Jesus says: “Come to Me.” The Savior of the world is inviting you. Stop drinking from wells that cannot satisfy. Come to the Living Water today.
John 4:10-42 – 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will 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 will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” 19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
27 Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” 28 So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” 30 They went out of the town and were coming to him.
31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33 So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” 34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. 35 Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. 36 Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. 37 For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”
39 Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of his word. 42 They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”
In divine appointments, divine sovereignty invades ordinary moments for God’s glory and our good. In the Bible, those God-appointed times are called kairos moments.
The Problem
The problem is not defining divine appointments; it is recognizing them. We usually recognize them after the fact. People need to know that it is in those moments that sometimes God saves physically, financially, or relationally. But ultimately, all divine moments are about salvation through Jesus for God’s glory and our good. That is exactly what happened in John 4–5. There we see three divine appointments with three different people in three different circumstances, but one objective— salvation through one Savior, Jesus.
The Big Idea
Divine appointments are not ultimately about changing our circumstances; they are about changing us for God’s glory and our good because that is exactly what happened in John 4-5 to the Samaritan woman, the royal officer, and the man at the pool as Jesus arranged divine appointments in three different circumstances in personal comfort, physical crisis, and prolonged crying.
Divine Appointment in Personal Comfort (John 4:10-42)
Last time, in John 4:1-42, we were looking at Divine Appointment in Personal Comfort where we discovered that Jesus disrupts cultural comfort to confront us, religious comfort to convict us, and physical comfort to convince us.
In John 4:1-9, Jesus crossed racial, social, religious, and gender barriers to meet an outcast who was comfortable with her status. It showed us that the gospel goes where religion refuses to go, that salvation is for everyone, and that before Jesus performs miracles, He often disrupts personal comfort. Let’s pick up at v.10 as we continue to explore why and how:
Jesus Disrupts Cultural Comfort to Confront us (John 4:10-15)
John 4:10 reads, “10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”” Jesus starts with water and moves to salvation. He starts with thirst and moves to eternity. He starts with an ordinary conversation and moves into an eternal conversation.
That is evangelism. This teaches us that evangelism rarely begins with sermons. It usually begins with conversations. For our next five-year strategic plan, the Elders have identified three growth engines, and evangelism is one of them. Without personal evangelism, our witness dies, and in the absence of a witness, the local church dies. This is why we want the evangelism engine to run hot, produce and reproducing disciples who plant churches that make evangelism, discipleship, and church planting their top priority as they love and live like Jesus and teach others to do the same.
You may say, “But Pastor, I don’t have the gift of evangelism.” Maybe not. But let me ask: Do you have the gift of God? I ask because John 4:10 says, “If you knew the gift of God…” The gift of God is salvation. It is a gift because you cannot earn it and you don’t deserve it; you simply receive it.
Jesus connects the gift with Himself and says, “and who it is that is saying to you…” You cannot separate salvation from the Savior. We who have “the gift of God” owe it to the gospel to have spiritual conversations with the intent of converting others to Jesus. That is evangelism. When was the last time you did that? The Samaritan woman neither knew the gift of God— Salvation, nor who Jesus really is— the Savior.
John 4:11 says, “11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water?” She was too focused on the physical needs. She thought He might point her to another spring of water in the region. So, she inquires about His skills and knowledge.
John 4:12 continues, “12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” In that culture, discovering water meant survival. Finding wells meant blessing. Water meant life.
Next, Jesus contrasts her understanding with eternal water that gives eternal life, so John 4:13 reads, “13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will 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 will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”” She asked for this water for purely physical reasons. Many come to Jesus for physical reasons, marriage problems, financial struggles, fear, pain. But as they walk with Jesus, their focus shifts from physical to spiritual. However, culture often prevents this.
Imagine giving someone directions while they insist their GPS is correct. You say: “Turn left.” GPS says: “Turn right.” The voice that they trust more wins. Many people do this spiritually. God speaks clearly. Culture speaks louder.
Application
Ask yourself: whose voice do you listen to and trust? Culture? Politics? Family tradition? Social media? Or God? Because whatever voice you trust most is the voice that disciples you the most. If the world, then know this: the world offers drinks that keep making you thirsty, but Jesus offers water that becomes a spring.
Jesus Disrupts Religious Comfort to Convict Us (John 4:16-26)
In John 4:16–26, Jesus moves from water to worship and from conversation to confrontation because Jesus loves us too much to leave untouched the things that are destroying us.
John 4:16-18 reads, “16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” This is not random. Jesus is exposing her thirst. She believed that maybe the next relationship would satisfy her. Maybe the next season would heal her.
