5 Priorities of the Church
“Breaking down the Walls”
John 4:1-26
I am reminded of a young boy who asked his mother if she could remember the highest number she ever counted to. She said well really can’t remember so why don’t you tell me what the highest number is you have ever counted to. He said sure, it’s 5372. The mother was kind of puzzled when she said why did you stop at 5732? He said, “Simple, church was over.” In various surveys when people are asked why they don’t go to church many people give the same answer… it’s just too boring. Others say, it’s not relevant. Or I can worship God anywhere.
The word worship is a very broad term and if you were to ask 100 different people to define worship-you would be very likely to get 100 different answers.
In our Scripture for today we find that Jesus was traveling and He had to go through Samaria. While traveling he comes to the town of Sychar and the reason that is important is that there was a small piece of property there that was owned by Jacob and he had given it to his son, Joseph and on that property there was a well. Jesus is traveling; he is tired, he is hot and he is thirsty so he sits down by the well. The Bible says it was about the sixth hour meaning that it was about noon. This was the hottest part of the day.
He encounters a woman from Samaria and he asked her, will you give me a drink? The woman says to Jesus, you are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman how can you ask me for a drink? Now this is why she asked this question.
Jesus was a rabbi so he was forbidden to speak to a woman in public. If a rabbi was in public with his wife or daughter or sister he was not allowed to speak to any of them. If a rabbi was seen speaking to a woman in public everyone lost respect for him. It was the end of his reputation-he was ruined-yet Jesus spoke to this woman. There even Pharisees who were called the “bruised and bleeding Pharisees” because they would shut their eyes when they saw a woman on the street and then they would often walk into a stone wall. Their own religion became a barrier to them.
Now it is a bit odd for this woman to come to this place-was over a half mile to walk there and there was water right in her own town. One possibility is that she was an outcast because of her lifestyle. Jesus came to break down barriers. The Jews and Samaritans had been fighting for over 400 years. There were cultural differences. There were racial differences and there was a great deal of hatred between the two. The Jews felt they were superior so you can perhaps imagine how surprised she was when Jesus spoke to her. Jesus worked almost day and night during his 3.5 years of ministry doing this very thing-breaking down barriers. Jesus was all about breaking down barriers.
• When the Pharisees complained against Jesus for eating with tax collectors and with sinners he simply said I didn’t come to help those who are well, I came to help the sick. Jesus was breaking down a religious barrier.
• Zacchaeus was a tax collector. Luke tells us he was a sinner in the eyes of the public. Jesus saw him and invited himself to go to his house. This was unheard of in that day. Jesus was breaking down a social barrier.
• Lepers were not allowed to have contact with anyone other than immediate family. They were outcasts. When they came into the city they had to wear a bell hanging around their neck and had to bring it and shout out unclean, before they were allowed to walk through the city. Yet Jesus not only approached a man with leprosy, He reached out and touched him and healed him. Jesus was breaking down a physical barrier.
• Women had very little standing in that day yet Jesus did more to lift up the status of women than any other individual in history. Women could not speak in public with men. They could not walk in front of their husbands. Girls were not allowed to go to school. Women had no place or voice in worship. In the Jewish service today they still cannot sit with the man. Jesus was breaking down a cultural barrier.
So we can perhaps begin to understand why this woman asked this question. You will even see in parenthesis in the Bible here that John felt he needed to explain this to us. Verse 10. Now Jesus cuts right to the quick, right to the basics and offered this woman living water. This was confusing to the woman because it would be like me talking about steak and potatoes but then I expect you to understand that I’m actually talking about spiritual food. She couldn’t make the transition.
Next Jesus came to make salvation accessible to all. He came to remove any barriers. Here He was breaking down the barrier of sin between man and God. The water the woman had come to draw from the well could only be obtained through hard labor. On a hot day. At the peak temperature. So if there was a way to get this water easier, then why not? So Jesus points out to her that the water he is speaking of is not something you and I were intended to struggle for. It was not meant to be difficult to get to.
What happens is that when it comes to getting spiritual help most of us are looking in the wrong direction. Jeremiah wrote about this centuries before. Jeremiah 2:13. "My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns (tank for holding water) that cannot hold water.”
This woman clearly does not understand what Jesus is telling her. She is basically saying I have no idea what you’re talking about but if you can produce some kind of magic water, then let’s see it. Something that’s easier to get to, I’m all for it. I am reminded of a similar response given by Nicodemus. Jesus said you must be born of water and of the spirit. Nicodemus said how can I go back into my mother’s womb? They were just not on the same page.
