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That's connectwithskip.com. Now let's get started with today's message from Pastor Skip Heitzig. Mount Gerizim, remember that? Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim, the blessings and the cursings that were shouted in our study of the Old Testament. So they built a temple on Mount Gerizim.
Interesting fact, it is believed that the son-in-law of Sanballat was the one who built that temple in 330 BC. So now there's a rival temple and Josephus says the rival temple in Samaria was almost exactly like the temple in Jerusalem. So you have Samaritan worship in Samaria and the Jerusalem worship in the temple. And they're at odds with each other. So the people in Judea, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, all of them, they don't like the Samaritans.
They have no dealings with the Samaritans. It's a rival religion. A rival temple, God said, only worship and sacrifice animals in the place that I choose. That was Jerusalem.
Everybody knew it. They had their own priesthood, their own high priests. They offered sacrifices. And they only believed in the first five books of Moses, not the whole Old Testament. So they had their five books, their Pentateuch, their Torah, the Samaritan Pentateuch. Another just quick little fact, there are still Samaritans alive today. Just a few years ago, the oldest high priest died and they elected a new one in his place, part of his family, part of his lineage. There's only a few hundred of them left, but they're there in Samaria.
It's very interesting and they still perform their worship systems every year. And they still sacrifice in that area. So that's Samaria. Jesus needed to go through Samaria. So he came, verse five, to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar.
Near the plot of ground, Jacob gave to his son, Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus, therefore, being wearied from his journey, sat thus by the well.
It was about the sixth hour. A woman of Samaria came to draw water and Jesus said to her, give me a drink. For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.
Don't miss that phrase. Jesus was wearied from the journey. We believe in Christianity that Jesus was fully God and at the same time fully human. And here is the human side of Jesus, wearied from the journey.
Can I rephrase it? Wearied in the pursuit of souls. Wearied, tired, it's a long walk. He's not on a tour bus. He didn't have a tour guide. It's not air conditioned.
It's not hotels and meals and falafel lunches. He's walking. It's 12 noon. He goes to the well, Jacob's well.
I've been there. He's tired. And a woman is drawing water. Now, women typically didn't draw water at noon.
They drew it in the morning and in the evening. She comes at noon. Why? I believe she's not liked. She doesn't want to be seen with everybody else.
And we'll discover why as we go through the story. She's a woman with a reputation. She's been around the block with men. She's had several men in her life. She's had five husbands.
And she's married now to number six. But Jesus, weary in his pursuit of souls, what do you get weary in? Is there any spiritual pursuit that you are willing to put your hand to the plow with and get tired doing it? Oswald Sanders once said, the world is run by tired men. Now, he wrote that in his day. We would say today it's run by tired men and women.
And that's true. Show me a successful VBS and I'll show you a group of tired women. Show me a successful women's retreat and I'll show you a group of tired women. Anytime something spiritual is done and an event takes place, there's a group of people, staff and volunteers who get tired in the journey. Missionaries will go to the other side of the world to the hardest places, weary because of the journey. Weary because they don't have the creature comforts of America. They don't have air conditioning in this place.
The food is different. It's hard. They're not respected by the people. And they stay there sometimes for a lifetime.
What drives them? The satisfaction of knowing you're right in the center of God's will. There's no feeling like that. So Jesus says, give me a drink for the disciples had gone to buy food. Then the woman of Samaria said to him, how is it that you being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman, for the Jews have no dealings with Samaritans? That's true.
That's a fact for all the reasons I just stated. But notice the question. It's not why are you talking to me a Samaritan? It's you're talking to a Samaritan woman. Jewish men, especially Jewish rabbis, wouldn't talk in public many times to another woman at all. It was forbidden unless her husband was present and allowed it.
Why is it that you are talking to me a Samaritan woman for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans? Jesus answered and said to her, if you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, give me a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water. The woman said to him, sir, you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep.
Where then do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock? Can you imagine saying that to Jesus Christ?
Hey, who do you think you are? You think you're better than Jacob, our father? She's looking at the one who made Jacob, who created him, who gave life to the world. She doesn't know that. She's just a Jewish guy and she's befuddled that he's talking to her.
Are you greater than Jacob? Now, Jesus begins the conversation with a simple request. Give me a drink.
It was standard protocol to ask for a drink from someone at the well. Though this is a Samaritan woman, so anybody seeing this, like disciples, would say, he's talking to a woman and a Samaritan woman. But here's what you're going to notice. Again, not only are there not punctuation marks in the original, not only in the original are there no chapters and verses, but in the original, you don't get the voice inflection by reading something you don't know. It's like an email or a text. You know, it's like the worst way to communicate because you don't get the body language, the voice inflection. It's not a complete communication.
So we don't hear it all. But if I'm not mistaken, I believe that you are dealing with a woman and you see it reflected in her answers. Who is, her answers are terse, they're curt, they're short, they're snide, they're cynical.
She's burned out on life. And I think you see that reflected. So follow me here. You know, what are you doing talking to me?
