John 9 Blind Eyes and Hard Hearts

 It helps to see who Jesus is (and who God is) and who we are. It is good to do a self examination...what do the scriptures mean to me.

The point of the Gospel of John is found in John 20:30-31 (ESV) "Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." John wants us to know that Jesus is the Christ.

John 8:58-9:1 (ESV) "Jesus said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.' So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple. As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth."

Jesus had a confrontation with a group of Jews where he plainly tells them who he is and they are about to stone him when he slips away out of the temple, but he sees a blind man; who has been blind since birth. The man is sitting outside the temple, probably begging. Jesus does not just walk by the man as he is escaping the mob, he has compassion for the man.

John 9:2-3 (ESV) "And his disciples asked him, 'Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?' Jesus answered, 'It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.'"

The disciples ask him a "doctrinal" question and Jesus corrects their doctrine that had been passed down since the exodus. This doctrine taught that the "iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and 4th generation. Some even believed that you could even sin in the womb and be punished once you were born. (sickness, affliction, difficult life) We must look at and interpret the Old Testament scriptures through the New Testament and through Jesus. Jesus is the best biblical commentator. Have you ever blamed yourself for a bad circumstance? Could it be a result of your behavior? Could it be punishment? Could it be a fallen world?

I. God can use your difficulty for His glory and your good. 

God wants to use your difficulty for good. The story of Joseph. Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery, he spent time in prison for something he did not do. He ended up saving his family from starvation and ultimately the Jewish nation that came out of the 12 tribes, because of the position he was in.

Galatians 4:13 (ESV) "You know it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first," Paul preached to the Galatians because of an "ailment"

John 9:4-7 (ESV) "'We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.' Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud and said to him, 'Go, wash in the pool of Siloam' (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing."

Why did Jesus heal him this way? Was there something in the mud or his saliva? Was it the length of time that it took him to walk to the pool of Siloam? Jesus used saliva to heal in Mark 7 and 8. How did the man find the pool? I don't know. Maybe he was healed because he trusted and obeyed.

II. Do we really trust and obey Jesus? 

John 14:15 (ESV) "If you love me, you will keep my commandments."

John 15:14 (ESV) "You are my friends if you do what I command you."

Jesus can do a lot with obedience.

John 9:8-12 (ESV) "The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, 'Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?' Some said, 'It is he.' Others said, 'No, but he is like him.' He kept saying, 'I am the man.' So they said to him, 'Then how were your eyes opened?' He answered, 'The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, 'Go to Siloam and wash.' So I went and washed and received my sight.' They said to him, 'Where is he?' He said, 'I do not know.'"

This man was willing to share his story.

John 9:13-16 (ESV) "They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, 'He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.' Some of the Pharisees said, 'This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.' But others said, 'How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?' And there was a division among them."

The man continues to share his story. The Pharisees said Jesus had broke God's law by healing him on the Sabbath. Jesus perfectly kept God's law, but not their traditions.

Matt. 5:17 (ESV) "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them."

Mark 7:6-9 (ESV) "And he said to them, 'Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,' 'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.' 'You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.' And he said to them, 'You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition!"

The Pharisees had "extra laws" or traditions that Jesus did not keep those traditions. Jesus says it is important to keep God's commandments, but not man's traditions.

John 9:17-23 (ESV) "So they said again to the blind man, 'What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?' He said, 'He is a prophet.' The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, 'Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?' His parents answered, 'We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.' (His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.) Therefore his parents said, 'He is of age; ask him.'"

The "blind man" called Jesus a Prophet, so did the Woman at the Well. Jesus did "prophet things". The parents response was a let down after what Jesus had done for their son. 

III. Love Jesus more than the approval of man 

John 12:42-43 (ESV) "Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God."

If God has been good to you, you need to talk about what He has done. We cannot be ashamed of Jesus or His work. The blind man's parents were afraid that they would be put out of the synagogue. Are you being bold with what God has done in your life?

John 9:24 (ESV) "So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, 'Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner."

The Pharisees were not open minded

John 9:25-31 (ESV) "He answered, 'Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.' They said to him, 'What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?' He answered them, ' I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?' And they reviled him, saying, 'You are his disciple but we are disciples of Moses. We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.' The man answered, 'Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him.'"

This man has guts! He is talking to very powerful men. He believes that God has clearly done something in him. He knew Jesus had healed him. He knew that Jesus was "close" to God.

Proverbs 15:29 (ESV) "The LORD is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous."

In Matthew 12 and Mark 3 the scribes and Pharisees attributed the miracles to Satan. 

