[0:00] turning to this passage in isaiah chapter 6 verse 9 the earlier passage we read from the old testament the prophet was being commissioned and the voice of the lord was heard as he spoke to isaiah go and tell this people go and tell this people be ever hearing but never understanding be ever seeing but never perceiving also we also read in jeremiah chapter 5 21 hear this you foolish and senseless people who have eyes but do not see who have ears but do not hear can the truth not be right in front of us and we don't recognize it can the one who said i am the way the truth and the life be right before our eyes and we don't see him or can we hear his words through scripture and not understand it in this passage in john we have the account the account of someone who would see with our eyes hear with our ears understand with our hearts and turn and be healed quoting from isaiah 6 10.
[1:43] so let's turn to this passage in john first i want to look at some of the the background here to this the main focus of the meeting of this woman at the well according to verse 3 jesus had left judaea and was returning north to galilee and it says in verse 4 he had to pass through samaria he had to pass through samaria but that was not a geographical necessity it was more a missional one because um certainly if you're traveling north towards galilee you would actually pass if you're going from judaea to galilee you would pass through samaria if you're going directly north but um because the two countries of judaea and samaria lie north and south to one another as they're both on the west side of the river jordan the river jordan flows from galilee down to the dead sea and the south as a point of interest the dead sea is uh um doesn't flow anywhere um and it's actually the level of the water in the dead sea is um lower than sea level and in the oceans so there's actually a loch as such that's only by the way samaria would normally be avoided by the jews they would normally not go north through samaria they would go east first and then travel north to the east side of the jordan and this was to avoid passing through samaria to avoid meeting up with samaritans to avoid being ceremonially unclean by being contaminated by the samaritans or so they thought and jesus he didn't go east and then north he went straight north and he came to this town called sychar and that as we hear as we read in this passage is close to a plot of ground that jacob had brought bought for a hundred pieces of silver as we read in jencers 33 19 but here jacob is a piece of land that jacob had pitched his tent and built an altar to god it's this piece of land that jacob had been had jacob had given to his son joseph we'll read that in john in this passage here it's the same piece of land where joseph's bones were buried and we read that in joshua 24 32 so why i'm giving you all this detail because it shows that this place is a place that is full of history something that would have been known by the people of that land and something that would be known to some extent by the woman described in this account so jesus then came to this well named jacob's well and according to the commentary that i read this is the only reference to this well in scripture i haven't had that confirmed other than jacob's well and in the commentary so jesus sat down at about noon time it was the middle of the day in the heat of the sun he sat down at noon time and he was tired from his journey it says in the passage and he was confronted by this samaritan woman and jesus asked her for a drink a drink of water
[5:43] and the in and the ensuing discourse with the woman jesus turned to the discussion to the living water that he would offer he asked for a drink of ordinary water but he offered living water to this woman he could provide living water i mean the events in this passage are probably largely familiar to us but we want to focus on the words that she spoke to our own people she said verse 29 come see a man who told me everything i've ever done could this be the messiah come see a man who told me everything i've done i've ever done undoubtedly that was a an extreme exaggeration because in the short encounter they would have had had there was no time to describe everything that ever took place in the woman's lifetime what it does show however is the impact that this encounter with jesus had upon the woman it removed for example any facade of pretense that she would be would have been putting up perhaps to protect herself it would have broken down any um projected image that she would have been trying to portray removed while the outer layers of protection should have built around herself bearing in mind her history a bit like peeling the outer layers of a of an onion to get to the center of it removed removed removed her her or the outer layers of protection exposing her innermost secrets her soul her heart were laid bare before jesus jesus words were penetrating to the very soul they had hit our mark straight where it had this impact he told me everything i've ever done she said what had she done had she thought that her perhaps that her good deeds had out i had weighed her back bad deeds or otherwise but coming face to the coming face to face with the righteous one was like um if you had a if you were living for a long time and in a room and darkness only lit by a candle perhaps you were in shetland during the winter time there was never any strong light in the room and then suddenly you switched on a floodlight what you thought was a room that was clean suddenly seemed to be covered in dust and grime what you thought was in near pristine condition and candlelight was found to be worn and jaded looking is this not what it's like when you come face to face with the righteous one with christ as he penetrates our heart this woman had known a number of men and we don't know all of our circumstances our difficulties our weaknesses our limitations what we do know about this woman though for sure is her humanity for that for in this we share her humanity perhaps she lacked self-esteem
