John 4:1-4 When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, 2 (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,) 3 He left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee. 4 And he must needs go through Samaria.

Water Is So Very Important – Water Is Life

As we come to John chapter 4, the Bible focuses on WATER. Water is a very common thing, yet something we desperately need to live.

The average human is approximately 60% water.
Our brains and hearts are roughly 73% water,
and our lungs are around 83% water.
Water regulates our internal temperature,
and keeps blood flowing to our cells.

A typical human can go without food and live for 3-4 weeks, but if you have no water for 3-4 days you will die!

Water is life. I think this is why God uses water baptism as a profession of genuine faith in God.

When John the Baptist began to preach, he baptized believers in God in the Jordan River. Why were believer’s baptized? Their baptism was an outward testimony that they inwardly had repented, and were willing to follow Father God. When John baptized, he told the people:

Matthew 3:11-12 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: 12 Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

Those baptized by John were professing their faith in the God of the Scripture. John told them that he himself was NOT the Messiah, but the Messiah was coming. When the Messiah came, He would not baptize with water (though He would require it), but would baptize with the Holy Spirit of God.

What is very interesting about water baptism is that Jesus came to John to be baptized in water – and Jesus is the sinless Messiah from God.

The day that Jesus came to John to be baptized the Bible says:

Matthew 3:14 {John initially refused to baptize Jesus, saying} … I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?

Baptism Is A Fulfillment Of God’s Will

Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). Jesus is holy, pure, without sin. Hebrews 4:15 tells us “{Jesus Christ} was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin”. In 2 Corinthians 5:21 we are told “{Jesus} knew NO sin”. The Apostle said in 1 John 3:5 that “{Jesus Christ} was manifested to TAKE AWAY our sins; and in Him is NO sin”. The Apostle Peter preached in 1 Peter 2:22, “{Jesus} did NO sin”. John knew that the Messiah was, by nature, eternal God the Son in human body. His baptisms up to this moment were sinners who came to him repenting, committing by repentance to follow the will of God. But now Jesus comes to be baptized. “Oh, no, Lord! I should baptized by YOU, not YOU by me!”. But Jesus said:

Matthew 3:15 … “{Allow} it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness”.

Water baptism is a “fulfillment of all righteousness”. It is an outward testimony that the One being baptized will follow the will of God. Though Jesus was indeed sinless, and had no need to repent, He was baptized as a public declaration that the entirety of His ministry would be to follow the will of the Godhead. When Jesus was baptized, the Bible says “He saw the Spirit of God, descending like a dove, and lighting on Him: and lo, a voice from Heaven, saying, “This is my Beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:16-17).

From that moment Jesus went out. Though we are told in John 3 that after Jesus spoke with Nicodemus,

John 3:22 … Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judaea; and there he tarried with them, and baptized.

Jesus initially baptized (see John 3:26) His first disciples, but after the first ones were baptized:

John 4:2 (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,)

Jesus commanded His disciples be baptized, but He Himself stopped baptizing in water after the first were baptized. Why? He wanted His disciples to baptize. Baptism is a physical illustration of what our Lord Jesus spiritually does to a believer.

Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit, and with fire.

Jesus said in John 7:37-39 … If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. 38 He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. 39 (But this spake he of the Spirit

When a person receives Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, God through Christ and for Christ sends the Holy Spirit to that believer. The Holy Spirit “baptizes” or washes that person spiritually. Before we met Christ, we walked in darkness, following the sins of the flesh as all the fallen do. We were unrighteous, sinning willfully and gleefully. The Bible says:

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (ESV) Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

The Messiah sends the Holy Spirit to us, and the Holy Spirit does His miraculous work of changing our hearts. Just as God became incarnate through the work of the Holy Spirit in Mary (Luke 1:35), the Holy Spirit brings our dead hearts into union with God.

The Holy Spirit is a Person, not a force.

John 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

I read an article the other day on the Christian Post entitled, “Most Adult US Christians Don’t Believe The Holy Spirit is Real: Study”. The article notes:

“Some 62% of self-identified born-again Christians contend that the Holy Spirit is not a real, living being but is merely a symbol of God’s power, presence or purity. Another 61% say that all religious faiths are of equal value, and 60% believe that if a person is good enough, or does enough good things, they can earn their way into Heaven.”

