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Feb 16, 2025

No One is Too Far for the Messiah | Come and See

No One is Too Far for the Messiah | Come and See

Passage: John 4:1-39

Speaker: Matt Petty

Series: Come and See

Category: Sunday Sermons

Keywords: gospel of john, god's love, woman at the well, samaritan woman, living water, spiritual transformation, samaria, life purpose, jacob's well, spiritual thirst, spiritual healing, jesus ministry, divine encounter, personal transformation, jesus compassion, divine providence, divine timing, come and see series, jesus in samaria, transformational love, john chapter 4, jesus pursuit, outcast to evangelist, inside out change, divine acceptance, messiah revealed, rejected to redeemed

Have you ever felt too broken, too different, or too far gone for God to reach you? Through the encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well, we explore six core characteristics of Jesus that reveal His heart for the outcast and His power to transform lives. Learn how Jesus steps into places others avoid, fully understands our struggles, purposefully pursues the lost, saves those rejected by others, heals our deepest wounds, and invites us into a life of purpose and impact. This message reminds us that no one is too far, too damaged, or too ashamed for God's transforming grace.

Well, good morning church, and happy winter break for all of you students out there. I'm sure that the wifi in the area from all the gaming and streaming this week is going to be taxed. But it will be a great week this week for you guys. And for all the rest of you, thank you for being here. We know you've been up since four this morning chasing all your patio furniture into the neighbor's yard, like the rest of us. It was a kind of a dicey night, was it not? Well, listen, I am incredibly excited about our text today. So if you have a copy of scripture, go ahead and turn with me to John chapter four. We will allow the Apostle John himself to continually lead us in this journey to introduce us to who Jesus is. In fact, in week one of the series, in chapter one, that's what he did. He introduced us to Jesus. Jesus is the Messiah, the one, the king of kings, the Word, and God with us. In chapter two, we got to see Jesus's miracle power. John showed Jesus creating wine from water, not just for a little wedding event, but to show us that he is God. In late chapter two, we saw Jesus flipping the tables over in the temple to show us that it is all about the worship of the Father and not the worship of ourselves and that we are the temple of God. And then last week, Chip had a great illustration about sin in our lives, and he showed us and walked us through this text in John chapter three. To be born again is the most incredible piece of what Christ wants to happen in our lives.

As we walk through this gospel, I hope you’re seeing that the theme of this gospel is Jesus. It's about falling in love with Jesus, seeing who Jesus really is, and surrendering our hearts and lives to him in full belief so that we can walk with him. So far, every moment that we've walked through in this book has been when Jesus encounters people. And when Jesus has an encounter with someone, one of two things takes place. Either A, the person's life is radically changed as they meet Jesus and begin to walk with Jesus. Or B, their relationship with Jesus has been totally solidified to where they're willing to lay down their lives and walk with him with everything they’ve got. That's one of the most beautiful pieces of John's gospel. He shows us these real-life accounts with real-life people from his eyewitness testimony. And he says this is exactly what Jesus wants to do in you.

Now, a big part of John's gospel is a major principle of scripture that I want to teach you today. What you begin to see over and over again in Jesus’s encounters is that when Jesus meets somebody and they submit their hearts and lives fully to him, their lives are totally transformed. Here's the principle: what you truly believe about Jesus shapes every part of who you are. This means you can't separate Jesus from the other parts of your life. It means that what you believe about Jesus seeps into every other area. There is no such thing as secular parts and spiritual parts of your life. There's no such thing as churchy parts and other parts.

I want you to look at this picture of Jesus right here. You can laugh. It's okay. In fact, if you have this picture at your house, you can laugh. Take a selfie of it and send it to me today. This is how so many of us see Jesus in our minds. The question is, can this guy in this picture do anything for me? So many times we default to seeing Jesus in our minds as this ethereal or as this otherly, transcendent, separate, soft, and floating all above. I think he has lipstick on and a little blush with, I might add, a fresh perm. And he's a Jewish guy from the Middle East who is white with green eyes. I don't know how that works in your mind, but it really can't work. We laugh, but the reality is that for so many of us in our minds, we see Jesus like this as this untouchable Jesus. And in all reality, why would I bring any of my stuff to him? Because how could he even relate? If Jesus is going to radically transform our lives and radically redeem us and set us on a path to worship him, we have got to see that Jesus is all-powerful. He is Lord, and he is always right in the middle of the mess with us. But yet, when we close our eyes, sometimes we see him as this picture that is out there and nothing like me. And in that case, we can’t go to him.

