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MEET THE MASTER EVERYBODY IS SOMEBODY (JOHN 4:1-42) A seven-year-old boy wrote this note to a psychotherapist who worked with children: Dear Docter Gardner What is bothering me is that long ago some big person it was a boy about 13 years old. He called me turtle and I know he said that because of my plastic sergery. And I think god hates me because of my lip. And when I die he ll probably send me to hell. Love, Chris 1 Today many suffer from poor self-esteem. We used to call it an inferiority complex. Whatever this condition is called, those who have it think they are not worth much. We want to stress that Everybody Is Somebody. Our text is John 4. It has been said that John 4 says more about the character of Jesus than any other chapter in the New Testament. A STRANGE DECISION (JOHN 4:1 4) John 3 gives the background for our lesson. Jesus had been at the feast of Passover. One evening during the feast, He talked with a noted Jewish leader named Nicodemus. Out of that conversation came the beautiful words of John 3:16. After the feast, Jesus stayed in Judea for a while and had great success. His success brought on some conflict with the disciples of John the Baptizer. Of greater concern to Jesus, however, was the fact noted in 4:1: The Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John. Jesus wanted to avoid a head-to-head confrontation with the Pharisees that could bring about His death prematurely. Jesus, therefore, decided to leave Judea and go north to Galilee. This brings us to this strange verse: And He had to pass through Samaria (v. 4). Palestine was about 120 miles from top to bottom. Within that 120 miles were three definite divisions of territory. In the extreme north lay Galilee; in the extreme south lay Judea; in between lay Samaria. Jews would normally go to any length to avoid going through the heart of Samaria. They would go east to the Jordan River, cross the river, then travel north through Perea until they came almost to the Sea of Galilee. Then they would cross the Jordan River into Galilee. It was a three-day trip going straight north, a six- to nine-day trip going the long way around. This was roughly the equivalent of going from New York to Los Angeles by way of Mexico City. 2 Why did Jesus have to pass through Samaria? It has been suggested that Jesus was in a hurry because John had been arrested, 3 and Jesus wanted to keep John s disciples from scattering. The fact, however, that Jesus stopped two days at Sychar seems to preclude that. I suggest that He had to because a special woman was there and because a city full of precious souls was there a people ripe for spiritual harvest. He had to because everybody is somebody in the sight of God! 1

A SINFUL WOMAN (JOHN 4:5 8) So He came to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph (v. 5). Sychar was about halfway through the province. And Jacob s well was there (v. 6a). This well is one of the few places in the Bible lands you can point to with certainty and say, This is the spot. This well is still there about half a mile from where the ancient city of Sychar was located. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus by the well (v. 6b). John, who wrote his Gospel Account to convince men that Jesus is the Son of God (John 20:30, 31), has more to say about the humanness of Jesus than any other gospel writer. It is John who records that on the cross Jesus said, I am thirsty (John 19:28). Jesus got tired, thirsty, hungry, and exhausted just as we do. By Jewish reckoning, 4 it was about the sixth hour (v. 6c). It was about noon. Verse 8 notes that His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Jesus had sent them to the first-century equivalent of a grocery store or fast-food place to get food. 5 There came a woman of Samaria to draw water (v. 7a). These few words speak volumes about this woman. Women normally did not draw water at noon. They drew water in the morning and in the evening in the cooler parts of the day. Going for water was a social event, a community function. The women visited with each other and caught up on the news. This woman, however, came at noon in the heat of the day. Further, archeologists have discovered spring-fed fountains near Sychar. This woman walked half a mile to get water. All this suggests she was a social outcast as far as the women of the city were concerned. She apparently took this course of action to avoid the stares and whispers. A SURPRISING REQUEST (JOHN 4:7, 9) Jesus said to her, Give Me a drink.... The Samaritan woman therefore said to Him, How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman? (vv. 7b, 9a). To understand this interchange, we need to know something of the relationship between Jews and Samaritans. We have all seen racial problems and any racial prejudice breaks God s heart but most of us have seen nothing to compare with the hatred between Jews and Samaritans. 6 This hatred went back many years. The Samaritans were a mixed race, the result of the Assyrians having taken most of the ten northern tribes away in 727 B.C. 7 The Jews left in the north intermarried with the Gentiles whom the Assyrians sent into northern Palestine. 