Let me give you a little background as to what's happening here in our text and leading up to the text this morning, Jesus is traveling from Judea to the region of Galilee. Jesus had a very successful ministry while he was there in Judea and his, his ministry was so successful that he began to encounter a lot of opposition. He had gained the eye of the Pharisees who had already imprisoned John. And thus they thought they had fixed their problem because when Jesus left, they thought everything is fine. He's leaving the region, he's getting out of here, we fixed it. So we got John, we got one of his boys. He's in jail. We fixed that now he's moving on to another region. Everything must be ok because here's what's happening with Jesus as he's in the region. He's gaining popularity, he's gaining a following. And what the Pharisees were aware of is that Jesus really posed a greater threat than John posed because of the popularity because of the gathering, because of the followers. And it reminds me of a quote from Matthew Henry. He says this, the success of the gospel exacer exacerbates, exasperates excuse me, exasperates its enemies. The success of the gospel just does unbelievable, gives unbelievable stress to the enemies of the gospel. So the Pharisees are upset, Jesus moves on. He's encountering opposition. So as Jesus is leaving, he decides to go through Samaria, the Samaritans were considered mongrel Jew Jews. They were half breeds. There was no love lost between the Jew and the Samaritan. A Jew thought that there was no bigger insult than, than to be called a Samaritan, right? So when things were going well for the Jews, here's an interesting thing to think about when things were going well for the Jews. Samaritans considered them kin, they're part of the family. But when the Jews were persecuted Samaritans considered them foreigners. They wanted anything to do with them. That sounds a whole lot like our families today, right? Interestingly though the Samaritans worship the God of Israel, that's interesting because we we we encountered that in the text this morning, they built a temple that the Jews didn't like because it was seen as uh as in competition with the temple in Jerusalem. So while there were tremendous differences, there were also very key similarities between the Jews and the Samaritans. Interesting to note that the Samaritans once didn't let Jesus pass through Samaria. We see that in Luke's Gospel, Luke 9 53 because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. So if you're headed to Jerusalem, you will not pass through Samaria. You can't sit here, you can't come through here. So you're going to have to go the route that everybody else goes. Jesus head on down the road. Even Jesus though then tells his disciples to stay away from gentile cities, specifically mentioning Samaritan cities in Matthew 10 5. And yet here is Jesus on his way from Judea to Galilee passing through Samaria with his disciples and more than that he is stopping for a break. So he's not just headed to the city trying to get out as quickly as possible. No, he's going to the city, the city that is, that has told him to stay out right, the city that he told his disciples to stay out. He's going to the city and he's going to stop there for a rest. It's in the sixth hour of the day, it's noon, it's in the heat of the day and Jesus finds a very strategic place to stop. He stops at Jacob's. Well, this was the well that Jacob Duggan used for himself and for his family. And now it's being used by those in Samaria. And what's interesting about this? Well is that it is situated as a busy at a busy junction between major roads. So it's a very strategic place for Jesus to stop. So we pick up here in chapter four verses seven through 14, there came a woman of Samaria to draw water. She comes to Jacob's. Well, this is where Jesus is waiting. Jesus said to her, give me a drink. First disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Therefore, the Samaritan woman said to him, how is it that you being a Jew asked me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman. Four Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered and he said to her, if you knew the gift of God and who it was, who asks you to give me a drink? You would have asked Him and he would have given you living water. She said to him, sir, you have nothing to draw with. And the well is deep. Where then are you going to get that living water? You're not greater than our father, Jacob. Are you? You're not greater than the one who dug this well, are you? He gave us the swell who drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle. Jesus said to her, everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again. But whoever drinks of the water I will give them shall never thirst. But the water that I give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life. But Jesus traveling, he stops. We see in the second part of verse six, Jesus being wei from his journey was sitting thus by the well, any time I, any time I, I think about Jesus and all that he did and all that he was uh it, it's so very important for me because I have to remember this, that Jesus is 100% man, 100% God. Right? And so, and, and in these moments, it's interesting to see the humanity of God, humanity of Jesus as Jesus comes to the, well, he sits because he's tired and he's thirsty and he does what anybody else not being a Jew would do as they're walking