This morning in chapter four, John is going to show us this point incredibly well. We've got a front-row seat to Jesus having one of the most incredible displays of his divine providence. That's kind of how he orders the universe and of his imminence. That's his closeness to us and how he's involved with the details of our lives. And we have this front-row seat to how loving and graceful and merciful and right in the middle of the mess Jesus really is and wants to be.

So today, I need you to hold on. We have a lot of ground to cover in John four today. Remember John is the apostle. He's the beloved of Jesus. 90% of the material in the gospel of John is new material that is not in the other gospels. So we need to pay attention to it. Also, it is written in a style of long discourses with people that show us the fact that Jesus spent time dialing into people's lives. And we're going to see one today that is life-changing and shows us both the power and closeness of Jesus. My prayer today is that it changes your perception of Jesus.

John 4:1 says, now Jesus learned in the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John, although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized but his disciples. So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.

Jesus, once again, leaves a town where he is starting to gain popularity and a following. He is starting to see all of these people turn to him and be baptized. But John steps in here and sets us straight. He clarifies that Jesus didn't baptize people. We're not totally sure why that would matter, but I can speculate. If I was baptized by Jesus and you were baptized by, I don't know, let's say Nathaniel or one of the lower disciples - I would be like, ha, take that! Maybe that's it. I don’t know. But the point is, he didn't baptize.

Jesus hears that the Pharisees are getting upset at this popularity, following, and of these people who are turning to trust in him. But Jesus knows that it's not his time to confront them, although he will later on in the gospels. So he just leaves. In fact, in verse three, the word left is a very particular word that literally means leaving quietly without causing a scene. In other words, Jesus got done with a party and he gave it the old Irish exit. He didn't cause a scene. He didn't ride a donkey out of there. There was no triumphant exit, no parade for Jesus. He was just like, it's not the time to do this. At the high point of Jesus's ministry right here, all these people are turning to him. But Jesus leaves and begins to head north toward Galilee.

Verse four says, now he had to go through Samaria. I want you to feel right now that nobody was forcing Jesus to do this. In Jesus's spirit, even though thousands were turning to him, he knew that there was an encounter coming with this lady that we're about to meet in just a second. And thank God he did. Verse five says, so he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son, Joseph. Jacob's well was there and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well for it was about noon.

Now, this spot is a hugely important, historic place. In Jewish heritage, way before Jesus, right at this well is where God called Abraham to be the father of the nation of Israel. It is also where Abraham was going to sacrifice Isaac, but God provided a way. Right around this hill was where Abraham's servant met Rebecca and she became Isaac's future wife. Jacob met his wife, Rebecca here. There were all these marriages started at this well, to which the single people finally looked up from their phones and said tell me where this well is. The good news is, it's still there today. You can go with us on our next trip to Israel and drink out of Jacob's well with us. I don't know what it does for your love life, but it was a big day for others.

So Jesus comes in. He's tired from the journey of walking in the middle of the day. He needs water, and he can’t stop by the QT. Look at verse seven: When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, will you give me a drink? His disciples had gone into town to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, you're a Jew and I'm a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink, for Jews do not associate with Samaritans?

John has snuck in some incredibly transforming core characteristics of Jesus into these first nine verses, and if we can grab hold of them, I promise you it can begin to shape your image away from ethereal Jesus into middle-of-the-mess-with-you Jesus.

