We’re still at the well with Jesus and the Samaritan woman. In tonight’s passage, we get a dramatic picture of conversion and witnessing. Jesus has offered this woman the Living Water, which is salvation. She is still trying to decipher it all in her mind. She has dealt with the matter of her sin, and last week the matter of worship.
Tonight, the Messiah is discovered and she excitedly shares her discovery.
Let’s begin in verse 25. READ. In this verse we see that this woman has a sense, a feeling that Jesus just might be the Messiah. Her heart was burning within her. There was an intense flaming sense of God’s presence.
Think back to the day when you were on the verge of accepting Jesus. Do you remember how you felt? When you knew you were getting close to making a move for Christ, didn’t your heart burn within you? Didn’t you feel God’s presence getting closer and closer? Would anyone like to share?
Well now you have a sense of what she was feeling at this moment. Her sins had been laid out in front of her, she denounced her sin, she has gotten a sense, from Jesus, that she doesn’t have to be in any particular place to worship God, and now she is at the point of admitting that Jesus is Lord. Does this remind you of anything?
The subject of her sin and worship was causing her heart to reach out for God. She was sensing something very, very special about Jesus. No man could speak as He had spoken unless He had a very special relationship with God. Perhaps she says to herself, “Maybe He is the Messiah Himself.”
Notice in verse 25. Who brought up the subject of the Messiah? She did. And in bringing the subject of the Messiah up, she reveals that she believed two things. Can you see what two things she believed in verse 25? She believed that the Messiah was coming. In fact, from the original manuscript of the Bible, the Greek word she used means “coming soon.” His coming was at hand and imminent. Her belief was based upon the Samaritan’s Bible. You might remember that we have already discussed that the Samaritans only accepted the Pentateuch, the first 5 books of the Bible. She bases her belief that the Messiah was coming soon on verse like Gen. 3:15; 49:10; Num. 24:17; Deut. 18:15. (Have someone read these).
What was the second thing this woman believed about the Messiah in verse 25? “He will explain everything to us.” He would be the Supreme Authority.
And the point is this: the woman didn’t deny the Messiah; she believed in the coming and authority of the Messiah. Her belief was not a saving belief, not a belief of commitment. What do I mean by that? She only had a mental or intellectual belief, a belief of knowledge. But the fact that she believed in the Messiah made her open to personal belief.
She didn’t reject the witness of Jesus. She wasn’t rude. She listened to Him. So God was able to give her a sense of His presence.
And there’s something we need to note from this. The person who constantly rejects Jesus Christ or claims to be agnostic or atheistic is seldom reached for Christ.
But listen to this. A person who listens to the Scripture and believes intellectually, mentally accepting the facts of God’s promises, stands a much better chance of being reached by God. If there is open mental or intellectual belief then that belief is exposed to God’s Word. So that type of belief is more likely to become a saving belief or a belief of commitment.
But a warning is in order here. A person with only a metal belief can hear and reject so much that he becomes gospel-hardened, that is, so hardened against the gospel that he never trusts Jesus Christ as his Savior.
READ v. 26. And here we have Jesus’ great claim that He is the Messiah. Actually in this verse Jesus makes three claims. 1. He claimed to be the Messiah. “Messiah” is the Hebrew word and “Christ” is the Greek word and they mean the same thing.
This Messiah was thought to be the leader from David’s line who would free the Jewish state and establish it as an independent nation, leading it to be the greatest nation the world has ever known. Militarily, the Messiah was to be a great military leader who would lead Jewish armies victoriously over all the world. Religiously, the Messiah was to be a supernatural figure straight from God who would bring righteousness over all the earth. And personally, the Messiah was to be the One who would bring peace to the whole world. But the names “Messiah” and “Christ” both mean “the anointed One.”
2. He claimed to be the great “I Am,” which is the basic name of God. 3. He also claimed to be the Supreme One, the Supreme Authority who would tell this woman all things. He claimed:
• That what He told her about her sin was true.
• That she must take care of her sin.
• That the only way to take care of her sin was to worship God in spirit and truth.
READ v. 27. And here we see the spirit of prejudice that is a spirit contrary to the Messiah, the spirit of evil thought and pride. Is there a spirit of prejudice in SEBC? So then are we saying that those who are prejudice have an evil spirit in them, and that they’re full of pride and literally go against Jesus’ instructions?
Just as Jesus made these claims to this woman, His disciples arrived. They were surprised that 1. He was talking to a woman, 2. A Samaritan woman. 2 reasons.
The Rabbis of that day would not be alone or talk with women in public. They feared what people might think and say. Secondly, she was a Samaritan. Again, a person they considered to be despicable, below their social standing, unfit to be seen with in public.
Note how Jesus tore down the barriers of both problems and how the disciples controlled their tongue from questioning and gossiping. And for those who still have the hard headed attitude that a woman should be seen and not heard in church, I remind them and you if it applies of what my T-shirt said last Sunday.
Galatians 3: 28 – “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, MALE NOR FEMALE, for ALL ARE ONE IN CHRIST JESUS.” So to all those who say a woman shouldn’t speak in the church, that a woman shouldn’t take up the offering, that a woman shouldn’t hold any position of authority in the church, SHAME ON YOU, GOD’S WORD SAYS WE ARE ALL ONE IN CHRIST.
READ vv. 28-29. And here we see witnessing exemplified. She proclaims that Jesus was the Messiah. She left her water jar which was why she came there in the first place. So she was excited. The Messiah had confronted her; she had actually met Him, and He had met the need of her heart and life. She had to tell everyone about Him.
Note the strength of her witness. She was an outcast from society. She had no friends because of the immoral life she had lived. But meeting the Messiah changed all that. He dealt with her sin and shame. She could now face everyone because they, too, should have the opportunity to meet the Messiah. And that’s a great lesson on witnessing for us.
READ v. 30. And now we see the response. Note two last things and we’ll close.
1. The woman was of no social importance, not to the men of the city. In fact, she had often been misused, and she was often the very subject of gossip and jokes. But now something had happened to her. She had met the Messiah. The event had so changed her appearance, behavior, and attitude that people listened eagerly to what she said.
2. The people responded—at least a good number of them did. The idea of the words “made their way toward him” is that of a long streaming procession. The literal reading in Greek means the people kept on “making their way toward him.” And it was the Samaritan woman’s dynamic witness, the striking change seen in her life that caused the enormous response. Because of her witness, many set out to find the Messiah for themselves.
And all this reflects upon what I said in last Sunday morning’s message about rejoicing. If we go around and our attitude, countenance, facial expressions, and speech are not distinguishable from the non-Christians, what kind of a witness is that?
This is why we should be full of joy and let it show so that others will see Jesus in us and have a desire to come to know Him as well.
