Chapter # 4 Paragraph # 2 Study # 6
April 7, 2024
Broadlands, Louisiana
(Download Audio)
Thesis: John's presentation of Jesus makes "faith into Him" an "unobjectionable" requirement.
Introduction: In the last study we had in this Gospel of John, our focus was upon the corruption of "Life" that had completely swallowed up the woman at the well at Sychar in Samaria as well as all of the Samaritans of that area, and we saw that Jesus was making an offer to destroy that corruption for her/them.
This morning we are going to consider how Jesus eliminated the "objections to faith" that the woman had so that she could believe. The ability to believe is not a "given" for fallen people; it always looks to them like "an impossible stretch" and "a leap in the dark". Paul's words are, "the message is foolishness to those who are perishing" (1 Corinthians 1:18). But, the God Who is behind the message is "One Who calls things that are not as though they are" (Romans4:17) and He turns out to be right...
- I. The Segments Of Thought In This Paragraph.
- A. 4:4-6 -- The "need" and His "response".
- 1. Whence "the need"?
- 2. The response to this "need" by "The Jesus".
- 3. The "setting".
- 4. The "weariness" of "The Jesus" (kopiao).
- B. 4:7-26 -- The conversation between Jesus and the woman of Samaria.
- 1. 4:7-8.
- 2. 4:9-10.
- 3. 4:11-12.
- a. Her "unbelieving" response (with an "is saying" emphasis).
- 1) Is to His declaration that He would give her "living water".
- 2) "Sir..." has begun to approach "respect", but only in the most basic form (Note 4:11, 15 and 19).
- 3) Problem # 1: "...you are having nothing with which to draw..."; a "beyond-obvious" issue.
- 4) Problem #2: "...and the cistern (well) is deep..."
- a) She is denying that there even is such a thing as "living water" in this "cistern"...
- b) ...And she is denying His possession of any way to give her such a refreshing drink in any case.
- c) "...whence, therefore, are you having this 'living water'?"
- 5) Problem # 3: "You are not greater that our father, Jacob, who gave us this cistern and he Himself drank from it, and his sons, and his cattle, are you?"
- a) Instantly comes the "who is the greatest?" question.
- (1) Perhaps, unknowingly, the woman has just asked the critical-to-faith question.
- (2) This is the most basic issue: it speaks to the motivation of the One making a "promise"'; an issue Jesus knew had to be faced "head-on".
- (a) John 7:18 - Jesus declares the problem in the light of 5:44.
- (b) John 8:50 - Jesus claims that He is not seeking His own glory.
- (c) John 7:17 - the "root" issue that leads to the knowledge of whether the teaching is from God.
- b) Jesus responds...
- (1) Everyone who is drinking from this water shall thirst again.
- (2) But he if he should drink out of the water of which I shall give to him, he shall never (ou me) thirst unto the age, but the water which I shall give shall become in him a well of water leaping (see Acts 3:8 and 14:10 as the only other uses of this word in the New Testament) into Life Eternal.
- (a) At this saying, Jesus reveals that He has nothing to gain from the woman.
- (b) At this point, the woman has no legitimate basis for her reluctance to "believe" Him.
- (c) And, at this point, the woman is yet too blind to grasp the fact that the "water" is not "water" because Eternal LIfe is not "life".
- (d) And, at this point, the woman is still looking for a way to make her "circumstances" easier on her.
