Sermon Tone Analysis

INTRODUCTION

The woman at the well had a powerful encounter with Jesus Christ that changed her life forever.

Just like Jesus changed her life, He is still changing lives today.

Jesus is still offering that “living water” that will quench thirsty souls and fill empty hearts.

Jesus is the True Well.

If the things of this world have left you high and dry, you can leave it all behind, and Come to the Well!

EXPOSITION

Contact (John 4:1-8)

The History between the Jews and Samaritans

The Jews wanted nothing to do with the Samaritans.

The Jews did not consider the Samaritans to be true Jews for two main reasons, (1) because they had intermarried and mixed with the Gentiles after the Assyrians conquered Israel in 722 BC and (2) because they had setup their own temple for worship on Mt Gerazim.

The Jews only recognized Jerusalem as the true temple and the true place of worship.

The Geography between Judea and Galilee

It is also interesting that the Bible says that Jesus “must needs go through Samaria.”

Because of their hatred of the Samaritans, the Jews would go out of their way not to travel through Samaria.

Geographically, Judaea was in the south, Galilee was to the north, and Samaria was in-between (a cultural Samaritan “Sam”-mich).

Jews would routinely cross over the Jordan River to the east and travel around Samaria in order to get to Galilee.

That is part of the reason that makes this encounter between Jesus and the Woman of Sychar so powerful and amazing!

Jesus was on a mission!

Jesus did not follow the cultural norms.

Jesus did not go through Samaria and near the city of Sychar because it was the fastest route.

He showed up at Jacob’s well that day because He knew there was a woman that needed a change in her life.

She was coming to the well at noon, in the middle of the day.

This was unusual.

Women typically came to the well early in the morning and late in the evening when it was cooler.

The well was also a social gathering place.

It was a place of community where the women would get together and fellowship with one another.

The fact this woman comes in the middle of the day tells us a few things: (1) she’s probably trying to avoid running into anyone else because she is ashamed (of her sinful lifestyle we read about a little further along in the story), and (2) she’s probably a social outcast.

Because of her past and her present, she was rejected by society.

But Jesus saw a woman who was broken, who was hurting, who was empty, who was looking for love and happiness in all the wrong places and who was in desperate need of redemption!

I’m so thankful that Jesus still comes looking for us!

That He pursues us before we even realize we need Him!

That He can see the brokenness, the hurt, the emptiness, and the longing inside of us to love and to be loved!

I’m so thankful that Jesus is not afraid to meet in our sinful condition!

That we can come as we are to the foot of the cross and find the remedy in the Well of His grace!

Challenge (John 4:9-15)

The Woman’s Surprise

The woman was surprised by meeting Jesus at the well that day: (1) that a Jew would speak to a Samaritan, (2) that a man would speak to a woman in public, and (3) that a Jew would drink from a Samaritan’s cup.

But when Jesus shows up, you can expect things to be different.

He didn’t care about the social norms, He cared about her soul!

Jesus Offers Living Water

Jesus was thirsty and knew it.

The woman was thirsty and didn’t know it.

Jesus says, “I’ve got water that you’ve never heard of before.

I’ve got water that will quench your thirst.

You keep coming back to this well every day, but the water that I have to give you is living water and it will completely satisfy the thirst and the longing of your soul.”

The Woman says "Sir, give me this water”

I wonder if the woman was being sincere at this point, or if she is being sarcastic.

Did she truly believe that Jesus had this “living water” He talked about or was she saying, “Yeah, sure buddy, living water, right, yeah let me have some of that so I don’t have to travel back and forth to this well everyday, sounds great, sign me up for a monthly subscription, does it come with a money-back guarantee and a certificate of authenticity?”

Either way, she still did not yet fully understand who she was talking to and what He had to offer her.

Confrontation (John 4:16-18)

Jesus Gets to the Point

It was unusual and improper for a Jew to speak to a woman in public, especially a woman that was not his wife.

So he tells the woman to go call for her husband to join in the conversation.

But what Jesus was really doing was confronting her sin.

She had been married five times.

And she was currently living with man number 6, but he was not her husband.

She was living in adultery and had likely lived a promiscuous lifestyle.

Now we understand why she wanted to avoid the other women of the town by going to the well at noon.

She didn’t want to have to face her own shame, the dirty looks, the whispers behind her back, the rejection.

But Jesus did not call her out for her sin to condemn her, make fun of her, or reject her.

He called her out to redeem her!

True Conversion Requires True Conviction

Until we come to the realization that our sinful ways are damaging to ourselves and those around us and they are opposed to a holy and righteous God who loves us and laid down His life for us, we will not move toward true conversion.

It is like a doctor who prescribes surgery in order to save your life.

If your appendix is about to burst, a doctor is going to prescribe surgery to remove your appendix to keep you from becoming extremely ill and possibly dying if it were to rupture.

The doctor has to inflict hurt in order to heal.

The Great Physician works the same way with our spiritual condition.

He confronts us with our sinful condition so that He can lead us to true conversion.

And once He removes our sins, He casts them as far as the east is from the west and never brings them back up against us again!

The Missing Puzzle Piece

There is a God-shaped hole, a puzzle piece, in the heart of every person.

We are born with it.

God created us to have fellowship and relationship with Him.

When that fellowship and relationship is missing, it is like a missing puzzle piece.

We can try to fit everything else into that space to try to complete the picture of our lives.

But nothing else will fit.

Nothing else can fill the void.

The things of this world will leave us frustrated and still empty at the end of the day just like trying to force the wrong piece into a puzzle.

For the woman at the well, she tired to fill the void with relationships.

She thought the next marriage was the answer.

She thought the next husband would truly love her and bring true happiness and contentment to her life.

But she didn’t need another husband, she needed a Father.

Not her earthly father.

She needed to get to know her Heavenly Father.

And little did she know that the One who had been sent by the Father to bring her into right relationship with her Heavenly Father was standing right in front of her!

Conversion (John 4:19-26)

The Woman’s Perception

Notice how the woman is progressing in her understand of who Jesus is and how Jesus is methodically leading her to this conclusion.

Jesus doesn’t just jump up from the well as soon as He meets her and say, “I’m the Messiah, you’re a sinner, now repent!”

He has confronted her with her sin and is leading her to understand that He is not offering her water to satisfy her physical needs, but to satisfy her spiritual needs.

She Tries to Change the Subject

She diverts the conversation from her sinful condition to the religious differences between the Samaritans and Jews.

Religion had not saved her or changed her.

The Samaritans had religion.

Perhaps she even had religion.

But Jesus made it clear that the “Living Water” He had to offer was not the water of religion, but was the water of salvation.

It didn’t matter whether she worshipped on Mt.

Gerazim or in Jerusalem.

What mattered was that she worshiped in spirit and in truth.