[9:46] maybe she had a sense of failure certainly if she had many relationships that would have undoubtedly been herself of a low self-esteem and a sense of failure perhaps possibly she had been ill-treated or even lacked good parental role models who knows she was a degree of conjecture maybe it was simply that she'd made bad choices in relationships we can all do that whether as teenagers at school or whether the people the company we keep she was someone desperately searching for love and a sense of belonging for us it's so easy for us to stand there in judgment are we in the queue lining up to throw that first stone if we are then step out of that queue she had met with jesus the holy one of israel in meeting jesus she would have been exposed to the pure righteousness that is in christ experience something of that exceptional beauty that emily i mean comes comes from jesus a righteousness a righteousness that our souls yearns for does our soul not yearn for that beauty for that righteousness that is christ's little wonder that she responded by heading off to tell others come see a man she was a changed woman her encounter with jesus changed her without a doubt and at one level she wasn't totally lacking discernment as we read in the passage we saw earlier that this part of the country had a very strong historical connection a connection with the redemptive history of god's people she knew that jews and samaritans didn't weren't exactly buddies didn't exactly see eye to eye worshipped um in a different way that one would worship in this mountain and one would worship in jerusalem the jews and the samaritans did not associate with one another importantly she knew and this is critical importantly she knew that the messiah was coming and that he would be the answer to our many questions was there not a mustard seed growing in her heart she could see that jesus was at least a prophet and he could most certainly be the messiah she could discern that jesus was no ornery man i mean she had known she was familiar with men she'd known many men but not one like this and not in this way she could see that she couldn't conceal the truth from jesus and in spite of the revelations about her life and what jesus has said to her she didn't go away with a heavy burden of guilt and a sense of condemnation rather she came away knowing the forgiveness that was to be found in jesus is this a forgiveness that we are found
[13:55] she came away knowing that jesus was the source of the living water have we tasted of that living water she came away knowing that salvation is from the jews for the gospel is given first as a power of god into salvation first to the jew but also to the gentiles and that true worshipers will worship not in this mountain or that mountain but true worshipers will worship the father in spirit and in truth do we worship god in spirit and in truth as she went back to tell her people what lightness of heart was hers there would have been a lightness in their step what joy was her experience and what sense of relief did she know a bit like pilgrim and pilgrim's progress when christian reached the place of deliverance when christian reached the cross and his burden fell off the woman at the well just abandoned her water jar was no longer important it seemed of little comport importance in comparison with the living water she had just received in john 5 56 john 8 56 jesus is recorded as having said your father abram rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day he saw it and was glad for this woman how much more rejoicing could there be than meeting with the savior face to face how we met with the savior face to face and then there was the we recall the lame beggar healed by peter healed in the name of jesus christ in acts 3 we read he went away walking and leaping and praising god would the woman at the well not have had the same overwhelming desire desire to praise god the woman at the well not have the same way to the man of the man of the man of the man but of course as we read in isaiah seeing but not perceiving whilst in galilee and after having told the parable of the sewer jesus was responding to his disciples question about speaking in parables and he quoted from this verse in chapter 6 of isaiah you will be ever hearing but never understanding you will be ever seeing but never perceiving but the woman at the well she saw jesus but she importantly she also perceived come see a man who told me everything i have ever done could this be the messiah many had seen jesus as we read in in the in the in scripture there was judas the betrayer he walked with jesus he was one of the 12 did he perceive there was original religious leaders the pharisees and the sadducees they were too busy thinking about laws and their important status and everything else then there were the political leaders herod and pilate well they're the ones that passed judgment on jesus they met him they knew him they seen him in the streets and there were those who are seeking signs and wonders do we seek a sign and a wonder before we can meet jesus or does jesus not come to us call upon us come to me all you labor and are heavy laden and i will give you rest for your souls i were the lame the blind the leper all came to jesus they all saw but they didn't perceive
[17:59] as it said in that passage in isaiah the people's heart had become calloused some believe that jesus was the messiah is that good enough in john chapter 6 we read after the people saw the sign jesus performed they began to say surely this is the prophet who has come into the world the problem was they wanted to make jesus king by force it was a different kind of messiah that they were looking for it was a political or a military or a military leader type of messiah that they were looking for a messiah that would lead the israelites out from under the yoke of the of the roman rule they saw jesus they met jesus they were looking for a messiah but no that was not enough but the woman who saw jesus and pursued perceived could this be the messiah was different her concerns were rather more immediate than these people who were looking for a messiah for political gain there is little likelihood that this woman had any political ambitions jesus came with a spiritual solution to a spiritual problem when the angel of the lord came to joseph in a dream he didn't say you are to give him the name jesus because he will impress people with his miracles or heal the sick or