John 9:32-41 (ESV) "'Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.' They answered him, 'You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?' And they cast him out. Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, 'Do you believe in the Son of Man?' He answered, 'And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?' Jesus said to him, 'You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.' He said, 'Lord I believe,' and he worshiped him. Jesus said, 'For judgement I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.' Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, 'Are we also blind?' Jesus said to them, 'If you were blind, you would have no guild; but now that you say, 'We see,' your guilt remains.'"

Was this blind man was the first Christian to be kicked out of the Synagogue? Jesus revealed himself to this man. The man believed and bow down to worship him and Jesus accepted his worship. The blind man was not only healed of his physical blindness, but also his spiritual blindness.  His spiritual healing was greater than his physical healing. The Pharisees refused to see. The act of healing the blind to see was the mark of Messiah. No where in the Old Testament do you find where someone healed sight.

Isaiah 29:18 (ESV) "In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see."

Isaiah 35:5 (ESV) "Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped;"

Isaiah 42:7 (ESV) "to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness."

Isaiah 61:1-2 (ESV) "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;"

The Pharisees failed to see who he was.

Luke 7:18-23 (ESV)"The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, 'Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?' And when the men had come to him, they said, 'John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, 'Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?' In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind the bestowed sight. And he answered them, 'Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.'" (Reference Isaiah 35:5-6)

Luke 4:17-21 (ESV) "And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.' And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, 'Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.'" (Reference Isaiah 61:1-2)

Jesus read these Old Testament scriptures in the Synagogue.

IV. Only Jesus can give sight. 

Ananias is the only other person to heal sight. He healed Paul's sight in Acts 9 through Jesus.

Acts 4:12 (ESV) "And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."

The Pharisees thought they could see, but they were blind and sick.

Matthew 9:12-13 (ESV) "But when he heard it, he said, 'Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.' For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.'"

10 Ways to Increase your Faith

 After Jesus, Peter, James and John came down from the mountain after the 3 disciples witnessed Jesus' transfiguration they came to a gathering of the other disciples and others, including a demon possessed boy and his father. The father had asked the disciples to cast out the demon but they were unable to. The father then asks Jesus to cast out the demon.

Mark 9:22-24 (ESV) "'And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.' And Jesus said to him, 'If you can! All things are possible for one who believes.' Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, 'I believe; help my unbelief!'"

Do you identify with the father?

Definition of faith is confidence... Biblical faith is confidence in God not in ones self. These are some simple doable ways to increase your faith (confidence in God)

1. Pray for faith. 

James 4:2 (ESV) "You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask." 

Ask for your faith to increase, but beware God often develops our faith in difficult circumstances.

2. Increase you knowledge (i.e. of God)

Romans 10:17 (ESV) "So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ."

    A. The Bible is God's self revelation. 

    B. The more you know of Him, the easier it is to trust Him.

3. Apply the word apply the teachings

Obey-Experience-Confidence

We are often told not to tempt God, but if instruction with a promise then test Him.

Malachi 3:10 (ESV) "Bring the full tithe into storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need."

When you obey, the outcome is good and then you trust Him more.

4.Recall past victories

1 Samuel 17:36-37 (ESV) "'Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defiled the armies of the living God.' And David said, 'The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of the Philistine.'" And Saul said to David, 'Go, and the LORD be with you!'"

There is a benefit to journaling. It helps you to see where you have been and how God worked in different situations.

5.Seek His presence

You cannot conjure up His presence (séance). He is sovereign and He chooses. You can position yourself for His presence. Be prepared for when He chooses to reveal Himself to you. (i.e. worship-bible study-quiet time-church attendance)

6.Associate with faithful people

Treat non Christians with respect, but don't hang out with them. Hang out with mature Christians.

Proverbs 13:20 (ESV) "Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm."

7. Practice "Holy Discontent" 

Matthew 5:3-6 (ESV) "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied."

Be content with THINGS you have, not with your spiritual condition! Most are content with their spiritual condition and discontent with the things. Backwards! Americans are the opposite of what the Bible teaches.

8. Pursue Christian virtues 

2 Peter 1:5-8 (ESV) "For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness,"

God gives us a lot through grace (salvation/forgiveness/reconciliation/inheritance). We must work at developing Christian virtues.

9. Be consistent 

Philippians 4:11-13 (ESV) "Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me."

How did Paul learn this? By being consistent in his Christian walk. PRACTICE! You are going to have highs and lows in your faith, but being consistent in your walk will cause you to gain faith as you grow.

10. Be patient 

We want to grow all at once, but growth takes time be patient.

Bonus

11. Serve

Matthew 20:25-28 (ESV) "But Jesus called them to him and said, 'You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them, It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.'"