Number one core characteristic of Jesus is that Jesus steps into the places others avoid to reach those who need him. Verse four literally just said that Jesus had to go through Samaria. The reality is he doesn't have to. Most Jews would not have gone through Samaria. In other words, most Jews would not have done what Jesus is doing. If you were to go to the back of your Bible and pull out a map, you would see that Jesus is in the South, he's going towards the North, and he is taking the most direct route to where he needs to go. But the reality is, Jews did not do this. Most Jews, especially most rabbis, would have left town across the Jordan River, gone north through the desert, swung back around the top, adding three days to their journey. All because Jews hated Samaritans. Because 700 years earlier, when the northern and the southern kingdoms were separated, the Assyrians came in and conquered the northern kingdom. They took all the males out of the northern kingdom back to Assyria. They brought in Assyrian males to the Northern Kingdom. And out of loneliness, out of spite, and out of taking over the country, the Assyrian males began to impregnate the Hebrew Israelite ladies to create this half-race of Assyrian Jews, called Samaritans, who nobody liked at this point. These Assyrian Jews grew up in a pluralistic society: they worshiped as the Assyrians did, they were polytheistic, worshiped animals, and had children's sacrifices. But on the other hand, they tried their best to still worship the One True God. As a result of this, everybody despised them, especially the true Jews, who looked at them as perverting the true God that they worshiped.

It got so bad that Nehemiah banned the Samaritans from working on the wall of Jerusalem when they were rebuilding it. It got so bad that a hundred years before John 4, they created their own temple to worship that mirrored the real temple. As a result, the Jews despised them. They thought of them as so unclean, if a Samaritan got in a Jew’s shadow, the Jew was looked at as a sinner. Jesus does what none of the rest of the Jewish religious people do, and he goes right through the middle of it.

You're about to see in just a minute, he went right through the middle of it to reach a lady that needed him. Church, I don't know if you're feeling the weight of this like I have this week, but how glorious is it that we serve a God that goes right through the middle of where we are and doesn't walk around us? Yes, sir. All to reach this lady. This whole story is about the fact that Jesus went to reach this lady, on a micro level. But what on a macro level, how amazing is it that we have a God that is so loving, that is so graceful, that is so about salvation, he left heaven and came to sinful earth. He took on flesh as a human being, all to reach me, the unreachable. This is not only a micro-story about this lady at the well. This is the story of humanity and what Christ has done for all of us.

The Bible says that he rested, but this is no small point. You see when we look at Jesus, we tend to think of Jesus like the picture we just saw, almost as if he can cheat his humanity. We tend to think of Jesus as never getting tired, never getting hungry, never getting frustrated, never getting mad. We're going to continue to see through the book of John that this is not true. Verse four says Jesus tired as he was from the journey, he sat down by the well for it was about noon. When we read that, we tend to fast forward through the details. But it's a big deal. I want you to feel the weight of this, that he is all God. But when he came to the earth, he became all man also. He walked as we walked so that we can get to this second core characteristic of Jesus: Jesus fully feels what you feel and he completely understands what you face.

Have you ever thought about that? Have you ever thought about these details of scripture? These moments in scripture are Jesus feeling what you feel. Do you realize what this means? Jesus doesn't just see your pain. He felt it. Jesus doesn't see you walk. He walked as you walk. This gives us even more reason to bring our stuff to Jesus, to bring our requests to Jesus, to bring our issues to Jesus. He understands. Hebrews 4:18 tells us, for we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weakness, but one who's been tempted in all things as we are yet without sin. How amazing is it that you can bring your exhaustion to Jesus? If you're thirsty, that's one thing. But how amazing when your soul is thirsty you can bring that to Jesus and he relates to you. That's good news. He relates to you. How amazing is it that we have a God that is not separated from humanity? He's not ethereal. He is not out there. He is not surrounded by baby little angels. No, he is a God that walked as we walked, and now he is sitting by the heavenly Father interceding on your behalf, and he knows you.

Number one, he goes where most people don't go. Number two, he reaches into who we are and he relates to us. And number three, Jesus purposefully spends time with the lost to share his love. Now, hear me right: Jesus did not sin. Don't take this as me saying he sinned. But Jesus did meet and eat and hang out and build relationships with sinners and tax collectors, people who were not like him. Jesus did not put his hands up in the air to people who did not believe. He brought them into his world and he closely associated with them to show them who he is. For example, he gets close to this lady in verse seven. He looks at her and speaks to this lady in public, which never happened in their day, and says, will you give me a drink? This was a huge deal in their mind. A Jew would never have drunk from the cup of a Samaritan. History tells us, not just religious history, that if you were a Jew, you did not associate with a Samaritan. And if even you were in a place that a Samaritan may be, you brought your own silverware. You brought your own dishes to a party just in case a Samaritan had eaten off of it at some point in life. But Jesus cuts through all of that mess and says, I can drink from your cup, because I'm thirsty and because I know where the conversation is going to lead.

