The Master Evangelist (John 4:15–26)

How should we share the gospel with others? Some would say that we should avoid talking about sin and repentance. In this passage, we see our Lord walk the woman at the well through her need for salvation and gives her the good news of salvation. Sermon posted at sermonaudio.com/sermon/26231748562245

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Series: John: Life in Christ’s NameText: John 4:15–26

By: Shaun Marksbury Date: February 5, 2023

Venue: Living Water Baptist ChurchOccasion: AM Service

Introduction

A man came to our church in Georgia years ago. He was a younger believer but growing in Christ, and he had a passion for evangelism. His church engaged in evangelism outside the walls, but he was told he was doing it wrong. He was taking people through some of the ten commandments and talking to them about the holiness of God before getting to the “good news” of the gospel, that Jesus died in the place of sinners who believe in Him, taking their guilt upon Himself. Folks at the church said this was legalistic and wrong, that he should just talk about God’s love and the importance of believing in Jesus. He was fairly convinced by his reading of Scripture that he was doing it the right way, but he was having a hard time finding likeminded believers.

Well, of course, one question we could ask ourselves is how Jesus Himself would evangelize. What is the way of the master? We see a picture of that in this morning’s text.

Really, we’ve already seen the Lord’s message in action as He speaks to her about the living water. We could call this the first step of evangelism, turning a conversation to that of a spiritual nature. It’s true that it’s important to be polite and to show love toward a person, but that isn’t evangelism by definition; we would have to call that pre-evangelism at best. To evangelize is literally to “gospelize.” So, it’s only with the turn of conversation that the actual evangelistic encounter begins.

With this turn of conversation, He is establishing her need. As we noted last week, most people do not realize their need for spiritual water. She is obviously in sin, and the cultural shame related to that bothers her enough to be drawing water when there is typically no one else is around the well. However, we can’t say whether she was troubled because of how her sin appeared before God; she was most likely trying to avoid others who may judge her too harshly. Jesus wants her to think about her life before the throne of God.

As He talks to the woman at the well, He demonstrates the evangelistic process to us. First, we see that He calls out our sin, then He calls us to true worship, and then He calls us to Himself. Let’s consider the first of those.

Christ Calls out Our Sin (vv. 15–18)

The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw.” He said to her, “Go, call your husband and come here.” The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus *said to her, “You have correctly said, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly.”

Again, Jesus told her in the previous verse about this living water that will never thirst. Now, she responds with the same respectful address as before, calling Him “sir.” However, it’s not clear whether she is being respectful here. It’s possible that she is simply confused, thinking that He is talking about some kind of physical water. However, she’s already noted that He doesn’t have anything to get water with, and she probably doesn't think He has a secret well somewhere, so she also may be mocking Him a bit.

Of course, she’s honest about her desire to not have to draw water again. Running water is a convenience that many of us have never considered, especially those of us who have grown up in cities and towns. Still, many people in this area know what it means to not even have a functioning well on their property, requiring them to drive and fetch water for the household. Add to this her apparent preference to avoid her fellow villagers, and we can certainly appreciate her desire to not having to worry about water runs.

So, whatever the nature of her comment, whether it was with confusion or derision, Jesus has her attention. I hope that is an encouragement to you as you share your faith with others. They may not immediately understand, and they may even mock the claims of Scripture a bit. However, if they are not being overly derisive, still interested in talking and seem to be engaged, then continue the conversation.

However, in v. 16, Jesus utilizes a tactic that nearly all Evangelicals today with big platforms would condemn you for using. He speaks about her personal sin. Jesus says, “Go, call your husband and come here,” knowing very well the state in which this woman lives.

What follows is an interesting exchange. She says, “I have no husband,” and just like in the translation, she places the word husband last. Jesus reverses this; putting this more word-for-word, “You have correctly said, ‘Husband, I have not.’ ” He quotes her words back with the word husband first, and He continues (again, with a bit more of the original word order), “for five husbands you have had.” So, He emphasizes that word she used, and He continues, “and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly.” In fact, the way He frames this statement, we suspect that she was living in an adulterous relationship — this isn’t her husband. So, Jesus clearly highlights the nature of her sin, that she had been in and still is in illicit relationships.

Why is He driving this point home? Before we can get the refreshment of the living water, we must understand our thirst. We won’t drink if we’re not thirsty, which we understand in the flesh, though we often ignore our thirst in our souls or go to that which won’t satisfy.

