(I was raised knowing God cared, and it kept me alive. Many out there have no idea. They need to know, and we’re the messengers…)
1 Pet 5:7, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
Some religious people suppose God is just a god who just creates. They say He doesn’t care about personal relationships… Some people think He’s the great watchmaker, who put the universe together like a fine Rolex, then just walked away from it and let it run itself out.
I: “I FEEL FOR YOU…”
But today I have a true message for you: We have a God who cares and a God who feels…
On our trip to Washington a few years ago, Jennifer and I visited my old High School: Rodgers High of Puyallup, Washington. Everything was new. I could hardly recognize the campus. But as we drove around the back of the school property, I noticed some old, abandoned lockers from the 80’s era… Those were the days… (haha) On the lockers was spray painted the word, “Metallica,” along with other names I won’t mention and the classic “So & so was here.”
People like to leave their name on things to proclaim, “I was here!” They carve it into trees, spray paint it on freeway overpasses and brick walls: “So and so was here” to remind their friends, “Hey, I’m here.” It gives them the sense that they’ll always be around.
Jesus left an undeniable reminder of His presence on the face of the earth in the form of a cross. His Name is inscribed in the wood: KING OF THE JEWS, and sealed in scarlet blood.
It’s the same blood that washes away your sins and mine. If you’re facing a circumstance in life today where you’re having a hard time remembering if God is aware of your situation and if He really cares, take look at the cross and remember, Jesus was there. He was there because He cares for you and He was there because He feels for you.
Jesus felt your thorns for you because He cares for you.
He felt the spikes that belonged in your hands for you.
He received the 40 lashes minus 1 for you. Why? Because He cares.
Today, He sits at the right hand of the Father God and pleads on your behalf because He bled for you. He loves you, He hears you, He understands you and He can relate with you because He lives with you day in and day out. There’s not a thing He doesn’t see that happens to you. You may not know as you’re walking down the street, that God is in front of you and behind you, and beside you to the left and to the right… You may not understand just how much He cares for you and how much He feels for you… But friends, He’s there 24/7, 360 days a year.
It was about 10 o’ clock in the morning, the time we usually start church.
A young lady sat up in bed. She looked over at the man lying next to her and in her heart she regretted spending the night with him. He was the 6th man she had shared her bed with. The other 5 married and divorced her. And frankly, this relationship didn’t seem any more fulfilling than the others. She wondered to herself, “What have I done with my life? What am I doing with this man?”
“Does anyone care about me? Can anyone relate to me?” She didn’t know Jesus was on His way.
Trying not to think about her sorrows, she ignored the pain and said to herself, “Shake it off! It’s another day. There are things that need to be done…”
Over in the corner of the room were some jars. They were clay, for holding water. They were empty and they need to be filled, so she picked them up and as she made her way outside she strolled through the city streets and markets, heading toward a popular place called Jacobs well. Along the way, she couldn’t help but relate to those empty jars of clay in her arms. She too was empty and dry. She too needed to be filled.
She had poured out every drop of herself. Emotionally and physically, she was drained. Everyone had taken from her freely, but no one had ever given back. She longed to be filled again. And as she made her way toward the well she thought to herself, “If only I could be filled up as easily as I can fill these jars of clay!” If only she could go to the well and be filled too.
She didn’t know she was headed down the path toward the solution to all of her problems.
A path, which would lead her to the wellspring of life: Jesus Christ.
Today, at Jacob’s well, for the first time in her life she would have the opportunity to be filled.
Some of us here today are like this young lady: you’re tired and confused, you feel dry and empty, you’re unsatisfied with certain areas of your life. You wonder if anyone cares. You’ve been pouring yourself out for everyone else and you’re empty. You need to be filled.
It’s time for an encounter with Jesus.
You see, the Samaritan woman didn’t know it, but she had an appointment with Jesus that day. He was prepared to fill her up in such a way that she’d never thirst again.
And if she had any idea what she was heading toward, she would have run there with all her strength. She was about to intersect paths with the Creator, Life Giver, Jesus Christ…
Someone here today needs an encounter with Jesus. Someone in our congregation thought today would be an ordinary trip to the well, but you’re going to meet Jesus and He’s going to fill you up in such a way that you’ll never thirst again.
Do you believe it? Do you want it? Then come receive it in the Name of Jesus!
Altar call, Prayer…
Now, it was almost noontime when the disciples had brushed by this lady on the city streets in the market. They were out buying food for the rest of the journey to Galilee and Jesus was at Jacob’s well. The Bible says He was waiting for the disciples because He was tired.
John 4:6-7, “…and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well.
It was about the sixth hour [12 noon]. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?"”
Jesus was tired and thirsty. Why didn’t He go into town with the disciples?
Why did He prefer to wait there by Himself at the well?
Well we can only assume that the Father God had a purpose for leading Jesus there that day.
You never know when The Lord is putting you in a place to minister. There are times when I’m at the grocery store. I’m just there to get what I need and go. If I’m tired and hungry, the last thing I want to do is socialize. But I can’t forget, that in the routine stops of my every day life, there are opportunities and divine appointments scheduled for me by God: serendipitous events planned out long before I took my first breath, and I owe it to God (because of salvation) to be open to socialization.
