WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:15.120 All right, good morning. Good to see everybody. We're in John chapter 4 today. I love these 00:00:15.120 --> 00:00:19.760 series through John's Gospel as we're going bit by bit. It's a bit of a page turner, isn't it? 00:00:19.780 --> 00:00:25.540 You don't know, well, you know, what's going to happen next? And the good thing is we've all got 00:00:25.540 --> 00:00:31.340 the, whether on our phones or in our hands, we've got the book in front of us. So please do 00:00:31.340 --> 00:00:36.900 look into that and read it and understand it, what Jesus is saying to us. So we're in John chapter 00:00:36.900 --> 00:00:41.240 four, it's quite a long passage, some of these passages the way they fall, some are long, some 00:00:41.240 --> 00:00:47.520 are shorter, this is quite a long one and it's a journey through Samaria and the title that I've 00:00:47.520 --> 00:00:57.380 given it this morning is If You Only Knew, If You Only Knew, Jesus and the Samaritan Woman and 00:00:57.380 --> 00:01:00.160 Instead of reading all 38 verses all at once, 00:01:00.240 --> 00:01:01.800 we're going to read them bit by bit, 00:01:02.100 --> 00:01:03.320 go through them in sections, 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:08.660 and see what it is that God wants to say to us this morning. 00:01:10.850 --> 00:01:13.730 So John chapter 4, verse 1 to 3. 00:01:13.850 --> 00:01:16.450 Jesus knew the Pharisees had heard that he was baptizing 00:01:16.450 --> 00:01:18.070 and making more disciples than John, 00:01:18.330 --> 00:01:20.910 though Jesus himself didn't baptize them, his disciples did. 00:01:21.330 --> 00:01:24.950 So he left Judea and returned to Galilee. 00:01:24.950 --> 00:01:27.010 Look at the humanity of these passages. 00:01:27.010 --> 00:01:31.970 You know, Erica brought it out last week that there was this argument about who was getting more disciples 00:01:31.970 --> 00:01:36.730 and who was doing better, and Jesus seemed to be taking the lead, 00:01:36.890 --> 00:01:39.050 and John's disciples were upset about that. 00:01:39.530 --> 00:01:44.910 And even in the explanation, John, one of Jesus' disciples, is like being a little bit defensive, isn't he? 00:01:45.230 --> 00:01:47.450 Jesus himself didn't baptize him, his disciples did. 00:01:47.770 --> 00:01:48.830 He's one of the disciples. 00:01:49.470 --> 00:01:51.950 And they're just explaining it. 00:01:51.950 --> 00:01:56.650 But Jesus knew, and it's a really interesting moment in his ministry, 00:01:57.010 --> 00:01:58.870 that there is movement, there's momentum, 00:01:59.070 --> 00:02:00.330 people are starting to notice. 00:02:00.530 --> 00:02:01.790 John has paved the way for him. 00:02:01.970 --> 00:02:02.890 We've sung it this morning, 00:02:03.050 --> 00:02:04.450 prepare ye the way of the Lord, 00:02:04.930 --> 00:02:06.550 that, you know, there's one coming after me 00:02:06.550 --> 00:02:07.570 who is greater than me, 00:02:07.650 --> 00:02:10.870 whose sandals I'm not worthy to stoop down and untie. 00:02:11.130 --> 00:02:12.550 I will baptize you with water, 00:02:12.690 --> 00:02:14.410 he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. 00:02:14.670 --> 00:02:16.770 I am not the Messiah, he is the Messiah. 00:02:17.070 --> 00:02:19.530 Huge platform built for Jesus. 00:02:20.750 --> 00:02:23.930 And so, you know, in ministry terms, 00:02:24.030 --> 00:02:25.550 things are going really, really well. 00:02:25.630 --> 00:02:26.470 He's got everything. 00:02:27.010 --> 00:02:29.390 going for him in terms of publicity 00:02:29.390 --> 00:02:32.470 and the opportunity to make an impact. 00:02:33.750 --> 00:02:36.010 And then we get into chapter 4 and it says, 00:02:36.370 --> 00:02:38.750 Jesus knew the Pharisees had heard he was baptizing 00:02:38.750 --> 00:02:40.390 and making more disciples than John. 00:02:40.850 --> 00:02:44.460 So he left Judea and returned to Galilee. 00:02:45.320 --> 00:02:46.160 This is Jesus. 00:02:47.300 --> 00:02:48.160 Got it all made. 00:02:48.260 --> 00:02:50.800 He's got the book deal and the TV rights 00:02:50.800 --> 00:02:52.400 and everything is going on. 00:02:52.400 --> 00:02:55.180 The ministry is really beginning to take off 00:02:55.180 --> 00:02:57.360 and he hears that there's a bit of argy-bargy 00:02:57.360 --> 00:03:04.820 about who's getting the most popular and he said, right, I'm out of here. This is not what I'm doing. 