Matthew 23:11 (ESV) "The greatest among you shall be your servant."

Don't think your faith will grow if you ignore this fundamental principle. You will not grow your Christian faith if you don't serve. We are called to be blessed, but also called to be the blessor.

What about accepting Christ? What about being born again? Isn't that essential to biblical faith? Yes, but it matters not which way you approach this. Accept Christ...then do these things...then you will increase your faith. Or do these things...and they will lead you to Christ and then growing your faith! 

The Woman at the Well Pt 2 John 4:27-42

 Recap... Jesus said they "must go" to/through Samaria. This was part of God's divine plan. The woman comes to the well alone. Jesus starts a conversation about water and ends up talking about worship. He reveals her sin and who he is...Messiah

John 4:27-30 (ESV) "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?' So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, 'Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?' They went out of the town and were coming to him."

The disciples show up just at the right time. They didn't interrupt and just observed the interaction between Jesus and the Samaritan woman. We should imitate the disciples...quick to listen and slow to speak. 

Ephesians 5:1-2 (ESV) "Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."

1 John 2:16 (ESV) "For all that is in the world-the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life-is not from the Father but is from the world."

Proverbs 17:28 (ESV) "Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent."

The woman went to the town and shared what happened. She shared her "personal testimony" . They probably knew her history, but she is sharing with them that Jesus knew her sins. She poses a question to the people. She invites them to see with her boldness.

I. If you have truly met Jesus you have a testimony

There are no boring testimonies. It is important to share. A love for God compels you to have love for others and want them to know him. 

Romans 10:14-15 (ESV) "How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!'"

The woman showed love for the townspeople by sharing her testimony. She is humble and invites them to come and see.

John 4:31-38 (ESV) "Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, 'Rabbi, eat.' But he said to them, 'I have food to eat that you do not know about.' So the disciples said to one another, 'Has anyone brought him something to eat?' Jesus said to them, 'My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. 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. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, 'One sows and another reaps.' I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.'"

II God's Work is Satisfying 

Jesus was using common conversation to teach a lesson...bread. Jesus wasn't concerned with food, because God's work was "satisfying". If you try to God's work on your own you will burn out, but if you do it out of the overflow of God's pouring into you it is exhilarating! You will never regret it. Even if you stumble with your words you will see God working through you.

John 15:5 (ESV) "I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing."

Be ready...be prepared to do God's work. Spend time in prayer and in the Word. Other scripture references...Matt. 4/Deut. 8 "Man shall not live on bread alone..." 1 Peter 2 God's word=pure milk

III God's work is worthwhile 

Matthew 6:19-21 (ESV) "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither mouth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." 

Working with God towards the eternal. Missionaries in Ecuador in the 50's (Jim Elliot) "He is no fool who gives what he can't keep to gain what..." These men were willing to sacrifice their lives for the spread of the gospel to unreached people. Their wives stayed and eventually reached these people for God. Are we willing to sacrifice things (a little time, money, energy, sweat, pride, embarrassment) for God's work.

IV Where is your mission field? 

"The fields are white for harvest"

- our own families and beyond

-All of us needs a mission field

-your job, your school

Luke 15:10 (ESV) "Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

God loves the work where we seek the lost. The angels rejoice in heaven when a sinner repents. The Prodigal son...

Luke 19:10 (ESV) "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost."

God uses unwilling people to reach the lost...Jonah....Don't be like Jonah and be mad when the lost repent and are saved.

John 4: 39-42 (ESV) "Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, 'He told me all that I ever did.' So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. 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.'"

Jesus stayed for 2 days with the people in the Samaritan village. What an amazing time they must have had learning from him. They believed because of what he said. They were ready to believe, some because of the woman's testimony and some because of what they heard from him. We must all own our own faith. We must know what and why we believe.

V Jesus is THE Savior of the World  

The Samaritans declared that Jesus was for ALL, not just for the Jews. He was making new people and a new covenant.

1 Peter 2:9-10 (ESV) "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy."

Acts 1:8 (ESV) "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

From Samaria and to the ends of the earth. We should be grateful because someone shared with you. Now we have to do our part.

Challenge: Pray... Lord what can I do? Where is my mission field? Lord send me into the Harvest!

The Woman at the Well Pt 1 John 4:1-26

 In John 3 Nicodemus, who is part of the Sanhedrin, asks Jesus questions and then defends him to the Sanhedrin in John 7. After the crucifixion Nicodemus brought myrrh and aloes to wrap Jesus' body.  It shows us that God can change anyone and work through a man like Nicodemus. All are welcome to come to Christ. The lowly woman at the well could also come to Jesus.

