The Mission of God: Going Where others will not

The Mission of God: Going Where others will Not (John 4:1-39)

Verse 3-4 John lays out Jesus’s travel plans to get away from the Pharisees.

• The Jews and the Samaritans hated each other.
  • That’s the whole point behind Jesus’ parable of the Good Samaritan.
• A good Jew would tried to avoid traveling through Samaria.

Verse 6 Some translations have the sixth hour.  The sixth hour was noon. This is an important detail.

Verse 7 A couple of notes here.

1. The woman appears to be alone. This wasn’t normally the custom. Women would have come in groups for protection and socialization.
2. They also wouldn’t have come at noon during the heat of the day. They would have come early or late in the day to avoid the heat. Early to gather the days water needs.
3. This woman seems to want to go without notice. This was probably because of the shameful nature of her reputation.

Verse 8 This verse explain why Jesus is alone at the well.

• There is no way a good Jew would have bought food in a Samaritan territory.

Verse 9 The women brings up the issues of their cultural differences.

• She probably fears the worse and doesn’t want anything to do with a Jew.

Verse 10 Jesus largely skirts her question and starts to talk about the Kingdom through the analogy of water.

• He does this in a way to really spark her interest but notice that he does not start to argue with her.

Verse 11The woman’s response is toward the physical. She sees no spiritual significance to what Jesus said.

Verse 12 She now starts to get a little argumentative and/or defensive and appeals to her religious tradition.

• The irony of course is that Jesus is greater than Jacob.

Verse 13-14 Jesus now begins to compare the physical with the spiritual.

Verse 15 While responding favorably, she is still missing the point and thinking only in terms of the physical.

• For the moment her physical need and pain are preventing her from seeing the need for a spiritual solution.

Verse 16 Jesus now turns to the super natural.

• This is the real issue Jesus want to get at. He sees her pian from the failed relationships.
• More than anything He wants to deal with her emotion pain.

Verse 17The woman tells Jesus what he already knows.  She has no husband.

Verse 18 Jesus uses a word of knowledge to make a statement about her husband.

• Jesus now has not only the woman’s interest but her full attention both physically and spiritually.
• He has gone right to the heart of her issues, right to the heart of her pain.
• Jesus wants to deal with our emotional pain more than we will ever know.

Verse 19 Jesus has her attention

Verse 20 The woman suddenly changes the subject.

• She changes the subject to avoid her sin, her reputation her pain.
• It’s easier to talk about theology than it is to face your deepest fears and shortcomings, sins, pain.