00:03:07.240 --> 00:03:13.950 John had said he must become greater, I must become less and what's striking is that Jesus 00:03:13.950 --> 00:03:19.470 doesn't join in, he doesn't comment, he doesn't say, yep, that's me, you know, make way. John is saying 00:03:19.470 --> 00:03:24.850 make way, Jesus isn't saying make way, he's saying actually I'm not going to compete with 00:03:24.850 --> 00:03:29.750 anybody here and he left and he stepped away from the environment where everything is starting to 00:03:29.750 --> 00:03:34.230 revolve around status and perception if anyone had the right to take center stage it was him 00:03:34.230 --> 00:03:39.070 but Jesus doesn't compete for space in that because his ministry is something different 00:03:39.070 --> 00:03:45.490 he's absolutely wedded to what he knows God has called him to be and to do and when we get into 00:03:45.490 --> 00:03:49.750 that situation where it's all about competition it's all about status it's all about who's got 00:03:49.750 --> 00:03:57.040 the loudest voice no matter how much it's dressed up as Christian ministry the harsh word is that 00:03:57.040 --> 00:03:59.020 many times we'll find that it's from those environments 00:03:59.020 --> 00:04:00.320 that Jesus withdraws. 00:04:01.160 --> 00:04:02.720 Because Jesus' ministry 00:04:02.720 --> 00:04:05.120 is somewhere else. Jesus' ministry 00:04:05.120 --> 00:04:07.160 is on the edge. 00:04:07.280 --> 00:04:08.940 I remember my father-in-law 00:04:08.940 --> 00:04:11.060 recommending me a book many years ago 00:04:11.060 --> 00:04:13.040 called The Pilgrim Church. 00:04:13.220 --> 00:04:15.160 And he's saying how the work of 00:04:15.160 --> 00:04:16.940 God, the ministry of God is always 00:04:16.940 --> 00:04:19.140 on the edges, always on the 00:04:19.140 --> 00:04:21.140 margins. Look there, don't look in 00:04:21.140 --> 00:04:23.080 the centre where everything is going on, where all 00:04:23.080 --> 00:04:24.620 the noise and all the activity is. 00:04:24.980 --> 00:04:27.110 Jesus is on the edge. And what we 00:04:27.110 --> 00:04:31.330 see is that Jesus withdrew from that situation because he didn't want to take part in that 00:04:31.330 --> 00:04:36.970 competition didn't want to be part of that culture and that movement and he moved towards something 00:04:36.970 --> 00:04:45.630 that was entirely unexpected and so we move to verse four he had to go through Samaria on the way 00:04:45.630 --> 00:04:51.250 after he left Judea and returned to Galilee he had to go through Samaria on the way which is not a 00:04:51.250 --> 00:04:55.010 Jewish area it's not somewhere that he would normally have traveled through it's certainly 00:04:55.010 --> 00:04:59.930 not a comfortable route or an obvious route to take might be the way the satnav takes you but 00:04:59.930 --> 00:05:05.770 it's not the best way in terms of their culture and understanding but he had to go through samaria 00:05:05.770 --> 00:05:12.010 eventually he came to the samaritan village of sichar near the field that jacob gave to his son 00:05:12.010 --> 00:05:18.630 joseph jacob's well was there and jesus tired from the long walk sat wearily beside the well about 00:05:18.630 --> 00:05:23.790 noontime soon a samaritan woman came to draw water and jesus said to her please give me a drink 00:05:23.790 --> 00:05:31.110 he was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food the 00:05:31.110 --> 00:05:36.530 woman was surprised for jews refused to have anything to do with samaritans she said to jesus 00:05:36.530 --> 00:05:43.750 you're a jew and i'm a samaritan woman why are you asking me for a drink so jesus withdrew from the 00:05:43.750 --> 00:05:50.030 comfort of the successful ministry and he ended up in samaria in almost a forbidden area somewhere 00:05:50.030 --> 00:05:55.530 where he wouldn't normally be where where the people that were Jesus as a Jew would not never 00:05:55.530 --> 00:06:01.630 normally be expected to interact with with anybody in that community and here he was sat at the side 00:06:01.630 --> 00:06:07.390 of a well thirsty and he meets a woman who comes doing her daily business drawing the water from 00:06:07.390 --> 00:06:14.320 the well and he says please give me a drink and it's the woman herself that puts up the barriers 00:06:14.320 --> 00:06:20.880 immediately those barriers come up no why are you talking to me you shouldn't be talking to me 00:06:20.880 --> 00:06:26.000 she's like she's taken ignored the fact that Jesus has chosen to talk to her said this is not 00:06:26.000 --> 00:06:34.560 acceptable this is not acceptable this is not how things are she knows the rules she knows where she 00:06:34.560 --> 00:06:41.340 stands and in her mind this conversation shouldn't be happening but where Jesus had encountered a 00:06:41.340 --> 00:06:46.460 barrier in the in the ministry in the busyness in the competition that was going on around John 00:06:46.460 --> 00:06:51.840 and he withdrew, here where he finds a barrier being put up by somebody, he pushes through it 00:06:51.840 --> 00:07:01.960 and he's reaching into her life. We see Jesus working at the margins. Jesus working in unexpected 00:07:01.960 --> 00:07:08.060 places. Jesus speaking to people that he wouldn't normally. The crowds went out to John. Crowds went 00:07:08.060 --> 00:07:13.680 out to Jesus. There was a queue to be baptized. People were jumping in. They were 00:07:13.680 --> 00:07:20.200 rejoining. Everything was growing. This woman was just doing her daily business, and Jesus met her 00:07:20.200 --> 00:07:25.080 right there. She wasn't even asking for anything. In fact, she was resisting. She was saying, you 00:07:25.080 --> 00:07:37.950 shouldn't be speaking to me. And Jesus said, if only you knew. And so it goes on. Jesus replied, if you 00:07:37.950 --> 00:07:43.930 only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me and I would give you 00:07:43.930 --> 00:07:50.150 living water. But sir, you don't have a rope or a bucket, she said, and this well is very deep. Where 00:07:50.150 --> 00:07:54.350 would you get this living water? And besides, do you think you're greater than our ancestor Jacob 00:07:54.350 --> 00:07:59.890 who gave us this well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his animals enjoyed? 