“For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.”
1 Corinthians 10:33
The Bible sites the physical reasons why Jesus was hanging out alone by the well…
1: He was tired from walking all morning.
2: He was thirsty and hungry.
I’ve seen some of those old Jesus movies… Those movies where He’s all proper: the King James Jesus with the THEE’s and the THOU’s. They’re pretty boring, and to tell you the truth, I don’t know if I would have wanted to hang out with the Hollywood version of Jesus. He wasn’t very relatable, was He?
But here’s a Biblical portrait of Jesus I think we can all identify with. He was tired and thirsty.
He wanted to take a breather and hang out by the well. I can relate to that.
You know, the Bible portrays a Jesus we can all relate to? That’s why He’s called Son of Man, because He became the son of mankind so we would have a savior we could relate with.
Heb 4:15-16, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-- yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
Are you in a time of need today? Jesus can relate and He just what you need: Grace & Mercy to help… He’s all about relationships, and because of everything He went through on your behalf, when you pray to God in Heaven, Jesus pleads on your behalf. He’s saying, “Father, Marisa needs a job. She needs provision. I can relate to that! Father, let’s bless her with an abundance. She’s been faithful with the little. I know she’ll be faithful with the much!”
David and Marisa, watch out. There’s a blessing coming your way! Jesus is talking to the Father on your behalf and you’ve been faithful! Praise God! There’s no greater feeling than being in a right standing with God with an honest expectation of His blessings on the way!
Jesus sees the Samaritan woman come down to the well. He was tired and thirsty, but sensitive and caring. I have a feeling He knew her heart was heavy the moment she stepped up to the well, and He could relate. Anyone who’s been in ministry for any length of time can relate to the tired and weary. He felt compassion for her and he opened a door for her. It was exactly what she needed…
Jesus said, “Will you give me a drink,” “The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?"
She was surprised. Here was a Jew asking me for a drink!
In those days, the Jews were prejudiced against the Samaritans, because the Samaritans were half-breeds: half Jew and half something else: Syrian, whatever… Their fathers had broken the law by intermarrying with other nations, so in the Jews eyes, the Samaritans were just illegitimate children.
But Jesus saw past all the prejudice, “For there is no respect of persons with God.” Romans 2:11
Jesus doesn’t care where you came from; He’s more concerned with where you’re going.
You don’t go to hell because of a bad start, you go to hell because of a bad finish.
This woman had just come from the bed where she slept with six different men and the most recent man wasn’t even her husband. She was and unclean, unrefined, a Samaritan. Under ordinary circumstances, no one would have given her the time of day. But she had an encounter with Jesus, Lord of compassion, and He wasn’t about to let her get away empty and dry.
You don’t meet Jesus and leave empty. His nature is to fill you up.
The Samaritan woman went to the well to fill her water jars, but Jesus would be the one doing the filling that day. I FEEL FOR YOU AND I WILL FILL YOU UP…
II: “I FILL FOR YOU…”
He answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water." John 4:9-10
Her curiosity aroused she said,
John 4:11-12, “"Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?”” John 4:9-11
As Jesus gestured toward the well He answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." John 4:13-14
She sought to fulfill her thirst with the water of the world. The well is deep and you just have to keep going deeper to be filled up. It leaves us empty. So we go again, and again and again, trying to satisfy our thirst.
Like sin: drinking, sex, whatever… You can never get enough to satisfy. You keep going for more but always come back empty. It’s an endless cycle. It never satisfies, and it ends in death.
But Jesus offers water for the soul, which lasts forever. It satisfies. It fills us to overflowing.
It’s new life to the soul.
Zech 13:1, "…a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.”
The fountain is Jesus. You get the living water from Him.
The gift of God: Salvation.
CONCLUSION: I FEEL FOR YOU AND I WILL FILL YOU…
In the story, we find Jesus fully human and fully divine all at once.
Tired and thirsty, and yet inside He has a river of life flowing out of Him. He gives life to anyone who comes near Him. He’s amazing, wonderful: full of life! And we can be too…
As Christians, we’re all still human. We get thirsty and tired. In fact, nothing can take it out of you like the ministry either. Your ministry and your church can easily become just another trip to Jacob’s well unless you’re having a true encounter with Jesus there. I hope you’re coming here to be filled by Jesus, because frankly, that’s the best we have to offer and it’s all you’ll ever need.
When you encounter Him, you’ll want a taste of that living water.
Then you can learn to do what the Samaritan woman did that day…
John 4:28-30
28 “Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people,
29 "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?"
30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.”
Drop everything and go share the Good News of Jesus Christ with someone else.
That’s the life of a believer. Marked by enthusiasm for the things of God, a passion to share the Good News with people who don’t understand it and a river of life inside them that makes living deposits in people they encounter every day.
Is that you? Do you want it to be? Ask Jesus to fill you full and He will, then pray for opportunities to share what He’s given to you.
God bless you! Let’s pray…
