Can I Get a Drink? | Sunday, August 2, 2026

Amen. Praise the Lord. Thank you, Anthony and team. Good morning, Cross Connection. It is so good to see you all. You can have a seat. I am glad to be with you here this morning. Can you believe that it's August? I can't believe that time has gone by so fast. It is good to be back with you.

I was gone for a couple of weeks on a family vacation. As I was coming into the first service, one of our ushers asked me, "Hey pastor, it's great to see you. Will you ever do that again?" I replied, "What are you talking about?" He said, "You survived." I asked, "What did I survive?" He responded, "You survived with five teenagers driving across the country." I said, "It actually wasn't that bad because I discovered an incredible life hack."

We had to rent a van because we don't have a big enough car to drive our four kids, and we brought one of my daughter's best friends with us as well. I discovered a great hack: we put a Starlink Mini in the dashboard. If you don't know what that is, it's satellite internet. I did not hear once, "Are we there yet?" Not once. It was quiet the whole way. It was unbelievable.

It is so good to be back with you. We had a great family vacation out in Florida. My wife and I got to celebrate our 20th anniversary while we were there, which was awesome. She has put up with me for 20 years; she is a saint of all saints. God is so good.

We are continuing our summer sermon series, which we are calling "Fly on the Wall." This morning, we will be in the Gospel of John. If you want to take out your Bibles, we were in John chapter 3 a few weeks ago, and we will be in John chapter 4 today. If you want to open to that passage, if you don't have a Bible, you can raise your hand, and one of the ushers will bring you one.

The centerpiece of the Christian Bible, and in reality, the centerpiece of the Christian faith and religion, is the gospel of Jesus Christ. When I say the words "the gospel of Jesus Christ," I think it's important to identify what exactly I mean by that because there are different ways that people can hear or think about the gospel of Jesus Christ when they hear those words.

One of the things our minds can go to when we hear about the gospel of Jesus Christ is that the gospel is the good news about who Jesus is and what Jesus did for us. That's certainly not a wrong way to think about the gospel of Jesus Christ. In fact, the...

Apostle Paul, when he gives a brief summary of what the gospel is in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, identifies its core elements. In fact, the passage provided there, his statement about the gospel, becomes one of the earliest statements or catechisms about the Christian gospel. He says in 1 Corinthians 15:1, "Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which you also received, and on which you stand, by which you are saved, if you hold fast to the word which I preached to you, unless you've believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received."

Here it is: his summary of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. He was seen by witnesses. Then, he goes through a list of different witnesses who saw the risen Christ. This is the brief summation of what we call the gospel: Christ died for our sins, he was buried, he rose again the third day, and he was seen by witnesses.

That is all true, but the gospel is also the story contained in the four gospels at the beginning of the New Testament: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. I shared this a few weeks ago when we were looking at the nighttime meeting between Jesus and Nicodemus in John chapter 3. The Gospel of John stands out among the other three gospels—Matthew, Mark, and Luke. It has been noted by many Bible teachers and scholars over the years. These three are commonly referred to as the synoptic gospels because they provide a synopsis, a summary of the same basic material.

They follow a similar outline from the beginning of Jesus's ministry, starting with his baptism and then going through the different things that Jesus said and did, ultimately coming to that last meeting in Jerusalem when he is crucified, buried, and rises from the dead. However, those three gospels—Matthew, Mark, and Luke—give a wide-angle perspective. If you've ever been into photography, my son has been getting into photography, and you use a wide-angle lens to capture the proper landscape view. You're taking that big, grand shot. Matthew, Mark, and Luke provide that wide-angle perspective of the life and ministry of Jesus. You see Jesus with his disciples; you see Jesus with the people.

Multitudes appear many times in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. In fact, Matthew chapters 5 and 6 contain the Sermon on the Mount. The whole context of that passage states, "And seeing the multitudes, Jesus went up onto a mountain, and when he had sat down, his disciples came to him, and he taught them." You see this theme repeatedly in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, where Jesus sees the multitudes, ministers to them, feeds them, or interacts with his disciples.