Jews have no dealings. And so he gets right to the heart. If you knew the gift of God and who it is who says to you, give me a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water. Do you know what living water would have been in her mind? A stream. Living water was a typical Jewish expression for water that is not stagnant or sitting in a basin or pool, like a cistern. They collect water, that's just regular standing water. The best water is living water because it's flowing, it's fresh.
So a river or a stream was called moving or living water. So that's why she says, are you greater than our father Jacob? Now she knows the history that Jacob, they didn't have a stream there. He had to dig way down into the rock just to find water and provided a well. So they had to lower their buckets. The well is still in use today in Sychar.
You can go visit it. And so look at Jacob didn't find living water. Jacob didn't find the stream. He just dug a well. You think you're great. You have living water.
You're greater than Jacob. I think you get the point now of the conversation. The woman said to him, verse 11, I think you'll pick up now on her voice inflection in this verse. The woman said to him, sir, you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where then do you get the living water? Now, if you were to read it this way, like she's just a simple little, sir, you have nothing to draw with. Where are you going to get this living water? You think, oh, she's just a nice response. But this is the way I'm going to read it, the way I think it's being said.
Sir, you got nothing to draw with. First of all, you have nothing to even pick this water up with to get it with. And the well is deep. Where then are you going to get this living water? Oh, living water.
Where are you going to get it? Are you greater than our father, Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself as well as his sons and livestock? Jesus answered and said to him, whoever drinks of this water will thirst again. But whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst.
But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we get back to Skip's teaching, Nate Heitzig has written a children's book just in time for Christmas. And this month we're offering it to you as thanks for your support of Connect with Skip Heitzig. Christmas Under the Tree follows the timeless story of Jesus Christ from the cradle to the cross, through the eyes of an unlikely character, a humble tree. This beautifully illustrated book, which includes a companion audio experience, is a wonderful way to tell the Christmas story and the story of Christ to the children in your life. This resource is our thanks for your gift of just twenty five dollars or more today to help share biblical teaching with more people around the world through Connect with Skip Heitzig. Go to connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888 and request your copy when you give twenty five dollars or more today to reach people all around the world through Connect with Skip Heitzig. Let's continue with today's teaching with Pastor Skip. The woman said to him, sir, give me this water that I may not thirst nor come here to draw.
Hey, if there's a stream of water, pipe it over where I live. Now, verse 13, whoever drinks of this water will thirst again. We're dealing with a woman who has a condition like everyone you meet in the world. Some at a more advanced stage than others. The way people mature in life, they get when they're young, when they're teens, when they're in college, they're idealistic, they're going to conquer the world. And that's great because that's people who get motivated to do lots of different things. But they, you know, they think everything's great and they're going to find satisfaction in this and do that. And so they seek their paths or career, their relationships, et cetera.
But so many of them, as they make progress, become callous, embittered, angry at the system, suspect, suspicious. I think this is the condition of this woman. She's so thirsty and every relationship she has tried has not given her satisfaction. She's parched, she drank from all these wells of pleasure, of relationship, and she came up empty. Drink of this water and you'll thirst again.
You should write that verse over every earthly pursuit, over every earthly relationship, over every materialistic item. Drink of that water. You think it'll satisfy you, but you'll be thirsty again. You know it's true. There is something we could call the if only syndrome.
You know what if only syndrome is, right? It begins when we're quite young. If only I was a teenager. That's what I said when I was a little kid in grade school.
Oh, I saw my brothers. Oh, if only I was a teenager. Man, if I was a teenager, I'd never thirst again because I'd be cool.
Then you become a teenager. Oh, if only I had a car. If I had a car, I'd never thirst again. Well, if you saw the car that I first drove, you'd thirst the day you got it.
You grow up a little more. Oh, look at that beautiful girl. If only I could marry her, I'd never thirst again.
They get married, and he's saying, if only I wouldn't have married her, I wouldn't be so thirsty. If only I had that new model, I would never thirst again. That car, that item, that new iPhone.
That new model, I need to have the new one because if I had that one, my life would be so much better. I'd never thirst again. Over every single earthly pursuit you could write. Drink of this water, and you will thirst again. But whoever drinks of the water that I give him will never thirst, but the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life. The woman said to her, sir, give me this water that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw. Jesus said to her, go call your husband and come here. The woman answered and said, I have no husband. And Jesus said to her, you have well said I have no husband, for you've had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband, in that you have spoken truly. The woman said to him, sir, I perceive you're a prophet. It's a classic conversation. Go call your husband.
This is called going for the juggler. See, up to this point, Jesus had been very patient with this woman, her little snide remarks, you know, coming out. And Jesus understands, he's patient, he understands she's speaking from a life of pain, and he's letting that pain seep out and just talking.
But enough is enough. So all of the cover-up, all the cute little answers, finally he says, go call your husband. Now, here's a stranger she has never met before, never seen in his life, who knows all about her past.
