Title: “Independence Day: Jesus Encounters a Samaritan Woman” Script: Jn. 4
Type: Series Where: GNBC 3-26-23
Intro: "Independence Day" is a song written by Gretchen Peters, and recorded by American country music singer Martina McBride. The song was officially released in May 1994 as the third single from her album The Way That I Am. The song peaked at number 12 on Hot Country Songs.[2] Peters later recorded it herself on her 1996 album The Secret of Life. It was first offered to Reba McEntire, who turned it down. In the song, a daughter recalls a tragic incident she experienced as a child. Her mother was involved in a domestic abuse incident with her alcoholic father. On Independence Day, the daughter walks to the town fair and hears rumors going on about the father's abuse. Apparently, the whole town knew about the abuse, but did nothing to help stop it. That day, the mother burns down their house, presumably with the husband and herself inside it, and the daughter is sent to a county home. The lyrics have a double meaning in that the woman in the story is finally gaining her "freedom" from her abusive husband. Thus, it is her "Independence Day." The song speaks to a horrible problem in our world: domestic abuse. In today’s passage we see Jesus encountering a used, abused, and misused woman who desperately needed independence from the sin and guilt that defined her life and existence.
Prop: Follow w/ me in Jn. 4 as we realize 3 important aspects of Jesus’ encounter w/a Samaritan woman.
BG: 1. Event takes place in Sychar, in Samaria, near Jacob’s well. Joseph’s tomb is nearby.
2. Great hostility between Samaritans and Jews. Started with Jeroboam’s rebellion and setting up of false worship site. Samaritans were ethnically ½ Jews who had been uprooted by Assyrians and intermixed with other nations. Religiously, the Samaritans held Mt. Gerizim, and not Jerusalem for worship, even having a temple of their own.. They believed in only 1 prophet, Moses, and only read from the Torah. They rejected all rabbinical teaching. Needless to say great hostility between them and Jews. (BTW still about 800 Samaritans today!)
3. Encounter centers around Jesus meeting and interacting with a woman the well of Sychar. This is a very troubled and ostracized woman.
Prop: Exam. Jn. 4 we’ll realize 3 Important aspects of Jesus’ encounter w/this Samaritan woman.
I. Jesus Initiates this Awkward Encounter. Vv. 7-15
A. Jesus Intentionally Seeks an Audience with an Ostracized, Samaritan Woman.
1. Jesus Intentionally Initiates this Awkward Encounter.
a. Illust: Have you ever had an awkward encounter? We all have. If you have teenaged children they think 75% of all adult interactions are “awkward”! My family used to think I was the “king” of awkward encounters. Back in the early and mid-1990’s I was teaching several courses for a university in SC. The program was for adult professionals to get their BA/BS degree. The classes were 4 hrs. long, one evening a week. Days before power point. I had my lectures in a three ringed binder. Placed on top of lectern. Popped the folder open. Took out the 2 hrs. of lecture notes and snapped the ring shut. I was bent over the lectern and when straightened up the folder moved! I realized I had snapped the folder shut on the fly of my pants! For the next ten minutes I was trying to get free while lecturing. Finally, I decided there was no graceful way to get free. So, announced to the class (95% of whom were middle aged Black women.), “Ladies, excuse me, I have snapped my binder to my fly and going to turn around now and take care of this problem.”
b. This “awkward” encounter was intentional and purposeful. Maybe you don’t understand why this was awkward. Jesus chose to go to Samaria. The religious Jews would not have trod this road but taken a longer route thru Perea. They wouldn’t want to be “defiled” by walking on Samaritan soil. But, to be fair, the Samaritans hated the Jews. A Jewish rabbi would never talk to a woman in public, especially not a Samaritan, and certainly not one with this background. Yet here in Jn. 4:4 Jesus says that He “needs to go to Samaria”. Why? He needed to save this poor, sin-enslaved woman.
