The Samaritan Appointment
John 4:1-26
As I’m sure you all know, during Biblical times, the Jews and the Samaritans were locked in a bitter rivalry, but in case you didn’t know, it partially began back when the Kingdom was torn apart—when it became a divided kingdom after Solomon's death and there was the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and the Southern Kingdom of Judah and Benjamin.
Now over the years after the divide, each succeeding King of the North got progressively worse until the Lord finally sent Assyria to conquer and remove the people from the land. So, after taking many of the northern Jews into captivity the Assyrian King then began importing people other conquered lands into Samaria which was formerly the Northern Kingdom. (2Kgs 17:23-24)
Now, these pagan non-Jews that were brought in, not only began to intermarry with the Jews that were left behind, but they also brought their foreign gods with them. So, is wasn’t long until their pagan form of worship intermingled with the worship of Yahweh. (Now, this intermingling of beliefs is called “syncretism” which is an amalgamation of various religions into one. Think of Voodoo for instance. It is a blend of elements of Christianity with Witchcraft and other pagan practices.)
After Israel had been taken into captivity, about 123 years later the Southern Kingdom was conquered by Babylon and was also taken into captivity, but that only lasted 70 years, and then they were allowed to return to their homeland in Judah.
Almost immediately upon their return to the land, they started rebuilding the temple and then the wall around Jerusalem. Amazingly, the Samaritans came and offered to help, but because they were considered “half-breeds” and “mongrels” by the Jews, and also because they probably had ulterior motives, they were flatly rejected. With that rejection, the Samaritans sided with Israel's enemies, and thus began centuries of mistrust and deep animosity. The Jews hated the Samaritans. The Samaritans hated the Jews.
Now, by the time of Christ, the Samaritans had largely abandoned the idol worship their former kings and the Assyrian captives had brought in, and they worshiped Yahweh, but only after a fashion. You see, they (like the Sadducees) accepted only the Pentateuch (the first 5 books of Moses) as Scripture, but they also worshiped God on Mount Gerizim instead of Jerusalem. Because they only recognized a portion of the Scripture, they didn't have a complete revelation of the Messiah that was come.
They did believe there would be one to come “like Moses” but he'd primarily be a teacher as we see from the Samaritan woman's statement when she said Joh 4:25 …I know that Messiah is coming (who is called Christ). When He comes, He will tell us all things. But the idea of the Messiah saving anyone, or establishing a Kingdom well, that really wasn’t part of their beliefs.
Something else to remember is because of their long history of animosity, and their traditions, the Samaritans were considered to be “perpetually unclean” by the more orthodox Jews, who would avoid all contact with any Samaritan, even to the point of bypassing all of their country. They would go miles out of their way to walk to Galilee, or from Galilee to Judah in order to avoid Samaria. And many of the Jews would “never” eat any food prepared by Samaritan hands or drink any beverage out of a Samaritan container. To do so would cause the Jew to become “unclean” himself.
Now, this is just a very short history concerning the animosity between the Jews and Samaritans in order to illustrate and emphasize the differences between the typical orthodox Jew of the time, and our Lord Jesus Christ. For you see, though Jesus was most definitely orthodox, He was so in the true sense. He followed the Word of God and not the traditions of men. Where the orthodox Jew would ignore and bypass Samaria and all Samaritans because of the “traditions of the elders”, Jesus would instead, seek out the lost regardless of nationality, because the mission of the Jews was to spread the knowledge of God to “the nations” not shut the nations out!
For example, speaking to the Jews, God said Isa 49:6 …I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, that You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.
Though His primary mission at this time was to the “lost sheep of the house of Israel” Jesus would not avoid Samaria as we see throughout His ministry, and that happened to be one of the complaints the Jews had against Him, they said Luk 15:2b …"This Man receives sinners and eats with them." They would also try to use his readiness to minister in Samaria against Him. Joh 8:48 Then the Jews answered and said to Him, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?"
Our Lord Jesus Christ wasn't afraid of those who were the “cast off” of society; the sinners, the lepers, the Samaritans, and neither should we. In this “Samaritan Appointment” we see some characteristics of Christ that we would do well to imitate in our own daily encounters with the people around us, beginning with...
I. His Mercy Seen
Joh 4:1-9 Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John (2) (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples), (3) He left Judea and departed again to Galilee. (4) But He needed to go through Samaria. (5) So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. (6) Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. (7) A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give Me a drink." (8) For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. (9) Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?" For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.
In the early part of Jesus' ministry, when His ministry overlapped with John the Baptist’s, John began to “decrease” while Jesus was “increasing”. Well, John's disciples took it kinda personally when it looked like Jesus was “siphoning” off some of John's followers.