00:08:01.010 --> 00:08:05.710 Jesus replied, anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again, but those who drink 00:08:05.710 --> 00:08:10.650 the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh bubbling spring within them, 00:08:10.650 --> 00:08:14.990 giving them eternal life. Please, sir, the woman said, give me this water, then I'll never be thirsty 00:08:14.990 --> 00:08:23.400 again, and I won't have to come here to get water. Sounds like a good deal to her. But Jesus' phrase 00:08:23.400 --> 00:08:32.390 that he used is something that the whole encounter begins to center on. If you only knew. If you only 00:08:32.390 --> 00:08:38.930 knew the gift God has for you, and who you were speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you 00:08:38.930 --> 00:08:48.470 living water if you only knew this lady was living entirely within the limits of what she could see 00:08:48.470 --> 00:08:53.510 and what she could understand and here is jesus speaking from a completely different perspective 00:08:53.510 --> 00:08:58.470 saying actually if you only knew what i had for you if you only knew what was behind the curtain 00:08:58.470 --> 00:09:04.630 if you only knew the extent of god's grace and the extent of his love and the fact that all of 00:09:04.630 --> 00:09:08.230 your barriers and all of the reasons that you give me why i shouldn't be speaking to you if 00:09:08.230 --> 00:09:09.970 you knew that all of that was irrelevant 00:09:09.970 --> 00:09:12.750 and everything that God has for you is yours, 00:09:13.530 --> 00:09:15.450 you would ask me and I would give you. 00:09:18.500 --> 00:09:21.040 Holding something far greater than she could imagine. 00:09:21.400 --> 00:09:23.240 And it's almost like a tennis match, 00:09:23.320 --> 00:09:24.440 an uneven tennis match. 00:09:24.760 --> 00:09:26.340 Jesus is saying, if you only knew. 00:09:26.400 --> 00:09:28.460 She's saying, yes, but these are the limits. 00:09:28.540 --> 00:09:29.600 This far and no further. 00:09:29.900 --> 00:09:31.940 You can't actually do this. 00:09:32.000 --> 00:09:34.660 So Jesus is saying, yeah, but I've got living water. 00:09:35.680 --> 00:09:37.640 And she said, but you haven't got a bucket. 00:09:37.640 --> 00:09:41.740 and the well is very deep 00:09:41.740 --> 00:09:44.730 and you couldn't be greater than Jacob 00:09:44.730 --> 00:09:46.270 our father who gave us this well 00:09:46.270 --> 00:09:48.510 limits 00:09:48.510 --> 00:09:51.050 putting fences around 00:09:51.050 --> 00:09:54.250 it made perfect logical sense to her 00:09:54.250 --> 00:09:55.490 he didn't have a bucket 00:09:55.490 --> 00:09:57.030 so where could he get the water from 00:09:57.030 --> 00:09:58.270 the well was too deep 00:09:58.270 --> 00:10:01.010 this is Jacob's well 00:10:01.010 --> 00:10:02.030 who is this person 00:10:02.030 --> 00:10:04.980 talking to me about living water 00:10:04.980 --> 00:10:07.420 and so she immediately 00:10:07.420 --> 00:10:10.320 was closing the door on the possibilities 00:10:10.320 --> 00:10:16.500 if only you knew if only you knew what was real jen mentioned it earlier you know is he real that 00:10:16.500 --> 00:10:22.740 question if only you knew how real he was if only you knew how powerful he was how gracious he was 00:10:22.740 --> 00:10:27.760 how loving he was how how much he had for you then you would ask and i would give you 00:10:27.760 --> 00:10:35.070 but you don't ask because the limits of your imagination close it down and stop you i mean 00:10:35.070 --> 00:10:39.030 to have some sympathy on her i mean why should she know anything she doesn't know anything else 00:10:39.030 --> 00:10:43.130 except her normal everyday life where she's excluded from Israel 00:10:43.130 --> 00:10:46.970 and people don't talk to her because of who she is and where she was born. 00:10:47.570 --> 00:10:51.130 You know, all of that, and yet you find Jesus breaking those barriers 00:10:51.130 --> 00:10:52.110 and saying, if only you knew. 00:10:52.190 --> 00:10:56.190 What a, not just a metaphor, but what a message for our culture 00:10:56.190 --> 00:10:57.550 and our world that we live in. 00:10:57.570 --> 00:11:00.730 If only you knew how close Jesus is. 00:11:00.850 --> 00:11:04.610 You know, religion separates and puts a distance 00:11:04.610 --> 00:11:07.190 because you've got to go through, even going through the baptism, 00:11:07.190 --> 