8 The offspring of these mixed marriages were the Samaritans. To the Jews, the destruction of racial purity was almost an unpardonable sin. Still today, in a very strict Jewish family, if one of the children marries outside the Jewish faith, the family has a funeral for that child; as far as they are concerned, that child is dead. At least three surprising facts are seen in Jesus talking to this woman. (1) As just noted, the person Jesus asked for a drink was a Samaritan. (2) This person was a woman. Jewish men had nothing to do with women in public (note v. 27). A Jewish rabbi would not even speak to his own wife or daughter in public. Within the Pharisee sect was a group called the bruised and bleeding ones, because they closed their eyes whenever they saw a woman thus, they ran into walls, trees, and the like. (3) As we shall see, this was not only a woman, but a woman of questionable moral character. A deliberate contrast seems to have been drawn between the individuals whom Jesus encountered in chapter 3 and chapter 4: In John 3 Jesus met Nicodemus, who was (1) a Jew, (2) a man, and (3) an individual of high moral standards and integrity. In John 4 Jesus met the woman at the well, who was (1) a Samaritan, (2) a woman, and (3) a person of low moral character. Both needed salvation. Jesus treated the woman with as much grace, tenderness, and respect as He did Nicodemus. Why? Because everybody is somebody. Whether you are religious or irreligious, whether you are a man or a woman, whether you are a person with high morals or your life is full of problems, whether you have a high social standing or are considered a nobody, God loves you. You are made in God s image (Genesis 1:26). You are God s special person. Jesus died on the cross for you and would have died if only you had needed Him to! John inserted this word of explanation in the account of Jesus conversation with the woman 2

at the well: (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) (v. 9b). This does not mean that the Jews had no dealings at all with Samaritans. They had financial dealings (after all, the disciples had just left to go into a Samaritan town to buy food). John was emphasizing that normally they had no social dealings. The NEB gives an alternative translation: Jews and Samaritans... do not use vessels in common. Jews did not eat or drink from the vessels of Samaritans because they considered them defiled. When Jesus, however, asked this woman for a drink, He was ready to drink from her vessel. Why did Jesus go against the custom of His people? Because this woman was special to Him. Because everybody is somebody to the Lord. A STARTLING STATEMENT (JOHN 4:10 15) Jesus answered and said to her, If you knew the gift of God [Jesus Himself, God s gift to the world, John 3:16], and who it is who says to you, Give Me a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water (v. 10). The Jews thought of running stream water as living water, in contrast with water which collected in a well. More important, however, the prophets used the term living water to refer to the power and presence of God, which could satisfy the spiritual thirst within an individual. 9 Thus, Jesus referred to spiritual vitality, to the potential of spiritual life. As was often the case, Jesus student did not understand. She said to Him, Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep [at that time, it was 100 to 150 feet deep 10 ]; where then do You get that living water? You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself, and his sons, and his cattle? (vv. 11, 12). This was a common situation with Jesus and His listeners. He would make a startling statement, in cryptic language. Misunderstanding, His listeners would take Him literally. Then Jesus would lead them to a spiritual understanding. Jesus answered and said to her, Everyone who drinks of this water [i.e., the water in this well] shall thirst again (v. 13). This is true of everything in this life. We drink and get thirsty again. We eat and get hungry again. We have a good time, but the happy feeling fades, and we seek pleasure again. Everything in this life is quickly gone whether success, popularity, or pleasure. Jesus continued: But whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life (v. 14). Jesus was speaking of the strength, joy, and power to be found in the Christian way. Jesus was saying, in effect, I am bringing all the things the prophets said would come through the Messiah. You can have the abundant life! This sounded wonderful to the woman, but she still had no idea what Jesus was talking about. The woman said to Him, Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty, nor come all the way here to draw (v. 15). In effect, she said, That s great! No more half-mile trips in the hot sun to get water! I m tired of carrying the jar! A SOBERING QUESTION (JOHN 4:16 18) Now that Jesus had the woman s attention, He was ready to operate on her heart. Jesus was not a timid surgeon. He said to her, Go, call your husband, and come here (v. 16). Before we can come to Christ, we first need to stop and look at ourselves frankly and honestly... to look in the mirror of God s Word... to see ourselves as we are. This is what Jesus was forcing this woman to do. The woman answered and said, I have no husband (v. 17a). To this point in the conversation, the woman had never been at a loss for words. She had been glib, almost flippant. Now she had little to say just four words in the English (only three in the Greek). We can almost sense her discomfort. Jesus said to her, You have well 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 [i.e., you have spoken the truth] (vv. 17b, 18). Coming face to face with Jesus can initially be an uncomfortable experience. Shortly after this event, Jesus went on to Galilee and returned to Capernaum. Peter went back to fishing. In Luke 5 we have the story of the miraculous catch of fish. Peter had already traveled extensively with Jesus. For the first time, however, he fully saw 3

