Transcript

A crowded flight was once canceled. A single agent was re-booking a long line of inconvenienced travelers. Suddenly a passenger pushed his way to the desk, cut in front of others, and went to the front of the line.

He angrily and impatiently told the agent, “I need to be rebooked on another flight right now, and it has to be first class.”

The agent replied, “I’m sorry sir. I’ll be happy to help you, but I need to help these other folks first. I’m sure we’ll be able to work something out, if you’ll please be patient.

The passenger was unimpressed at being put off. So he asked loudly so that all behind him could hear, “Do you have any idea who I am?”

Without hesitating, the gate agent smiled, grabbed her public address microphone, and said, “May I have your attention, please? We have a passenger here who does not know who he is. If anyone can help him to identify himself, please come to gate 17.”

Jesus Christ knew exactly Who He was. As we continue with our series on “Who is Jesus?” we will see in this episode through Christ’s interaction with the woman at the well that He is “the Christ, the Saviour of the world.”

John 4:1-6: “When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,) He left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee.

“And he must needs go through Samaria. 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.

“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.”

The rise of Christ’s ministry in prominence and influence had reached the ears of the Pharisees. Christ was now making and baptizing more disciples than John the Baptist.

And John the Baptist’s words were being fulfilled, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

Since Christ was working on God’s time schedule and the “hour” for the Cross was yet to come, when He knew that the Pharisees had heard of His making and baptizing more disciples than John, the Lord sought to keep the hostility of the Jewish leaders in Judea from escalating. So He, with His disciples, “left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee.”

At the time of Christ, the land of Israel was divided into three provinces, Judea, Samaria, and Galilee (Acts 9:31). Galilee was the northern district; Samaria was in the middle, and Judea was in the south.

Thus, the Lord departed from the southern district of Judea in Israel to go to the district of Galilee in the north.

As He did so, verse 4 states that “He must needs go through Samaria.” He NEEDED to go through Samaria because it was the Father’s will and Christ always did the Father’s will, and there were people there who NEEDED to hear Christ and be shown His love.

Many Jews at that time would not travel “THROUGH Samaria” because contact with the Samaritans was considered defiling.

So they would purposely avoid the middle district of Israel when traveling to and from Galilee and Judea, taking a longer route around Samaria on the east side of the Jordan.

But here, in His infinite love and out of a love that had no boundaries, Christ went straight into and through Samaria.

Christ then came to a city in Samaria called “Sychar,” which is Shechem in the Old Testament. Sychar was located just east of Mount Gerizim. Verse 5 adds that the city was near the plot of land Jacob had bought and bequeathed to his son Joseph on his deathbed. Joseph was also buried in this locale.

Verse 6 tells us that a well called “Jacob’s well” was in Sychar. Jacob’s well is not mentioned anywhere in the Old Testament. It was called Jacob’s Well because, as verse 12 says, through oral tradition, it was handed down that he dug it.

As Christ came to Sychar we read, “Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.”

Christ is both God and man. He is the Word “made flesh,” and the fact that He was wearied from traveling all day and tired from His long walk from Judea to Samaria is an example of His humanity. Thus, Christ sat on Jacob’s Well to rest physically.

Unlike the other Gospel writers, John used Roman time, rather than Jewish time. So when John wrote, “and it was about the sixth hour,” this means that it was 6:00 p.m.

John 4:7-15: “There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)

“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.

“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.

“The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?

“Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.”

As Christ sat on the well, “There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water.” It was customary then for women to draw water and to do it in the evening (Gen. 24:11).

The women usually came to the well in groups, but this woman came alone, indicating she was perhaps isolated from other women in Sychar due to her lifestyle, as we will see.

According to verse 11, the Lord had nothing to draw the water with, and His disciples who did, had gone into the city of Sychar to buy food. The Lord was weary from His travels, AND He was thirsty. Thus, He said to the woman, “Give me to drink.”

The woman was amazed at the request because of the usual animosity between the Jews and Samaritans, and she said, “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.”

This enmity between Jews and the Samaritans dated back to the captivity of the Northern Kingdom in 722 B.C. (2 Kings 17:24).

At that time, the Assyrians repopulated Samaria with people from other countries, and these people then intermarried with the Jews that remained in that area. Due to their ancestors intermarrying with Gentiles, the Samaritans were racially mixed Jews.

Then on top of this, around 400 B.C., the Samaritans built a temple on Mount Gerizim, believing that God appointed it as the place for sacrifice and not Jerusalem.

They also recognized only the first five books of the Bible (the Pentateuch) as Scripture, and they claimed to be the true recipients of the Abrahamic promises.

Due to them not being a pure race as well as being heretical in their beliefs, the Samaritans were despised by the Jews, and they typically had “no dealings” or did not associate with them. But the feeling also went both ways.