through a, a town on a hot day, the noon part of the day. Think about it like Columbia, South Carolina, right? Um, at nine o'clock in the morning or whatever the humidity is the worst. I'm going to sit down and I'm going to grab a, a sip of water because I'm thirsty. He was tired. He's 100% man. He's 100% God. He's a weary traveler. But then we see that Jesus is poor. It's just fascinating to note Jesus is poor. He's not walking, he's walking, he's not riding a horse. He's not in a caravan, it's just him and his team of disciples, these men that he is called to follow him walking together. So, in, in, in, in this moment the conversation begins because as this lady comes to the, well, this is just another man sitting at the, well, the woman comes to draw water. What do we know about the woman? Well, we can infer a few things. What we know is that she's, she's poor. How do we know that she's poor because she wasn't able to send one of her servants to go get water for herself. Rather she had to go get it herself. She's been shamed. She's the only woman coming to the, well, in the heat of the day, she's going to the, well, in the heat of the day because nobody else in their right mind is going to be sitting at that, well, when it's that hot, then she asks Jesus or Jesus asks her, excuse me for a sip of water. He needed the water, which we just already established because he was a weary traveler. So he wanted something to drink. But then we also know that he was going to use the water. He provide for her, this illustration in the conversation that he was about to engage in with this lady. The conversation then takes a turn. Look at verse nine. Therefore, the Samaritan woman said to him, how is it that you being a Jew ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman? How is this possible? She's asking what's going on here. You're you're a Jew and I'm a Samaritan. This never happens. This is not supposed to happen. This is not the way this is supposed to go. I'm supposed to come here by myself. And if there's somebody here, I'm probably not going to talk to him or her, right? Because of all the other things that have happened. But here you are as a Jew asking a Samaritan for a drink, the woman is astounded because it was known that Jews would rather suffer any hardship rather than ask for assistance from a Samaritan. So what is Jesus doing here in this moment? What is Jesus doing? What is he starting to do in verse nine? I think, I think there's some very clear application through this text. And here's the first point of application Jesus is putting on humility. He's putting on humility even in the face of cultural, political, religious and selfish norms. So we pause here just for the first point of application as we think about modeling our lives after Jesus doing as Jesus did. It's fascinating to me that, that, that Jesus 100% man, 100% God puts on humility in the face of cultural political, religious selfish norms. What is Jesus doing here? I think he's showing us how to fight normal or, or rather what seems to have become normal? Notice a woman's question and her confusion. Why are you asking me? Why should I give it to you? I'm a Samaritan. You're a Jew. Let me, let me just remind you, we simply don't get along. Jesus then takes advantage of this moment because I believe it's for this moment that he came to Samaria for this moment and the moments that would happen after this exchange, have you ever stopped to wonder how many divine or teachable moments we may experience if we just slow down. II, I do. I, I think about it a lot. I, I'm, I'm, I'm, um, I'm not as intentional as I want to be. I'm not as intentional probably as I should be. And, and, and I wonder because I hear stories of people, uh, that I look up to people that I respect people that I love who have moment after, moment, after, moment after, moment after moment they're, they're sharing about Jesus in the airplane and I'm just sitting there with my earbuds in, right. They're talking to their waiter or waitress at San Jose right next to the funeral home. Right. They're, they're doing all the moment after moment and I have to ask myself why, why, why is God using him or why is God using her more than me? And I always come back to this truth. It's because Philip, you don't slow down. I'm inspired by men and women who take advantage of every single moment that they're given in their days to have gospel conversations. And that's ultimately what Jesus is doing here. Jesus slows down. He sits down, he's very strategic in his location. He's very strategic in what he says and how he interacts with this woman. And here's what separates this conversation from most of the conversations that I tend to have. It's this, that Jesus sees an opportunity to go deeper than the conversation and he doesn't. He knows this is a moment and he goes deep really quickly know what he does. Jesus pays zero attention to the argument that she offers about Jews and Samaritans. The argument isn't critical to the conversation. Secondly, he offers more than what she's looking for. And I find this fascinating. He is not offended by her ignorance. Take note of jesus' patience here. Another point of application I think be because it is this as you, as you look at Jesus patience as you notice that he's not offended by her ignorance. II I think that we're becoming a people or maybe it's just me that are increasingly less patient with one another. I see it outside. You