Now Jesus goes to just straight talk. Here was a woman who lived outside the boundaries of any religious standard of the day. While we might see someone who has been married five times today it’s certainly not common. In the first century it was unthinkable.
Perhaps the woman is a bit embarrassed. How could Jesus know these things? Where in the world did he get this information? So she did the typical thing many of us would do in a situation like this.... “Let’s change the subject!” She realizes that she is no longer talking to some guy who sells bottled water-she knows there’s something different about this man.
So the subject shifts to this. Where is the appropriate place to worship? This brings us to what is one of the strongest statements about worship in the entire NT. In verses 21-24 John uses the Greek word for worship 10 times. Here is what we learn.
1. Place is not a barrier to worship. Place is irrelevant. We do not worship a place. We worship in spirit. This is not referring to the Holy Spirit; this refers to the heart. We must worship with the heart.
2. We worship in truth. Our worship must be centered on Christ. Jesus came to break the barrier of religion. Look at verse 23. There are several barriers we see here. Jews vs. Samaritans. A specific place vs a specific person. The barrier of religion has kept man from actually worshipping for thousands of years. Yes thousands. God is not interested in
• Jews or Samaritans
• A building that cost millions or one that meets in a strip mall
• Presbyterian or Methodist
He is interested in worshippers who will worship in spirit and in truth. Some of us feel we can get closer to God in private. In our prayer closet. Some want certain a type of music; for some it’s too loud, for others it’s not loud enough. Some want to dress up. Others, not so much. We disagree on so many things but here is a point where we must agree. If the spirit is not completely engaged, then there is no worship at all.
The woman makes a very interesting statement here in v. 25. She says I know that when Messiah comes he will explain everything to us.
It is now clear that she was a woman of faith. She was looking for the promised Messiah who would put an end finally to all of the arguing and confusion about spiritual matters. And since He is the only one who could do it for her there was no further point in talking about her husbands or other complicated questions. She wanted answers but she wanted them from the right source---Jesus. He was of course standing right in front of her. The Greek text reads, “I am the One speaking to you.” This is one of only 2x Jesus made this statement in the NT. “You’re waiting for the Messiah; oh well you might be interested in knowing, I’m the One.”
Everywhere Jesus went He broke down barriers. And here He does it again. He is looking for true worshippers and he has found one—a Samaritan woman in an unlikely place in an unlikely conversation. The fact that God is looking for true worshippers implies that there are FALSE worshippers. False worshippers either worship something other than Jesus or they worship in a way that dishonors Him. Think about this. There are many devout, sincere worshipers. Many worship Buddha or Allah or the Mormon god. They’re sincere but sincerely wrong because they’re not worshipping the true God as revealed in the Bible.
There are also those who are sincere but they worship man. People get too attached to their pastor and they think he can do no wrong but then they find out he is human too. Pastors are sinners as well. When the Pope was here I heard one woman on the news say “He is the closest thing to God we have.” I hope not. We have Jesus. He must be our focus. He has broken down every barrier necessary for us to get to Him. We are without excuse.
We find in the New Testament in the tabernacle there was an inner room called the Holy of Holies. It was the place where the very presence of God existed. No one could enter that place except the high priest and he could only enter once a year. It was a very sacred place covered by a thick curtain. The priest would wear a rope attached to his ankle in case he died while in there so that they could pull him out. Because no one else could enter. And even for him to enter there were special preparations he had to make.
The veil was very unique. It was 60 feet in height, 30 feet in width, and it was four inches thick. No one could reach it, no man could tear it open. The word veil means divider or separator. It was a barrier. The Bible tells us in the book of Matthew that when Jesus was on the cross that 50 Jesus cried out with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. 51 And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split. 52 The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had died were raised.
The Holy of Holies was the place that held the very presence of God. So why was it covered with a barrier? When the priest would enter each year on the Day of Atonement he was required to make special preparations. He had to wash Himself, put on special clothing, bring blood with him to make atonement for the sins of the people and also he had to bring in burning incense so that the smoke could cover his eyes from getting a direct view of God. Because God’s holiness and man’s sin were so far apart. A Holy God could not look upon our sin. But all of this changed when the veil was torn…ripped in two, from top to bottom.
Listen to what the write of Hebrews says. “Therefore brothers, since we have confidence to enter the most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, His body…let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith.”
Satan has tried to establish all kinds of barriers through the centuries, cultural, racial, religious…God has torn every one of them down through His son Jesus Christ. Every barrier has been destroyed. If you want to get to Jesus you don’t have to go through the pastor or a priest …. You can go directly to Him. Today. Now.