Because of this history, the Samaritan woman was surprised that He, being a Jew spoke to her and not only that, had asked something of her.

The Lord “answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink.”

This meant that if she knew the blessing and privileged opportunity God was giving her at that moment and that if she thought that Him, a Jewish man, asking her, a Samaritan woman, for water was surprising, her shock would have been infinitely greater if she knew Who it was that asked her for it.

By these words, Christ was referring to the fact of His identity that He is the Messiah, and the gift God was giving her to speak with the Son of God.

The Lord then said that if she knew Who He was that asked her for water, “thou wouldest have asked of Him, and He would have given thee living water.”

Christ took the conversation to a higher plane. The emphasis was taken from Christ’s request for physical water to her need for spiritual, living water.

At first, Christ was the thirsty One, and she was the one with water. Now Christ spoke to her as the thirsty one and He the one with water.

As it’s been said, “Living water springs from an unfailing source and is ever flowing.” Living water refers to spring or fresh water, but Christ used it as a metaphor for eternal life that He would give to this woman if she believed in Him.

The woman was not thinking on a spiritual plane like the Lord, however, and she thought first in terms of physical realities, not spiritual truths. The woman heard His words but missed His meaning.

She thought only of literal, fresh spring water such as the well supplied and wondered how He was going to get this water since He did not have anything to draw water with, and the well was deep.

And if His living water was not from Jacob’s Well, where did it come from? The woman was perplexed and mystified about Christ’s source of living water.

Then in reference to Christ’s words about Who it was that was speaking to her, she asked Him, “Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?”

In other words, are you able to give something better than the water and this well which Jacob had given, which supplied water for the Samaritans at that time and all the way back to the time of Jacob?

The answer to her question was, yes, Christ is definitely and infinitely greater than Jacob. Jacob “gave” the well, but Christ gives something greater.

Jacob provided physical water that only relieved thirst temporarily, but Christ gives a provision that will last forever: everlasting life.

The Lord answered her, “Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”

Christ told her that those who drank the water from Jacob’s well would thirst again, but the one who drank the water that Christ gave would never thirst again.

Drinking the living water is synonymous with believing in Christ and Who He is under the terms of the gospel of the kingdom. The water that Christ gives permanently satisfies spiritual thirst.

For those who do not receive the living water Christ gives, or who do not believe in Him, they will experience literal, everlasting thirst in hell forever.

They will face the same torture as the rich man in hades who cried out to Abraham asking for mercy and for him to send Lazarus, “that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame” (Luke 16:24).

However, when we take one drink from the water Christ provides, and we believe in Him, Christ gives us “a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” Believers will never thirst in eternity, but only have everlasting life, satisfaction, and blessing in Christ.

This living water is found “in” the soul of one who believes in Him. As Christ said, “the water that I shall give him shall be IN HIM.” Everlasting life is found within us.

It is inseparable from our person. This new life resides in our souls forever. And Christ is the Giver of this life.

The woman was still thinking on a physical level. But she liked the sound of this water. She told the Lord, “Sir, give me this water.” She wanted this water that quenched her thirst forever, mainly for the sake of convenience so she wouldn’t have to lug her water pot around and make the monotonous trip to the well every day.

The Lord, in His love for her, did want to give her this living water, which led to His next statement.

John 4:16-26: “Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.

“The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.

“Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

“God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.”

So that the woman might be aware of her spiritual need for living water, Christ then asked her to do something else for Him now: Go, call your husband, and bring him back with you.

She abruptly answered, “I have no husband,” which was the shortest statement she made in the entire conversation. The woman’s reply both revealed and concealed truth. She gave a truth but not the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

Christ knew, supernaturally, that there was much more to the story of the woman’s marriage history.

And demonstrating His omniscience, or that He is all-knowing as God in the flesh, her deeds are then exposed by the Light, and Christ showed His knowledge of her and her life.

“Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.”

The Lord commended the woman for telling the truth about her present marital status twice, and He also unmasked her past. She had had five husbands. We do not know how her previous marriages had ended, by death or divorce. It might have been both. And now she was living with a man outside of marriage.

The woman was shocked into reverence, and she recognized that Christ was no ordinary man, telling Him, “Sir, I perceive that Thou art a prophet.”

Thus, knowing she was in the presence of a prophet, the woman wondered if He could solve an ancient dispute between the Jews and the Samaritans on the proper place of worship.

She told Him, “Our fathers worshipped in this mountain” or Mount Gerizim, which was visible from Jacob’s well. She continued, “and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.”

Christ’s answer, “Woman, believe Me, the hour cometh,” points forward in time to the kingdom and the conditions under the new covenant. He predicted a time when worship would not be limited by location, when the Spirit of God would indwell believers.

The Samaritans had departed so far from God’s Word and true worship, that He told her “Ye worship ye know not what.” They were in the dark and in doctrinal error.