There is a necessary call for repentance before the gospel message, and Jesus preached both repentance and faith (Mark 1:14–15). Now, the theological reality is that no one will repent until God changes their hearts, so we’re not talking about decisional regeneration here (that the decision to turn from sin to follow Christ is what gives a person new life). Still, just as the regeneration of the Holy Spirit leads a person to a new life, repentance necessarily accompanies salvation as He purifies us (Titus 2:14). So, it’s not legalistic or unloving to present God’s Holy Law and explain how a person is violating it — the Holy Spirit works salvation through the preached Word, after all.

So, it is right to talk about sin when we evangelize. The message only becomes legalistic if you leave the sinner with the impression that she must first clean up her life in order for God to save her, which Jesus doesn’t do here. He doesn’t call her names like “harlot,” putting her down with all kinds of pejoratives which He sometimes uses of the religious who should know better. In fact, He gives her some grace in the conversation, as we’ll see next.

Christ Calls Us to True Worship (vv. 19–24)

The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

It's really no surprise that she would be so impressed with His insight. Because He accurately described her life in uncanny detail without having met her, she concludes that He must speak for God in a prophetic role. This is the same conclusion that many would come to (Matt. 21:11; Luke 7:16; John 6:14; 7:40; 9:17). It’s a true statement, only not true enough.

Because she perceives that He is a prophet, she then asks Him a theological question. Why she does is a bit beyond our ability to know for certain. It may be that she’s somewhat embarrassed and wants to change the subject. It may simply be that, given His obvious prophetic insight, she sees Him as someone who can settle a dispute. One thing is for sure, if she thought this dispute was unrelated to her sin, she was in error!

She said, “Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” God directed the Israelites as they entered the land through Shechem to see the parallel mountains Gerizim and Ebal as a blessing and a curse, respectively (Deut. 11:29). There, standing between the mountains, they were to see that they had a choice between the blessing or the curse of God. Joshua acts this out by dividing the people between the two mountains in Joshua 8:33.

So, Mt. Gerizim was an important place to their shared heritage. So, related to this, in Deuteronomy 27:4, God tells the people, “So it shall be when you cross the Jordan, you shall set up on Mount Ebal, these stones, as I am commanding you today, and you shall coat them with lime.” However, the Samaritan version of this verse read differently — they were to set the altar up on Gerizim. This difference alone may not have been a big deal, but the Samaritans were excluded from temple worship, as we’ve noted before. The Samaritans also rejected all Scripture except for the five books of Moses, so any corrective the rest of God’s Word would have given them was unavailable. So, they locked onto Gerizim as more than an important place — it was the place for worshipping God.

Some have said that Jesus isn’t interested in getting into theological disputes, but that misses an important part of what He says next. He simply elevates this to the level of true worship. So, He says, “Woman,” (which, again, is not a rude address in that culture) “believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.” So, instead of first stating what is the right and wrong response, He says that there is a greater worship on the horizon — one that is not bound to location.

He does weigh in, nonetheless. He first says, “You worship what you do not know.” They reject entire portions of inspired Scripture, so how can they know the God of Scripture? Just because a religion has similar claims, such as worship of the true Creator God of Genesis, those who purposefully reject parts of God’s Word do not know what they worship and are incorrect. This applies now both to the modern-day Jewish people, who reject the Messiah and the New Testament, and the Muslims, who might accept some truths about Christ but claim the Bible has been corrupted.

We may have to get into some theological discussion as part of the evangelistic process, but be sure to keep the ultimate focus on Christ. He continues by saying that “we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.” (By the way, this can hardly be categorized as an anti-Semitic Gospel, given that Jesus places a priority on Jewish worship over others.) Jesus is not just saying the Jews have it right and the Samaritans are wrong; He’s highlighting the messianic expectations of Jewish Scripture. He would ultimately provide salvation, and this is a word that any lost sinner needs to hear.

Again, v. 22 doesn’t mean that worship will remain as it is, because Jesus repeats in v. 23, “But an hour is coming.” There is “a time of reformation” coming (as Hebrews 9:10 says), when the rituals and ceremonies of old have end in Christ. He fulfills the ceremonial aspects of the Law, meaning that we don’t need to embark on yearly pilgrimages to Jerusalem with our sacrifices anymore. He makes worship available to all through a torn veil. More than that, that moment is upon her (“and now is”), because the Messiah sits right in front of her (though she doesn’t know it yet).

Jesus says that now, true “worship the Father in spirit and truth.” That’s not translated capital-s “Spirit” because this most likely talks about inward disposition. Make no mistake, true worship starts with the regeneration of the Holy Spirit, but our Lord here emphasizes that true worship will no longer involve outward acts — someone whose heart is far from God bringing a sacrifice, in some perfunctory manner, to the altar on this mountain or that. Rather, true worshippers now devote themselves to God with genuine or sincere worship.

