Text: John 4:4-26
Theme: Jesus tells a Samaritan woman about living water.

The woman lived in the village of Sychar.  Sychar lay in the middle of Samaria. The region of Samaria was situated smack in the middle of the Jewish territory. So, we need some background on these Samaritans. 
 
In 722 BC the northern kingdom of Israel was crushed by the Assyrian Empire. Most of the survivors were carted off as slaves.  Some of the poorest were left behind. Then the foreign conquerors divvied up the land for themselves. Over time they inter-married with the locals and developed their own culture + identity. 
 
Yet, Jewish roots remained.  These Samaritans still had a partial notion of God. They still accepted the first five books of scripture: Genesis through Deuteronomy. 
 
Samaritans also had their own place of worship to rival Jerusalem- Mt. Gerazim. Mt. Gerazim towered just a few miles to the southwest of Sychar.
 
When the exiles returned to rebuild Jerusalem, the Samaritans opposed them. In turn the Jews despised the Samaritans as half-breeds who were three-quarters pagan.  Samaritans were deemed ceremonially unclean- just like lepers. As John’s account bluntly put it: Jews do not associate with Samaritans.
 
One more bit of background: the Samaritan village of Sychar featured an ancient well. The well was originally dug by Jacob nearly 2,000 years earlier. All those years later it still provided the villagers with the water they needed. By the way, that well still exists; it is over 100 feet deep with a convent built around it. 
 
One day at high noon a woman came to draw water.  To her surprise, a man was there.  Usually it was women who did all the grunt work of drawing and carrying water. This man looked tired and hungry and thirsty after a journey. And what do you know!  The man was a Jew!  In this territory, that was passing strange!
 
Then things got even stranger. The Jewish man actually spoke to her: Will you give me a drink?  The woman was startled and intrigued. It triggers the longest conversation recorded anywhere in the entire Bible.
 
In John 3 we listened in on the encounter Nicodemus had with Jesus. Here in John 4 we listen to another encounter. Notice the stark contrast between the two!
 
That was at night; this is at high noon. That one Nicodemus initiated; this Jesus initiated.  There Jesus met a man; here he meets a woman.  Nicodemus was a Jew; she a Samaritan.  Nicodemus was a ruler; this woman was a peasant who fetched her own water. Nicodemus the Pharisee had high moral standing; as it turns out the woman- not so much. 
 
And yet Jesus took an interest in her.  He taught her God’s truth no less than Nicodemus. Jesus breaks through every social barrier: gender, race, religion, even sexual lifestyle. As Galatians 3 says: In Christ there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female.
 
How did Jesus do it?  How did he overcome these age-old barriers that separated them? First, notice that Jesus begins with common ground- with shared needs. They both get thirsty; they both need water to drink.  Finding common ground. This is a valuable principle in reaching out to our neighbors despite our differences.
 
I remember many years ago Ruth and I were at the police department.
We were getting our fingerprints taken for a background check in our adoption process. Alongside us was a guy I’d never laid eyes on before.  We had no prior connections. But it turned out he was also applying to adopt a child. That was common ground. Sharing that common experience led to quite an interesting conversation.
 
Today our society seems to have more diversity and more differences than ever before. There are immigrants, Muslim people, homeless people, NASCAR-loving people. Differences- lots of them.  But we can build bridges to our neighbors on common ground: raising kids, paying taxes, a favorite sports team, a love for hunting + fishing, whatever.
 
People often come to know Jesus through neighbors and friends. So we need to cross barriers to connect with people.  That often starts with common ground.
 
Jesus crossed social barriers. How? Second, he asked for a favor. Will you give me a drink?  Usually Jews were aloof: they’d never stoop to ask a Samaritan for help, much less a woman! But Jesus reverses positions.  He puts her in a position of strength- of helping him. 
 
Most people are happy to help with a favor; in the process they put down their guard. I’ve often noticed that when asking for directions.  Usually people are very willing to help. The only problem is: half the time they forget some crucial information and I’m still lost. So, Jesus crossed barriers- both by finding common ground and by asking for help. By now this woman is really intrigued:
You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman.  How can you ask me for a drink?
Jesus answered her: If you knew the gift of God + who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.  
 
