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This morning we will be looking at part of the conversation Jesus had with the Samaritan woman he met at a well when he travelled through Samaria.
Let’s review some of the context before jumping right into the text for today.
Last week we read from the ESV.
Today, I will be reading from the NASB.
Jesus was going to minister in Galilee after working in Judea.
As we mentioned the past couple weeks, John 4:4 says, “He had to go through Samaria.”
He had to go because he was here on Earth to seek and save the lost.
He knew that this woman needed him, the savior of the world.
He knew the people of Sychar needed to be saved.
So, he took the hard road to reach them; he went through Samaria.
That, to me, is a beautiful picture of how Jesus has gone out of his way to reach out to us! Jesus left Heaven to come to Earth.
He willingly laid aside the glory He shared with the Father, coming as a man.
He came not only as a man, but as a servant, instead of the exalted King that He is.
He came not only as a servant that humbly served those who were not willing, nor thankful, and even laid down his life to save us after taking time to reach out in love and compassion to show us that He is our savior!
He did all of that while we were his enemies!
And, he reached out to me, he reached out to you to be sure we heard the gospel.
He met us where we were and drew us to Himself just like he did with this Samaritan woman!
What a wonderful savior!
When Jesus went through Samaria, he met this Samaritan woman at Jacob’s Well.
I love this account of Him reaching out to this woman that apparently did not have other friends.
This woman who had sought after meaning and fulfillment in life through relationship after broken relationship.
He reaches out to her, not condemning her for adultery, but rather applauding her when she told the truth that she did not have a husband.
What a wonderful savior that leads us to salvation through his kindness, rather than condemnation.
At this point in his conversation with the woman, he has shown that he is no ordinary man.
He knows things—she had 5 husbands, and not a live-in boyfriend—things that he could not know as an ordinary man.
We know that he knew this because He is God come as a man.
She did not know that yet.
Instead she thought… well let’s read it together.
When Jesus told her about her life of having 5 husbands, and now a live-in, she had to be astonished.
There is no way he could have known that.
So, she concludes he must have a connection with God.
He must be a prophet.
Samaritans only accepted the first five books of the Old Testament as scripture, and revered Moses as a true prophet.
They did not accept the other prophets of the Old Testament, but were looking forward to another prophet because Moses had prophesied...
From this prophecy through Moses, the Samaritans were looking for a prophet, and they linked this prophet with the promised Messiah.
So, when Jesus tells this woman what she has done, she realizes there is more to this guy than just being a Jew.
He is a prophet!
And, since He is a prophet, he should be able to help her.
Why would she go to this question?
Where are we to worship?
I think this woman was just like you and me.
She knew all she had done, and she knew the law.
She knew that her wrong choices in life needed to be addressed.
She also knew that the law required that sin required sacrifice.
The punishment for sin is death, and a sacrifice should be made.
The problem was, where to do the sacrifice.
She drew a sharp comparison between Our Fathers and the Jews.
In the NIV this is translated ancestors, but it is literally, our fathers.
Pointing back to Abraham, Jacob and Moses, the Samaritans saw Mt.
Gerizim as the place that was blessed, and where worship of the Lord should be done.
The Samaritans had done sacrifices in Mt.
Gerizim where Moses had instructed the Israelites to rehearse the law.
However, the Jews had destroyed their temple.
The Jews claimed the sacrifices needed to be done in Jerusalem.
Moses had said they should worship in the place God established His name.
Later, in 2 Chronicles 6:6 we see God choosing Jerusalem.
However, the Samaritans taught the the Jews were wrong for having a temple in Jerusalem because they did not view anything apart from the first five books of Moses as scripture.
Where could she go, make the proper sacrifices and worship the Lord?
As a Samaritan, she would not have accepted the Psalms as scripture.
However, in her experience of life, guilt and shame, I wonder if she felt like David in Psalm 32?
I wonder if she felt the weight of her sin like David did?
Have you ever felt that weight?
That separation from God? Have you ever just longed for things to be made right again?
This woman longed for the forgiveness, but there was no temple to do the sacrifice on Mt.
Gerizim, and she grew up hearing Jerusalem was wrong.
What could she do?
Hopefully this prophet could help her...
Remember this term, ‘woman’, is more like a gentle, kind reference, probably better translated, ‘My lady..’.
Jesus tells her that the place of worship is not what is so important.
Where she looked to the fathers—meaning the ancestors—and the traditions and places they handed down, Jesus brought the attention back to the Father—the One we are to focus on in worship!
Even today, too many people are raised up being taught that you must worship in this church, or that church.
You must follow this tradition, or that tradition.
You must sing this type of song, or read from this translation of the bible.
To think that these rituals are what worship is about is to miss out on True worship.
True Worshipers focus on the Father
The important thing is to focus on the Father, that is, our Heavenly Father!
He is the one on whom we need to focus!
Our worship needs to be about Him, The Lord of all Creation, The One True God, who is beyond comprehension, yet reveals Himself to us to be known!
The One who is exalted above the Heavens, yet is not far off, but near to the broken-hearted and lowly in spirit.
Find a church that will point you to the Father, not to traditions handed down by the church fathers.
Things start well, but when they become tradition, things tend morph into what they were never intended to be.
When it comes to worship, too often, the tradition becomes the focus, and God is no longer center stage.
True Worshipers focus on the Father!
The Samaritans knew of God, and worshiped, but they did not know the Father.
They did not know the whole truth because they failed to listen to the whole of God’s word.
They did not fully know the One they needed to truly worship.
The Jews at least had the truth.
They had the prophets.
They had the truth presented to them as revealed by God.
AND, as Jesus literally said, THE salvation is from the Jews.
The Messiah was coming from among the Jews.
Even Moses indicated this in Genesis 49:10 when Jacob, renamed Israel, spoke of a descendant of Judah reigning.
But just because the Jews had the whole truth, and the Messiah was coming from the Jews does not mean they were true worshipers.
Jesus went on to say,
True worshipers worship in spirit and truth.
First, what is worship?
Worship takes many forms in the scriptures.
We tend to think of singing.
However, worship took many forms.
Worship: is songs
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