Decisions, Discipleship, and Mission
John 4:27-42
Introduction: Last week we saw the initial encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well in Sychar. She came looking for water from Jacob’s well, and instead found much more: she encountered Jacob’s God, she found living water, the source of life itself, Jesus. As we continue in the chapter, the disciples return, and this unnamed Samaritan woman, having heard from Jesus himself that he is the Messiah, is seemingly so excited that she can’t even take the time to fill her bucket, she leaves it behind and goes back to town and tells others the good news. We all need to drink water, it is essential for life. I read somewhere that by the time you start feeling thirsty, you are already dehydrated. But as humans, created in God’s image, we have an even deeper thirst, a longing that can only be satisfied through a life-changing relationship with the living God. I am not saying that unsaved people are seeking God. The Bible is clear…
2 The LORD looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. 3 They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one… (Psalm 14:2-3).
However, lost humans, though spiritually dead and blind to the truth, still have eternity in their hearts, they long for something more, they desire life with meaning. But rather than coming to the God who is, in repentance and faith, the tendency of fallen people is to seek to fill that emptiness in their souls with other things. Sometimes it is the pursuit of pleasure, sometimes the pursuit of material things. Just a little bit more and I’ll be happy, or so they think. Sometimes it is a form of religion that looks for something eternal, but without recognizing our sin, our lost estate, and God’s gracious provision in the Gospel. That is idolatry, it comes in many forms. Only the one true God, the God who is, has an answer for the problem of sin.
John the Baptist said, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” John 3:16 reminds us that “God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son…” In this passage, the Samaritans in Sychar come to understand, first through the testimony of the woman, and then through the words of Jesus Himself, that Jesus “…is the Christ, the Savior of the world.” Jesus came first to the Jews, but he came to save sinners of every race and nation. There is clearly a contrast in this context between the Jews, who are slow to believe even though they see signs, and these Samaritans, who it appears believe, first the woman believing Jesus, then the villagers believing her testimony about Him, and finally others hearing and believing Jesus himself. As we consider this scene we’ll see…
The BIG Idea: We will be empowered by God as we believe Him and discover and obediently carry out our part in His mission. We’ll take the passage 4 verses at a time and see that we need to be, 1) Engaged, knowing the truth we are compelled to witness (27-30); 2) Energized, empowered to serve (31-34); 3) Equipped… for our part in His mission (35-38); and then we’ll be, 4) Effective… as we faithfully carry out His mission (39-42).
I. Engaged: Knowing the truth, we are compelled to be a witness (4:27-30). This woman had tasted life-giving water, and it was too good to keep to herself!
27 Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, "What do you seek?" or, "Why are you talking with her?" 28 So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, 29 "Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?" 30 They went out of the town and were coming to him.
As the scene picks up, we see in 4:27 God’s providential timing, “Just then the disciples came back…” and, “they marveled…” The sight of Jesus conversing with a Samaritan woman must have shocked his disciples. According to the rabbinical writings a man should not talk in public with a woman. One Rabbi wrote: “One should not talk with a woman on the street, not even his own wife, and certainly not with somebody else’s wife, because of the gossip of men.” In other words, Jesus was breaking a cultural norm, he was putting his reputation on the line, as he spoke with a woman, a woman with a poor reputation, even a Samaritan woman, in a public place.
But the disciples didn’t question Jesus, at least not aloud. The text seems to imply that they wondered these things, even though they didn’t say it out loud: “What do you seek? Why are you talking to her?” That is what they thought, but they didn’t say it. They were surprised by Grace. We shouldn’t be. Notice again that God’s timing is perfect. As surely as there was a divine appointment, as the woman arrived at the well at midday and met the Savior, He providentially guided circumstances as to when the disciples returned, just as Jesus revealed his messianic identity to the woman. Did they hear? It is not clear if they did, but they did see Him talking to her.
We see in 4:28-30 the priority of the Gospel. We can get so focused on the temporal that we hardly make time for the things of eternal importance. The woman came to the well for water. It’s a great picture: what she received was so transformational that she for the moment left her water jar behind and went to the city to spread the word about this Jewish stranger who was clearly a prophet, and so much more! She was compelled to testify to what she had seen! She had to share the Truth. *We will be empowered by God as we believe Him and discover and obediently carry out our part in His mission.
II. Energized: As we walk in obedience we are empowered to serve (4:31-34). The disciples brought food from the town, Jesus says He is energized by obedience.
31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, "Rabbi, eat." 32 But he said to them, "I have food to eat that you do not know about." 33 So the disciples said to one another, "Has anyone brought him something to eat?" 34 Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.
Energized through Obedience – In the meantime the disciples are yet another example of people not understanding what Jesus was saying, they were stuck on the physical and not discerning the spiritual truth behind it. Remember his words at the Temple: tear down this temple and in three days I will raise it up. His words to Nicodemus, “You must be born again,” his words to the woman, “…whoever drinks of the water I shall give him will never thirst…” And now to the disciples, “I have food to eat that you don’t know about.”
At first, the woman did not grasp what Jesus had to give her; the disciples did not grasp what Jesus himself lived by—the satisfaction of doing his Father’s will and carrying out to the finish the work given him to do. A good foundation for this idea is Jesus’ response to the first temptation…
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." 4 But he answered, "It is written, "' Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" (Mt 4:1-4).