see it good heavens turn on the news, right? We see it outside the church. I see it inside the church too that, that we have to guard against being a people who become less patient with one another. Being a Samaritan. This woman wouldn't have had access to the same helps that Jews had in order to be aware of who Jesus was or even what Jesus was talking about. And Jesus isn't offended by that. He's not offended by her ignorance. This is a lady who is lost in her own ignorance and Jesus takes time with her. He didn't shut down the conversation, he didn't insult her intelligence or her knowledge or lack thereof. But rather he continues to strategically engage with this lady at the Well, so here we see that there is careful direction toward a permanent solution. This is what Jesus is doing in this moment. He is providing careful direction. He is steering the conversation rather than engaging in some of the things that she's offering up as a defense. He's providing careful direction because he knows he's about to offer her a permanent solution. She gets a bit testy in the response. She asks questions, Jesus answers and then look at verse 11, sir, you have nothing to draw water with and the well is deep. I do this sometimes trying to be dismissive. Maybe a little snarky. Just give me, can, can you give me something to drink, sir? You don't have a cup. You don't have a bucket, you don't have a rope. The water is deep. I mean, look, it's way down there, right? It's, it's deep. Verse 12. Are you greater than our father, Jacob? She asks what she's saying here, was she asking Jesus here in this moment? Are you greater than the man who provided this? Well, for me and my people and all who stop here just as you traveling from one place to another. All who come to gather water every single day, you greater than the one who dug this well, another point of application isn't that what most people are trying to figure out God? Are you greater than fill in the blank? That's what she's asking him. Are you greater than the man who provided this? Well, so you're using this? Great, she doesn't know this, right. But let's, let's just, let's just give her a little bit of credit. Are you? So you're using this, this great illustration here, Jesus. And I, I'm trying to track with you, but I'm lost here because I think you're, you're saying that you're better than the one who gave us this. Well, you're better than the one who, who dug the well, so that we could have water so we can have something to talk about, right? Something to drink. God. Are you greater than my job? God, are you greater than my income? God, are you greater than my status? And what people are asking God are you, are you greater than my talents? Are you greater than my family? I think people who are wrestling with the Lord seem to be wrestling with that. I'm hanging on to this because I think that this is better than what you have to offer or, or, or maybe to, to apply it in a different way. Isn't that what we're supposed to, to hone in on, in our gospel conversations with nonbelievers with coworkers with family members? Hey, did you know that God is greater than blank? He's greater than that relationship that you're hanging on to. He's greater than that promotion that you're, you're desperately trying to get. He's bigger than the cancer. He's bigger than the family issues, right? Trying to provide, uh trying to, to, to guide the conversation very carefully. She's comparing this man Jesus to that, which she found comfortable. Ultimately, that's what she's doing. Henry also says this an over fond veneration for antiquity makes God's graces in the good people of our own day to be slighted, an over fond veneration for antiquity makes God's grace graces in the good people of our own day to be slighted. Jesus responds to her question and he offers her practical and then spiritual insight. Look at verse 13, Jesus answered and said to her, everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again. So here's the practical insight that Jesus offers her. Yes, I can get water from this. Well, I will and you will be thirsty again. Even after we drink the water from this well, this water will be temporary solution to a recurring problem. So yes, I've got, I can get the water from the well. But when I drink of this water and you drink of this water, you will thirst again verse 14. But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst. So there's practical insight and he offers her the spiritual insight. There's a solution. Remember he says that living water that he refers to in verse 10, I can provide that. And once I provide that dear lady, you will never thirst again. In Jesus. We know that we find the living water in Christ. We are satisfied. We come to him. That's all. That's enough. So, yes, he is greater than the one who dug the well, yes, he is greater than fill in the blank. We know that in the world we find poor substitutes. The temporary always requires a permanent solution. If the well dries up, we have to go find another. Well, we have to, we have to go find another. Well, because our thirst is not going to go away. So what happens if the well dries up? We move from well to well to well to, well, what we know is that the believer has in himself through Christ, springing water welling up this continuous flow, a spring of water. We see that in verse 14 and then look at what the woman's response in verse 15. Sir, give me this water. So