24th October, 2010
Written By Rev Law Hui Seng
Posted By Teresa Han
John 4:1-26
Main Idea: Only Jesus gives living water
Objectives: a. To teach the congregation to desire the living water as the Samaritan woman. b. To teach that the way to desire the living water is through worshipping Jesus in Spirit and truth.
A. Introduction
- Human beings are created by God with the potential to desire anything. God, the creator, gives us freewill to desire and do anything. God does not create us to be like a robot.
- What do you desire in life (in next 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 years on earth)? Your desires in life will affect your life pursuit? It will decide how you spend your life, money, energy and time. If you desire something that is not godly (like pornography, hypocrite, greed), you will become one. You will do the things according to the pornography; you will be one kind in church and totally another different person out there; as desire greed, you will cheat all the way, you will overwork, etc.
- You need to set the boundary of your desires. As disciples of Jesus, you need to make sure you desire the right and godly thing.
- Today, I preach to you that you need to desire the living water given by Jesus. Do you desire the living water?
B. What is the Living Water of Jesus?
- Let us see the context of this living water given by Jesus. Jesus approached the Samaritan woman for water. The woman knew Jesus was a Jew and it was ceremonially unclean for a Jew to use a drinking vessel handled by a Samaritan (verse 9 ).
- Jesus ignored the unclean law and reached out the Samaritan woman by engaging her in a great conversation on living water. He offered her living water and challenged her to know him (verse 10).
- From the response of Samaritan woman, you know she did not understand Jesus’ meaning of living water. She thought it was still very much the physical water from the well (verse 11).
- Then, Jesus made himself very clear in verses 13 and 14, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The living water here is interpreted as the Holy Spirit as in chapter 7:38, 39.
- In verse 15, from the response of the Samaritan woman, we see she still misunderstood Jesus’ living water but this time, it created in her a desire to go for it. She requested Jesus for the living water.
- Jesus, being God also, of course knew why this woman needed the living water very much. In verses 16, 17 and 18, Jesus called for her husband to come and she confessed she had no husband and Jesus pointed her immorality.
- The woman discovered the great prophetic power of Jesus and regarded her as a prophet and she did not want to engage Jesus in a morality or immorality talk. Instead, she started to get religious and engaged Jesus in the venue of a religious worship.
- Could this be our tendency also? When we have sinned against God, when others pointed our sins, we do not to admit it and we switch to other spiritual topics. We pretend to be spiritual. We use something spiritual to cover our sin!
- But, Jesus made good the most ungoldly switch in verses 21 to 24. He took the golden opportunity (crucial moment, the kairos moment) to lead her to salvation in God the Father. Directing her on how to come to salvation in God the Father. The way is by worshipping the Father in spirit and truth for God is spirit in verses 23 and 24. And this is the kind of worshipper whom God is seeking for.
- To this, the Samaritan woman suddenly came to realize who was Jesus actually! She knew Jesus as the Messiah whom the Jews had been waiting for.
- As I reflected upon this great passage on the word of God, I asked myself why Jesus tried to link the immorality of the Samaritan woman to worship?
- I believe the answer has to be this: Jesus really saw the sinfulness (immorality of having 5 husbands) that deserved God’s intervention. Unless this woman came to God, otherwise, her soul would be lost for eternity in hell. She needed to come to terms with God by worshipping him in spirit and truth. Jesus really wanted to direct her desire for living water to desire to worship God.
- Brothers and sisters, do you see the same as Jesus? When you see the sinfulness of ourselves and society, do you feel the need of these people for salvation in Jesus? Do you see your own need for Jesus’ forgiveness of your sins?
C. Applications
- My first point of application now is the immorality that caused the Samaritan woman to desire the living water. Because of her immorality, she started to feel the need for God to forgive her sin. Eventually, in the later passages, you find that she must have really repented as she ashamedly announced the arrival of Messiah. In fact, in verse 39, we are told that many Samaritans believed Jesus because of her. Brothers and sisters, does your sinfulness get to desire God’s forgiveness like this woman? Church nowadays need this very much. We are not at all powerful disciples of Jesus because we are bonded by your sinfulness.
- Secondly, will you desire the living water like the Samaritan woman? I believe, in the face of Jesus, she felt she was completely morally bankrupt; she needed God’s forgiveness very much. Do you have that kind of desire?
- Thirdly, the way to desire the living water is through worshipping Jesus in spirit and truth. You have to come before God with your inner your spirit with all honesty.
D. Conclusion
- The water can become living because Jesus is living God. Desire Jesus the living water more than anything in life.
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