The reality is that broken people often repeat the same search for a different person, a different job, a different city, a different purchase. But the same emptiness persists because spiritual problems are not solved with physical solutions.
She responds, in John 4:19,”19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.” Finally realizing that she is in a spiritual conversation, she inquires, “20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” Samaritans built a rival temple on Mount Gerizim to Solomon’s Temple, a clear religious divide between Jews and Samaritans.
Jesus responds in John 4:21-24, “21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Imagine wearing a wedding ring while never speaking to your spouse. You have symbols. You have an appearance. But you do not have a relationship. Many people have religious symbols without spiritual intimacy— church attendance without surrender and tradition without transformation.
John 4:25-26 continues, “25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.””
Application
Religion may bring you to church, but only Jesus brings you to God.
Jesus Disrupts Physical Comfort to Convince Us (John 4:27–42)
John 4:27 continues, “27 Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?”” Clearly, the disciples were uncomfortable with this but didn’t say anything. They, too, were trapped in centuries-old hate and hostility; Jesus had to disrupt their cultural and religious comfort as well. There are areas of our lives where we are like the disciples, trapped in cultural and religious comfort that make us act superior to others. That shows obedience to religion and culture, not to Christ.
John 4:28-30 says, “28 So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” 30 They went out of the town and were coming to him.”
When she met Jesus, her personal comfort became less important than her obedience to Jesus. When you truly meet Jesus, nothing matters more than your personal testimony in obedience to Jesus. While she is evangelizing others, John 4:31-34 says, “31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33 So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” 34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.” The disciples, like the Samaritan woman, were focused on the temporary and physical.
So, Jesus challenges them in John 4:35-38, “35 Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. 36 Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. 37 For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”
Imagine standing in an apple orchard, starving while surrounded by fruit. That is what Jesus says. The disciples see Samaritans. Jesus sees the harvest.
Application
It’s not merely: “Go evangelize.” It is “Lift your eyes.” You are already surrounded by harvest— your office, your neighborhood, your gym, your school, your family. The problem is rarely that the harvest is absent. The problem is that comfort blinds us, whether cultural, religious, or personal.
Closing Thought
As I close, I want us to imagine how hard it must have been for the Samaritan woman, an outcast to reach people who despised her, yet John 4:39-42 says this, “39 Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of his word. 42 They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.””
So, when she got saved, she did not wait to learn more and know more. She immediately began to share her story, which led to the salvation of others. Divine appointments are not ultimately about changing your circumstances— they are about changing you for God’s glory and your good. Next week we will pick up at v.43.
Action Step
If you are a Christian, don’t neglect your responsibility to evangelize others. This is what we saw in John 4:10-42 when the woman came looking for water. She found worship, truth, salvation, and the Savior. She begin to immediately evangelize others.
Appeal
Maybe today you realized that you have been searching— relationships, success, money, religion, approval. Yet you remain thirsty. Jesus says: “Come to Me.” The Savior of the world is inviting you. Stop drinking from wells that cannot satisfy. Come to the Living Water today.
Inductive Bible Study: Observation, Interpretation, Application
Observation: What Does the Text Say?
- What does Jesus mean when He speaks about “living water?”
- How does the woman initially misunderstand Jesus’ words?
- Why does Jesus suddenly bring up the woman’s husbands?
- How does the woman change the subject after Jesus exposes her personal life?
- What disagreement existed between Jews and Samaritans regarding worship?
- According to Jesus, what does true worship look like?
- What lesson does Jesus teach His disciples about the harvest?
Interpretation: What Does the Text Mean?
- What does “living water” teach us about the difference between temporary satisfaction and eternal satisfaction?
- Why do people often interpret God through cultural lenses rather than biblical truth?
- What does this encounter teach us about evangelism?
- What does this conversation reveal about humanity’s tendency to hide behind religion?
- What does it mean to worship “in spirit and truth?”
- Why is religious activity alone insufficient for salvation?
- What does this story teach about how God uses ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary purposes?
Application: How Should This Change Us?
- What cultural beliefs or assumptions make it difficult for people to hear the gospel today?
- Where are you tempted to seek satisfaction apart from Christ?
- Who is someone God may be calling you to have a gospel conversation with this week?
- Instead of asking, “Do I have the gift of evangelism?” how does asking, “Have I received the gift of God?” change your perspective?
- What areas of your life might Jesus be confronting because He desires transformation?
- Are you more likely to see interruptions as inconveniences or divine opportunities?
- What would change if you began every day asking, “God, who is my divine appointment with today?”