00:11:08.830 you've got to go through the processes 00:11:08.830 --> 00:11:11.250 and you've got to be a certain type of person 00:11:11.250 --> 00:11:14.010 and be part of a certain type of community 00:11:14.010 --> 00:11:16.690 and yet Jesus goes straight to this woman 00:11:16.690 --> 00:11:17.770 and said if only you knew 00:11:17.770 --> 00:11:18.490 it's right here 00:11:18.490 --> 00:11:20.590 just ask me 00:11:20.590 --> 00:11:21.910 right here 00:11:21.910 --> 00:11:23.530 it's yours 00:11:23.530 --> 00:11:24.710 and she's like oh no 00:11:24.710 --> 00:11:25.510 I don't think 00:11:25.510 --> 00:11:27.250 your bucket's not big enough 00:11:27.250 --> 00:11:32.100 and her experience 00:11:32.100 --> 00:11:32.680 her history 00:11:32.680 --> 00:11:33.300 her understanding 00:11:33.300 --> 00:11:35.180 form the walls of what she believes is possible 00:11:35.180 --> 00:11:36.660 and that's the world we live in 00:11:36.660 --> 00:11:37.960 just outside there 00:11:37.960 --> 00:11:43.560 just around us just in our neighborhoods just where we work there are people that actually 00:11:43.560 --> 00:11:49.740 Jesus is right there saying if only you knew even in our lives if only you knew I remember when I 00:11:49.740 --> 00:11:57.380 was a student many many years ago and I think about this sometimes because I'm not very how 00:11:57.380 --> 00:12:03.000 can I put it yeah I get quite analytical about things in you know and and trying to understand 00:12:03.000 --> 00:12:07.020 the love of God and all of that and I remember somebody saying to me speaking a word they said 00:12:07.020 --> 00:12:10.140 I've just been, they were overwhelmed 00:12:10.140 --> 00:12:12.160 by it, I wasn't overwhelmed, they were saying 00:12:12.160 --> 00:12:14.100 I've been overwhelmed by the love 00:12:14.100 --> 00:12:15.960 God has for you, or the 00:12:15.960 --> 00:12:18.020 grace and the mercy and 00:12:18.020 --> 00:12:19.900 if only you could see it 00:12:19.900 --> 00:12:22.200 and I couldn't see it, I said 00:12:22.200 --> 00:12:23.540 well thanks very much, thank you for your word 00:12:23.540 --> 00:12:26.500 and come away 00:12:26.500 --> 00:12:28.460 and I've thought about it since and I've never really 00:12:28.460 --> 00:12:30.380 not never really understood the love 00:12:30.380 --> 00:12:32.040 of God but it's like 00:12:32.040 --> 00:12:34.380 it was just that message that there is so much 00:12:34.380 --> 00:12:35.920 more than you've ever seen 00:12:35.920 --> 00:12:37.400 that is yours 00:12:37.400 --> 00:12:40.480 and sometimes, and I know, I'll put myself 00:12:40.480 --> 00:12:42.140 in that bracket, I'll be one like that 00:12:42.140 --> 00:12:44.120 yeah but, yeah but, yeah but, yeah but 00:12:44.120 --> 00:12:46.000 yeah but, there's a 00:12:46.000 --> 00:12:47.500 there's a reason, there's a limit 00:12:47.500 --> 00:12:52.160 yeah but, why doesn't it work 00:12:52.160 --> 00:12:55.780 we hear words like grace and power 00:12:55.780 --> 00:12:57.620 and mercy but we filter them through what we 00:12:57.620 --> 00:12:59.820 already know, we quietly set the limits 00:12:59.820 --> 00:13:01.540 say okay well, we 00:13:01.540 --> 00:13:04.080 we, yeah we know 00:13:04.080 --> 00:13:05.820 that God loves us, but 00:13:05.820 --> 00:13:08.100 you know, I've got all these other things to think about 00:13:08.100 --> 00:13:16.320 and he said if only you knew that the love of God could overwhelm all of that and take charge of 00:13:16.320 --> 00:13:21.440 all of that and blow your life not just sort of float your life but blow you out of the water 00:13:21.440 --> 00:13:26.620 altogether there's so much that is available to us and that's what Jesus was saying to this 00:13:26.620 --> 00:13:31.300 to this lady and he doesn't give up on her just because she puts up the barriers he keeps going 00:13:31.300 --> 00:13:36.880 he keeps pushing and he keeps using different angles and different ways to get through to 00:13:36.880 --> 00:13:38.080 and to communicate to her. 00:13:39.060 --> 00:13:41.840 And so it goes on, verse 16. 00:13:46.310 --> 00:13:50.430 So she said, please give me this water, 00:13:50.530 --> 00:13:51.670 then I'll never be thirsty again 00:13:51.670 --> 00:13:53.090 and I won't have to come here to get water. 00:13:53.190 --> 00:13:55.290 Now there, before we move on to the next passage, 00:13:55.470 --> 00:13:59.530 that is again just a symbol of how we deal with Jesus, isn't it? 00:13:59.810 --> 00:14:01.090 Oh yeah, well all right, then give me, 00:14:01.670 --> 00:14:03.750 through our understanding, give me what you've got 00:14:03.750 --> 00:14:05.170 and then that will make my life a bit easier. 00:14:06.150 --> 00:14:07.970 That means I don't have to work so hard. 00:14:08.210 --> 00:14:10.010 It means I don't have to actually keep coming here 00:14:10.010 --> 00:14:11.810 because I'm fed up with coming to the well all the time, 00:14:11.850 --> 00:14:14.150 and if I've got this never-ending supply of water, 00:14:14.430 --> 00:14:15.370 it sounds perfect. 