2. Jesus Initiates this Awkward Encounter with a Very Unlikely Candidate to be a Christ-follower.
a. I believe if you would have polled the disciples the morning of this encounter: “How many of you believe a 5x divorced woman who is currently living in adultery, who by the way is a Samaritan, will not only be a candidate for salvation, but also share the message of Christ with the entire town of Sychar?” I think the vote count would be 0-12 against.
b. Illust: Why do we Christians often write off people because we think they would never be a candidate to respond to the Gospel? Illust: Norma Jean Baker/Mortenson was the sex symbol of the 1950’s and early 1960’s. Married three x. Beginning at age 16yrs. Innumerable affairs. Allegedly with JFK and Bobby. Ended life, tragically with suicidal overdose. Have often heard very hardened responses. Did it matter that the poor girl was abandoned by nearly everyone in her life? 12 foster homes and orphanages before age 15yrs! Was she still a hurt little girl simply looking for someone to love her. Praise God, Jesus sees our past. He sees the hurt and pain. Jesus doesn’t see it that way! Because Jesus looked past all the outward offenses and saw the inward hurt and chose to love this very unlovely Samaritan woman!
B. Jesus Offered this Woman What She Needed Most. Vv.10-15
1. What this woman thought she needed most was not what she actually needed most.
a. I find this passage very interesting. Jesus is the “Water of Life”, and yet he asks for a drink of water from this rude and sinful woman. V.7 “Give me a drink.” Shocking. He a Jew would talk to a Samaritan. A woman. A sinful woman. She could immediately tell He was a Jew by the tassels on garments to his accent. Now a Samaritan would never have drank from the same vessel that a Jew drank from. V.9 we see this woman is rude. Rude response. No respectful greeting. Rude. I am glad Jesus looks past the effects of our sin. Sometimes those outside of Christ may come across hard and harsh. Remember, like this woman, often have been the victim of a life of hurt and pain.
b. V.10 – Jesus appeals to this woman’s curiosity. Her attitude begins to change. Her thinking is totally worldly. She has no spiritual insight into what Jesus is saying. In fact, as J Vernon McGee once commented: “This woman’s thinking was spiritually no higher than the depth of the water level of that well.” So Jesus makes it plain that He is no longer talking about Jacob’s well.
2. Jesus Realizes this woman needs love and not Scorn vv.13-15.
a. Pun intended, Jesus begins to whet this woman’s spiritual appetite. What was this woman’s perceived greatest need? She wanted an easier way to get water. Walked mile in hot sun to get a jar or two of water. Went at midday so wouldn’t hear the scorn of the women of Sychar. Notice what Jesus dangles before this enslaved woman…freedom! You might be thinking right now, “Chris, you lost me. How was this woman enslaved? How is Christ offering freedom? He says He is offering her “living water”. When she heard Jesus say “Living water”, she probably heard “fresh running water”. This well was nearly 1800 yrs old. Deep down, dank water. But Jesus was offering her not some secret spring in the desert, but eternal life itself!
b. Illust: Friend, when Christ frees a person from sin He frees that person completely and entirely. They are judicially delivered. They are set free from the wages of sin and death. They have the imputed righteousness of Christ. CH Spurgeon: “We say Christ died that He infallibly secured the salvation of a multitude that no man can number, who thru Christ’s death not only may be saved, but must be saved, and cannot by any possibility run the hazard of being anything but saved.”
C. Applic: The greatest need we perceive in our lives usually isn’t the greatest need we have according to Christ. This poor woman had been used and abused her whole life by men. Now, the only man who has ever truly loved her offers her eternal life, but she still isn’t at a place where she can receive it. (God has to open our eyes.)
II. Jesus Identifies the Samaritan Woman’s Need. Vv16-24
A. Jesus points this woman to her greatest need by pointing her to her greatest area of failure.
1. The Gospel Points to Our Failure first So We Can Receive Christ’s Success.
a. v. 16 – Jesus immediately ramps up the awkwardness of the encounter! “Go call your husband.” Here she responds honestly, sort of. “Sir, I have no husband.” Read Jesus’ response in vv. 17-18. Jesus goes right to the heart of this woman’s issue. Some people ask why did Jesus appear to be so harsh here. This woman needed to be shocked out of her complacency, out of her spiritual haze and stupor, she needed to be shocked into repentance. Illust: Can you imagine how you would act if complete stranger came up to you and told you the intimate, dirty details of your life? Your response would be like this woman: “Sir, I perceive you are a prophet.”
