The Second Sunday in Lent
March 12, 2017
John 4:4-26
Destination: Calvary
Stop #2— Jacob’s Well
Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground 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. It was about the sixth hour. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) 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.) 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.” “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 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.” He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 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.” “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” Then Jesus declared, “I who speak to you am he.” (NIV1984)
Dear fellow Lenten worshipers,
Have you ever known someone who had a “heart” for something? Regardless of what anyone else thought or said or did, regardless of whether or not it brought them any personal benefit or any public praise they devoted themselves to doing what they had the “heart” to do. I have known any number of people who have that kind of “heart.” For example, I know a woman by the name of Nancy who has a “heart” for animals— especially animals who are injured. Since she lives on the Gulf Coast of one of the Florida Keys, she transformed an inlet on their family property into a sanctuary for injured sea turtles. I know a man by the name of Bud who had such a “heart” for this country he dedicated his entire adult life to our nation by serving in the United States Army. I know a doctor by the name of Allen who long after he retired still continues to dedicate his life to helping provide free medical care to those who can’t afford to see a doctor. When I was in college I had a roommate who struggle mightily with some of the classes we were required to take— especially the Greek and Hebrew. But he has such a “heart” for God’s people that to this day he is by far one of the best “pastors” I have ever known.
Do you know someone who has a “heart” for something, my friends? If so, then our text for today will be extremely easy for you to both understand and appreciate. As you and I continue our Lenten journey on the train called Destination Calvary today let’s see that this “train” pulls into Stop #2 where we find ourselves at Jacob’s Well. Here at Jacob’s well we are given an opportunity to view the tender heart of our dear Jesus as He disregards all the social, ethnic and religious barriers of His day and age all so that He might do what He has the “heart” to do, so that He can do what only He can do, so that He can carry out His work as the Christ, the Promised Messiah.
In order for us to truly grasp the magnitude of what Jesus did here at Jacob’s well we need to review a little bit of history. In 722 BC God allowed the Assyrian Empire conquer the Northern Kingdom of Israel. This was God’s judgment on Israel’s sin. As was customary at that time the Assyrians deported all the important, all the powerful and all the influential people in Israel to various parts of their empire. They did not want anyone putting together a rag-tag army of resisters. The Assyrians then took people from other parts of their empire and re-settled them in the Northern Kingdom of Israel to work the land, run the shops, etc. Obviously, the people who were brought into the Northern Kingdom would have been Gentiles and not Jews. Over the course of time these Gentiles intermarried with the remnant of Jews who had been left in the land. These Gentiles also brought many of their own religious customs with them. The result of this mingling between Jews and Gentiles was a group of people known as Samaritans. On both an ethnic level as well as on a spiritual level the Samaritans were considered “half-breeds”— part Jewish and part Gentile. While many of the Samaritans believed in the LORD the God of Israel they only accepted the books of Moses (the first five books of the Bible) as being the inspired Word of God. As far as the Jews were concerned (especially the Jews in Jerusalem) the Samaritans were a worthless people who were to be avoided at all costs.
All of that historical and cultural background comes into play here at Jacob’s well as we see the tender heart of our Savior clearly revealed. The first indication of Jesus’ heart is revealed when we read in the opening verse of our text, “Now he (Jesus) had to go through Samaria.” Understand, my friends, that Jesus did not “have” to go through Samaria in the sense that He had no other options. In fact, many of the Jews would often cross over to the eastern side of the Jordan River and then go north specifically to avoid going through the land of the Samaritans! Jesus, however, “had to go through Samaria” because there was someone there who needed His help. And so out of love and concern for this person’s soul Jesus deliberately went into Samaria so that He could make an extremely significant stop right here at Jacob’s well.
The tender heart of our Savior then becomes abundantly clear as Jesus disregards all social, cultural and religious barriers of His day. Not only does Jesus initiate a conversation with a Samaritan, but He even goes so far as asking a Samaritan woman for a drink of water! This was completely unheard of— especially for a Jewish rabbi! The fact that the Samaritan woman herself was caught completely off-guard by this request can be seen in her reply to Jesus, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” We, of course, know the answer to her question, don’t we. Jesus had something eternally important that He needed to share with this woman.