Here Jesus makes the same move he did with Nicodemus.  He presents a puzzler. I would have given you living water.  What?  Living water?  What is he talking about? He doesn’t even have a bucket in hand.  The woman is clearly puzzled. Sir, you’ve nothing to draw with+the well is deep. Where can you get this living water?
 
Like Nicodemus, the woman misses Jesus’ shift from physical things to spiritual things. Still, she’s curious enough to probe his identity. Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well + drank from it himself?  In other words: can you outdo our revered patriarch + provide better water than he did?
 
Her question provides a perfect lead-in for Jesus: Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. The water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.
 
A spring of water.  I think of city fountains which splash and sparkle with water. Springs seemingly come from nowhere.  They create streams.  Their water is life-giving!
 
But- water from Jacob’s well was temporary in slaking their thirst. People soon became thirsty again. Women had to keep coming to draw more water. This daily task was a grind.  It was back-breaking work.  It wore people out.
 
So, being spared this tiresome task really grabbed the woman’s interest.  Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water. But Jesus is teaching about spiritual life- about life that is permanently satisfying. 
 
You know, underneath all our activity, we long to be satisfied; we want to be fulfilled. It’s a fundamental human desire.  We’re all thirsty for fulfillment at the core of our being. And people seek fulfillment in all kinds of ways. 
 
People seek fulfillment through acceptance from our peers. People seek fulfillment in gaining money and all the things money can buy. People seek fulfillment in popularity and fame. People seek fulfillment in reaching various goals- like climbing the highest mountain. People seek fulfillment in finding the right man or the right woman- our true soul mate.
 
Isn’t that the premise of The Bachelor?  Isn’t that the story with the Samaritan woman? Over time she had five different husbands. Now she’s trying again- living with another man. Underlying all of our human striving is the basic longing for fulfillment- to be satisfied.
 
But in the end all these quests alone don’t satisfy; they still leave people thirsty. Listen to the testimony of Manny Brotman: I tried religion. I had a wonderful religion- Judaism.  Both my parents were Jewish. I was born a Jew. I would die a Jew!  But somehow, I didn’t feel I could live my whole life for only religion.
 
I tried academics.  I had honors… both in high school and college. But I could not live my life only for a string of doctorate degrees after my name.
 
I excelled in sports.  In Philadelphia, I was quarterback of the championship high school football team + pitcher for the winning city baseball team.  I had awards in basketball. But I couldn’t live only for athletic accomplishments and the friends they brought.
 
I tried the business world. I worked my way up...to corporate president. I had a lovely ranch home. Our company had a twin-engine aircraft; a pilot who flew me wherever we wanted to go. But still, I couldn’t live my life only for business accomplishments.
 
None of my accomplishments could ever fill that God-shaped hole within me. All these quests left Manny Brotman thirsty- until he met Jesus and was satisfied.
 
Are you thirsty at the core of your being?  Do you long to be satisfied- truly fulfilled? Ultimately you won’t find it by being the best student in your class. You won’t find it through a really great career. 0You won’t find it with enjoyable family vacations.
 
Jesus says: Whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. The water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.
 
What an offer! What an offer for that woman coming to draw water at the well! What an offer for each of us.  It’s an offer I’ve found satisfying- for sixty years.
 
Friends: will you receive the living water that only Jesus gives? Every other quest will leave you thirsty- unsatisfied. Come to Jesus and drink deeply of his truth and his grace. Then share the living water- as the Samaritan woman did.

Neil Jasperse
Faith Church
Nashville, TN

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Text: John 3:1-8
Theme: Jesus tells a Samaritan woman about living water.

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Text: John 2:13-17
Theme: The temple profiteer learns that Jesus’ has a burning zeal for God’s purposes.

He was a businessman with an eye for profit. 
Of course, businessmen with a nose for money are to be found everywhere. 
But he had an edge: he was located in Jerusalem. More than that: he was a temple insider. 
 
