Sermon: If You Knew the Gift of God

Part One: John 4: 6-10

Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.  A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.”  (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)  Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you,  ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 

The Woman from Samaria

Today we’re going to talk about two people who had heard of Jesus but who had never met him.  The first is a Samaritan woman who frequented Jacob’s well each day for water.  She is referred to as a person of mixed race.  Also, she is described as a person who was known to be living in sin.

Before I go further, here is some background on Samaria.  It’s in the Northern Kingdom, a part of Israel between Jerusalem and Galilee.  After the Assyrians had conquered the Jews, many Jews were deported to Assyria and foreigners were brought in.  They helped to settle the land and keep the peace.  With the intermingling, intermarriages between the Jews and these foreigners resulted.   Jews living in the Southern Kingdom looked upon these people in the Northern Kingdom as ‘a mixed race’ of impure people.

Today some groups of people consider people of color as inferior.  There are no inferior people.  We are all God’s children, and God does not make mistakes!

Jesus’ journey to the well

Jesus and his disciples had walked about 40 miles from Jerusalem to Samaria in the hot sun.  The roads were dirt.  They weren’t walking in Air Jordans but in sandals or bare feet.

Jesus was tired and he sent his disciples into the city to purchase food.  Jesus then sat by the well, resting and waiting.  Because it’s Jesus, we know that he knows what the future holds, so he knows the woman is coming!

There are no chance encounters with God

The woman came to the well around noon.  This was her habit because she knew no one would be at the well at that time.  She did this to avoid meeting anyone because everyone knew of her and her reputation.

But on this particular day Jesus was there waiting for her!

Like the woman at the well, you are here today not by mistake but by design.  You could have been somewhere else but you are here.

You can’t go anywhere that God does not know.  There is nothing you can say or do that he doesn’t know.

What will you do when you find God sitting, waiting for you?  When that quiet voice speaks to you, what will be your response?

Read the Full Chapter of the Scripture Referenced:
John Chapter 4

Return later this week for the second installment of the sermon, If You Knew the Gift of God