00:14:16.280 --> 00:14:17.500 It's like the Industrial Revolution. 00:14:20.160 --> 00:14:22.680 But she's not really got a vision for her life to change, 00:14:22.720 --> 00:14:24.060 just for her life to get easier. 00:14:29.320 --> 00:14:31.140 And Jesus doesn't carry on the conversation, 00:14:33.220 --> 00:14:35.460 because, like I said, he takes a different angle. 00:14:35.740 --> 00:14:37.640 Give me this water, then I'll never be thirsty again. 00:14:37.640 --> 00:14:38.480 Sounds like a deal. 00:14:38.640 --> 00:14:40.080 Could probably make a business out of it. 00:14:41.680 --> 00:14:43.160 Jesus said, all right, go and get your husband. 00:14:45.900 --> 00:14:47.520 I don't have a husband, the woman replied. 00:14:48.760 --> 00:14:49.700 Jesus said, you're right. 00:14:50.400 --> 00:14:52.780 You don't have a husband, but you've had five husbands. 00:14:53.340 --> 00:14:55.240 And you aren't even married to the man you're living with now. 00:14:55.460 --> 00:14:56.620 You certainly spoke the truth. 00:14:56.860 --> 00:14:57.240 Well done. 00:14:58.620 --> 00:15:00.660 Sir, the woman said, you must be a prophet. 00:15:01.260 --> 00:15:04.840 So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship 00:15:04.840 --> 00:15:08.140 while we Samaritans claim it's here at Mount Gerizim where our ancestors worshipped? 00:15:08.540 --> 00:15:10.800 Just, I'm just, it makes me wonder sometimes, 00:15:10.940 --> 00:15:15.040 did Jesus go into that conversation with the full package of knowledge? 00:15:15.040 --> 00:15:18.460 Or was it that moment that God just opened something up and he saw it 00:15:18.460 --> 00:15:21.040 and he spoke it out, naturally supernatural, 00:15:21.220 --> 00:15:23.100 just in a conversation around the well. 00:15:23.620 --> 00:15:27.460 And it's like God just opened up a door in his thoughts. 00:15:27.580 --> 00:15:29.080 Yeah, you're right, you don't have a husband. 00:15:29.860 --> 00:15:31.400 In fact, you've had five husbands 00:15:31.400 --> 00:15:33.500 and you're not married to the man you're living with now. 00:15:34.060 --> 00:15:36.460 I mean, that could be absolutely devastating, 00:15:36.980 --> 00:15:38.200 that sort of exposure. 00:15:39.060 --> 00:15:41.820 But there's a sense that he's not exposing her to shame her 00:15:41.820 --> 00:15:43.680 or to crush her, just to show her, 00:15:45.190 --> 00:15:46.390 you know, there's somebody special here. 00:15:46.690 --> 00:15:47.330 I know you. 00:15:48.190 --> 00:15:50.750 I'm not just talking to you about the theory of living water 00:15:50.750 --> 00:15:52.570 or offering you a business opportunity. 00:15:52.930 --> 00:15:54.050 I know who you are. 00:15:55.560 --> 00:15:56.300 I know your life. 00:15:56.380 --> 00:15:58.120 I know you from beginning to end. 00:15:58.540 --> 00:15:59.620 I know everything about you. 00:15:59.680 --> 00:16:00.780 And if you only knew. 00:16:01.160 --> 00:16:02.900 He said he knew all of that. 00:16:02.960 --> 00:16:04.660 He didn't think when he got the word of knowledge, 00:16:04.800 --> 00:16:06.940 he thought, oops, I spoke too soon about the grace of God. 00:16:07.440 --> 00:16:08.260 She's had five husbands. 00:16:09.790 --> 00:16:10.070 He didn't. 00:16:10.170 --> 00:16:12.150 He said, you've had five husbands. 00:16:12.310 --> 00:16:13.810 The man you're living with is not your husband. 00:16:14.150 --> 00:16:16.710 And if only you knew how much grace there was for you. 00:16:17.450 --> 00:16:18.710 Then you would ask. 00:16:18.710 --> 00:16:19.590 and I would give you. 00:16:19.690 --> 00:16:20.630 I would still give you. 00:16:21.070 --> 00:16:23.010 And now that word of knowledge is out in the open, 00:16:23.130 --> 00:16:24.130 I'm still going to give you. 00:16:26.000 --> 00:16:28.100 So he shifts the ground completely. 00:16:30.370 --> 00:16:31.450 She's obviously a bit nervous 00:16:31.450 --> 00:16:33.470 because she turns it into a theological discussion. 00:16:34.420 --> 00:16:36.280 Yeah, the man you're living with is not your husband. 00:16:36.420 --> 00:16:37.560 Oh yeah, tell us where we should worship. 00:16:41.740 --> 00:16:43.760 Why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem 00:16:43.760 --> 00:16:44.800 is the only place of worship 00:16:44.800 --> 00:16:46.960 while we Samaritans claim it's here at Mount Gerizim 00:16:46.960 --> 00:16:48.100 where our ancestors worshipped? 00:16:48.140 --> 00:16:49.260 We love to do that, don't we? 00:16:49.580 --> 00:16:50.460 Switch it around. 00:16:50.880 --> 00:16:54.040 See it all the time you get into conversation with people. 00:16:54.540 --> 00:16:59.150 about what is what's jesus saying to you what what is what is what does faith mean to you 00:16:59.150 --> 00:17:04.150 well interesting question but i'd like to ask about adam and eve you know where did where did 00:17:04.150 --> 00:17:07.950 the children of adam and eve get their wives from and all that sort of thing those sort of questions 00:17:07.950 --> 00:17:15.850 come up because people would like to we'd like to deflect don't we you're right you've had five 00:17:15.850 --> 00:17:24.830 husbands he sees her fully and he's offering her living water she puts it back into the into into 00:17:24.830 --> 00:17:26.430 the terms that she can control. 