Note Jesus says that they “worship the Father in spirit and truth,” not “in spirit and in truth.” These are not to be read as separate realities, though some talk about spiritual worship and then theological worship, as though striving to be biblical is using your brain while spiritual worship uses the Holy Spirit. Yet, the Holy Spirit inspired Scripture and calls us to orderly worship (cf. 1 Cor. 14:40). True worship is that which arises from the truth of God’s Word and fills the inner man; as Colossians 3:16 says, “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you.” True worship includes Christ and His word, for Christ is the truth (John 14:6).

Jesus says that “such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.” Remember John 3:16 — “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son.” In 1 John 4:9, we similarly read, “By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world.” Jesus would also say that He “has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). The Father sends the Son into the world to save and to gather these true worshippers.

Jesus concludes His explanation on worship in v. 24, “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” This is a statement about the nature of God. Though God has personality, with intellect, affections, and a will, Scripture says He is not a man (Num. 23:19). He is “simple,” meaning that He is not comprised of parts (like an arm, leg, etc.); He simply is spirit (the Trinity is misunderstood if taken to be “parts” of God). He is also transcendent, not comprised of this material world; Isaiah 66:1 says, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Heaven is My throne and the earth is My footstool. Where then is a house you could build for Me? And where is a place that I may rest?’ ” God is spirit, both near and above all.

If God is everywhere, then the place of worship (Gerizim, Moriah, Grand Valley) doesn’t matter. What matters is the manner of worship — spirit and worship. And the question for the woman at the well (for any sinner) is whether she could say she’s been worshipping God in spirit and truth. If she’s been pursuing illicit relationships with men, then it’s not God who is central in her heart. And since she’s been following the Samaritan ways, she can’t claim to have true worship. She doesn’t even know God to worship Him in Spirit and truth, and her embrace of sin means that her true worship is devoted elsewhere.

The truth is that sinners worship sin rather than God. We see this also with the rich young ruler, who walked away from Jesus with sorrow because he worshipped his wealth. The question is whether this woman will continue in her lifestyle or repent, turning to true worship.

Is she beginning to understand? That’s hard to say at this juncture in the text. She will have one more theological thought, though. That will bring us to the final point:

Christ Calls Us to Himself (vv. 25–26)

The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”

Like Nicodemus, she comes back to a declaration of what she knows. Perhaps Jesus was talking about things she didn’t know or quite understand, so she goes back to what she knows. The Samaritans looked for the Messiah, as well, though they had their own Samaritan terms for Him. Moses had predicted that God would raise up a prophet like him, so the Samaritans primarily thought of the Messiah as fulfilling a prophetic role to restore true worship, if not also a kingly role restoring Israel as a nation.

So, perhaps, she mentions this because there was a glimmer of hope that she was, in fact, talking to the Messiah Himself. He’s obviously a prophet, and His challenging talk of worship would make Him a potential candidate. Could Jesus, this man who asked her for water, possibly be the one who would “declare all things to us”?

Jesus said, “I who speak to you am He.” Jesus wasn’t always as clear in His self-declarations, depending on the circumstance; some wanted to make Him King immediately in the militaristic sense, but this woman was looking for a Messiah who told the truth. Jesus also declares Himself to the blind man (John 9:37). Jesus is calling us to Himself as a Messiah who saves. He’s the one who could forgive her sins, as well.

Conclusion

This account demonstrates how the Messiah taught gospel truths. He moved the conversation from need, to sin, to worship, and then to the source of salvation. Worship is such a huge part of this because what we worship defines our actions. Its true that theology became a huge dispute about where to worship, but only because of past and ongoing sin (much of which fell on the Samaritans). Moreover, true worship to God isn’t about places and rituals — it’s about one’s spirit and whether it is informed by truth.

To determine true worship, sin must be confronted, as Jesus does here. That’s why a certain evangelistic ministry calls itself “The Way of the Master” — it believes that Jesus demonstrates showing a lost person his sin before God before moving onto the good news. This is what we’ve seen here, and we would do well to allow God’s Word to bear on the hearts of the lost.

There’s much more we could say about this, but the question isn’t just about how Christians should evangelize (and Christians should be talking to the lost about Jesus). Perhaps you don’t know whether you have been saved. Perhaps you heard God loves you and you believe in Jesus, but you can’t say the sin in your soul has been confronted by the Lord; you can’t say that you worship Him instead of your sin. Well, know that the Messiah does bring a message of salvation, of living water, which can refresh and wash you clean. Repent, turn from your sin, and trust in Him today.

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