However, John's Gospel is different. John focuses on individual encounters, providing a close-up perspective, much like the right lens for a portrait shot. In the Gospel of John, you find these one-on-one interactions where Jesus engages personally with individuals. John stands apart from the other three Gospels, having been written decades later. He offers an interesting perspective as one of the earliest and nearest followers of Jesus, having had significant interactions with the Lord.

Tradition holds that John was the youngest of the twelve disciples and that he lived longer than the others. He was present with Jesus when He raised Jairus's daughter from the dead, alongside Peter and James. John was also with Jesus, Peter, and James during the Mount of Transfiguration, which Garrett discussed recently. These private interactions allowed John to be close to Jesus, especially at the Last Supper, where he is described as the disciple who leaned back and asked Jesus a question.

Interestingly, John is the only one of the twelve disciples who was present at Calvary when Jesus was crucified. He personally witnessed the crucifixion, while the rest of the disciples had fled. John was also near Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane when He prayed. Furthermore, he tells us that he was the first of Jesus's male disciples to see the empty tomb, having beaten Peter in a race to get there. He identifies himself in the Gospel of John as the disciple whom Jesus loved. John embodies the message that God loves you.

John's his favorite, right? Yeah. So, John had this near relationship to the Lord. As one of the nearest followers of Jesus, he gives us a close-up view of Jesus with individuals one-on-one. He reveals these private conversations wherein we get to be the fly on the wall.

As I shared a few weeks ago, it was about a year ago that this idea for this sermon series came to me as I was thinking about these private interactions in the Gospel of John. So, why does all this matter? Well, I think it matters in part because many people regard Jesus simply as an important figure in history, which is true. In fact, they might even say he's the most important figure in history, which is certainly the case in Western culture.

However, if you have spent any time around the Gospels, you recognize that Jesus is more than just an important figure in history. Yes, it's true he lived 2,000 years ago. He taught, he was crucified, he rose again, and he ascended. All of that is scriptural. In fact, that's what Paul says when he speaks about his summary of the gospel in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, which I noted a few minutes ago. But all of that is past tense. He lived, he taught, he died, he was crucified, he was buried, and he rose again on the third day.

But Jesus is much more than just a historic figure. More importantly, if you only know Jesus as an important figure in history, then you don't recognize that he can and desires to be known today.

Point number one, if you're taking notes: Jesus is not merely a historical figure to be studied. He's a living person to be known. I think that these individual encounters with Jesus in the Gospel of John point to that. In fact, John has been referred to as the Gospel of the individual encounter. It reminds us of the reality that Jesus is not merely a historical figure to be studied; he's a living person to be known.

Now, in saying that, I think it's good to study about Jesus—who he is, what he did, what he accomplished. All of that is great, but it's really important to recognize that you can know all the details, all the facts about Jesus's life and ministry, and not actually know him.

There are professors in seminaries in this country today who know the facts of the stories of Jesus really well, yet some of them don't actually know Jesus. This is a pitfall and a danger for us in a church like this, a Bible church where we want you to study the Bible. We encourage you to engage with the Scriptures not just when we gather together corporately or in small groups and homes, but also when you're reading through the Scriptures privately. We want you to read and study the Scriptures, but more importantly, we want you to get to know God.

In fact, Jesus said, "This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." I remember when I was growing up in this church, I would sometimes hear people say that Christianity is not a religion; it is a relationship. Some of you have heard that before. At that time, I didn't fully understand what that meant until time went by, and I started to realize that it's not just about getting to know the stories of this book. It's about understanding what this book is about and the individual that it reveals. This is the revelation of God, the revelation of who He is, so that we might know Him.

John points to this through individual encounters. There are one-on-one encounters with Nathaniel, Nicodemus, Martha in John chapter 11, Mary Magdalene at the empty tomb, the man born blind in John chapter 9, and the man who was crippled at the pool of Bethesda in John chapter 5. In these encounters, Jesus shines forth as the man who desires to have a relationship with us. He sets the terms of the conversation, and in each of these interactions, He surfaces the real need underneath the perceived need, which is so important. He reveals Himself as the right, true, and good answer to all the major issues in every individual's life. Jesus is the ultimate answer.

