Satisfaction in Life. (John 4:1-42)
Transcript.
Are you satisfied or are you dissatisfied? I suspect that many people in the world today are dissatisfied with their lives. Dissatisfaction is all around us. Married people are dissatisfied with their mates. Parents are disappointed in their children. Children are discouraged with their parents. Employees are discontent with their work, and employers are unhappy with their workers.
One visitor from the far east upon visiting the United States over a hundred years ago, wrote. “In the west you have thousands of what you call labour-saving machines, yet you grow increasingly fatigued, anxious, nervous, and dissatisfied. Whatever you have, you want more. Wherever you are, you want to go someplace else. You have a machine to dig the raw materials for you, a machine to manufacture it into something, a machine to transport it, I’ve seen a machine upon which you can write messages and another to transport messages across the country. One to write, one to talk one to sing to you, one to play theatre on a screen, one to vote, one to sew, and a hundred others to do a hundred other things for you. And still, you are the most nervously busy men in the world. Your machines are neither timesaving nor soul-saving; they are sharp spurs which urge you on to invent more machinery to do more business."
So, it seems nothing is new, for that is still an apt description of our modern society?
So, today I would like us to think about how we can truly be satisfied in life. Welcome to TBPDP….
Today, we are going to speak about satisfaction of life. But immediately, there is a problem because we are all so different it seems impossible that any one thing could satisfy all of us?
To address this question by turning your attention to the Gospel of John, chapter 4. In this chapter we're given an incident in the life of Christ where He meets a woman at a well. This passage in John 4, spanning from verse 1 all the way to verse 42, can be divided into three parts.
In the first part of the passage, the longest part, the Lord talks to the woman at the well (verses 1 through 30).
Then, the disciples come back from the town, and He has a brief encounter with them (verses 31 to 38).
In the last several verses of the passage, verses 39 to 42, He has an encounter with the people of Samaria.
I would like for us to look at this passage and particularly at these three parts of it. And explore who Jesus says he can bring satisfaction and fulfilment into our lives.
1 Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptising more disciples than John – 2 although in fact it was not Jesus who baptised, but his disciples. 3 So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee. 4 Now he had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon. 7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, ‘Will you give me a drink?’ 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?’ (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.’ 11 ‘Sir,’ the woman said, ‘you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?’ 13 Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’ 15 The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.’
(John 4: 1-15)
Jesus had to go through Samaria because it was a geographical necessity. At that time, Palestine was divided into three parts: Galilee in the north, Judea in the south, and Samaria in between. Traveling from Judea to Galilee typically involved passing through Samaria, a three-day trip. There was another route, crossing the Jordan River twice, but it took twice as long. Therefore, it was practical for Jesus and His disciples to pass through Samaria as they journeyed south.
We might also add there was more than geography going on here, because Jesus had a divine appointment with the woman at the well which is probably why verse 4 says, "He had to go through Samaria." The next verse tells us He came to a city in Samaria near the small area of land that Jacob gave to Joseph. Verse 6 adds that Jacob's well was there.
Jacob's well is still at that spot to this day and is considered one of the most authentic sites in Palestine. Unlike Jerusalem, which has been conquered and destroyed multiple times, Jacob's well in Samaria has remained untouched for centuries. Thus, archaeologists say it is one of the most credible historical sites in Israel.
The Bible tells us they came to Jacob's well and Jesus, weary from the journey, sits down by the well while His disciples go off into the nearby towny to buy food.
Shortly after, a Samaritan woman arrives and He asks her for a drink and she replies, "How is it that You, a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?" You see Jews had no dealings with Samaritans and she was surprised due to the deep-seated racial tensions between Jews and Samaritans that he even spoke to her.
Short History Lesson.
In 722 BC, the Assyrian nation conquered the northern kingdom of Israel. They carried off some residents and imported foreigners, leading to intermarriage and a mixed race that was half Jew, half Gentile. The pure-blood Jews in the south despised these so called half-breeds in the north, creating what we today would call racial tension.
But his rivalry was not just racial but also religious as well. To make matters worse, the Samaritans built a rival temple on Mount Gerizim, quite near this well of Jacob. One ancient rabbi said, "Let no man eat the bread of the Samaritans, for he who eats their bread is as he who eats swine's flesh." Remember Jews considered pigs flesh unclean. In return, the Samaritans scorned the Jewish temple in Jerusalem.
So, when Jesus asked this woman for a drink, she asked in retun, "Why are You, a Jew, asking me, a Samaritan, for a drink?"
Jesus answered, "‘If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.’."
This intrigued the woman. Living water? She initially thought Jesus referred to well water, but we know he was speaking about something much deeper—a spiritual sustenance, a source of eternal life and satisfaction that only He could provide.
At this point, Jesus shifts her focus and tells the woman, "It's not me who needs a drink from you; it's you who needs a drink from me because to are the one who is spiritually weary but unable to drink." In other words, He is saying, "You are the one who is t not satisfied in life."
But He wasn't talking about physical thirst but rather spiritual satisfaction. The woman, initially does not fully understanding, because she responds by saying "You have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where will you get this living water?"
She was correct; the well was deep. Historical sources tell us it was about 100 feet deep during Christ's time, in fact it still measures 75 feet deep today. Still thinking in physical terms, and questions how Jesus could provide water without any means to draw it up.
Jesus replies, "Whoever drinks of the water he is taking about will thirst again, saying the water I give will become in them a well of water springing up into everlasting life." Jesus was telling her that her spiritual longing could be quenched that day but only by the living water He offers. If she drank this spiritual water, she would never thirst again.
