John 4:4-8
Now I Get It
One of the most important commands left to the church was to share
the good news of what Jesus has sone with the remainder of the world.
In this chapter, Jesus shared the news of Himself with another. It
is, without doubt, one of the greatest examples of soul winning in
all the Bible.
But I do not want to look at the chapter from the prospective of the
soul winner but of the one who is won. We sometimes forget that one
reason people do not accept Christ is because they do not know enough
truth to do so. This morning, let’s look at this chapter from the
woman’s prospective. Let’s see what she learned.
John 4:4 And he must needs go through Samaria.
5 Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is
called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that
Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
6 Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore,
being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the
well: and it was about the sixth hour.
7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water:
Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.
8 (For his disciples were gone away unto the
city to buy meat.)
I. \\#6-7\\ The woman learned that God was waiting for her.
A. Can you imagine what it was like living in those days?
1. Some may not have to image. You pretty much did.
2. This was a time with no electricity, cooking over a
pit, no plumbing, no hot water, no refrigerator.
3. Most women probably rose before dawn - build a fire,
fetched fresh water, gathered eggs, fixed a breakfast,
feed the chickens, then headed to the market for what
the family might need for the day.
a. Both the city well and the market place would have
been gathering places, especially for the women.
b. If there was a few moments in their day for visiting
and pleasantries, it would have been at the well and
at the market place.
4. Then they would be back home well before the noon hour so
they could fix their husbands a lunch.
5. The men would be coming in out of the fields for a mid-day
meal that would get them through the rest of the hard day.
B. This woman’s schedule was different.
1. \\#6\\ She was arriving at the well at the sixth hour,
that would be noon.
a. That should be an hour when no one was at the well.
b. The women should be feeding their husbands lunch, and
the husbands should be eating their lunch.
2. I believe this woman had arranged her schedule so that she
would be at the well when no one else should have been.
3. Why? We don’t know for sure, but it may have been because
she was an outcast.
a. \\#18\\ Jesus will reveal that she had had 5 husbands
and was now living with a man who was NOT her
husband.
b. We don’t know how this came to be her life, but it is
for certain that you don’t marry five different men
by accident.
c. This woman was an adulteress.
d. Apparently she liked men, and men like her; however, I
am pretty sure that women didn’t like her, and she
didn’t like women.
4. Because of the life she had lead, this woman did not want
to socialize with the woman.
a. This was not the type of woman that most women talked
to but about.
b. There were no pleasantries for her to exchange with
them and none to receive.
c. This woman probably wanted to go to the well at a time
when no one was there.
d. Can you imagine what she must have thought when she
came into view of the well and saw a man sitting on
the well?
e. She probably sighed, "Oh no. Here we go again!"
C. She had no idea…
1. That God had entered the world in the form of man.
2. That earlier that very morning, maybe while she was
building the fire for her man’s breakfast, the God-man
turned to His companions and said, "I must needs go
through Samaria" \\#4\\.
3. That while she was stretching the last of yesterday’s
water to clean a little, feed and water the livestock,
and put her man’s lunch together—all the while knowing
that she would be gone to the well when he came home—
that God in flesh was walking through the dusty roads
of Samaria to the well near her village.
4. That while she was picking up her bucket to head to the
well, Jesus was sending the disciples into the village
so that He could talk to her alone.
5. The woman had no idea that sitting on the side of the
well, God was waiting for her…
a. God Who had traveled from heaven to Israel, from
Israel to Samaria, from Samaria to her village,
from her village to her well, to sit and wait for
her.
b. For her, an outcast, adulterous woman, with five past
husband, who was almost completely alone in the
world, who would rather go to the well when no one
else was there.
c. God was waiting for her.
D. May I tell you that God was sitting on your pew waiting for
you this morning?
1. It doesn’t matter how bad you have been.
2. It doesn’t matter how alone you feel.
3. It doesn’t matter what the rest of the world thinks of
you.
4. God has traveled from heaven to Green Pond, from Green
Pond to this church, from this church to your pew, and
God is waiting for you.
