Our Impartial God

If you have Bibles this morning, I want you to find John 4:1.  I want to share a message with you entitled, “Our Impartial God.”

 

Today, we make a transition.  We are transitioning from John 3 to John 4.  However, we are also transitioning from the old of John the Baptist to the new of Jesus the Christ. 

 

Today’s text has so much truth and application.  However, time will not permit me to cover it all.  Therefore, please join me on Wednesday, March 9, at 6:30 PM for us to dig deeper during our Wednesday Worship.  We will talk about the nature of Christ, personal evangelism, and the worship that God desires. 

 

 

Exposition

In verses 1-3, John tells us that the Lord Jesus became aware of the Pharisees’ knowledge of His growing popularity.  As a result, Jesus left Jerusalem and Judea.  He didn’t want to involve Himself with any more conflict at this time.

 

By the way, notice verse 2.  John tells us that even though Jesus’ disciples baptized for Him, Jesus didn’t baptize anyone personally.  I don’t know why for certain.  However, what this tells me is that baptism can’t save.  Otherwise, what kind of Savior would Jesus be if He didn’t practice the act that saves? 

 

In verse 4, we see that Jesus needed to go through Samaria to get to Galilee.  The interesting point about this statement is that no respectable Jew took this route.  Almost all, if not all, Jews went around Samaria to avoid it.  The hatred that Jews had for Samaritans then perhaps could be compared to the hatred that some Americans have had for blacks through the years and even today. 

 

However, Jesus needed to go through Samaria.  Why?  He knew of a divine appointment waiting for Him.

 

Verse 5 says that He came a well in Sychar.  It was known as Jacob’s well that he had given to his son, Joseph, as referenced back in Genesis 48:21-22.

 

21 Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am dying, but God will be with you and bring you back to the land of your fathers. 22 Moreover I have given to you one portion above your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorite with my sword and my bow.”

 

In verse 6, we see that Jesus took a break there and sat down at the well.  He is a great example of Jesus’ humanity as John tells us that Jesus was tired from the trip. 

 

Perhaps one of the reasons for Jesus’ fatigue is what John tells us next.  It was about the sixth hour.  That meant the sixth hour from sun up or 6 AM.  In other words, it was high noon.  The sun was surely straight overhead and shining brightly. 

 

In verse 7, we meet a Samaritan woman.  She came to well to draw water.  Ironically, she was alone, and that seems to be because no one wanted to be around her.

 

Other women would have come first thing in the morning to beat the heat.  They also would have come in a group for protection. 

 

However, she is alone, and Jesus asked her for a drink because Jesus was also alone.  His disciples had gone into town to get some food for lunch.

 

Her response was one of disbelief and sarcasm.  In her experience, Jews only talked to Samaritans when they wanted something in return.  Furthermore, for a male to being speaking to a female in public who was not his wife was unheard of. 

 

In verse 10, Jesus begins a veiled and cryptic gospel conversation as He introduced living water.  The woman didn’t understand and asked Him to explain further. 

 

In verses 13-14, Jesus said that living water would quench thirst immediately and satisfy her eternally.  Of course, He was speaking of her spiritual thirst.  In verse 15, she asked Jesus for this water.

 

In verses 16-18, you might think that Jesus changed the subject.  In reality, He did not because her belief and our belief drive our behavior. 

 

Because this woman had never drunk living water and been satisfied by the one true and living God, she sought satisfaction in men.  Jesus told her to go and get her husband. 

 

She responded that she didn’t have a husband, and she was right.  She had been in at least five relationships and was now in a sixth, but she wasn’t married to the man she was living with. 

 

By the way, the act of divorce and the act of fornication immoral.  They were both immoral and sin here in John 4, and they are still immoral and sin today.  God’s plan for couples is one man married to one woman for one lifetime. 

 

Because Jesus knew the intimate details of this woman’s life, she realized He was different.  In fact, she began to understand that He was a man of God so she began to talk about worship.

 

However, her worship was misplaced in its object and practice.    Jesus told her that a time was coming when worshippers of the true and living God would recognize the true object and worship, and that worship cannot be confined to particular location. 

 

In verse 22, because Jesus was a Jew, salvation came from the Jews and would be realized by more and more after His resurrection and with the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. 

 

In verse 25, this Samaritan woman acknowledged at least some understanding of her need and promise of a coming Messiah.  Undoubtedly, Jesus blew her mind by revealing that He was the Christ!

 

 

Conclusion

As I said previously, this story touches so many topics and has so much truth and application related to the nature of Jesus and personal evangelism and worship.  However, what is its one main point?

 

Jesus, God’s Son, and therefore, God, is completely impartial.  In other words, He is never prejudice and never plays favorites. 

 

How do we know?  We have to remember John 3 as we think about John 4.

 

 

Nicodemus

Samaritan Woman

Place

Jerusalem

Sychar

Time

Night

Noon

Occasion

Planned

By Chance

Initiator

Nicodemus

Jesus

Ethnicity

Jew

Samaritan

Gender

Male

Female

Public Perception

Religious Teacher

Immoral Outcast

 

The point is that Jesus is the Savior of the world because God is impartial.  He offers to save whomever will believe in His Son.

 

Deuteronomy 10:17

 

2 Chronicles 19:7

 

Acts 10:34

 

Romans 2:11

 

Romans 10:12

 

Galatians 2:6

 

Galatians 3:28

 

Ephesians 6:9

 

 

Application

So if Jesus is Savior of the world, and saving the world and ministering to the world is the heartbeat of God, then we had better love and welcome anyone that God brings through those doors and into Rains County.  And if we won’t, if you won’t, you might want to find another church.