And as we can see from our passage today, the Pharisees knew of this. So, at some point, Jesus decided to go back to Galilee, and I believe it was because Jesus wanted to let John's ministry continue until it was over. Or maybe, since Jesus knew of the Pharisee's interrogation techniques, He decided to avoid them for the moment. After all, His time was not yet. He probably didn't want to be asked a bunch of messianic questions just yet and become “revealed” too soon.
And I also believe that just as the Lord saw Nathaniel under the fig tree before He called him to be a disciple, Jesus also saw a troubled woman at a well in Samaria near Sychar. The Scripture says that He “needed” to go through Samaria. In an amazing act of mercy, He went into a “defiled” and “unclean” land, and at the appointed time, He kept His Samaritan Appointment. He spoke with this woman and asked her for a drink of water!
Now, we can only speculate on the astonishment of this woman—that a strange Jewish man would not only speak with her in public, but He would also ask for a drink of water! Because you see, Jewish men simply didn't speak to women in public, not even to their own wives! So, it would appear to be the height of forwardness for a man to speak to a woman, and especially at a well! Both the Jews and Samaritans were very familiar with the stories of Isaac and Jacob and how that their wives were first encountered at the local well. So, Jewish men tended to avoid that scenario and any image of impropriety.
But Christ's mercy overrides customs. He not only spoke to a woman, He spoke to her at a well, and He asked for a drink of water from the hands of someone who was unclean and caused everything she touched to become unclean. Folks, if Christ were afraid of that which is unclean, He never would have visited this earth which sin had turned into a perfect dunghill.
He wasn't afraid to associate with the downtrodden, and neither should we. The mercy He showed toward Samaria and this Samaritan should be the example we strive toward in our own dealings with people of other races and cultures. Never be afraid to challenge what you’ve been taught. Ask why and step out of your comfort zone and minister to those who need it so badly, and especially those who the rest of our society throws in the garbage or cares very little about.
The next characteristic we see is...
II. His Generosity Displayed
Joh 4:10-14 Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water." (11) The woman said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? (12) Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?" (13) Jesus answered and said to her, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, (14) but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."
Friends, Christ is able to read our hearts like an open book. He knows what our deepest needs are, and He stands prepared to fulfill those needs. He read this woman in an instant and immediately began to turn their conversation from the physical realm to the spiritual. It took her a while to catch on, and she struggled to make the transition, but in His infinite mercy, He gave to her the most generous offer of her life when He said Joh 4:10 …"If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water."
There are quite a few people out there who might think that they're “God's gift”, but the only Gift that God ever gave in that sense was His Son. Jesus Christ is literally “God's gift to mankind!”
“Woman, if you only knew who I truly was, you'd be asking me for a drink and I'd give you 'Living Water'!”
Now, this woman knew what living water was. After all, everyone knows that water in a pool, pond or cistern isn't “living” water, it's stationary, stale, and stagnant. No, “living water” was water fed by a stream, river, or fountain. It moved, it was “alive”, it was always fresh! And this well, Jacob's well, though it was over 100 ft deep, yet, it was fed by an underground stream, so IT was “living water” too.
“But Sir... you don't even have anything to keep water in. You don't have a rope to lower it into the well to draw the “living” water out. Where and how are you going to give anyone this “Living Water”?
“Our patriarch, Jacob, dug this well himself and gave it to us. Even 'he' had to use a rope and container to draw water out. You're not better than our patriarch, are you?”
You know, just as Nicodemus took a little time transitioning from the physical to the spiritual, Joh 3:4 …"How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" This woman had similar difficulties. But Jesus persisted, because anyone who drinks this H2O will have to keep drinking it in order to survive. The water that He offered, not only to her but to all of us, this living water is eternal life! It's not the Holy Spirit because He hadn't been given yet. The Living Water that Jesus generously offers is salvation, eternal life to all who believe!
Isa 12:3 Therefore with joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
Isa 55:1a Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters;
The generous gift that Jesus offered to this woman, which He offers to all who will believe, is the same generous gift we must continue to broadcast and shout about from the rooftops, “Come one. Come all. COME TO THE WATERS AND DRINK DEEPLY!”
III. His Patience Unveiled
Joh 4:15-20 The woman said to Him, "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw." (16) Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here." (17) The woman answered and said, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You have well said, 'I have no husband,' (18) for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly." (19) The woman said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. (20) Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship."
Christ's patience is easily seen throughout this conversation with the Samaritan woman. She doesn't quickly get the spiritual meaning of the “Living Water” and she is still thinking “in the natural” that maybe she does want some of this water so she won't have to make all these trips to the well! So, Jesus told her to go get her husband, and she began to make an attempt to distract Him from THAT topic by saying she doesn't have a husband.