00:17:28.560 --> 00:17:29.660 But he doesn't argue with her. 00:17:30.080 --> 00:17:32.100 In fact, he even lets her lead the conversation. 00:17:32.100 --> 00:17:35.230 So, you know, she moves it away from the husband. 00:17:35.330 --> 00:17:36.050 That's a bit embarrassing. 00:17:37.110 --> 00:17:40.150 And she gets to, you know, where we should worship. 00:17:42.070 --> 00:17:43.310 And he opens it up again. 00:17:43.470 --> 00:17:46.110 So she's showing the limits of our imagination. 00:17:46.310 --> 00:17:47.130 Where should we worship? 00:17:47.270 --> 00:17:48.370 Which mountain should we be on? 00:17:48.550 --> 00:17:49.410 What's the procedure? 00:17:49.550 --> 00:17:50.370 What's the protocol? 00:17:51.640 --> 00:17:53.200 Jesus said, believe me, dear woman. 00:17:55.200 --> 00:17:55.980 I like that, isn't it? 00:17:56.120 --> 00:17:58.260 Dear woman, the time is coming 00:17:58.260 --> 00:18:02.520 when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. 00:18:02.940 --> 00:18:05.380 You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, 00:18:05.940 --> 00:18:07.460 while we Jews know all about him, 00:18:07.780 --> 00:18:09.400 for salvation comes through the Jews, 00:18:09.720 --> 00:18:12.180 that the time is coming, indeed it's here now, 00:18:12.400 --> 00:18:17.840 when true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. 00:18:18.810 --> 00:18:21.450 The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way, 00:18:21.690 --> 00:18:25.590 for God is spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. 00:18:25.590 --> 00:18:28.570 Notice how interaction with Jesus always brings us 00:18:28.570 --> 00:18:31.150 to that expansion of our understanding. 00:18:31.310 --> 00:18:33.350 He doesn't allow us to close things down. 00:18:33.930 --> 00:18:37.230 Everything about her conversation was closing things down, 00:18:37.310 --> 00:18:39.550 was bringing things down into an understandable point 00:18:39.550 --> 00:18:42.250 to say, okay, well, what about the mountain? 00:18:42.390 --> 00:18:43.050 Where should we do it? 00:18:43.150 --> 00:18:43.950 What about the water? 00:18:44.630 --> 00:18:46.810 She's trying to analyze it in a human term, 00:18:46.910 --> 00:18:48.670 and Jesus is opening it up all the time 00:18:48.670 --> 00:18:51.190 and is giving a new understanding, a new revelation, 00:18:51.370 --> 00:18:55.210 and saying, actually, as you step into this revelation 00:18:55.210 --> 00:18:57.250 and this understanding and this knowledge about God, 00:18:57.450 --> 00:19:01.130 you will learn more and more and more and more and more 00:19:01.130 --> 00:19:04.790 if only you knew how much God has for you. 00:19:04.830 --> 00:19:07.710 And what a message for the world, if only you knew. 00:19:07.770 --> 00:19:08.570 The world's full of religion. 00:19:08.650 --> 00:19:10.130 I mean, Jesus' world was full of religion. 00:19:10.830 --> 00:19:12.270 Religious people crucified him. 00:19:12.610 --> 00:19:14.650 Religious people were the ones he drove out of the temple. 00:19:14.730 --> 00:19:16.410 Remember Temple Jesus with his whip? 00:19:17.010 --> 00:19:19.450 And, you know, it was all, there was no, 00:19:19.570 --> 00:19:21.010 Jesus didn't come to make more religion. 00:19:21.130 --> 00:19:22.490 There was plenty of it to start with. 00:19:22.490 --> 00:19:25.670 We don't need Jesus to give us more religion, 00:19:26.030 --> 00:19:28.530 but we do need Jesus to open up, to take the lid off 00:19:28.530 --> 00:19:30.560 and say, if only you knew. 00:19:30.660 --> 00:19:35.090 There's so much grace. 00:19:36.270 --> 00:19:37.750 And what a message for 2026. 00:19:38.780 --> 00:19:40.140 People think they know, don't they? 00:19:40.660 --> 00:19:42.980 We've got all this, there's so much discussion these days 00:19:42.980 --> 00:19:46.160 about religion and religious sensitivities 00:19:46.160 --> 00:19:50.960 and who should pray where and what should happen 00:19:50.960 --> 00:19:54.100 and we've been told by politicians, 00:19:54.100 --> 00:19:59.940 what you know how to understand religion it's all it's all just surface it's all just tinkering 00:19:59.940 --> 00:20:05.020 around with stuff but if only you knew what was under the surface if only you knew the power of 00:20:05.020 --> 00:20:10.100 the grace of god and that's what we pray that god lifts the lid so that this living water would flow 00:20:10.100 --> 00:20:16.300 out into our lives into our communities into our understanding so that the reality that jen talked 00:20:16.300 --> 00:20:23.700 about earlier is is ours the reality is seen the reality is felt been so exciting to see what's 00:20:23.700 --> 00:20:28.980 happening through Alpha, and people coming in that, and conversations that I had that are 00:20:28.980 --> 00:20:34.370 turning into faith, and people saying, you