John 4:4-38, Twelve principles of evangelism

John records a long personal conversation between Jesus and a Pharisee, he now records another long conversation between Jesus and a Samaritan


John 4:4-10 (NIV) Now he had to go through Samaria. 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 the sixth hour.


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.)


• There are a few similarities between this conversation and the previous -- what do you see?
• Personal and private
• Evangelistic
• Theme of water
• Witnessing occurs when Jesus is most tired (at the end of the day, night for Nicodemus; and the end of a long journey for the woman)
• The encounter is unusual for a number of reasons -- list some things.
• The woman is alone. Usually the women would travel together
• It is the middle of the day, toward the heat. Water is usually drawn near the end or early part
• Both of these latter points suggest she is shunne (avoided) or shamed (she avoided the other women)
• A Jewish man initiates a conversation with a Samaritan women
• A strict Jew would not have purchased food from the Samaritans. This is an example where the oral law went too far. Obviously, Jesus did not interpret the law so harshly as he sends his disciples to get food
• There are huge racial differences which are hard to understand, but they do not bother Jesus
• This passage gives us some great principles for sharing the gospel. What do we see?
• (First Principle of Evangelism (POE))Jesus makes himself available. He puts himself in a position to share. He could have stayed in his clique but he purposely separates himself from his comfort zone
• (Second POE) Jesus initiates the conversation
• Jesus uses a question. The question does not have to be spiritual
• Jesus uses a need or request of his own to start things. By asking for a drink for himself, the question is neutral, without any condemnation
• How does the woman's response strike you?
• It could be sarcastic, i.e., we Samaritans are scum of the earth to you Jews until you need something
• (Third POE) People may not respond kindly to your initial foray. Do not give up. Sometimes it is the very hurt in a person's life that causes them to respond as they do


John 4:10-15 (NIV) 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 flocks and herds?"


13 Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 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."


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."


• What can we learn from Jesus' response to the woman?
• He does not insult in kind nor does he take offense
• He responds directly to the woman's subjects -- drink and his identity as a Jew, and uses them as a conversation starter
• (Fourth POE) Jesus starts the conversation with a common need of both of them -- the desire for water
• (Fifth POE) Jesus moves the conversation by capturing her curiosity of a gift that was very valuable and free
• For Nicodemus, he talked about a new birth
• For the woman, he talks about living water
• How does the woman respond at this point?
• She uses his term "living water" in her response. She probably had no idea what he was talking about and could care less to find out
• She uses possibly two more barbs at Jesus
• One, she talks about their father, "Jacob," implying that she had the same father as the Jews and was no different
• Two, she challenges him if he was greater than Jacob, which is also a sarcastic response
• Now that Jesus has her attention, although mostly a sarcastic attention, he explains what he means by living water
• (Sixth POE) Jesus moves the conversation in a purposeful spiritual direction by explaining the difference between this water and living water
• How does the woman respond now?
• She is even more sarcastic. She challenges him to give her this water
• She obviously doesn't understand what the living water really is (and probably doesn't care) because she talks about no coming back to the well
• At this point, the woman has not been very helpful. She has ridiculed and sarcastically replied to every one of Jesus' statements
• Yet, at some point in the conversation her attitude changes very quickly, suggesting that despite her responses, she really was listening
• (Seventh POE) Antagonism and sarcasm are typical ways an unbeliever will respond to the gospel message, but it doesn't mean the person is not listening


John 4:16-26 (NIV) He told her, "Go, call your husband and come back."


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."


19 "Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem."


21 Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, 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 spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."


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 who speak to you am he."


• Since she asks for the "living water," Jesus tells her to go get her husband. This is one place where Jesus does have an advantage, he knew the woman. We know that everyone struggles with sin, we just don't know the details
• How do you perceive her response to Jesus' request for her to get her husband?
• She still sounds belligerent. She says she has no husband without any explanation
• She is not being very helpful
• How does Jesus respond back to the woman?
• Jesus does not call her a liar, in fact, he says she is truthful
• He then tells her, her sin, in a gentle and factual manner --" You have had five husbands and the man you now have is not your husband …"
• (Eight POE) Be gentle and respectful when sharing the gospel (1 Pet 3:15) even when the other person is not
• How does the woman respond now?
• She changes the subject
• She throws out a "red herring"
• (Ninth POE) When a gospel conversation starts hitting close to home, people will get uncomfortable and throw out questions which may or may not be significant. We need to discern those that are truly issues to address or just blockages to the message, so that we can get the conversation back on track
• Jesus does decide to address this question. What does Jesus' response tell us about his definition of "tolerance?"
• Does Jesus agree with the woman? (make need to review the history of the mountain)
• Jesus tells the woman that she is worshipping something she doesn't know
• Jesus tells the woman that salvation is from the Jews
• Jesus tells the woman that worshipping on this mountain has no value, but rather God wants worshippers who worship in Spirit and Truth (not on special mountains)
• A true definition of tolerance for the believer is not that all beliefs are true--they are not true. Tolerance means I will not force you to believe, but I also will not agree that your view has truth
• The woman now appeals to a higher authority rather than believe Jesus' statements about what is true or not
• Jesus's response is that he is the higher authority
• (Tenth POE) Our higher authority is the word of God. People can choose not to accept it, but we must at least point to it (or even better, quote it). God says his word is living and active. We don't have to convince people, but we have to share real truth with them -- it is their choice to believe


John 4:27-38 (NIV) Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, "What do you want?" or "Why are you talking with her?"


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 Christ?"  30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.


31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, "Rabbi, eat something."


32 But he said to them, "I have food to eat that you know nothing about."


33 Then his disciples said to each other, "Could someone have brought him food?"


34 "My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Do you not say, 'Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying 'One sows and another reaps' is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor."


• Clearly, Jesus' actions are not consistent with most male Jews. John feels compelled to offer a narrative about the disciples as they return
• A natural response of the new birth is a desire to tell others
• Even though the woman avoided people before, now she goes out of her way to tell them about Jesus
• What is the difference between Jesus and the disciples at this point?
• The disciples are focused on the temporal, their stomachs
• Jesus is focused on the eternal, people's souls and eternal destiny
• Consequently, the disciples do not understand what is going on
• Importance of "expectation" when we pray for opportunity and clarity
• [share example of the airplane flight and delays]
• (Eleventh POE) Keep your eyes open to what is happening around you
• Jesus explains to the disciples what is going on?
• He uses a food analogy (the harvest)
• As the people are coming up the hill, he says that the harvest is ripe
• In evangelism, they are sowers and reapers. Some do the hard work and some reap the benefits.
• APPLICATION: What are you? A sower or a reaper, or maybe not even working
• (Twelfth POE) It is always time to share the gospel (either sowing or reaping)