But that dog don’t bark. He has displayed a lot of patience with her ignorance, but her ignorance won't give her a “pass” on her sin. Ignorance gives no one a pass. Salvation was her ultimate need and she needed to be faced with her sin in order to be brought to repentance. John 4:17-18 Jesus said to her, "You have well said, 'I have no husband,' (18) for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly."
You see, Jesus wasn't simply pointing out her sin, but just how great that sin was. She was living contrary to the Law in more ways than one. Even the most liberal of rabbi's would only allow 3 husbands in a lifetime, even in the case of death! So, she had her three and then some, not to mention that the man she was currently living with wasn't her husband at all!
So, trying to deflect and change the subject, she said, John 4:19 …"Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. But Jesus was having none of it. She needed to be faced with her sin so that she could be brought to repentance. Changing the subject just won’t fly. “You Jews worship at the temple. We are told to worship on this mount. So, who's right? What do I need to do now?”
Maybe trying to steer the conversation away from the personally uncomfortable, which is what people do all the time, she brought up the age old argument. But deflection doesn’t work on the Lord. His mission is to save, so in His final response, we see...
IV. His Deity Revealed
Joh 4:21-26 Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. (22) You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. (23) But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. (24) God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." (25) The woman said to Him, "I know that Messiah is coming" (who is called Christ). "When He comes, He will tell us all things." (26) Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He."
What a victory He's won here! The grace of God can soften even the hardest and most callous of hearts (I’m proof of that), and the Lord swept her question aside and let her know that she was asking the wrong question. It’s not about where you worship, it’s about who and how you worship!
I want you to also notice that even though these things were hidden from the wise and prudent, Jesus unfolded it all to this woman who has been made humble. He unveiled deep spiritual truth to one who was despised by His own people. In essence, He said…
“A day is coming when that issue will be irrelevant! You won't worship here OR there! But until that time comes, the Jews have it right. You Samaritans don't believe in the whole Bible, so, you don't have all the necessary information you need to worship properly. But I’ll tell you now, one day 'where' you worship won't be nearly as important as the 'nature' or your worship!”
You see, the “spirit” Jesus is speaking of here isn't the Holy Spirit but the human spirit. He's telling us that worship must be internal, not external. It will proceed from the “heart” and not from external ceremonies and rituals. True worship will be in “spirit” and “truth”, which means that this heart worship will be consistent with the Scriptures and will be centered on the incarnate Word of God! Folks, truth is unveiled in the Scriptures and the truth is found in Jesus Christ who is Joh 14:6 …the way, the truth, and the life.
Now, this woman was still somewhat confused and expressed her hope that she will one day understand all this much better when the Messiah comes, because John 4:25b …"When He comes, He will tell us all things." But she didn't have to wait, because the One she was waiting for had come! John 4:26 Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He."
Now, understand this—Jesus had avoided revealing Himself to the Jewish people because what they expected wasn't what He came to do, this time. He didn't come to lead a revolt and throw off the Roman yoke, He came to save. And because of the budding faith of this Samaritan woman, she earned the honor of being the very first person to ever hear Jesus' open declaration that He is not only the Messiah, but God incarnate.
He said “I am”, which is the first of His many “I am” statements in this gospel. When He said “I am” (ego eimi), He connected Himself forever as the Lord who at the burning bush declared to Moses “I Am that I Am!”
Oh friends, the Lord’s encounter with this Samaritan woman illustrates to us three non-negotiable truths about salvation.
First, salvation comes only to those who recognize their desperate need for the spiritual life they don't have. Living water is given only to those who are spiritually “thirsty.”
Second, salvation comes only to those who confess that they are sinners, repent of their sins, and come to Christ for forgiveness. Before this woman could embrace the Savior, she had to acknowledge her need and the full weight of her iniquity.
And third, salvation comes only to those who embrace Jesus Christ as their Messiah and sin-bearer. Salvation is found in no one else! Act 4:12 …there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
But there may be someone here today or listening to me on Facebook Live right now that still hasn’t trusted in Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Friend, He is the great I Am! He proved it over and over during His ministry. He proved it when He rose from the dead. He proved it when He sent the Holy Spirit to us. He will prove it once again when He comes back the second time with all the host of heaven.
Believe in Him now. Repent of sin and turn your life over to Him today! You cannot wait until He comes again because that will be too late. He won’t be your Savior at that time, He will be your righteous Judge.
My beloved friend, today, you are offered grace and mercy. On that day it will be judgment, fire, and brimstone. Like the Scripture says, Psa 95:7-9 …Today, if you will hear His voice: (8) "Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, As in the day of trial in the wilderness, (9) When your fathers tested Me; They tried Me, though they saw My work.
You also have seen His work in your life. You have seen His work in the lives of Christians everywhere. So, don’t harden your heart anymore. 2Co 6:2 …Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.