John builds this gospel in this way for a purpose, which he tells us about at the end of the gospel. He says that all of these things have been written so that you might know Jesus Christ, that you might know and believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing, you might have life in His name. That is his intent. A few weeks ago, we saw one of the most famous individual encounters in the Bible.

In the Gospel of John, specifically in John chapter 3, we find the most famous verse of the Bible, John 3:16. Today, we will look at another well-known encounter in John 4, which many of you may be familiar with: the story of the woman at the well. If you would, please stand with me and open your Bibles to John chapter 4.

We will read the opening verses here. It says, "Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus had made and baptized more disciples than John, though Jesus himself did not baptize, but his disciples, Jesus left Judea and departed again to Galilee. But he needed to go through Samaria." So he came to a city of Samaria, which is called Sikar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, therefore, being wearied from his journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.

A woman of Samaria came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. The woman of Samaria said to him, "How is it that you, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman? For the Jews have no dealings with Samaritans."

God, I pray that as we consider what might be a familiar passage to some this morning, we would find in this not just facts about you or a story about you, but that we would come to know something more of your character—maybe something we hadn't seen before. I ask that you would speak to us through the text and meet us in the text, continuing to do the work that you do, transforming us by the renewing of our minds and changing us so that we would be more like you. We ask this today in Jesus' name. And all those that agreed said, "Amen." You can be seated.

The story and the scene here are pretty clear. As I mentioned, it is a familiar story for probably more than a few of you. The sixth hour of the day, in the accounting of time in the ancient world, was about noon. Normally, they would begin counting the hours based on the sunrise. So, right around 6:00 in the morning, you had the first hour, and midday would be the sixth hour. In this place where Jesus is, the midday is quite warm.

Experiencing the last several weeks here in San Diego County has been enlightening. In fact, the lay of the land in this area, this region called Samaria, is very similar to what we experience here in Southern California. The climate is quite alike.

I had the privilege last year in September to travel to Israel with the Enduring Word board, along with my friends David Guzik, Lance Rston, and Chuck Muselwhite. I've been to Israel probably five or six times, but this was the first time that I had the opportunity to visit Mount Gerizim and the region where Jacob's Well is located. Normally, you don't go there when you're on a tour in Israel because it's in a region that is known today as the West Bank. Have you ever heard of that before? That is that place.

People in the land of Israel never refer to it as the West Bank; they call it Samaria. Most people don't go there because it's kind of out of the way, and there are some issues with checkpoints and other complications. As a result, many people avoid the area. Yet, Jesus went to this region, and we are told that His disciples had gone into the town of Sychar to buy food, but He stayed at the well.

Notice in verse four, it says that Jesus needed to go through Samaria. The King James Version, often referred to as the old King Jimmy, states that He must needs go through Samaria. He must. However, that's not entirely true. In the first century, just like today, most people did not go to Samaria. The same was true in the time that Jesus lived and ministered. He lived in Galilee, which is in the northern part of the nation.

Every faithful Jewish person would go to Jerusalem at least three times a year—in the spring, summer, and fall—for the feasts. When they traveled to Jerusalem from Galilee, they would follow the Jordan River from the southern tip of Galilee down to the city called Jericho, and then they would ascend to Jerusalem into the hills of Judea. Judea was the county, and Jerusalem was the city.

Jesus had been in that region of Judea, and now He was going back to Galilee. Normally, as a faithful Jewish individual, a religiously observant Jew in the first century, you would not go through Samaria. Why? We are even told in this passage that the Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. But it is even worse than that. The Jews hated the Samaritans, and the Samaritans did not like them very much either. The Jews viewed the Samaritans as worse than Gentiles.

Looked down upon them because they were the half-breeds, if you will. You see, it was about 700 years or so before Jesus came that the Assyrians invaded that region of the world and took captive the Jewish people who lived there. They were part of ten of the tribes of Israel. The Assyrians brought other people from different places, whom they had taken as prisoners of war, and settled them there. They started to intermingle families and faith in that area, so the Samaritans were kind of Jewish historically, but they had been intermingled with all kinds of pagan ideas. As a result, they developed a peculiar Jewish religion that was influenced by various other beliefs. The Jews hated the Samaritans and would use the term "Samaritan" as a curse word to describe someone they despised.