b. Why is Jesus so direct? Because He sees her need. She is a sinner who needs forgiveness. She has been looking for love in all the wrong places with all the wrong people. The reason she was here at the well at noon instead of in the morning with the women is because she was very unpopular with the women of Sychar. Do you know why she was so unpopular with the women of Sychar? Because she was VERY popular with the men of Sychar! (Illust – Can I make applic to our culture today? Christians are being bullied in our country and UK and other nations not to address the LGBTQ community with the Gospel. Told they are that way and don’t want to change and cannot change. Ridiculous. Satan has one “Plan A” – Jn. 10:10 – The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy…” He comes to steal our children’s innocence, he wants to kill God’s beautiful design for your life, he wants to destroy offspring. In order to come to Christ we have to be shocked out of our complacency.
2. Jesus Illust: JC Ryle gives us good insight into this encounter. “(Expository Thoughts on the Gospels [Baker], 3:217) observes wisely that it is useless to analyze too closely the first imperfect desires in the hearts of those in whom the Spirit is beginning to move. We should not demand that a person’s early motives in coming to Christ must be free from all imperfection. He says (ibid.), “Material water was not out of her thoughts, and yet she had probably some desires after everlasting life. Enough for us to know, that she asked and received, she sought and found. Our great aim must be to persuade sinners to apply to Jesus, and to say to Him, “Give me to drink.” If we forbid them to ask anything until they can prove that they ask in a perfect spirit, we should do no good at all.”
a. This woman recognized some sort of inner need for the living water that Jesus offered, even if she didn’t completely understand what that living water was. If you want to drink the living water of salvation, you have to acknowledge your need for God, even if you’re not totally clear about what salvation means. Being self-sufficient will not bring you to Jesus. You have to recognize that you have needs that only God can satisfy.
B. Jesus Begins to Further Address this Samaritan Woman’s Need.
1. We See This Woman’s Spiritual Perception Begins to Awaken vv. 19-20
a. We live in a world that increasingly says it’s secular. We live in a world that increasingly wants to remove God from any public discussion or even appearance for that matter. In our cultic worship of “science” it doesn’t take long to realize the limitations of “science” because our society is plagued with purposelessness, meaninglessness, selfishness, and loneliness. I don’t care what the secularists say, there isn’t a single person who when alone with his or her own thoughts doesn’t consider the questions of meaning and purpose and realize there is a spiritual component to life.
b. Look at this woman. She is not a candidate for seminary, and yet, she has a theological question. It’s right there on the tip of her tongue. Read v. 20. She realizes Jesus is at least a prophet and asks Him a question. “Why do we worship here and you worship there?” I used to think she was being evasive. I know think she is grasping for a point of contact. I think its an honest question. Maybe today it would be similar to: “If Christians have the truth, why are there so many denominations?”
2. Jesus does not shy away from declaring Spiritual Truth to this woman who has heretofore been living in spiritual darkness.
a. Jesus corrects several misconceptions this woman has. V. 21 – Lesson in Eschatology, v.22 – Lesson in theology. Samaritans have false worship due to ignorance. Salvation’s blessings coming thru Jews. Vv.23-24 intro lesson in theology proper Doctrine of God and the correct worship of God.
b. I’ve come to view the “woman at the well” differently than I once did. In my 20’s-30’s probably would have been very judgmental and harsh. I have also come to feel compassion toward her, hopefully, as our Lord did. Here in chapter 4 and again in chapter 8 (the woman caught committing adultery), we see that the Jews were inclined to look down upon these two women as “loose women,” which indeed they were. However, there was an obvious double standard—one for men, and another for women. The “woman at the well” is a woman whose sins are apparent, but she has not sinned alone. In those days, husbands divorced their wives, but wives did not divorce their husbands. If this woman was married and divorced five times, then five men divorced her. This woman was “put away” five times. Think of how she must felt about herself. The man she was now with didn’t even respect her enough to marry her. This poor woman had been passed around the men of Sychar with no concern for her.
C. Applic: Can you identify with this woman today? Are your sins as obvious? Maybe your backstory isn’t. Jesus isn’t put off by either your past or your present. As this story takes an even more dramatic turn we are going to realize what’s more important that your or my need is Who Jesus is!