know, well, you know, I'm beginning to see, I'm beginning 00:20:34.370 --> 00:20:39.850 to understand, and you're sort of like, you're getting into, stepping into the water, but 00:20:39.850 --> 00:20:45.790 sooner or later you step into the white water rapids, and things really do change as the power 00:20:45.790 --> 00:20:59.320 of God works in our lives. Then the disciples come back, proving their credentials as men of 00:20:59.320 --> 00:21:05.300 power for the hour. They were shocked to find him talking to a woman, but none of them had the nerve 00:21:05.300 --> 00:21:11.920 to ask, what do you want with her or why are you talking to her? So they just stood in awkward 00:21:11.920 --> 00:21:17.320 silence, presumably. The woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, 00:21:17.420 --> 00:21:22.040 telling everyone, come and see a man who told me everything I ever did. Didn't actually, did he? 00:21:22.180 --> 00:21:28.410 But it felt like it, I'm sure. Could he possibly be the Messiah? So the people came streaming from 00:21:28.410 --> 00:21:30.470 the village to see him. Meanwhile 00:21:30.470 --> 00:21:32.210 the disciples were urging Jesus, Rabbi, 00:21:32.350 --> 00:21:34.370 eat something. But Jesus replied, I have a 00:21:34.370 --> 00:21:36.350 kind of food you know nothing about. See the 00:21:36.350 --> 00:21:38.400 theme? Every time. 00:21:38.600 --> 00:21:40.660 Jesus was infuriating, wasn't he? Just as soon as 00:21:40.660 --> 00:21:42.580 you say something, he says, oh yeah, but there's something else. 00:21:43.140 --> 00:21:44.660 You know, have some food. Oh no, I've got 00:21:44.660 --> 00:21:45.240 different food. 00:21:48.320 --> 00:21:49.780 Challenging their thinking all the time. 00:21:50.930 --> 00:21:51.930 Then they said, did someone bring 00:21:51.930 --> 00:21:53.930 him food while we were gone? They're no different to the 00:21:53.930 --> 00:21:55.990 Samaritan woman, are they? She wasn't allowed 00:21:55.990 --> 00:21:57.910 to speak to Jews, but I mean, the Jews 00:21:57.910 --> 00:22:01.060 didn't know much more. Jesus 00:22:01.060 --> 00:22:04.960 explained my nourishment comes from doing the will of God who sent me and from finishing his work 00:22:04.960 --> 00:22:09.520 you know the saying four months between planting and harvest but I say wake up and look around the 00:22:09.520 --> 00:22:14.120 fields are already ripe for harvest the harvesters are paid good wages and the fruit they harvest is 00:22:14.120 --> 00:22:19.780 people brought to eternal life what joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike you know 00:22:19.780 --> 00:22:24.940 the saying one plants another harvest and it's true I sent you to harvest where you didn't plant 00:22:24.940 --> 00:22:31.250 others had already done the work and now you will get to gather the harvest so he's taking 00:22:31.250 --> 00:22:33.290 the Samaritan woman on a journey. He's taken his 00:22:33.290 --> 00:22:35.370 disciples on a journey. Jesus is all 00:22:35.370 --> 00:22:37.410 about revelation. This river 00:22:37.410 --> 00:22:38.930 of living water is to do 00:22:38.930 --> 00:22:41.390 so much with his life, to do so much 00:22:41.390 --> 00:22:43.290 with what he teaches, to do so much 00:22:43.290 --> 00:22:48.920 what he shows. I have 00:22:48.920 --> 00:22:50.760 food you don't understand. He's operating 00:22:50.760 --> 00:22:52.500 on a completely different 00:22:52.500 --> 00:22:55.710 level. Open up your eyes. 00:22:55.810 --> 00:22:57.810 The fields are white for harvest 00:22:57.810 --> 00:22:59.940 because the harvest isn't 00:22:59.940 --> 00:23:02.200 theoretical. It looks 00:23:02.200 --> 00:23:03.280 like this lady 00:23:03.280 --> 00:23:05.340 by the side of the well. 00:23:06.850 --> 00:23:10.750 Somebody who would be completely disqualified in their eyes. 00:23:11.330 --> 00:23:13.270 Why are you even talking to her, they said. 00:23:14.300 --> 00:23:15.880 Jesus said, open up your eyes. 00:23:16.380 --> 00:23:17.160 This is the harvest. 00:23:18.400 --> 00:23:19.440 These are the people. 00:23:19.680 --> 00:23:21.120 This is who the message is for. 00:23:21.200 --> 00:23:22.020 If only you knew. 00:23:22.200 --> 00:23:23.020 If only they knew. 00:23:23.120 --> 00:23:23.980 If only you knew. 00:23:25.090 --> 00:23:27.800 And it's where it all comes together for us. 00:23:27.800 --> 00:23:34.790 Jesus isn't competing for space in environments of comparison and control. 00:23:34.790 --> 00:23:37.620 he's not trying to win 00:23:37.620 --> 00:23:39.600 a religious competition 00:23:39.600 --> 00:23:42.650 but he will step into the lives 00:23:42.650 --> 00:23:44.410 of those who feel excluded 00:23:44.410 --> 00:23:46.610 limited, disqualified 00:23:46.610 --> 00:23:48.050 and if we're honest 00:23:48.050 --> 00:23:49.850 that's all of us from time to time 00:23:49.850 --> 00:23:52.710 excluded, limited, disqualified 00:23:52.710 --> 00:23:54.850 and even when Jesus introduces himself 00:23:54.850 --> 00:23:55.730 to us and says yes 00:23:55.730 --> 00:23:57.530 I'm not too sure about that 00:23:57.530 --> 00:24:02.100 it's a little bit far for me to go 00:24:02.100 --> 00:24:04.090 Jesus has wanted to 00:24:04.090 --> 00:24:05.650 take us on a journey of understanding 00:24:05.650 --> 00:24:06.670 just like he did with this woman 00:24:06.670 --> 00:24:08.670 He didn't say, oh, woman, you'll never understand 00:24:08.670 --> 00:24:10.070 and walk off and find somebody else. 00:24:10.410 --> 00:24:13.610 He led her, led her to understanding. 