the glory and power of Jesus and saw himself in the light of that glory. He cried, Depart from me for I am a sinful man, O Lord! (v. 8). Some say guilt has no part in the gospel message, but it does. God does not want us to feel guilty all our lives, but our appreciation of the mercy and grace of God begins with an understanding of our spiritual needs! When Jesus looks into our hearts and lives, He... sees the goodness, the potential, what we can become with God s help. Note that Jesus was fully aware of who and what this woman was. Later, Jesus let a sinful woman anoint Him, and His enemies thought He did not know what kind of woman she was. 11 Jesus did know the kind of person she was just as He knew the kind of person this Samaritan woman was. She was still special to Him. When Jesus looks into our hearts and lives, He not only sees the badness, the problems, and the struggles; He also sees the goodness, the potential, what we can become with God s help. In this case, He saw a woman who could start an entire city on the road to faith. With Jesus, everybody is somebody! A SIGNIFICANT DISCUSSION (JOHN 4:19 26) When Jesus laid bare the spiritual needs of this woman, how did she respond? She apparently changed the subject (v. 19)! 12 (Did you ever study with someone and get to his spiritual needs, only to have him change the subject?) The woman said to Him, Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet (v. 19). The Samaritans used only the first five books of the Old Testament, Genesis through Deuteronomy. These books say little about prophets. However, the Samaritans had learned more from the Jews than they were willing to admit. This woman knew about prophets and thought Jesus must be one. Therefore, she said, in effect, Let me ask you a question, Prophet. Our fathers worshiped in this mountain (v. 20a). After Nehemiah refused the help of the Samaritans, 13 they built their own temple on Mount Gerizim. They devised many fanciful claims about Mount Gerizim: This was where Abraham had come to sacrifice Isaac; this was where Melchizedek had met Abraham; this was where the first altar to God had been erected when the Israelites entered the promised land. 14 Mount Gerizim, which was not far from Sychar, was their most sacred place. The woman may have waved her hand as she referred to this mountain. And you people [i.e., you Jews] say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship (v. 20b). Her implied question was Which is right? Jesus answered that soon neither would be right: Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, shall you worship the Father (v. 21). In the coming Messianic kingdom, it would not be the place that was important, but the Person. (Premillennialism says that Jerusalem will be restored as the center of worship. Jesus words let us know that nothing could be further from the truth.) He continued: You worship that which you do not know; we worship that which we know, for salvation is from the Jews (v. 22). Jesus said, Salvation is from the Jews, because the Messiah came through the Jewish nation. Further, the first gospel preachers, such as Peter and Paul, would be Jews. Later, the first Christians would be Jews. Although Jesus loved and cared for this woman, He did not hesitate to say that she was wrong morally and doctrinally. Acceptance of someone does not mean that we accept what is wrong in his life. If a friend is wrong morally and/or doctrinally and we say nothing to him, that is not love; that is a lack of love. Next, Jesus said, But an hour is coming, and now is [the establishment of the kingdom/church was only months away], when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers (v. 24). The where? of worship is not 4

important; the who? and how? are. Who? The Father. How? In spirit from the heart as God desired it. In truth according to God s instructions. In Jesus great prayer in John 17, He said, Thy word is truth (John 17:17). This great summary of true worship followed: God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth (v. 24). We could learn much about worship from this text but in this particular lesson we are primarily concerned about the relationship between Jesus and those about Him. The woman said to Him, I know that Messiah 15 is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us (v. 25). The concept of the Messiah is another truth the Samaritans borrowed from the Jews. Note how the woman s faith was developing. She first referred to Jesus as a Jew (v. 9), then as Sir (v. 11, literally Lord ), then as a prophet (v. 19). Now as Jesus spoke, He reminded her of the Messiah (v. 25; see also v. 29). Jesus said to her, I who speak to you am He (v. 26). 16 The original has literally, I am, 17 the one speaking to you. Jesus was saying, You are looking for the Messiah? I am! You are looking for answers? I am! You are looking for hope, help, and something to quench your inner thirst? I am! A STIMULATING INTERLUDE (JOHN 4:27 38) The disciples returned with food. 18 And at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He had been speaking with a woman; yet no one said, What do You seek? or, Why do You speak with her? (v. 27). So the woman left her waterpot (v. 28a). Leaving her waterpot showed her excitement and indicated that she planned to return. And went into the city, and said to the men [note: the men, not the women], Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done [natural exaggeration, characteristic of us all]; this is not the Christ, is it? They went out of the city, and were coming to Him (vv. 28b 30). As the Samaritans made their way to the well, Jesus used the time to teach His disciples. In the meanwhile the disciples were requesting Him, saying, Rabbi, eat. But He said to them, I have food to eat that you do not know about. The disciples therefore were saying to one another, No one brought Him anything to eat, did he? (vv. 31 33). As He had taught Nicodemus and as He had taught the woman, Jesus taught these disciples. He first made a cryptic statement that they misunderstood and took literally; then He led them to a spiritual understanding. Jesus said to them, My food [i.e., My spiritual nourishment] is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to