John 4:1-3 (ESV) "Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), he left Judea and departed again for Galilee."

Jesus left Judea because of the Pharisees. He knew that it wasn't time for him to be arrested and he still had things to accomplish. He was trying to avoid conflict so he went to Galilee, his home region and of all of the Disciples except 1...Judas Iscariot who was from Kerioth south of Jerusalem.

John 4:4 (ESV) "And he had to pass through Samaria." Samaria was about 35 miles from Jerusalem. Most Jews would not walk through Samaria. There were several routes to Galilee, but Jesus chose to go through Samaria.

History of the Jews and Samaritans... after Solomon's death Israel divided into the 10 northern tribes, Samaria, and the 2 southern tribes, Judah. In 722 B.C. the Assyrians exiled most of the people from the northern tribes. The transplanted people intermarried with the pagan people and adopted their idolatry. They believed in only the pentateuch (the first 5 books of the Bible). They built their own temple at Gerizim and built a "golden calf" as a seat of God. In 108 B.C. the Samaritans backed the Greeks in the Maccabean revolt. The Jews destroyed the Samaritan temple. the Samaritans later spread dead bones in the Temple complex in Jerusalem. Both the Jews and the Samaritans believed that a Messiah was coming.

John 4:5-6 (ESV) "So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour." 

Jesus was tired. The town was near where Josephs bones were buried after the exodus.

John 4:7-14 (ESV) "A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, 'Give me a drink.' (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, 'How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?' (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, 'If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is that is saying 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 water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.' Jesus said to her, 'Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 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,' "

The woman came alone to Jacob's well. She was separated from her peers. Jesus broke with the norms. A man would never talk to a woman that was not his wife. Jesus uses physical things to talk about spiritual things

Our deepest needs are not physical - Our deepest need is to be made right with God.

Jerimiah 2:13 (ESV) "for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water."

Zechariah 14:8 (ESV) "On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea. It shall continue in summer as in winter."

Ezekiel 47:9 (ESV) "And wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish. For this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes."

Jesus draws from the scriptures to show us who He is... His messiahship and his divinity. He does this with Nicodemus when he asks about being born again. Do we pray like we believe this truth?

John 4:15-18 (ESV) "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.' Jesus said to her, 'Go, call your husband, and come here.' The woman answered him, 'I have no husband.' Jesus said to her, 'You are right in saying, 'I have no husband'; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.'"

God knows our deepest secrets.

Can you imagine someone telling you your deepest, darkest secret? God knows all of our secrets.

Psalms 139:1-4 (ESV) "O LORD, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether."

There will be a life review, maybe like a movie.

Matthew 12:36 (ESV) "I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every carless word they speak"

2 Corinthians 5:10 (ESV) "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil."

Revelation 20:11-12 (ESV) "Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done."

Even though he knew everything she had done, he chose to engage with her...and us

And he still sent his Son for us

Romans 5L8 (ESV) "but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

John 4:19-24 (ESV) "The woman said to him, 'Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.' Jesus said to her, 'Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.'"

The woman recognizes that Jesus was special...a prophet. She asks a spiritual question and wants the truth. True worship is not going to happen in a place, but in a people.

God is seeking true worshipers

What is true worship? God aligning his spirit to ours. It is submission to God. The first time worship is mentioned in the bible is when Abraham was taking Isaac to sacrifice him. Spirit, Truth, Head, Heart

God is doing something special right now. We need truth, but also enthusiasm and passion. Theology and also action. 

1 Timothy 4:16 "Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and you hearers."

Churches in Revelation, they tolerate lies or they lose their passion/1st love.

John 4:25-26 (ESV) "The woman said to him, 'I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he w.ill tell us all things.' Jesus said to her, 'I who speak to you am he.'"

Jesus clearly reveals who he is to her. He revealed plainly who he was to here, but not to Jewish leadership.

John 10:22-30 (ESV) "At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, 'How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.' Jesus answered them, 'I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one.'"

Jesus doesn't deny, but also doesn't come right out and say that he is the Messiah.

One other interesting fact is that this conversation took place at a well. All the patriarchs met their wives at a well... Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachel, Moses and Zipporah. Ephesians 5 paints the picture.

Matthew 9:15 (ESV) "And Jesus said to them, 'Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is taken away from them, and they will fast.'"

The "Bridegroom" completely united to his people. Jesus is talking with his bride...the church. Jesus is completely united to his people...his bride. Grow in your submission  and worship in spirit and truth.

We need to be both evangelist, reaching the lost and also refreshing to the saints.