“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.
b. Lunatic
Second, Jesus could be a lunatic. If Jesus is not who he claimed to be, then the option must be considered that he was a lunatic. Obviously, this option does not hold much weight. Throughout history many people have claimed to be the Son of God or a prophet sent from God. Typically when we hear of someone like that we lock them up in a room with padded walls. Years ago Charles Manson claimed that he was the son of God and most people labeled him a lunatic. There was something different though about Jesus. There is a reason why people did not consider him a lunatic, it was because he proved who he was by the way in which he lived. I do not think that Jesus was a liar or a lunatic and this leaves only one more option for us. Are you willing to call Jesus a lunatic?
c. Lord
Third, he could be Lord and be who he said he was. If we do not think Jesus is a liar or a lunatic we must conclude that he is really Lord as he said he was. I think this option makes the most sense logically, and I believe that Jesus is Lord.
My question for you is who do you believe that Jesus is? He is either a liar and not who he claimed to be or a lunatic and was crazy, or he was telling the truth about whom he was and it Lord. Those are the only options we have. Our encounter with Jesus forces us to confront the Truth about who Jesus is. The Samaritan woman concluded he is Lord, who do you say that he is? As other people cam across Jesus they came to the same conclusion. When Peter was asked who he thought Jesus was, he said, “the Christ the Son of the Living God”. Thomas fell down and said, “My Lord and my God”. Who do you say Jesus is? The truth is Jesus is who he claimed to be; he proved it by the way in which he lived and by the authority in which he spoke.
II. Encountering Jesus Forces us to Confront our Past
When the woman from Samaria encountered Jesus she was forced to confront her past. Jesus told the woman to go away and come back with her husband. The woman said she was not married, but Jesus pointed out that she has had five husbands and is now living with a man who is not her husband. The woman was forced to decide how she was going to respond to Jesus bringing up her past.
When we encounter Jesus we are forced to confront certain aspects of our past as well. We must decide what we are going to do with our past sins. We all have things in our lives that we have done that we regret and are ashamed of, but the question we need to consider is, what we are going to do with that past. There are several options that we must choose from.
First, we can ignore our past and act as if it never happened. I believe that many people respond this way to their encounter with Jesus. They do not want to do anything about their past because they do not want to change the way in which they are living. They forget that living a life with Jesus as Lord is more rewarding, and that Jesus can wipe away our past.
Second, we can admit our mistakes that we have made in the past and not change. I will admit it is hard sometimes to change when we realize that we are wrong. Our pride gets in our way and we do not want to admit that we have sinned. We do not want to admit that we have messed up and done wrong. A lot of people are like this in the church as a whole. They hear the truth presented and know what they ought to do, but they never change. It does no good for us to be convicted about sin and not change how we live.
Thirdly, when we are confronted with our past sins we can admit we are wrong and change the way in which we live. I know that when I became a Christian even the thought of doing the things I once did was sickening to me. I hope this is the way in which we respond to our past. We serve a Lord who is well aware of our past sins, but he also promises to wipe them away as far as the east is from the west. It takes a lot of strength and humility to be willing to change how you live.
The Samaritan woman it seems chose to change the way in which she lived when she was confronted with her past. She had lived a life of sin apparently and she did not want to live in it any longer.
I do not know anybody’s past, I do not know where you have been or what you have done, and in fact it is none of my business. What you have done is between you and the Lord and you must deal with it with him. The truth is though we are all expected to change our past when confronted with Jesus.
No matter what you have done Jesus is here today pleading with you to turn away from your past sins and come after him. The invitations that Jesus gave to people during his life we quite simple and they are the same for us today. His simple command was, “follow me”. The question for you is, will you lie down your past sins and past way of living and follow after Jesus? He promises to remove your sin and to help you to live for him. He promises to give you comfort, rest, and relief from your burdens.
Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling
Calling for you and for me
Come home, come home
Ye who are weary come home
God is not concerned about what we have done in our past; he simply is concerned about where we are headed. God can take and change you; there is no one too wicked or to bad to come to him. There once lived a man named Saul of Tarsus. Saul was an evil, violent man, who went out of his way to kill Christians. He violently and viciously opposed those who claimed to be Christians. We all know that Saul as wicked as he was turned into the strongest force for preaching the gospel in the first century. He was changed from his evil ways to a man who sought to live for God. You too can be changed, but how are you going to deal with your past?
III. Encountering Jesus Forces us to Confront our Response
As the Samaritan woman encountered Jesus she was forced to confront her response to this man.
Regardless of a persons decisions to follow Jesus we all must make a decision of whether we will follow after Jesus or not. We all make a decision of how we will respond to Jesus. We all must make a decision about our level of commitment to our savior. Some people hear the gospel and feel that they do not need to respond in anyway at all. Some people hear the gospel and feel that they need to do what it takes to be saved and that is all. Some people hear the gospel and feel they need to obey the gospel, and make a very little commitment to Jesus. Some people hear the gospel, they obey the gospel and then they live as committed as they can to Jesus. My question for you is how are you going to respond to your encounter with Jesus?
John 4:29-42
The Samaritan woman’s response involved two aspects.
1. She believed
It is clear that the woman believed that Jesus was the Messiah because the people all accepted that he was the savior of the world. Apparently this is what the woman had told people about Jesus. She never doubted Jesus’ claim of who he was because he backed it up with how he lived and with the authority by which he spoke.
2. She Proclaimed
After the woman had left Jesus she ran into the city and began telling everyone she met about this man named Jesus. Her belief in Jesus forced her to tell people around her about Him. She responded in obedience to Jesus because of her belief.
My question for you is, how will you respond to Jesus? Will you simply believe what the Bible says and never respond? I have heard of many people who know what the Bible says they must do to become Christians, yet they never respond. Will you gladly accept his Word and obey him fully?
Our encounter with Jesus forces us to decide how we will respond to the gospel message. The truth is those who do not respond are going to be eternally separated from God. Those who obey him have the promise of eternal life.
I do not know what happened to the Samaritan woman after her encounter with Jesus. She is never mentioned again, but as always I have an idea. I believe that the Samaritan woman lived faithfully to God after that day because of her encounter with Jesus. I believe she longed to hear more about this Messiah as time passed by. The book of Acts tells us about the spread of the gospel throughout the world. We learn in Acts about the conversion of the Samaritan people.
Acts 8:4-13
I cannot help but believe when she heard Phillip preach about Jesus she was more convinced about who Jesus was. I cannot help but to think that she was first in line to be obedient to the Lord in baptism.
How will you respond to Jesus? We all must respond in one way or another. Perhaps today you have been rejecting Jesus as Lord, and do not want to do that any more. We all must respond to Jesus. How will you respond to the savior of the World? We know those who respond in obedience will spend eternity with God the Father.