III. Jesus Identifies Himself. Vv.25-29
A. Jesus Reveals His True Identify to this Sinful, Samaritan Woman.
1. The woman’s Despairing Bewilderment is Immediately Dissipated by one Statement of Christ!
a. Read v. 25 – “I know that Messiah is coming…” Wow! It always amazes me the people who are more spiritually sensitive than first would assume! 5x married, adulterous woman…who is hopeful and looking for the coming of the Messiah! What does this woman’s response say to you and me today? DON’T WRITE OFF ANYONE! Lifestyle is no indicator of receptivity to the Gospel! Now, maybe this woman, after discussing their theological difference was simply saying: “Messiah is coming…He will sort it all out…” Just like a lot of Christians and non-Christians say today with despair at the present situation… “God will sort it all out when He comes back.”
b. But when the Samaritan woman mused that things would get sorted out someday when the Messiah finally came, Jesus was able to respond, "I who speak to you am he" (John 4:26). There is no greater witness to the gospel than Jesus Himself, which is why the ultimate goal of our evangelism is to have people encounter Him. It is always marvelous when someone comes to realize the truth about our Lord. Imagine what it must have been like as the Lord Jesus revealed His divine position this woman, with the evident effect that her eyes were opened to see that He was the Messiah of whom she had spoken. Did her eyes bulge? Did tears flow down her face? Did she kneel before Him and grasp His hands? We do not know, but, it is evident that her unbelief was overwhelmed by Jesus' self-revelation and that her life was changed forever by what happened in that moment.
2. Jesus states in His response that He is both Messiah and God! “I AM”! He is not simply the savior of the Jewish people, but of all who believe. This is the message of all of Scripture – who Jesus is and what He has come to do. He was born in a lowly place to normal people, but He was born as the Son of God. He lived and preached the kingdom of God as the very one who would inaugurate the new heavens and the new earth. He died so that all who believed in Him might be saved. Many people have had false ideas about who Jesus is but Scripture is clear about who He is – He is the Savior of humanity.
B. Who Jesus Says He is is More Important than Who I Say or Think I am. (Repeat!) v.26
1. Jesus’ Responds to this woman’s statement with one of the most important theological truths He ever revealed! (v.26 “I am He!”)
a. Illust: Think about it for a moment. This poor woman has been used and abused her entire life. I can hardly imagine what she thought of herself or self-worth. She probably defined herself as worthless, hopeless, as a victim, probably believed she was a tramp or worse. Result: she acted that way and let others treat her that way. She had such a low opinion of herself that she had to use a step ladder to see the underside of a grasshopper.
b. Jesus changes all of that with His self-revelation of His eternal identity. Illust: John was a man I met in Belfast. Years before I knew him, he struggled with alcohol. No purpose or motivation in life. Life falling apart. Came to the end of his rope and called out to and encountered Jesus Christ! Life changed…forever! Eventually became a missionary in the Peruvian Andes! John, like this woman, knew was a sinner, what needed was FORGIVENESS, HOPE and PURPOSE. Like this woman, found all three in Christ. So can you!
2. Encountering Jesus Changes this woman’s entire life!
a. What changes in this woman? EVERYTHING! Her focus, her purpose, her self-worth, her identity, her mission, her sorrow! Everything changes when she comes to Christ!
b. V.28-29 – This woman’s life was changed! How do I know? Notice what she left behind: her water pot! Isn’t that amazing! The whole reason for this interaction with Jesus was because she needed water. The time of day she met Him was because of water. The conversation initiated and her curiosity continued because of…water! Now, she encounters Jesus, the Source of living water, and her life is changed! She now has to go tell the men of the city, and she leaves behind her water pot! That water pot was the focus of her life. It defined her life and relationships and what thought of herself. My friend, when you truly encounter Christ you leave behind the constraints, cares, and curses of your old life! II Cor. 5:17 – “If any man (or woman!) be in Christ, he is a new creature, the old has gone away, the new has come!” PTL! Spiritually speaking, you are not defined by your ethnicity, your sexuality, your relationships, your addictions, not even your success or failures! You are defined by Christ! Have you encountered Him?
C. Applic: The gospel is not only for the respectable and those who have their lives together. The gospel is also for the outcast, the dysfunctional, and those who have made shambles of their lives. Like this woman, they need to find their personal Independence Day from their past thru encountering Jesus!