I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw. She says to Jesus, sir, give me this water. So I don't have to come to this place again. This well had become a place of ridicule. It had become a place of pain, a place of loneliness. It was a place of shame. This well, that was a place of temporary satisfaction, had become an unwelcome sight to this lady. And now it wasn't as appealing that she's comparing it to the offer that Jesus is giving her. How many people in our lives are waiting for us to give them the better option? Jesus says, I, I've, I've got living water. You're coming here wanting water to quench your thirst. I'm, I'm going to offer you water. That's going to save your soul. How many people in our lives are desperately wanting us to give them the better option? I, what Jesus does in verse 16, he said to her, go call your husband and y'all come here. This was a move that would have been culturally appropriate. Jesus was already breaking most of the rules talking with this woman, but now he's asking for her, her, her husband to come along as well, which would have been culturally acceptable. So I, I've, I've, I've spoken with you now, I need to speak to your husband, right? But also watch what Jesus is doing. He, he demonstrates here in this moment, his deity by calling out her sin. He's very carefully guiding her to realize what Jesus is asking. Perhaps she needed just a little bit more of a, of a nudge in order to respond to his invitation. But he knew this woman's current situation, the woman would be faced with a decision and her decision would be simple. What would she love more? What would she hang on to more? Would it be the sinful lifestyle that she was living in or would she choose the Messiah? In verse 17, the woman responds and she says, I have no husband. In verse 18. Jesus confirms this and, and points out that she's had five and the one with whom she is with now is not her husband. In verse 19, the woman notices that something is unique about Jesus. She says this, I perceive that you are a prophet. And then in verses 23 24 Jesus addresses the different beliefs of the Jews and Samaritans. And she, and then he illustrates what true worship really is. Verse 25. The woman says, yeah. Yeah. II I know, I know all this. There is a Messiah coming. So she, she, she gives hint to she knows something right? Of a Messiah that's coming. And then we see in verse 26 Jesus says, and I'm paraphrasing here I am that guy. I am the messiah. So I find it very interesting because now the disciples show back up. Remember they went to go look for something to eat. Disciples show back up and the woman leaves and she goes into the city we see in verse 29 why she goes into the city? She goes into the city and says this come see a man who told me all the things that I've done. This isn't the Christ is it? She goes back almost looking for validation of the conversation. She just had, she, she alludes to Sir II, I perceive that you're a prophet. So she alludes that she knows something of the coming Messiah. Then she goes back to the town, she talks to the men in town and says, hey, I think this is the guy, she left the place that had become a place of shame to go to people who had shamed her can imagine that she's, you know, not the talk of the town. She's the talk of the town. She's had five men. The one she's with now is not her husband. The ladies are making fun of her, her ridiculing her shaming her. She leaves the place of shame to go to the people who shamed her to tell them about Jesus. It's the power of an encounter with Jesus. It is life changing. You never encounter Jesus and leave the same period. End of story, we never come to the person of Jesus. You don't see it through scripture. You don't know it from, from your own testimony, right? Or those who, who have, who have walked before us. We see time and time and time again. When people encounter Jesus, things change, it changes the way we do things, it changes the way we see things we notice that it changed her mindset. She left her water pot can read into a lot of what's going on there. Does she leave the water pot to give us a clue that she doesn't need this, this temporary water anymore because she's found the living water. So what do we do with all of this? How do we apply this text, this story to our lives? Let me ask you a couple of questions. Where, where are the wells in your life. And, and I think, I think that has two meanings. The, the first one, the very practical one is this like, where are you encountering people every single day that don't know who Jesus is? Is it like at the office? Is it at home? Is it within your family? Is it on the ball field? Where are the, where are the places that, that are natural gathering places for conversations to happen? I want us to think about that before we leave here this morning, I want to make that application. Where are those wells? The other thing could be this like where are the wells in your life? What are the things that you're holding on to? Because you think they're bigger or better than Jesus? What are the wells in your life? What places in your life are you most likely to encounter one who needs to hear about Jesus? So how do we, how do we approach the wells? How do we approach this text and apply it to our lives so that we can leave here better equipped to do what God has called us to do? I think we have to look at how Jesus did it. We look at jesus' posture. We already