The Holy Spirit is a real Person, Who partnered with Jesus as He walked this earth incarnate. The Holy Spirit shows us God’s deep truths (1 Corinthians 2:10-11). The Holy Spirit has a mind of His own, and intercedes for us:

Romans 8:27 (ESV) … {the God} who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

God the Holy Spirit makes the Christian. God the Holy Spirit also prays for the Christian. Jesus called the Holy Spirit “the Finger of God” (Luke 11:20 compared with Matthew 12:28). When God gave the Law to Moses, it was “the Finger of God” that wrote that Law on the stone tablets (Exodus 31:18; Deuteronomy 9:10). Now God Himself, the Holy Spirit, writes the Law of God on the hearts of those who believe in Christ. God promised that with the coming of the Messiah,

Jeremiah 31:33 … I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.

The Christian is not a Christian because it is “written with ink” on some piece of paper. The Christian is a Christian because “God Himself put His laws on their hearts, and wrote them on their minds” (Hebrews 10:16; Hebrews 8:10). The Apostle said of the Church:

2 Corinthians 3:3 (ESV) … you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

A Christian is someone who realizes they are lost, and repents, turning to Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. A Christian receives Jesus as He is, and Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to wash us, to cause us to be born again, to indwell us, to intercede for us. The Bible says that the unbeliever is in the flesh – chasing the darkness of this world. But the believer in Christ is:

Romans 8:9 … not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

Returning to our focal text for today, The Bible says:

John 4:3-4 {Jesus} left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee. [4] And {Jesus} must needs go through Samaria.

Jesus Must Needs Go Through Samaria

Word Study: The words “must needs” is the Greek word δεῖ deî, {pronounced die}. I find that very interesting. The word deî means “it is necessary, right and proper. Jesus used the same word when He described His upcoming death:

Matthew 16:21 … Jesus {began} to shew unto his disciples, how that he must {deî} go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.

It was “necessary, right and proper” that Jesus go THROUGH Samaria. Why? Was it because that was the only way to get to Galilee? Absolutely not. Galilee is several miles NORTH of Judea. Most Jews headed EAST along the path of the Jordan River to get to the Sea of Galilee, and hence Galilee. But it seems as if Jesus goes out of His way to go through Samaria. Why?

Because God is good. Jesus Christ is the Son of God. God cannot help but be good, compassionate, loving. The Psalmist said:

Psalm 52:1 … the goodness of God endureth continually.

There is someone in Samaria that Jesus must meet. Samaria is a land polluted with idolatry. It has not always been that way. Jacob who would one day become Israel gave a parcel of land in Sychar to his beloved son Joseph. Samaria was initially a part of the Promised Land. It was the same place where Jacob met with his brother Esau. Jacob expected Esau to destroy him for taking Esau’s birthright, but God moved on Esau to leave his brother unharmed. Jacob purchased land (Genesis 33:18-20), built a well on it, and built an altar to God which he called:

Elelohe-Israel “To the Mighty God of Israel”

Samaria is no longer a blessed place. Because of human greed and betrayal, as well as rejection of God, Samaria became a place of idolatry. The Ten Northern Tribes of Israel refused to worship God in Jerusalem, but instead built another temple – an unauthorized temple – in Samaria. They drifted far away from God, much like America has today.

Jesus loved idolatrous Samaria, just as He loves idolatrous America. He MUST NEEDS go and share His love with the lost places.

But God loves us still. God is rich in His love for all. The Apostle said:

Romans 2:3-4 (ESV) Do you suppose, O man … that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?

Sadly, too many “presume on the riches of God’s kindness, and forbearance, and patience”. God loves us all so very much! God gives grace – daily grace – to all on this earth. “The Lord is good to all; He has compassion on all that He has made” (Psalm 145:9). “God causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew 5:45).

But God goes beyond our physical needs. God strives to reach us in our sin, to save us if we will heed Him, to bring us into the family of God if we would but come to Jesus. Jesus must needs go THROUGH Samaria.