raise the dead yes he did all of these things no you will give him the name jesus because he will save his people from their sins come see a man but we have not seen my next head are not seeing yet perceiving after the resurrection jesus appeared to many many including thomas thomas who found it difficult to accept what the others were saying that jesus had risen but face to face with the risen lord he was able to say my lord and my god in response jesus told him because you have seen me you have believed blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed we are not living at the time of the apostles we have not seen him with our eyes or walked with him on the dusty roads of galilee we have not felt the holes in his hands or the hole in his side not that thomas necessarily actually felt the holes in his hands or the hole in his wound in his side yet we have met with jesus we met with jesus through his word through the holy spirit working in our lives we can say that we have encountered the living jesus the risen jesus we have experienced if we are in christ jesus we can say we have experienced something of what the woman at the well experienced face to face with jesus everything we have done is exposed that's uncomfortable is it not there can be no pretense or facade we can present to god because everything is we are undone our sin we ever see before us yet in him in christ there is forgiveness there is now no condemnation to those who are in christ jesus
[22:02] we have also experienced his love and his compassion whatever our complex history whatever our complex circumstances we are accepted not just as friends or associates but as family we are the family of god jesus calls us his sons and daughters and we are partakers of his inheritance taking the words of the hymn open our eyes lord open our eyes lord we want to see jesus to reach out and touch him and say that we love him open our ears lord and help us to listen open our eyes lord we want to see jesus come see a man but not only that see our god at the well we see revealed firstly jesus humanity in verse 6 it says jesus was tired from his journey and he sat down at the well this was the middle of the day in the heat of the day in the heat of the sun and they'd been traveling there was no air conditioned buses to take him from south to north jernian in those days was very hard he was tired from the journey in verse 7 he asks for a drink he was tired and thirsty and i dare say hungry also because the disciples are off into the town to buy food so we see his humanity in this in this uh this passage clearly we see his compassion and his love also but we also see his divinity he told me everything i ever did the woman declared our lord is our god is all-knowing and all-seeing we don't know the extent of in his humanity how much of his divinity would would uh would co-exist but we do know that he could say to this woman that everything she did was known to him he told me everything i ever did the woman declared yet they'd never met before for for her it would it would have been a chance encounter but for the lord it was uh an encounter commissioned if only you knew who you were asking you if you if you if only you knew who was asking you for a drink jesus says in verse 10 he is the one who was giving living water who can give living water but god alone our living water that springs up to eternal life and in response to the statement that the messiah called christ is coming the messiah jesus responded i the one speaking to you i am he christ the messiah so we have god's humanity we have god's divinity we have jesus humanity we have jesus divinity in john chapter 6 35 to 40 we have this summary almost of what was what jesus was saying to the woman at the well and what he says to us today verse 35 of john 6 i am the bread of life whoever comes to me will never go hungry and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty did he not offer such water to the woman and does he not offer such water to us living water that wells up within us to eternal life
[26:07] then in verse 37 of that passage all those the father gives me he will come all the all those the father gives me will come to me and whoever comes to me i will never never drive away this woman would have considered ourselves this woman would have considered herself unworthy do we consider ourselves unworthy to come to jesus and yet she was received by jesus all those the father gives me you will come to me if jesus is calling you come he will receive you and on verse 38 of that passage for i have come down from heaven not to do the my will but to do the will of him who sent me in other words the messiah the one sent and then verse 39 of john 6 and this is the will of him who sent me that i shall lose none of all those he has given me but to raise them up on the last day he'd offered the woman living water he was offering the woman eternal life jesus will raise us up at the last day we have the gift of eternal life as offered to the woman and verse 40 of that passage for my father's will is that everyone who looks to the son and believes in him shall have eternal life and i will raise them up at the last day everyone who looks to the sun this woman looked to the sun met the sun understood the sun perceived what he was saying not just heard our ears were opened come see a man shall we say as thomas did in response to the risen christ my lord and my god and very briefly in conclusion i would ask the question not just have you seen this man but do you know him for yourself have you tasted of the living water and experienced that forgiveness and cleansing from sin like the woman at the well is your joy complete in him if so will you be like the woman of samaria zealous to share the good news of the gospel with others blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed and we read in revelation 22 and i conclude with this the throne of god and of the lamb will be in the city and the servants will serve him they will see his face and his name will be on their foreheads come see a man our lord under god amen may lord add his blessing to these few thoughts on his holy word so we'll now uh turn to god and praise and singing psalm 103 verses 8 to 10 psalm 103 verses 8 to 10 and we'll stand to sing