hinted at that this morning, Jesus chose a humble posture. When he sat down to encounter this lady. He sat, he sat, he broke cultural barriers, he slowed down, he listened, what are we supposed to do when we come to these wells. I think we're supposed to slow down. I think we're supposed to listen. I think we have to become more approachable. I think we have to be ok with the ignorance of others without shoving down their throats, what we think or what we know to be true. This more humble posture, this more humble approach. Notice Jesus patience. He didn't become frustrated by her rebuttal. He wasn't frustrated by her ignorance, but rather he was very patient. He knew what was pertinent to this conversation and he knew what could be passed over. And then we noticed Jesus presentation. He used what was there to tell her who he was. He was very creative in what he did. He was very strategic in where he stopped. He used what was there to tell her who he was and then notice what else he does. He very gently exposes her to her sin and ultimately her need for him. Very gently. Hey, go, go get your husband and let's continue this conversation. Yeah, about that. Oh, right. In this conversation, she understood who Jesus was. She understood her sin and the result was life giving. It was life changing. I think we have to understand that there are people who are tired of going to the same. Well, the water has become stagnant. The journey is much too lonely. There's not permanent satisfaction. They're searching for living water. And we, we have the answer in Christ look at verse 39 from, from that city, many of the Samaritans believed in him because of the word of the woman who testified, who was the woman, the woman at the well from that city, because of her word, many of the Samaritans believed in Jesus. He told me all the things that I have done. So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they were asking him to stay with them. Wait, what? No, not a Jew in the Samaritans. The testimony of this lady forced, right? These, these other Samaritans to go and find out more. And then when they found out what she found out, the Samaritans are begging him to stay. And so what does Jesus do? He stays there for two more days. He was very strategic in his stop, he stays there for two more days. Many believe because of his word. And they were saying to the woman, it is no longer because of what you said that we believe for we have heard for ourselves and know that this one is indeed the savior of the world. My goodness, the Samaritans are saying it's no longer your story. But it's now my story. That's now our stories. That's really, really good that that happened to you. Fantastic. You had this great encounter at the well. But now it's now it's my story because I encountered the one who gave living water as well. Remember the disciples, the ones that Jesus called to say, hey, come follow me, I'll make you fishers of men. Disciples had gone into the town to get food. This, this crazy stuff is happening at a well, I think of oftentimes I feel like I'm more like a disciple then I am then like the least of these in the scriptures, right? There's what we see happening in the text. The disciples are urging Jesus to eat. Yeah. Yeah. OK. Oh Jesus, you gotta eat, you gotta eat. We went back to the town. We got you some food, we need you to eat. They're arguing over who brought Jesus something or did you bring something? I didn't bring something. Did you bring something? I right. They're arguing. They're urging him to eat. But then they're figuring out who brought Jesus something to eat. And yet Jesus uses another opportunity to teach these disciples something we see in verse 35. The second part of verse 35. Look what Jesus says as we're bringing this thing to a close. He says this look, lift up your eyes and look on the fields that they are white for harvest. Lift up your eyes. Hey, hey guys, stop arguing, stop worrying about trivial things. Stop, I, I'm good. I'm the bread of life. I don't need that bread. Just don't miss what's happening here in these moments. Lift up your eyes and look at the fields. You can almost picture II, I don't know. I don't know you can almost picture Jesus saying, hey, look at all these Samaritans that now have experienced the living water. Guys, stop worrying about all the stuff, all the temporary stuff and start focusing on, fix your gaze on the things that are permanent. Let me conclude. What, where's your, well, where's the place that you can encounter people or what's the thing that you kind of need to give up? What's your posture in your gospel conversations in your dealings with, with those who don't know Jesus? What's your posture? How patient are you willing to be? Then when will you present the gospel? When when will you present the better option? Maybe today, the the Holy Spirit is, is working and is speaking to you and you're thinking it, it's time to get serious about the offering, the hope of the gospel to those with whom you live, work and play. Or maybe perhaps you're like the woman at the, well, you're tired of looking for answers in all the wrong places. Your heart is longing for permanent relief in this morning for the first time. You realize that Jesus is the permanent solution. It's not all the other things you've tried to fit into your life to, to bring satisfaction, to bring joy, to bring life. But it's Jesus is, is the solution that you've been looking for.