accomplish His work (v. 34). Jesus followers had such a hard time comprehending their teacher! Jesus, however, was concerned about them in spite of their hardheadedness. He was patient as He explained because everybody is somebody! Jesus then changed the image from food to the harvest the source of food. He quoted a familiar Jewish proverb about waiting for the harvest: Do you not say, There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest (v. 35). In other words, When you plant the seed, you know you have four months before harvest time. You may feel the situation here in Samaria is the same, but the seed was planted sometime ago 19 and now it is harvest time! As Jesus said, The fields... are white for harvest, perhaps He gestured toward the white-robed Samaritans who were coming out of the city. 20 A SATISFYING HARVEST (JOHN 4:39 42) By the time Jesus had completed His discourse on harvesting, 21 the Samaritans had arrived. And from that city many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, He told me all the things that I have done. So when the Samaritans came to Him, they were asking Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days (vv. 39, 40). In spite of any pressing purpose Jesus may have had to reach Galilee, He spent two days with these people of mixed blood because everybody is somebody. And many more believed because of His word (v. 41) when they saw Jesus in person, when they heard what He had to say, when they 5

saw how He conducted Himself, and when they saw how He loved all men. Was Jesus confidence misplaced in calling these despised people a field ripe unto harvest? Note the last verse of our text: And they were saying to the woman, It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed the Savior of the world (v. 42). What an amazing statement: We... know that this One is indeed the Savior of the world! (Emphasis mine.) Jesus closest followers, the apostles, thought of Him as the Savior of the Jews; they did not understand otherwise until God sent a special vision to Peter. 22 On the other hand, these Samaritans saw Jesus as the Savior of the world! CONCLUSION If you are in the world, if you are walking around on the earth, Jesus is your Savior. You are special to Him! He loves you, He cares for you, and He will take time for you. He died for you, and He will never forsake you. Why? Because everybody is somebody and you are somebody. NOTES 1 Quoted by James Dobson, Hide or Seek, rev. ed. (Old Tappan, N.J.: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1979), 58. 2 This illustration can be personalized for other areas: going from one location to another by an extremely roundabout route. 3 Matthew 4:12. 4 Some think John used Roman reckoning of time here. Most, however, think he used Jewish reckoning. 5 The names of well-known grocery stores or fast-food vendors in the area can be used. 6 Many have seen this kind of deep hatred. Listeners will understand a comparison between the hatred they have experienced and that which existed between the Jews and the Samaritans. 7 2 Kings 17:6. 8 2 Kings 17:24. 9 Note Psalm 36:9; Isaiah 35:7; Jeremiah 17:13; and similar passages. 10 Since that time people have thrown rocks in it, and today it is about fifty to sixty feet deep. It now has a cover over it. 11 Cf. Luke 7:39. 12 It is possible that she did not change the subject. Perhaps she was asking where she should offer sacrifice for her sins (v. 20). 13 Cf. Nehemiah 4:1 3; 6:1 4. 14 To glorify Mount Gerizim, they abused Scripture and history. 15 Messiah is a Hebrew word that means the anointed one. Christ is the Greek form of the word and also means the anointed one. 16 Since Jesus enemies were not hovering nearby (as they usually did), His statement concerning His identity was bolder than usual. 17 I am is a declaration of deity (cf. Exodus 3:14); the Gospel of John uses the term often to stress that Jesus is the Son of God. 18 In the U.S. we might say, They returned with the burgers and fries. In Australia:... with the fish and chips. 19 Note verse 38: Others have labored. We do not know the details. Perhaps Jesus refers to Old Testament teaching about the Messiah that the Samaritans had learned. Some believe that some of John the Baptizer s work was with the Samaritans. 20 The ripeness of the Samaritans was not only proved by their receptivity at this time, but by the harvest reaped by Philip in Acts 8. 21 John 4:36 38. 22 Acts 10:9 16, 34, 35. A NOTE TO PREACHERS AND TEACHERS This is a one-point sermon: Everybody is somebody. When you get to these words in the introduction, you can tell your listeners that from time to time you will pause and you want them to supply those words. Have them say the words out loud together a few times. Then continue with the lesson, pausing each time you come to the words Everybody is somebody, allowing the listeners to supply the words. If desired, you can print the words on a strip of paper and hold them up at the appropriate times. Audience participation can sometimes be a plus. What Think Ye of Christ? For centuries, there lay in a shallow brook in North Carolina a big lump of something. People passing that way saw only an ugly lump and passed on. One day, a poor man saw a heavy lump, and he took it home to hold his door open. One day, a geologist who stopped at the poor man s door saw a lump of gold, the biggest lump of gold ever found east of the Rockies. Many people look upon the Lord Jesus. Some see only a Galilean peasant, and turn away. Others see a Prophet, and stop to listen. Others see in Him the Son of God, and stop to worship! What do you see as you look upon the Lord Jesus? What think ye of Christ? Whose Son is He? Your eternal destiny hinges upon your answer to these all-important questions. 1001 Stories for Children Walter B. Knight 6