Our Lord Jesus came to this earth for sinners like you and I. He came to this earth for sinners different than you and I. The Bible tells us that Jesus comes to Jacob’s well, and,

John 4:6-7 … being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. 7 There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.

The Samaritan woman is puzzled. She asks Jesus – clearly a Jew:

John 4:9 … How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.

Sadly, some of the most racist of people are “religious” people. This woman had seen the scorn of the Jews, supposedly God’s people, and had smarted under their remarks and glares. God never wants anyone to be racist. When Miriam mocked Moses for marrying an Ethiopian woman called Zipporah, God caused Miriam to become leprous (Numbers 12:10). The Apostle preached in

Acts 17:26-27 {God} hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth … that they should seek the Lord

Our God does not divide humanity based upon color, but upon faith in Christ. God divides humanity as:

Wheat or Chaff
Righteous or Wicked
Son of God or Son of Adam
Sheep or Goats

You will never see a black or white division according to God in the Scripture. God loves all equally, and reaches out to all. The Samaritan woman is startled that Jesus would speak to her. But she is more startled by what Jesus now says:

John 4:10 … If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

It is Jesus Who gives “Living Water”. This “Living Water” is the Holy Spirit of God (John 7:38-39), The same Spirit that comes to every believer in Jesus. Peter preached:

Acts 2:38 … Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy {Spirit}.

The Christian’s thirst is quenched by the Living Water of God. We drink of God’s blessings each and every day. Because of His Spirit, we walk through this life in union with Jesus. We are never alone.

But you cannot receive salvation, nor the wonderful accompanying gift of the Holy Spirit, unless you REPENT. To REPENT is to realize you are a sinner, and to RELEASE those sins, while REACHING for Jesus!

The woman, on hearing of this “Living Water”, says:

John 4:15 … Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.

But she must REPENT. Jesus tells her:

John 4:16-18 … Go, call thy husband, and come hither. [17] The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: [18] For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly…

You have to know you are broken, before you’ll ever try and get fixed. You have to know you are lost, before you will ever be found. Our God “delivers us from the power of darkness, and translates us into the Kingdom of His dear Son” (Colossians 1:12-14).

But only when you repent! Release you sin! Reach for Jesus!

The Samaritan woman now does as so many do. When confronted with their sinfulness, they want to argue with the Lord. She says:

John 4:20 Our fathers worshiped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.

Jesus tells the woman:

John 4:21 Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.

God Is Not A PLACE, But a PERSON

Worship – true worship of God – is not tied to a PLACE, but to a PERSON. If you believe that worship is tied to PLACE, then just as Jesus told the Samaritan woman, I tell you “Ye worship ye know not what”. Our Father Abraham worshiped God where ever he walked. Our Father Enoch walked with God – and was not (Genesis 5:24). Worship of God comes through one Person – Jesus Christ our Messiah – in the power of God the Holy Spirit. Jesus tells us:

John 4:23 … the true worshipers shall worship the Father in Spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

We who are Christ’s worship the Father in Spirit – in the power of the Holy Spirit of God – and in truth. Jesus said that…

John 16:13 … when HE, the Spirit of truth, is come, HE will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. 14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. 15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

Jesus said:

John 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in Spirit and in truth.

The woman’s heart opens to Christ. She says:

John 4:25 The woman saith unto him, I know that Messiah cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.

To which Jesus tells her, “I am but one of the Messiah’s, but one of the ways to God”. Is that what He says? NO! Absolutely not! Jesus declares:

John 4:26 I that speak unto thee am he.

Jesus Christ is the ONLY Messiah, the ONLY means by which a person may come to God and be saved. This woman gives every evidence of being saved. The Bible says:

John 4:29-30 The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, 29 Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ? 30 Then they went out of the city, and came unto him.

“Is not THIS THE Christ?” There is no other. If you know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, you must needs go through Samaria, and tell others of Him. All you need do is tell others what Jesus has done for you. The Bible says:

John 4:39 And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did.

That’s not a difficult testimony, is it? All you need do is tell what Jesus means to YOU. And if you are not in Christ, then I pray that God the Holy Spirit will move on your hearts through this His Word, and through His Spirit. Jesus loves you, and wants you to be a part of the family of God. Come today, without delay! Amen, and Amen!