We might think, this was Jesus, God the Son, of course He was gaining strength from doing his father’s work! But there’s an example for us too. God chose us, He saved us, on purpose, for a purpose. As we serve God in obedience to His Word, as we use the gift(s) He has given us in His Mission, we will be energized. I am not saying you will never get tired, after all, Jesus did! But it will be a good tired, right? Not drained, but fulfilled, like with a job well done. Philip Brooks said: “Seek your life’s nourishment in your life’s work.” Warren Wiersbe said:
“The will of God ought to be a source of strength and satisfaction to the child of God, just as if he sat down at a sumptuous feast. If what we are doing tears us down instead of builds us up, then we may well question whether it is the will of God for us.”
It is okay to be tired after a good day’s work! But it’s a good tired, not drained or burned out. We are not just thinking about our witnessing, or our service in the church. If all of our work is done as unto the Lord, it is a part of God’s calling for us – we can be energized by God, nourished by the Bread of Life, as we do our work for the Lord. Your story is a part of his story—whatever work He has given you to do, wherever he has placed you, is not by chance. It is a “divine appointment” of another kind. Our attitude and our work ethic is different if we are doing it for God. Your life becomes a living epistle, seen and read of men. So, in a sense, all of our secular life IS an aspect of our witness! *We will be empowered by God as we believe Him and discover and obediently carry out our part in His mission.
III. Equipped: He is the Lord of the harvest, we are equipped for our part in His program (4:35-38).
35 Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, then comes the harvest'? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. 36 Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. 37 For here the saying holds true, 'One sows and another reaps.' 38 I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor."
The time to harvest is at hand! “Yet four months until the harvest” seems to be a proverb, something like “You can’t rush the harvest, be patient it will come when it comes.” Jesus says the harvest is at hand, the fields are white. In Matthew’s Gospel Jesus used the language of the harvest in Matthew 9:35-38…
Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."
Notice a couple of things. First, the need, “The harvest is plentiful and the workers are few…” Secondly, the response: “ask the Lord of the harvest…” We are instructed to pray. By the way, in the next chapter, they are sent out! If you know Christ, you too are sent, you have a part in God’s mission. He has included you in His story. But that is a sermon for another day. Back in our passage Jesus says in John 4:36-38,
36 Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. 37 For here the saying holds true, 'One sows and another reaps.' 38 I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor."
Sowing and Reaping are all part of God’s program. We need to be faithful in the opportunities he gives—one sows, another waters, it is God who brings the growth. The Apostle Paul used that same metaphor in 1 Corinthians 3:6-8,
6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor.”
It is almost spring. Some of you who garden are likely planning what you will plant this year. Are there opportunities to sow some spiritual seeds in your mission field, your family, your neighbors, the people you work with, those in your school? Maybe you can pour on a little water, maybe even see some of the harvest! *We will be empowered by God as we believe Him and discover and obediently carry out our part in His mission.
IV. Effective: As we faithfully share His Word, HE IS working, building His church (4:39-42).
39 Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me all that I ever did." 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of his word. 42 They said to the woman, "It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world." 43 After two days he departed for Galilee.
Since the opening verses of John, the issue at hand has been the response to Jesus. Belief, faith, receiving Him, recognizing who He is and entrusting yourself to Him. Many of the Samaritans from Sychar believed in Jesus. First, because of the testimony of the woman! (v.39). That is actually pretty astounding. IF she was a woman of bad reputation, how is it that she was so convincing to those who heard her? Notice that she doesn’t say too much, she isn’t lecturing them, rather humbly she testifies about Jesus’ supernatural knowledge of her past, “He told me everything that I ever did…” And she asked humbly, “Could this be the Messiah?” (v.32; v.39). [By the way, someone asked what was the word the Samaritans used for the Coming One, it was Taheb, “Restorer.” They accepted only a version of the Pentateuch as their Scripture. They were looking for the promised “prophet like Moses.” And He would be the One who would bring them the truth, the full revelation of God].
An evidence of genuine faith is wanting more. They “urged Him to stay with them…” Now I don’t think this is always true of every Christian at every moment of our lives once we’ve trusted Christ. I do believe, however, that this is normal, healthy faith. In our best moments, if we really believe that Jesus is who he claimed to be, and that He died willingly and purposefully for our sins, as our substitute, we want to know Him better, to spend more time with Him, to hear his Word to us! We need constantly to be reminded—in the language of John’s Gospel, we need to “keep believing.”
Many more believed because of his word (v.41,42a). As the crowds came, they heard the words of Jesus, and they believed Him. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ. They trusted in what he said—and somehow were already understanding that He was the Savior. They recognize that the Messiah, is the true and only Savior of the World. We don’t have the ability to travel all over the world and preach the Gospel. But we do have a part in God’s worldwide mission. Jesus is the Lord of the Church and ultimately its Him who sends out workers into the harvest. We are called to be faithful where we are, and wherever we go, to be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in us.
What is God saying to me in this passage? *We will be empowered by God himself as we believe Him and discover and obediently carry out our part in His mission.
What would God have me to do in response to this passage?
1) The woman at the well met Jesus, and realized he knew everything she ever did. Jesus said in John 3:17 that He came not to judge the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He knows all about you as well. Have you come to Him? Trust Him now!
2) What is the work God has given you to do? Your “secular” employment is just as important to God. Adam tended the garden—Paul made tents, whatever you do, do it as onto the Lord. Do it as worship. Your job, your school work, your work at home, all of it is part of your calling, we are all living letters, seen and read of men.
3) I hope each of us take seriously the Bible’s teaching on spiritual gifts. We use our gifts to build each other up. Have you discovered your gift(s)? Serving in the church, participating in a Sunday School class, or a small group are great opportunities to understand God’s gifting and experience his empowerment.
4) The woman at the well did not know a lot of theology. She didn’t have a degree. But she met Jesus, and brought others to Him. Who can you bring to the only Savior of the World? AMEN.
Comments
Post a Comment