A faithful Jew in the first century would not go through Samaria, even though it was the most direct route from Jerusalem to Galilee. Instead, they would go down to Jericho and follow the Jordan River, going out of their way to avoid Samaria. In the same way, I serve on the board of Enduring Word. The three other board members live in Ventura and Santa Barbara, so anytime we have a board meeting, it's three against one. They insist that I come to them, and I dread that. Why? Because I must go through Los Angeles, and I will do almost anything I can to avoid it. Can I get an amen? I know our worship leader wears a hat that says "LA," but Jesus must needs go through Samaria. Not because it was the most direct route; there is another reason.

The answer to that question is part of what makes this passage so important. Point number two, if you're taking notes: Jesus is the shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine to seek the one. This isn't a one-off act of kindness; it's the oldest aspect of the character of God, going all the way back to the book of Genesis, chapter 3. After Adam and Eve partook of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and separated themselves from God through their sin, who was it that sought them out? It was God in the flesh, incarnate. I would suggest to you that it is a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus.

That walked in the garden in the cool of the day and said, "Adam, where are you?" One of the oldest things we see about God in the Bible is that He is the one who seeks after that which is lost. He sought after Adam and Eve. He sought after Moses in the wilderness. He pursued and sought after Jonah the prophet when Jonah fled from Him. He pursued and sought after David when David was far from God because of his sin. We looked at that a few weeks ago. He is the great seeker.

We're going to see even later in this passage in John 4 that it is explicitly stated that God is seeking. This is what we see here in this passage. The prophet Ezekiel, 500 years before Jesus comes, speaks the words of God and identifies this aspect of the very nature of God. In Ezekiel 34:11, it says, "For thus says the Lord God, indeed I myself will search for my sheep and seek them out." Again, in the same chapter, verse 16 states, "I will seek what is lost and bring back what is driven away, bind up the broken, and strengthen what is sick." God is the seeker. He seeks after that which is lost. He pursues the lost sheep.

This is what Jesus Himself taught in the story in Luke 15. He says, "What man among you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness to go after the one which was lost until he finds it?" This is Jesus's very character. In John chapter 10, He says, "I am the good shepherd." It's His very mission. In Luke 19:10, He says, "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost." Therefore, as the text says, He had to go through Samaria. Why? Because He is the shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine to seek after the one.

Now, the text here mentions, and I referenced the King James Version, that He must needs go through Samaria. There's an interesting verbal choice there because that word "must" indicates that He had to go through Samaria. It was used in the previous chapter in John chapter 3 when Jesus said, "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up."

The same word is used later in the Gospel of Luke, where Jesus said, "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and raised again the third day." The same "must" is used there.

Point number three, if you're taking notes: the same "must" that compelled Christ on Calvary carried Him to Samaria. Why did He go to Samaria? It was not because it was the fastest route from Judea to Jerusalem or to Galilee. He went through Samaria because there was, in Samaria, at the city of Sychar, a divine meeting that Jesus needed to have. We read of it in verse 6 of John chapter 4.

Now, Jacob's well was there. Jesus, therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. This is interesting because it reminds us of His humanity. Yes, He is fully God, but He is also fully man. Here He is, wearied by His journey, sitting by the well at about the sixth hour. A woman of Samaria came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink, for His disciples had gone into the city to buy food."

Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman? For the Jews have no dealings with Samaritans." Keep in mind, Jesus has come to this spot, to this well, to this city for this meeting. He is there because of this woman who is coming out at this moment. Peter, James, John, Bartholomew, Thomas, and the rest of His disciples have gone into the town of Sychar to buy food, but He has remained back there for this meeting.

This is not a chance meeting. I heard years ago another Bible teacher say that the rabbis say that coincidence is not kosher. This is not a coincidence. This is not happenstance. This moment was orchestrated by Christ, that this woman of Samaria came out to draw water, and Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink."

Commentators have observed that women in the first century were generally or typically the ones who would go out to the well to draw water, but they would do so in the morning before the heat of the day would come. They would normally do so as a group.