00:24:14.930 --> 00:24:18.470 Are you ready to be led by Jesus to understanding more? 00:24:18.510 --> 00:24:19.310 If only you knew. 00:24:19.810 --> 00:24:21.490 Do you want to know more? 00:24:22.400 --> 00:24:23.640 Do you want to know the extent? 00:24:23.920 --> 00:24:25.340 You'll never know the extent, will we? 00:24:25.340 --> 00:24:30.360 Do you want to know some of the depth of what God has for us? 00:24:33.900 --> 00:24:36.860 And so Jesus came to a point where he stopped explaining 00:24:36.860 --> 00:24:39.660 and the woman started to respond. 00:24:39.660 --> 00:24:42.240 she started by saying you shouldn't be talking to me 00:24:42.240 --> 00:24:44.520 and then she ran off to the village and brought everybody with her 00:24:44.520 --> 00:24:46.180 come on, come and see 00:24:46.180 --> 00:24:48.640 this man who told me everything 00:24:48.640 --> 00:24:50.580 I ever did 00:24:50.580 --> 00:24:55.080 where are we in the conversation 00:24:55.080 --> 00:24:55.660 with Jesus 00:24:55.660 --> 00:24:59.040 are we people that are quietly saying 00:24:59.040 --> 00:25:00.280 this is as far as it goes 00:25:00.280 --> 00:25:04.820 I think I've experienced enough of Jesus 00:25:04.820 --> 00:25:06.140 and I understand him now 00:25:06.140 --> 00:25:09.140 and I think this far and no further 00:25:09.140 --> 00:25:13.750 or are we holding back 00:25:13.750 --> 00:25:16.610 think well this isn't really for me 00:25:16.610 --> 00:25:23.120 and we can hear that statement of Jesus 00:25:23.120 --> 00:25:25.360 spoken into our lives this morning 00:25:25.360 --> 00:25:29.560 if you only knew the gift God has for you. 00:25:31.220 --> 00:25:34.580 And so there are two questions as we close 00:25:34.580 --> 00:25:37.290 and ask the worship team to come back. 00:25:38.040 --> 00:25:42.940 Two simple questions. 00:25:44.320 --> 00:25:46.880 Am I reducing Jesus to what I understand 00:25:46.880 --> 00:25:50.740 or am I open to what he wants to do? 00:25:50.740 --> 00:25:53.480 as MCF are we reducing Jesus 00:25:53.480 --> 00:25:55.580 to what we understand, to what we've seen 00:25:55.580 --> 00:25:57.440 or are we open to all 00:25:57.440 --> 00:25:58.400 that he's going to do 00:25:58.400 --> 00:26:04.000 this whole exercise with 146 00:26:04.000 --> 00:26:05.340 that we've been going through has been an exercise 00:26:05.340 --> 00:26:06.940 in expanding our imagination 00:26:06.940 --> 00:26:08.500 about what is possible 00:26:08.500 --> 00:26:12.570 and every time it feels like a new set of limits 00:26:12.570 --> 00:26:14.650 come down on us and then God pushes us through 00:26:14.650 --> 00:26:17.730 and the other question is 00:26:17.730 --> 00:26:19.550 if I really believed what was on offer 00:26:19.550 --> 00:26:20.590 what would I ask for 00:26:20.590 --> 00:26:23.850 if you really believed what was on offer 00:26:23.850 --> 00:26:28.490 if you began to see that Jesus has untold blessing, 00:26:28.670 --> 00:26:32.880 untold power, untold opportunity for transformation, 00:26:34.430 --> 00:26:35.710 what would you ask him for? 00:26:39.710 --> 00:26:41.150 Where have I set the limits? 00:26:42.080 --> 00:26:43.820 What have I decided is not possible? 00:26:46.410 --> 00:26:47.290 And our prayer should be, 00:26:47.370 --> 00:26:49.150 Jesus, show us what we don't yet see. 00:26:50.900 --> 00:26:53.200 Show us the water we don't yet understand. 00:26:54.000 --> 00:26:57.000 And give us the courage to ask you for more. 00:26:57.000 --> 00:27:00.560 and so as we worship 00:27:00.560 --> 00:27:02.780 I'm going to offer you 00:27:02.780 --> 00:27:03.940 that simple 00:27:03.940 --> 00:27:07.040 opportunity, you may have responses 00:27:07.040 --> 00:27:08.920 that you want to make in your own heart quietly 00:27:08.920 --> 00:27:10.570 but equally 00:27:10.570 --> 00:27:13.110 more and more we want to open up the front here 00:27:13.110 --> 00:27:14.890 and give opportunity 00:27:14.890 --> 00:27:16.930 for anybody that wants to come, as we worship 00:27:16.930 --> 00:27:18.950 don't hesitate, if you know that 00:27:18.950 --> 00:27:20.670 God is speaking to you, come down 00:27:20.670 --> 00:27:22.850 we've got a team of people that will happily 00:27:22.850 --> 00:27:24.750 stand with you, pray with you 00:27:24.750 --> 00:27:27.150 and ask God with you 00:27:27.150 --> 00:27:30.830 to open up the possibilities for all that he has. 00:27:31.250 --> 00:27:33.710 And so as I hand over to Erica, hand back to Jan, 00:27:34.470 --> 00:27:37.030 don't be afraid to make a response. 00:27:37.730 --> 00:27:37.930 Amen.