In a truly masterful way Jesus slowly begins the process whereby He would lead this woman to see both her greatest problem as well as the only solution to her problem. Since this woman came out to Jacob’s well to draw water that is where Jesus began. From the subject of physical water— water drawn from a well— Jesus directed this woman to the subject of “living water.” Jesus then truly gets her attention when He says to her, “Everyone who drinks this water (the water from Jacob’s well) will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” Even though this woman did not quite understand exactly what Jesus meant when He talked about “living water” she knew that this was something she wanted to have. Then with the precision of a world-renown surgeon Jesus uses the laser of God’s holy Law to show this woman her greatest problem, to show this woman her sin. He very simply says, “Go, call your husband and come back.” We can almost see this woman’s face turn white as Jesus responds to her confession of “I have no husband” by saying, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, (this used to be called “living in sin” or living with someone without the blessing of marriage) and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.” This Samarian woman now realizes that there is no place to hide. “Sir,” she says, “I can see that you are a prophet.”
With the deepest and darkest sins of her life now laid bare, this conversation here at Jacob’s well now turns into a very serious religious discussion. And while this woman was indeed confused about many things which the Lord had revealed to His chosen people Israel, there was one thing she did know for sure. There was one thing she had absolutely correct. We hear her say, “I know that Messiah (called Christ) is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” It is at this point that we find out exactly why Jesus “had to go through Samaria.” It is at this point that we find out exactly why Jesus stopped here at Jacob’s well. Jesus responded to the Samarian woman by saying, “I who speak to you am he.” In other words, Jesus revealed to her that He is the Promised Messiah, He is the Lord’s Christ, He is the only solution to her greatest problem— the problem of sin.
The comfort that we receive here at Jacob’s well, my friends, is enormous— especially because of the fact that we are on a journey whose destination is Calvary. For you see we are this woman! By nature we were outcasts. By nature we were morally and spiritually a stench in the nostrils of our holy, just and perfect God. By nature our sins caused God to turn away from us in total and complete disgust. As the prophet Isaiah so powerfully reminds us, by nature “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6). No matter how hard we try to cover up our sins, no matter how hard we try to deny our sins, no matter how hard we try to convince ourselves or others that at least our sins are not nearly as bad as Joe’s sins or not nearly as bad as Sally’s sins— God knows! God hears absolutely everything we have ever said. God sees absolutely everything we have ever done. God knows absolutely everything we have ever thought. And even though He knows all this Jesus still resolutely set out for Jerusalem. In spite of all that we have done our dear Jesus willingly walked the path which led Him directly to the cross on Calvary’s hill. In spite of all that we have done our dear Jesus tenderly reached out to us through the power of His holy Word and his holy Sacrament and gave us to drink from the spring of living water that wells up to eternal life.
Now do you see why the train called Destination Calvary had to make a stop here at Jacob’s well? Every single day each and every one of us sins against the Almighty Creator of heaven and earth. Every single day each and every one of us does things and says things and thinks things that deserve eternal condemnation in hell. But by stopping here at Jacob’s well and by humbly watching as our Savior’s tender heart reaches out to this Samaritan woman we are reminded— no rather, we are assured— that our Savior has willingly paid the penalty for all of our sins in full. Every time you lift up your eyes and view this cross remember the words that Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well: “I who speak to you am he.” Every time you lift up your eyes and view this cross remember the words that your Savior spoke to you from that cross, “It is finished.” Every time you lift up your eyes and view this cross remember what your Jesus has done to not only take away your sins, but also to cleanse you from the guilt and the shame of your sin.
No matter whether it is Nancy or Bud, no matter whether it is Allen or my college roommate, no matter whether it is someone you know or someone I know, there is no one on the face of this earth whose “heart” for people even begins to compare to Jesus’ “heart” for you and for me. As the Christ, as the long awaited Promised Messiah what Jesus has done for us and what Jesus has done for the entire human race (Pointing to the cross) is beyond anything we deserve. My prayer then this morning is that you will remember how the train called Destination Calvary stopped here at Jacob’s well so that you could see! So that you could see how your Savior deliberately went out of His way and how your Savior disregarded all the social, ethnic and religious barriers of His day all so that He might tenderly reach out to save a sinner— a sinner just like you.
To God be the glory!
Amen