Jerusalem and the temple stood at the very center of the Jewish nation. 
Pilgrims from across the country traveled to the temple to offer sacrifices to God. 
Those who traveled some distance found it hard to transport their own offerings. 
So, they usually bought them at the market when they arrived in Jerusalem. 
 
It makes me think of an open market in Kenya I visited several years ago. 
When I walked by their booth, those sellers really went after me. 
Sir, take a look at this!  Look at that fine product!  We’ll give you a good deal.
Or the ultimate pitch: It will look really good on your wife! 
After walking by fifty booths, I felt worn out by their aggressive appeals.
 
Merchants positioned close to the temple were less likely to miss arriving pilgrims.  Apparently these salesmen kept creeping closer and closer to the temple. 
At some point one of them made a bold move: he set up inside the temple wall. 
 
The first court was the Court of Gentiles.  It covered several acres. 
Soon others set up shop there.  They wanted a prime spot too.  It made for good business.
 
Of course, this changed the ambiance in the temple courts.  Now it was a noisy market. 
William Hendriksen writes: it must have resembled a stockyard. 
There was the stench and the filth, the bleating + lowing of animals, destined for sacrifice.
 
Then there were money changers.  In Jesus’ day there were a variety of currencies.  Likely there were Roman coins and Egyptian coins, as well as Jewish money. 
Think of Europe before the Euro: with British pounds, Dutch guilders + German marks.
Pilgrims could buy animals only if they had the proper kind of coins.
 
No doubt, over time our businessman got used to the hubbub in the temple courts.  Sheep bleated, coins clanked, profits were made.  No big deal.  All in a day’s work. 
Life was good.  He was making a neat profit off the pilgrims.
 
But one day all that changed.  Jesus came up to Jerusalem for the Passover. 
When he entered the temple courts, he saw what was going on.  Jesus was outraged!
 
Now, he wasn’t outraged that merchants were doing business.  Nothing wrong with that.  After all, pilgrims needed animals to sacrifice to the Lord, as he commanded.
 
Jesus was outraged at where they were doing business. The temple was meant for worship.  They turned it into a market! They trespassed.  It was a misuse-a perversion of the temple. 
 
Perversion means to use something in a way it was not intended. 
Now, there are fairly innocent forms of perversion: using a sleeve to wipe your nose;
using cafeteria food to throw at friends; waking your kids with an air horn.
 
But perversion can be far more serious.  Perversion is a leading form of human sin. 
For example, driving your car at a safe speed on neighborhood streets is fine. 
But driving at 50/mph and endangering children is a perversion- a sin.
 
Enjoying a glass of wine is fine.  Getting drunk is a perversion. 
The gift of sex is a wonderful thing within marriage.  Pursuing sex outside marriage is not.
 
The merchants had changed the place of prayer for all people into a place of profit. 
In his outrage at this perversion, what did Jesus do?  He made a whip. 
With that whip he drove out all the animals and merchants from the temple area. 
 
Our temple profiteer was among those who hustled out, afraid for his own skin.
Jesus scattered the coins of the money-changers.  He overturned their tables. 
He said: Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!
 
In this confrontation we hear echoes of Psalm 69:9: zeal for your house consumes me.
The Greek word for zeal literally means to be eaten up.  Zeal: a consuming passion.
 
If you want to get a sense of zeal, watch a Super Bowl game.  Players are full of zeal.  Before the game they huddle up and shout and chant as if they are half men/half beasts. 
They fly around the field with reckless abandon. 
After a crunching tackle, they pound their chests and emit primal screams.
 
Meanwhile the fans are just as full of zeal. They paint their faces.  They put on costumes.  They wave signs.  They scream and shout.  They bang the bleachers. 
They go into a frenzy when their team scores.  We’re talking fervor, passion, zeal.
 
Jesus had zeal.  But it wasn’t zeal for a football game.  It wasn’t to make a big profit. 
Jesus had zeal for his Father.  Jesus had zeal for his Father’s good purposes. 
Jesus had zeal for his Father’s house- that it be used as intended: for worship and prayer.
 