Because he’s the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, no matter who you think you are, he has taken on the uncleanliness to offer her the living water. Church the same thing is offered to us. Jesus came from heaven to sinful earth, to take on the sin of the world, to offer us forgiveness, to offer us his living water, and to give us his life. It's exactly the same thing. When we touch something unclean, we become unclean. When Jesus touches something unclean, it becomes clean. Romans 5:8 says that God demonstrated his love, that we were yet sinners Christ died for us. This woman at the well is about to experience this. Jesus is not lost when he goes through Samaria. He comes into Samaria to find this lady, and he's done the same for you.

Number four, Jesus often saves people who are rejected by man. Verse 10 says Jesus answered her. If you knew the gift of God and who it was that was given, who it was that was asking you for a drink, you would've asked him and he would've given you living water. Sir, the woman said, you have nothing to draw with, and that well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Verse 12, are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank of it himself, as did his sons and his life stock?

She's trying to show Jesus, I hear what you're saying. And actually you better watch what you're saying to me because I am actually part of the family that dug this well. She's almost like, my great, great, great grand pappi on my mama's side, that was Jacob, I'm part of the family. She's clearly not getting what Jesus is offering.

But in verse 13 Jesus answered. Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again. But whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water that is welling up to eternal life. You know the difference between a spring and a pond right? A pond becomes gross, a pond gets warm, and a pond grows algae. A spring is always fresh. It's always flowing. It's always new. It's always clean. That's what Jesus is saying. When you get me, life is there forever. It is there on purpose. I am clean and I cleanse you. I will give you a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

In verse 15, the woman said to him, sir, give me this water so that I won't go thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water. He told her, go and call your husband and come back. Now, pause there because this seems like one of the most narrow-minded moments of Jesus's whole ministry to me. If you've ever been in an evangelism class, you will know once you get into the evangelistic message and the saving message of Jesus, if anybody starts to draw in and see who Jesus is and take steps towards giving their life to Jesus, let's close the deal. Let's offer them the hope of Jesus. But if you were sitting at a table in a coffee shop behind these people listening to them, and you are hearing Jesus with this lady, you're thinking, come on, Jesus. She's almost there. And then Jesus begins to put his finger in the wound of this lady in this very moment, and you're like, ah, you lost her. But he didn't lose her. And Jesus is no jerk. You see, Jesus teaches us something right here.

Number five core characteristic: Jesus desires to reach into the depths of our lives to heal us from the inside out. Jesus is not concerned with some flippant decision that you may or may not have made at some point in your life. Jesus is not concerned with some emotional context that doesn't change you from your core. Jesus is not concerned with some religious attitude. He's not concerned whether you have all the right answers. But Jesus's concern is him moving into your soul and healing you in your deepest wounds. He’s concerned with giving you the living water that washes and leads you to him. He knows this lady's hurting. He knows what she's in the middle of it. And so he challenges this lady and now watch what the lady says, she claps back again.

Verse 17: She says, look, I have no husband, she replied. Jesus said to her, you are right when you say you have no husband, the fact is you've had five husbands and the man that you now have is not your husband. What you have said Jesus said is quite true. We're not sure how this woman got to this point in her life. She may have been crazy promiscuous and ran around on the first five husbands. Or she may have been widowed five times and now this last guy that she's shacking up with is like, I am not marrying that death trap. I don't know. All we know for sure is that she is in a very promiscuous, adulterous relationship that she should not be in. We do know that for sure. We know that she's had a rough life. We know that she's an outcast. We know that she's not in the girls club. We know that she's avoiding all the other ladies since she’s there at noon. We know that from the context.