Wouldn't go out there by themselves in the middle of the day. The fact that this woman is by herself in the middle of the day going out to draw water indicates something about her. She seems to be, and maybe we're reading too much into the text, but I don't think so. She seems to be trying to avoid the crowd. Not just because there are too many people at the well, but because there's something about her that makes her the outcast.

She comes by herself, not intending to find anyone and certainly not expecting to find a Jewish man there, because Jewish men did not travel through Samaria. Yet, she arrives and finds that there is someone at the well. That someone at the well says to her, "Can you give me a drink?" He is breaking the rules of the day. Number one, he is a Jewish man going through Samaria, which is not what you would do. Number two, a Jewish man would never interact privately with a woman, especially not a Samaritan woman, because the Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.

He is breaking the cultural rules, and this woman lets him know that he is doing so. She asks, "How is it that you, a Jew, are asking me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?" She is almost giving him an out, suggesting that he should not be talking to her. But he has come to seek and to save that which is lost. He wants to reach the lost outcast, which again reveals something about the very nature of Jesus.

He wants to not just reach the lost outcast, but he also wants to reveal to her two essential things that she did not know—two things that she is ignorant of in this passage. Look at verse 10. Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew, number one, the gift of God and who it is who speaks to you or says to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." Don't miss this, because the whole conversation is really sitting inside these words right here. She is ignorant, he says, of two things. If you knew the gift of God, that's the first thing, and who it is that you're speaking to, that's the second thing—the giver of the gift—then you would have asked of him, and he would have given to you what it is that you need.

Genuinely want and genuinely need. He says to her here, "living water." The rest of this conversation with this woman at the well is going to be moving in the direction of revealing the gift. If you knew the gift of God and the giver, and who it is who is speaking to you, then this woman would ask for the gift and receive it from Him. So keep the gift and the giver in mind as we read this.

In verse 11, the woman said to Him, "Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then will you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?"

Jesus answered and said to her, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again. But whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. The water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up unto everlasting life."

There are so many important things in this text. First, when the woman hears Jesus say, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that is speaking to you, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water," she immediately assumes His inability and that He is speaking literally. This is exactly what Nicodemus did in the previous conversation in John chapter 3. Jesus said to him, "Unless you are born again, you will not see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus interpreted this completely literally, asking, "How am I to go back into my mother's womb a second time and be born?" Jesus was not speaking literally; He was speaking spiritually.

So here again, this woman assumes His inability and assumes that He is speaking literally. But Jesus is speaking spiritually when He says that if she had asked of Him, He would have given her living water. That is the first thing.

Second, He has already implied to her that His identity is important. If you knew the gift of God and who it is that you are speaking to. She then asks a question about His identity: "Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well?"

You see, the Samaritans and the Jews highly regarded Abraham as their father. Abraham begot Isaac, and Isaac begot Jacob, who is the one she is talking about here in this passage. They looked back to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as the fathers of their faith, both the Samaritans and the Jews.

They highly respected and regarded Jacob. She asks, "Are you greater than Jacob?" The answer to the question is yes; he is. However, she doesn't yet know that. Jesus wants to reveal to her the gift of God and the giver of the gift so that she would ask of him, the giver, and he would give her the gift. Therefore, Jesus has to work a little bit to reveal to her his greatness.

In this passage, Jesus informs the Samaritan woman that he is not speaking about physical water. Her mind immediately goes to the literal interpretation, thinking he is talking about water when she doesn't have a bucket to draw with, and the well is deep. But he clarifies, saying, "Whoever drinks of this water that you draw every single day with that bucket will thirst again." She knows this; she has to come out there every single day, avoiding all the people and their looks or any interactions with them. If you drink of this water, you will thirst again.

However, Jesus continues, "Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give shall become in him like a fountain of living water." Later in John chapter 7, Jesus will cry out on one of the great days of the feast in Jerusalem, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me, and I will give him living water. Out of his innermost being will flow forth living water." Now, this woman is intrigued because she has to come to this well every single day.

So the woman says to him, "Sir, give me this water that I may not thirst nor come here to draw." Remember, Jesus said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, then you would have asked, and I would have given you living water." Now she asks, "Is he going to give it to her?" The answer is no. Why? Because there is still one more thing she doesn't know. She is starting to understand something about the gift, but she does not yet know the giver. You have to know the gift and the giver; that is the key.