You're right, you're right. You don't have a husband. You've had in your past five different husbands. And now you're just living with a guy who's not your husband.
And that's why she said, sir, I perceive you're a prophet. Now, it's an interesting case, five husbands. We don't know what happened to them. You might say, well, they may have all died. Maybe, but I doubt it. First of all, if you had husband number one, two, and three die, I think husband number four, number four doesn't say, I don't think I'm going to do this.
Or if I do, please don't make me coffee in the morning. She's had five of them. I think we're dealing with a woman. When she was a young lady, she met a man. They fell in love. They went through all of the typical social rituals to get them a betrothal and a marriage. And she thought it would last forever. It would be peace and prosperity till death do us part. We'll live happily ever after, but there were problems. And there was a split.
And then number two, and then number three, and then number four, and then number five. And after that, she thought, forget it. I want to enjoy the benefits of a relationship without the commitment. So now she's just shacking up. Now she's doing what people do today. Let's not get married.
Let's just live together because everybody else does it, so they do that. Jesus knows that. And Jesus, now we have a question.
Why would He do, why would He tear the scab off this poor lady who has suffered through all of this emotional relational trauma to get her to realize how thirsty she is for living water? See, all this stuff has been a cover-up. All this stuff has been layers, deflection. We're all good at that. We don't want to deal with personal stuff.
We know how to deflect and get it on something else and talk about other stuff. But the reason Jesus pulls that scab off, it gets right to the heart, right to the pain. It's because you won't drink of the living water until you know you're thirsty for it. I got to show you your need. I have to create this need within you. And when you see your need, when you see your pain, your sin, your awfulness, you look for a Savior then.
You look for a Savior. That's why He does it. Now, He does that with her. He may approach others of us differently. For some of us, what if the Lord would have said, hey, bring me your last three years of tax returns? I already know that I cheated on my income tax.
Or if you were to say, hey, bring your phone records to me or your internet activity, I'd like to see that. He exposes her down to the very heart. And she says, sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. And then she gets very spiritual. She deflects once again onto a worship system.
And you've had this happen. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, Mount Gerizim, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem, it's the place where one ought to worship. Jesus said to her, woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem worship the Father. You worship what you do not know. We know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. They had the first five books of Moses only. They had their own worship system.
They had a lot of mythology tied to it. But the hour is coming, and now is, when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. Have you ever had a conversation with someone, and when you get really personal with them, so personal that it's becoming uncomfortable, the thing that most people do is turn and deflect the conversation onto something else. They go from the personal to the theoretical. So what she is doing is contrasting the worship systems in Samaria versus Jerusalem. It'd be like saying, you're witnessing to someone, you're talking about their needs, you're getting really close to them, and suddenly it's just like too close for comfort. So they go, hey, how come there's so much argument in the denominations of Christianity? There's just such division. Everybody says they have the right church in denomination, and they're fighting it.
That's deflecting the battle onto the theoretical. You know, we worship up here. You guys say Jerusalem is the place to worship.
And I love Jesus' answer. He said, it's not about where you worship. It's about whom you worship and how you worship. You have to worship according to spirit and truth. You've got to have knowledge to be able to do it right, otherwise you're just feeling really good about what you're doing, and you're missing the mark. So you need to have spirit, has to be authentic, has to be real, has to be all involved, not ritual, not religion, has to be in spirit.
You're involved. It's authentic. And according to truth. You have to have the Bible to inform you of your worship. It's not about where you worship. It's not about which temple. Well, our temple is cool.
Look at the art. You know, most people make it about the art rather than the heart. Jesus makes it about the heart, not the art of worship. The Father is looking for people to worship Him in spirit and in truth. People make an error thinking that God is near or far in terms of space. That's why people go on pilgrimages to places and shrines, because God is in this place in a real special way.
No, He's not. Where two or more gather in my name, I'm with Him in the midst, anywhere. It doesn't matter where. You don't have to go to some sanctuary or some church afar and spend lots of money. I have a lot to say, but the time's up. The Lord is seeking some of you tonight. He wants you to be God-worshippers. He wants you to be truthful about who you are and about what you need and about whom you will deal with. Ultimately, that is Him. And He wants you to be all in, not ritual, spirit. Spirit and truth. We're glad you've joined us today. Before you go, remember that when you give $25 or more to help reach more people with the gospel through Connect with Skip Heitzig, we'll send you Nate Heitzig's new children's book, Christmas Under the Tree, which includes a companion audio experience.
Just in time for Christmas, this book will help young readers understand why Jesus left heaven to be born under and die upon a tree. To request your copy, call 800-922-1888. That's 800-922-1888. Or visit connectwithskip.com slash donate. For more from Skip, be sure to download the Connect with Skip Heitzig app where you can access messages and more content right at your fingertips. Come back next time for more verse-by-verse teaching of God's word here on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Make a connection, make a connection at the foot of the crossing. Cast your burdens on His word. Make a connection, connection. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.
