jesus told her that he was the expected Messiah. She was forced to consider that option. She had to face the question was Jesus telling the truth. Jesus stands from his Word claiming that he is the one that came into the world to die for our sins. He claims that he is the living water and that whoever drinks from him will never drink again. How will you respond to Jesus’ claim that he is Lord? Our encounter with Jesus forces us to confront the truth about who Jesus is. We have several options to consider about who Jesus is.

a. Liar

First, Jesus could be a liar. Jesus claimed that he was the Son of God and one of the options that we must consider accepting is that Jesus is a man that was simply a liar. I though am not willing to call Jesus a liar. It would not make sense that Jesus was a liar and yet he lived in the way that he did and proved his words through his miracles. It would not make sense to call him a liar because he is by all people considered a great man and a prophet. Would a good man lie about who he was? Would a prophet sent from God; claim to be the Messiah if he was not? Our first option is to rule that Jesus was nothing more than a liar.