E. The woman learned that God was waiting on her.
II. The woman learned that she had an eternal thirst within her soul.
John 4:9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto
him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest
drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for
the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou
knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith
to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have
asked of him, and he would have given thee living
water.
15 The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this
water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to
draw.
A. This was not a naive, innocent, gullible woman.
1. She’d been around—five husbands and living with a sixth.
2. You don’t live that kind of life without learning some
tough lessons.
3. Most of the laws favored the man in this time period so
she had likely been thrown away five times—perhaps with
some justification, perhaps not.
a. Why do you suppose she didn’t marry the sixth man? She
had probably given up on trust, on commitment, on
faith, hope, love, joy.
b. You think she is going to just accept the words of
this Stranger sitting on the well?
c. No!
4. Even in \\#12\\, as she began to consider that this Man
might be someone greater, there had been many in recent
years who had made such claims. Our New Testament
records three.
a. Theudas \\#Acts 5:36\\
b. Judas of Galilee \\#Acts 5:37\\
c. Egyptian \\#Acts 21:38\\
B. But as she listens to Him, some thirst within her begins to
grow.
1. I am not sure that she wanted that thirst to grow.
a. Most people who have lived this type of life have
turned off their inward feelings.
b. Not so much because they want to, but because they
have to.
c. If they allow themselves to feel, their feelings
always take them down.
d. Regret, remorse, depression, and sorrow rush in on
them.
e. What some don’t realize is that even though it may
look like people are doing everything they can to
ruin their lives and destroy their future, that is
not really what they want.
f. What you and I may see as the inevitable result of
the choices they made, most of them are surprised
and saddened that everything worked out the way it
did.
2. Yet whether she wanted to or not, she had to acknowledge
there was a thirst in her own soul!
a. Penn Jillette, of the comedy/illusionist team, Penn
and Teller (a Los Vegas headlining team with a hit
CW television show) posted a video in 2009 about
being approached by a Christian who offered him a
gift. Now Penn Jillette is an outspoken atheist. He
doesn’t believe in God, heaven, hell, sin or
salvation. In the video, he tells how that after a
show, he and Teller went down to shake hands, sign
autographs, and so forth. There was a big man,
about his age, off to the side. The man had been
randomly selected to participate in the show the
night before. Jillette recognized him. The man came
over, reminded Jillette who he was, complimented his
show and showmanship and then told him, "I want to
give you this. I am kind of proselytizing." It was a
New Testament and Psalms. He told Jillette, "I wrote
in the front of it, and I wanted you to have it." He
added, I’m not insane. I am a businessman." Jillette
was pausing as he remembered the details of the
conversation. Jillette said, "I believe he knew I
was an atheist." Then he said, "It was wonderful."
Jillette spoke with great respect for this man. He
spoke of his compassion, of his faith, of his
meekness.
b. By watching the video, I would say that Jillette never
did much more than open that Bible.
(1) He probably did not read it.
(2) He probably did not keep it.
(3) There was no evidence or even indication that his
opinion about God or the Bible changed, but it
was impressed with the representative that God
used to give him that Bible.
(4) I believe God was trying to reach Penn Jillette
that night.
(a) A thirst began to arise.
(b) I am sure he did not want to be thirsty, but
here he is recording the incident and
posting on YouTube.
(c) I saw it a couple of years ago and went back
to view it again.
(d) It’s still there.
C. A thirst doesn’t mean a person gets saved.
1. A thirst means something inside starts to wake up.
2. Perhaps Penn Jillette put his back to sleep.
3. The woman at the well did not.
D. The woman at the well learned that she had an eternal thirst
within her soul.
III. The woman learned that sin matters.
John 4:16 Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy
husband, and come hither.
17 The woman answered and said, I have no
husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well
said, I have no husband:
18 For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom
thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst
thou truly.
A. Remember what was taking place in verse 15.
1. The woman was asking for the eternal water.
2. That is where most soul winners would draw in the net, but
not Jesus.
3. Jesus had another lesson for the woman to learn, an
important one, sin matters.