Verse 19: sir, the woman said, I can see that you're a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you, Jews, claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem. This lady is brilliant in debate. She does what so many of us do when Jesus begins to push into those hard spots and convict us: she deflects from her life and begins to look at the grander state of worship in all of her people. She shifts from her problems to the cultural problems. She turns her vulnerable moment into a theology conversation. But verse 21 says, woman, Jesus replied, believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain (that's the fake temple) nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans, Jesus said, worship what you do not know, but we worship what we do know for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time, Jesus says, is coming, and now has come when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Now, that's a whole other message for a whole other day in that chunk of scripture. But Jesus satisfies her theology question here by saying it's not about the location of worship. It's about the true person that you should worship. We don't know her family. We don't know her name. We don't know her vocation. All we know about her is that she's the exact opposite of who Nicodemus was in the last chapter. She's a lady. He was a man. A lady was a second-class citizen in this time period. We know she was poor because she’s the one at the well. She doesn't have a servant at the well. In fact, she's at the well at noon, meaning she’s a sinner enough to be an outcast from the girl's group. We know that she's living in open sin. Whereas in John 3, Nicodemus was pious. He was a rich Pharisee. We look at this lady and we see her through the eyes of not the rich religious Pharisee of last week that Jesus said to be born again. But we look at this lady where Jesus presses into the core of who she is, looks at her, and says, you are not beyond my love and grace. How many of us have felt so rejected by man that that's how we have felt God feels about us? Jesus says nobody's too far, too damaged, too ashamed for the grace of God.

Verse 25 says, I know that the Messiah called Christ is coming, and when he comes, he will explain everything to us. Then Jesus declared, I the one speaking to you am he. This is probably the clearest claim in all the Bible that Jesus said, I am God and I am the Messiah. And I want you to notice here that Jesus didn't reveal this to Nicodemus last week. He didn't reveal it to the people at the wedding. He didn't reveal it to the disciples yet. He didn't reveal it to his mother at the wedding. Yet he revealed it to this poor, outcast lady from another culture who was opening up her damaged soul. And Jesus was saying, I have the power to give you life and to give you living water that will never run dry. Church, this is the Messiah. The Messiah is not that guy you saw on that screen. The Messiah is powerful enough to create the earth, but personal enough to step into the mess with us. And he wants to, but he doesn't want to only save us.

Number six, he invites us into a life of joy and of purpose and of kingdom impact. The reason Jesus didn't slap a sticker on this lady and say, you're saved and go home was he wanted to show her what it looks like to have meaning, an identity that can stand in full confidence knowing that you have been redeemed and you're standing in the light, love, and the blood-washed body of Jesus.

Verse 28 says, then leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, come and see a man who's told me everything I did. Could this be the Messiah? They came out of the town and they made their way to them. And many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony that he told me everything I did.

Not only has this lady now given her life to Christ, not only has this lady been delivered from darkness, delivered from being at the well alone, delivered from a life of isolation and hurt and pain, but now in a moment, Jesus has taken this broken, isolated, adulterous, unqualified lady and put new life in her. He put the living water in her, and now he's given her a purpose way beyond anything this world can offer. And that's what he wants to do for you.

This story is not just about a lady. The story is about mankind and the offer from King Jesus, who has stepped into this earth. But here's the question: will you submit to him? My prayer is that today is a well-moment in so many of our lives. Some of you today need to surrender your heart to Jesus and allow him to put his life in you. Some of you today know Jesus, but you need him to wrap his loving arms around you and remind you that he’s put the living water in you.

Follow Along with the Message

No One is Too Far for the Messiah

February 16, 2025

PRINCIPLE: What you truly believe about Jesus every part of who you are.

John 4:1–3
1 Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— 2 although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3 So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.
John 4:4
Now he had to go through Samaria.
John 4:5–6
5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.
John 4:7–9
7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)

 

6 CORE CHARACTERISTICS of JESUs:

1. Jesus [blanks] into the places others avoid to reach those who need Him.

John 4:4
Now he had to go through Samaria.
John 4:6
…Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.

2. Jesus feels what you feel and completely understands what you face.

Hebrews 4:15
For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.

3. Jesus purposefully spends time with the to share his love.

John 4:7
…"Will you give me a drink?"

4. Jesus often people who are rejected by man.

John 4:10–12
10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” 11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”
John 4:13–16
13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” 16 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”

5. Jesus reaches into the of our life to heal us from the inside out.

John 4:17–18
17 I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”
John 4:19–20
19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20  Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
John 4:21–24
21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time 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, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

 

John 4:25–26
25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” 26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you - am He.”

6. Jesus us to a life of joy, purpose, and kingdom impact.

John 4:28–30, 39
28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people 29 Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him... 39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.”
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