She asks amiss, perhaps to spend it on her pleasures, similar to what James says in James chapter 4. She is still ignorant of who it is that is speaking to her. Therefore, Jesus needs to reveal not only the gift but now the giver. The way he does this is perfect. She says, "Sir, give me this water so I don't have to come here anymore and draw this water." He responds, "Go call your husband and come here." Then she gives a very short reply.

Seemingly, maybe I'm reading too much into it, but the woman's response is significant. She answered and said to Him, "I have no husband," which was true, kind of. Now, remember, Jesus wants to reveal to her that He is indeed greater than their father Jacob and that He has the power to give her something great.

So, the woman answered and said, "I have no husband." Jesus responded, "You have well said you have no husband because you have had five husbands, and the one whom you're now with is not your husband." In this, you have spoken truly.

This is the point at which many Bible commentaries begin to suppose or assume all kinds of sinful issues with this woman because she has had five husbands and the one she is with now is not her husband. It may be right to assume various issues in her past, but it is also important to recognize that a woman in the first century, whether Jewish or Samaritan, had no legal standing or authority to divorce her husband. Only the husband had the right to give her a certificate of divorce.

This woman has been rejected five times; she has been put aside five times. She has felt rejection, like maybe some of you have experienced. We could assume all kinds of different reasons for her situation, and maybe those assumptions would be right or wrong. One possible reason could be that she was barren and never able to produce a child. If that were the case, she has been rejected and is completely alone, trying to hide that. Perhaps this is why she comes to the well in the middle of the day when no one else is there—because she is the outcast in the community.

He is trying here to reveal His true identity. He does so by telling her something about herself. He is telling her who He is by telling her who she is and that He knows her.

Something about her caught His attention. He doesn't try to zero in on her in a shameful way; He is simply revealing to her, "I know who you are, this stranger at the well." The woman then said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet." What was her first indication? He was revealing His true nature when He said, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that you are speaking to, then you would have asked of Him, and He would have given you living water."

She perceives that He might be a prophet, so she puts Him to a prophet's test with her statement: "Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where you ought to worship." In the first century, there was a rivalry, a religious contention between the Samaritans and many of the Jews that had lasted for a very long time. The Samaritans worshiped God on Mount Gerizim, which was the mountain just above the city of Sychar, where Jacob's well was located. They would go up on the mountaintop in Gerizim to worship God, while the Jews would go to Mount Zion in Jerusalem, where the temple was. This harsh rivalry existed religiously between them.

The Samaritans believed that someday the Christ, the Anointed One, the Messiah, would come and fix all of this. So, she is effectively asking Him a question along those lines when she makes her statement. She is saying, "Who's right? Sort it out. If you're a prophet, fix this issue."

Jesus responded, "Believe me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem worship the Father. You worship what you do not know, and we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews." But here is the key: "The hour is coming, and now is, that true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. For the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth."

The Father is seeking, and that is why Jesus was at the well in Samaria at that moment. The woman then said, "I know that Messiah is coming, who is called Christ."

"Comes, he will tell us all things." She says, "I believe that one day the Christ, the Messiah, is going to come. He's going to sort out all of these issues."

Now Jesus answers the deep cry of her desperate heart that was thirsty—thirsty for more than just the physical water that was in that deep well she came to draw from every single day. Her heart was thirsty, and Jesus answered and said to her, "I who speak to you am he." This is such a key phrase here in verse 26.

This is one of the rare instances where the original language is actually quite helpful. You do not need to learn Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek to study the Bible; we have great Bible translations. However, there are a few places scattered throughout the scriptures where the original language can be beneficial, and this is one of them.

Several weeks ago, we started this series in Exodus chapter 3. If you were with us then, you remember that this is the story where Moses encountered the burning bush and met God. He asked God, "Who shall I tell them sent me when I go to Egypt and say, 'Let my people go'?" God replied, "Tell them I am." That's my name.

In this passage, the woman says, "I believe that the Messiah is coming one day." Jesus responds in the Greek, "I am ego." This is the same introduction. It is remarkable and amazing because this is the first time in the Gospel where Jesus states it plainly. He doesn't say it to Nicodemus, nor to the religious ruling body in Jerusalem, the Sanhedrin. He doesn't say it to the twelve disciples. He says it to a Samaritan woman who had a past.

