John 4:4–26
4 He had to travel through Samaria; 5 so he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar near the property that Jacob had given his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, worn out from his journey, sat down at the well. It was about noon. 7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. “Give me a drink,” Jesus said to her, 8 because his disciples had gone into town to buy food.
9 “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” she asked him. For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.
10 Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God, and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would ask him, and he would give you living water.”
11 “Sir,” said the woman, “you don’t even have a bucket, and the well is deep. So where do you get this ‘living water’? 12 You aren’t greater than our father Jacob, are you? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and livestock.”
13 Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks from this water will get thirsty again. 14 But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again. In fact, the water I will give him will become a well, of water springing up in him for eternal life.”
15 “Sir,” the woman said to him, “give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and come here to draw water.” 16 “Go call your husband,” he told her, “and come back here.”
17 “I don’t have a husband,” she answered. “You have correctly said, ‘I don’t have a husband,’ ” Jesus said. 18 “For you’ve had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” 19 “Sir,” the woman replied, “I see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.”
21 Jesus told her, “Believe me, woman, an hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know. We worship what we do know, because salvation is from the Jews. 23 But an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and in truth. Yes, the Father wants such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and in truth.”
25 The woman said to him, “I know that the Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” 26 Jesus told her, “I, the one speaking to you, am he.”
What are you looking for?
Powerful question
What are you looking for…
- in this relationship?
- In this job opportunity?
- In life?
We’re all looking for something
This story illustrates how Jesus gets to the core of this question with this seemingly random encounter.
- Not random at all
Jesus points out something that we are ALL looking for…
We’re all looking for “COVER”
- To hide
- to protect
- to conceal
Can become a “part of you”
- Nickname
- A story you can’t live down
Jesus and the woman at the well
- A woman who was trying to “live down” her reputation
- Out in the heat
Shame is a “cover”
- Pride is a “cover”
- Accomplishments are a “cover”
She was stuck in the…
Shame cycle
1 – Sin
Convinced the trade is worth it
2 – Shame
Have to live down what you’ve done
Our culture has tried to face shame head-on
- “Only God can judge me”
- “You can’t make me feel shame”
We can’t handle shame on our own
From the Garden
Only Jesus is the answer to our shame
3 – Isolation
Sin separates
- From God
- From others
Others separate from you
- Friends leave
You separate from others
- “I can’t stand the way they look at me.”
How does Jesus handle this woman’s shame and provide the “COVER” she is looking for?
First:
Jesus meets us where we are, but never leaves us there
She was shocked that Jesus was speaking to her
- Jew vs Samaritan
- Man vs Women
All the things that GOD IN THE FLESH had to do
- Still met this one woman in the heat of the day
Her community had said:
- “You’re not worth our time”
- You’re not worth our intervention”
To Jesus, SHE WAS WORTH IT
Jesus is not there to “CODLE” or just make us “FEEL GOOD”
- Jesus has come to set us FREE from our SIN
Romans 8:1-2
1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, 2 because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.
By meeting her where she was—both physically in the heat of the day and emotionally with His compassionate truth—Jesus uncovers years of shame and places His cover of SAVING GRACE over her life.
But it does not stop there…
John 4
39 Now many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of what the woman said when she testified, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41 Many more believed because of what he said. 42 And they told the woman, “We no longer believe because of what you said, since we have heard for ourselves and know that this really is the Savior of the world.”
Jesus takes our shame and makes it part of HIS GLORY
As a cover – Shame will CRUSH YOU
- Can’t overcome it on your own
This woman went from SOCIAL OUTCAST to EVANGELIST from just ONE encounter with Jesus
- Many follow Jesus because of her testimony
There is FREEDOM found when Jesus becomes your cover!
- This is what salvation is all about!
We come to Jesus to REMOVE the cover of shame and take on His covering of LIFE
Hebrews 12:1-2
Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, 2 keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
On the cross, Jesus was left “UNCOVERED” so that we never have to be
- Jesus “despised” or “disdained” the shame of the cross in the sense that he willingly accepted the ignominy of his public crucifixion and did not let either its suffering or its shame deter him from his goal.