B. Jesus told the woman to call her husband.
1. Of course, she couldn’t.
a. She didn’t have one.
b. She had a live in.
c. By the way, if you are living with someone who is not
your husband or wife, that’s all you have too.
d. "But, preacher, we are married by common law."
e. That’s just another example of fake news produced by
pagan government.
2. Why in the world would Jesus bring this up at this point?
a. "Doesn’t He know that this might offend the woman and
drive her away."
b. Because sin matters.
c. "But you can’t build a big church that way!"
d. Maybe not, but sin matters; and you can’t get into
heaven without knowing that.
C. Isn’t Jesus marvelous?
1. He pointed out to the woman that sin mattered, but He did
not pound her over the head with it.
2. Her soul was thirsting for that eternal water, but before
she could drink from that well, she had to do something
about her sin.
3. Why? Because sin matters.
4. Friend, I am not here to beat you over the head with your
sin either, but you need to know the same thing Jesus
taught this woman.
5. Your sin matter and must be removed.
D. The woman learned that sin matters.
IV. The woman learned that Jesus is Messiah and Savior.
John 4:25 The woman saith unto him, I know that
Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he
is come, he will tell us all things.
26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee
am he.
A. I don’t have the time to go into detail, but the Samaritans
had virtually duplicated the Jewish religion.
1. They were neighbors but not the same nationality.
2. They had a common ancestor: Abraham.
a. The Jews came from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
b. The Samaritans and other nations around her came from
Abraham through a different line.
3. God selected the Jews to be His people; and through them
He would bring His Son and our Savior into the world; but
the Samaritans took the Jewish Bible and rewrote it.
a. Instead of the Jews being the chosen people, in the
Samaritan Bible, the Samaritans were.
b. Instead of the mount that Jerusalem was built on being
the mountain to worship upon, Mount Gerizim was.
B. So this woman had religious details. They were just skewed.
1. She knew a Messiah was coming.
2. One Who was to take away sin.
3. Her people, like the Jews, were watching for Him to come—
they were just looking in different places.
C. But get what Jesus said to the woman.
John 4:26 Jesus saith unto her, I that speak
unto thee am he.
1. Jesus told that woman that He was the One who came to take
away sin—her sin, your sin, my sin, the sins of the
whole world!
2. Understand:
a. She already WHAT Messiah would do, save the people.
b. Now Jesus was telling her WHO He was.
c. But she did not know HOW He was going to do it.
3. This is just John 4.
a. The HOW sin would be removed was not recorded until
John 20.
b. There the Bible records the Messiah, the sinless Son
of God, was crucified.
c. There the Guiltless died for the guilty.
d. There the Sinless died for the sinful.
e. That is called substitution.
f. Jesus took our place, not just on the cross but in
hell itself.
g. He paid for this woman’s sin, and your sins, and my
sins, and the sins of the whole world.
4. All happened 2,000 years before we were even born.
a. Jesus has paid for our sins, but the payment being
made does not mean that you and I are in the clear.
b. We must ask that the payment be applied to our sin
accounts.
c. Two things are required for Jesus’ payment to be
applied to your sin account: one an action and one a
request.
(1) The action is, the best you know how, you must
surrender to Jesus. He is God. That means you
will quit doing what you want and the best you
know how, you will start doing what He wants.
(2) The request is, you must ask Jesus to save you,
acknowledging that what He did on the cross is
the only thing you will trust.
5. These two things, done together, cause a miracle to take
place.
6. It causes the miracle of the new birth to take place.
V. One last lesson the woman learned that day: Joy is good and
should be shared.
John 4:28 The woman then left her waterpot, and
went her way into the city, and saith to the men,
29 Come, see a man, which told me all things
that ever I did: is not this the Christ?
30 Then they went out of the city, and came unto
him.
A. Here was a woman who had not be happy in a long time.
B. She had become a hermit, a recluse, especially from the women.
C. But on this day, she received salvation, forgiveness, and new
life with not past, friends—of a different sort!
D. She felt a joy so great that she forgot her water bucket and
ran into town to tell others.
I cannot promise you that your life will have no problems because it
will. I can promise you that you can have the joy, salvation,
forgiveness, and new life that she left with. I pray that you can
see that this morning.
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