Now she knows the gift and the giver. How does she respond? Look at verse 28. The woman left her water pot and went away into the city.

Point number four: you will never receive the gift until you know the giver. I believe that every single person you interact with this week is desperately seeking something that they are drawing water from.

All kinds of wells, systems that ultimately don't satisfy, ultimately don't answer the deep, bitter cry of the heart that is thirsty. People bounce their heads to songs like "I Can't Get No Satisfaction" and "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For." Why are those songs still at the top of the charts after decades, considered some of the greatest in American rock and roll history? Why? Because there's something about the philosophy of those songs that makes every single person say, "I can't get no satisfaction, but I try and I try and I try."

But we're seeking. Every person you know is seeking for something. We seek for it in religion, in alcohol, in relationships, in success, in education, or in having things. Every single one of those things might, in some way, satisfy for a moment, but they all leave you thirsty later. You will never really receive the true gift that satisfies until you meet the Giver.

In the story, she met the Giver. She went back into the city and left her water pot. Here's the awesome part: when you meet the Giver and receive the gift, immediately there's a transformation, and you become an ambassador, inviting others to receive as well. Look at the text. The woman then left her water pot and went her way into the city. She said to the men, "Come and see a man who told me all the things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" They went out of the city and came to Him.

Could this be the Christ? The one that Jesus sought becomes the one who brings many more to Him. This is always the way it is. You can see it in the text of Scripture in John chapter 1. A man named Andrew met...

Jesus immediately went and found his brother Peter and said, "Come see, we believe we found the Messiah." Just a few verses later, another man named Philip went and found his friend Nathaniel and said, "Come and see. We've met the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth." Of course, Nathaniel responded, "Can anything good come from Nazareth?" Right, John? But immediately, those who met Him became the ambassadors to introduce others to Him. That's always the way it happens in the Scriptures.

She knows the gift, and she knows the giver, and now she responds. You'll never receive the gift until you know the giver. So, I'll wrap it up and close today with a simple question: Have you met Him? Not, do you know about Him? Jesus said this is eternal life, that you would know Him, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent. That you would know Him in relationship.

The reality is that there are many people in our country who know about Jesus. They could tell you all kinds of different things about what He said, what He did, where He lived, and when He lived, but they have not yet come to know Him. Paul, when he talks about the gospel in 1 Corinthians 15, said Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again the third day, and He was seen by witnesses. There's the key: Jesus is not dead in a tomb; He's alive, and He desires to have a relationship with you so that you might know Him and, in Him, find the well of living water.

If anyone is thirsty, John 7:37 says, "Let him come to me," and he'll find everlasting life and living water. Once you have met Him, you will be inevitably compelled to introduce Him to others.

So here's the second question: Number one, do you know Him? Number two, do you know anyone else who needs to know Him? I know the answer to that question is absolutely yes, and you're going to meet some of them this week. They are people who are seeking, seeking for some sort of satisfying answer to their deep needs.

Questions arise about finding a satisfying solution to deep inner problems, and Jesus is the only ultimate answer to those. If you've met Him, then others need to meet Him as well. Amen.

So, here’s a simple question to think about: Have you met Him? Is there anyone else you know who needs to meet Him? There probably is. It is now your purpose and your call to be an ambassador, introducing others to Jesus, just like Andrew, just like Philip, and just like every evangelist who has lived since that point when they heard the good news of Christ. God help us. Amen.

Would you stand with me as we close in prayer?

God, I thank You that You are not merely a historical figure to be studied, but a living person with whom we can have a relationship. You desire that we might know You, and You have sought after us, leaving the ninety-nine to come seek us out, just like You did with the woman at the well in Samaria. Thank You, God, for being compelled to seek us out and to die for us, so that we might know You and receive the gift in You.

God, would You pour out on Your church? Would You bless Your church? Help us to enter deeper into a relationship with You, knowing You, so that we might be able to share You with others as we prepare to go from this place today. We ask this in Jesus' name. And all those who agreed said, "Amen."