They were not obeying the true God or offering the worship He commanded or approved.

As for the Jews, said Christ, “we know what we worship.” The Jews knew the God they were to worship and what to do, as they did so in accordance with His Word, worshiping and offering sacrifices in a manner and place appointed by God: Jerusalem.

And “salvation is of the Jews” the Lord said, as salvation came first to them and salvation was through them to the world.

Under God’s prophetic program with Israel, the Jews were God’s chosen people to be His channel of blessing and light to the world to draw the nations to Him.

All people at that time (as well as in the future Tribulation and the Kingdom) had to come through the Jews to find and receive God’s salvation.

The Jews had the true worship of God under the law, with its service, sacrifices, ordinances, and promises. People from the nations had to become a proselyte of the Jews’ religion to be saved.

However, after Israel fell in her unbelief and were temporarily set aside, salvation is not of the Jews today; rather, it is of the Gentiles.

If a Jew or Gentile wants to be saved under grace, he must learn how from God’s apostle of the Gentiles, Paul. Today, salvation is offered to the world and all men individually apart from Israel, “without the deeds of the law” (Rom. 3:28).

Salvation in the dispensation of grace is “unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference” (Rom. 3:22).

The Lord said in verse 23, “But the hour cometh, and now is,” because the kingdom was “at hand” at that time. But after Israel fell in her unbelief, the kingdom was temporarily suspended until after the dispensation of grace.

In the future kingdom, Christ said, true worshipers would worship the Father “in spirit and in truth,” or through the indwelling Spirit in obedience to God’s truth, offering acceptable worship to Him.

The Lord told her that God is a Spirit. God the Father is a spiritual, invisible, living Person. As a Spirit, God desires spiritual worship, and not for it to be bound up only in conformity to physical, religious formalities and ceremonies.

The worship of God the Father, Who is a Spirit, is to be an action of one’s “spirit” and heart by faith through the Holy Spirit. And all true worship of God also must be in keeping with “truth,” the truth of God’s Son and the truth of God’s revealed Word.

While the woman was confused and had questions about many spiritual truths, she responded that she did “know” that the Messiah was coming, and when He did come, He would resolve her confusion and “tell us all things,” teaching divine truth and giving clarity to all her questions.

Christ then disclosed the truth of Who He truly is, plainly identifying Himself as the promised Messiah, the One for Whom this woman looked and hoped.

He said, “I that speak unto thee am He.” So “Who is Jesus?” He is the Christ, the Messiah of Israel, the Deliverer, Israel’s promised Prophet, Priest, and King, who one day will establish His kingdom on the earth.

As it’s been said, “Jesus didn’t reveal [this] to King Herod. He didn’t request an audience of the Sanhedrin and tell them the news. It wasn’t within the colonnades of a Roman court that He announced His identity. No, it was in the shade of a well in a rejected land to an ostracized woman. ‘I am the Messiah.’”

John 4:27-30,39-42: “And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her? The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?

“Then they went out of the city, and came unto him…And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did. So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days. And many more believed because of his own word.”

“And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.”

At this time, the disciples returned from the city where they were buying food and were shocked to see Him talking with this woman of Samaria, but they did not question His authority or right to do so.

After hearing the Lord tell her that He is the Messiah, the woman was so excited she left her waterpot and raced into the city to tell others about meeting the Messiah.

Leaving the waterpot could suggest a few things. First, it could suggest that she was coming back because there was more that she wanted to learn from Christ, and there were people she wanted to bring back to Him.

Second, it could mean that, in her kindness, she was leaving it for Christ, Who had asked her for a drink and had nothing to draw water with.

Third, the waterpot could be a symbol of Christ’s words that “Whoseover drinketh of this water shall thirst again,” but now that she had drunk from the living water and believed in Christ, that left-behind waterpot is a picture of how she now had within her, “a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”

The woman went and told the people of the city, “Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ? [or Messiah].”

She wanted others to come see for themselves. And that’s what we want people to do with the question, “Who is Jesus?” Come see for yourself from God’s Word. It tells you plainly.

In these verses, we find a revival at the city of Sychar. Verse 39 tells us that many Samaritans from the city believed in Christ through the testimony of the woman about His complete knowledge of her and her background.

Many of the people from the city also went out to Christ to meet Him. They begged Him to stay longer among them. The Lord agreed and stayed for “two days.” During this time, “many more believed” as they heard Christ’s words and teachings.

Those who believed told the woman that she was right. After their personal experience with Christ, hearing Him for themselves, now they believed like her “that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.”

This testimony is significant when you consider who said it: He is the Savior of the world, the Savior of even them, the despised, hated outcasts, the Samaritans.

His light shines for all the world and He saves any who believe. As John 1:9 says, Christ, the Savior, is “the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.”