Right here, Jesus is a stirring example to us.   Romans 12 says:
Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 
What about you? Do you feel eagerness, fervor, passion for Christ and his kingdom?
 
Or are you more eager for a favorite TV show?  More eager to play a video game?
More eager to root on a favorite team?  More eager to take a grand vacation? 
 
What would someone say of our church? Easy to like, but not that eager for God’s Word. 
Fine folks: but not much fervor to share the gospel: the good news of Jesus. 
Pleasant people: but not that passionate to seek justice and serve the poor.  I hope not.
Like Jesus, may we throb with zeal for what matters to God. 
 
Now notice that Jesus’ zeal sparked anger. 
When you have fervor for something good + someone messes with it, it makes you angry. 
Jesus couldn’t stand merchants and money-changers messing up the temple.
In his account John doesn’t specifically use the word.  But you can tell Jesus is angry. 
How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!
 
Often Jesus is pictured as gentle and humble.  And he was: so gentle with hurting people. 
But Jesus could also get angry.  Jesus displays the righteous wrath of God.
 
You know, when we think of God we prefer to think of his love, his grace, his goodness.  But the wrath of God? That’s something else. It’s uncomfortable. So we downplay it.
 
But we are not at liberty to ignore any aspect of Jesus’ character. 
God is a God of anger- righteous anger when we pervert his good purposes. 
That temple profiteer shrank from Jesus’ anger in the temple courts. 
How much worse for sinners to meet God’s righteous wrath at the Judgment Day!
That’s why a sensible person will run to Jesus to plead for mercy- to be spared God’s wrath.
 
Here we should note that anger is a powerful emotion.  It gives people power. 
No one wanted to face an angry Jesus wielding his whip.
 
Anger is like dynamite.  It can be used for good or bad.  In building the transcontinental railroad, dynamite was used for good- to blast tunnels for the tracks to get thru mountains. 
But dynamite also could be used for bad- to blow up railroad lines. 
That’s why the dynamite of anger must be handled so carefully.
That’s why Ephesians 4 says: In your anger do not sin.  Don’t be destructive.
 
Here Jesus harnesses his anger for good: clearing out the temple area- restoring it for prayer.
Let me ask this question: do you get angry for godly reasons?
And when you do get angry, do you harness it for good, rather than bad?
 
At the end of the day, what did our temple profiteer learn in his encounter with Jesus?
First, Jesus has zeal for God the Father and his good purposes.
Second, his zeal could readily spark holy anger when God’s purposes were perverted.
Third, Jesus harnessed his anger for powerful action- to oppose wrong and restore the right.
Zeal- holy anger- powerful action.  That’s a dynamic triple combination.
 
This is the Jesus who says: come and follow me.  Never be lacking in zeal. 
 
You know, every generation has its great perversions that need zeal to confront. 
At the time of Martin Luther there was the perversion of salvation- by good works.
Luther and the Reformers harnessed a zeal for God’s truth to restore the gospel of grace.
 
In early American history there was the perversion of slavery. 
In reaction many Christians were zealous to defend the God-given dignity of every person.
In their zeal these abolitionists developed a holy anger at the institution of slavery. 
In turn they harnessed that anger into powerful action: working to abolish slavery.
 
What perversions of God’s good purposes should we be zealous to oppose in our day?
Treating sex like a recreational activity between any consenting adults.
The abuse of alcohol that has caused countless traffic accidents and destroyed lives.
Thinking that because we have a powerful military, we always have the right to use it.
 
Let me add this: Jesus restored the temple in one fell swoop. 
But our action often must be sustained over months and years- even generations.
 
And zeal for God isn’t limited to broader social issues. 
Young people: what about classmates who engage in cheap talk or take God’s name in vain?
Guys: what about comments about females as if they’re cattle or sex objects. 
Does talk like that stir you to holy anger- to speak up and object?  I hope so.
 
Jesus surprised the temple merchants. Who would expect a rabbi furiously wielding a whip? 

Neil Jasperse
Faith Church Nashville,TN

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Text: Mark 2:1-12

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