What is Jesus saying to the woman at the well? He is addressing several things.
Firstly, He is pointing out that she is thirsty meaning she is not satisfied with life. Like many people today on the surface this woman presents as normal, but underneath Jesus knows we are desperately unhappy about something, and sometime don’t even don't know what it is."
Jesus tells the woman she has that deep thirst and that He can quench this thirst and Jesus emphasizes that He can satisfy her deepest longings with something far greater than physical water. He can offers her a sense of spiritual fulfilment that will extent into eternal life.
What he offers he says can satisfy completely, ensuring that those who drink it will never thirst again. By this time, her curiosity was definitely aroused, and so the woman said to Him in verse 15, "Give me this water, that I may not thirst anymore"
At this point, there is a sudden shift in the conversation. Everything up to now has made perfect sense—they are talking about water, using it as an illustration of a spiritual truth. Suddenly, in verse 16 things change.
16 He told her, ‘Go, call your husband and come back.’ 17 ‘I have no husband,’ she replied. Jesus said to her, ‘You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.’ 19 ‘Sir,’ the woman said, ‘I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.’ 21 ‘Woman,’ Jesus replied, ‘believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.’ 25 The woman said, ‘I know that Messiah’ (called Christ) ‘is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.’ 26 Then Jesus declared, ‘I, the one speaking to you – I am he.’
(John 4: 16-26)
Suddenly, Jesus says to her, "Go, call your husband and come here."
This abrupt change leaves us wondering why Jesus brings up her husband at this point. The woman replies to him and say “I have no husband," and Jesus responds, "You have well said, 'I have no husband,' because you have had five husbands, and the one who you are living with now is not even your husband."
Jesus reveals His deep knowledge of her personal life, demonstrating that He is no ordinary man but the Son of God who knows all. He tells her to get her husband to highlight a something deeper that gone awry in her life. She had five husbands, and the man she is with now is not even her husband.
By pointing out her situation, Jesus aims to help her recognize her sinful state. The woman’s request for the living water represents a desire for the spiritual life Jesus offers. However, to receive this, she must first understand her need for transformation.
A preacher describes this moment as the woman experiencing a sudden realization of her own sinfulness. She had suddenly seen herself clearly for the first time. In the presence of Jesus, she was compelled to confront her immorality and the inadequacy of her life.
This interaction reveals for us that Christianity involves two key revelations: the revelation of God and the revelation of ourselves. No one can truly see themselves until they see themselves in the presence of Christ.
It represents the moment we realize that the life we are living is inadequate, and we become aware of our need for God.
Please note that this woman came to the well alone. The well would usually have been a place of social gathering for the woman of the town, so this suggests she was not popular among the town's women, likely due to her lifestyle.
In verse 19, the conversation shifts another gear. The woman says, "Sir, I see that you are a prophet." This marks a shift in their conversation from her personal life to a spiritual discussion.
Sh is now thinking, he must be a prophet because if he and knows about my personal life, then He must have a divine connection.
his realization creates a conflict for her, as Jews and Samaritans have differing views on worship. Jews insist that proper worship occurs in Jerusalem, while Samaritans believe it should be in Samaria. So she asks him a question. "Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place, where one ought to worship."
Jesus responds is a category shift he says in verse 21, “Believe me, a time is coming when you will not need to worship the Father on either this mountain nor in Jerusalem."
So, he says that true worship will ow be able to transcends physical locations. Here, Jesus acknowledges that the Samaritans' worship is based on a corrupted version of the Scriptures. However, He also critiques the Jews' worship, which had become overly ritualistic and centered on physical sacrifices and says, "The hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him."
True worship is now not confined to a physical location like a mountain an temple, or even a church building but now is a matter of the heart and spirit, saying. "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."
Startled, the woman "I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when He comes, He will tell us all things." Jesus then reveals, "I am the one you are speaking about."
Now at this moment, the disciples return.
27 Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, ‘What do you want?’ or ‘Why are you talking with her?’ 28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 ‘Come, see a man who told me everything I’ve ever done. Could this be the Messiah?’ 30 They came out of the town and made their way towards him.
(John 4: 27-30)
So, at this moment, the disciples return, amazed that Jesus is speaking with a woman but they don’t question him openly about whatthey have just seen.
Meanwhile, the woman leaves her water jar, runs into the city, and tells the people, "Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?" The townspeople immediately come out to see Jesus.
The progression of the story is profound. Initially, the woman sees Jesus merely as a Jew. Then she recognizes Him as a prophet, and finally, she begins to understand Him as the Messiah.
This spiritual journey takes her from dissatisfaction with life to the discovery of eternal life and true satisfaction. Her leaving the water jar symbolizes that she has found the living water that quenches her deepest thirst, leaving her old life behind.
Just as physical water refreshes and sustains us for a day, Jesus has offers spiritual satisfaction that is everlasting.
This passage is meant to show us that when you recognize Jesus Christ as the Messiah, the Son of God, and His sacrifice for sin, you can find true fulfilment. Trusting in Him is like drinking cold water on a hot day. But what he offers not only refreshes and satisfies in the moment but satisfies completely. Many of you here listening to me today I know have experienced this satisfaction and can testify to its truth.
However, if you have not yet had this experience and still feel spiritually thirsty, you like this woman need to meet with Jesus. So the offer is come to Christ, trust in Him so that your spiritual thirst can be quenched, and you can be truly satisfied
Okay, lets close out the story.
31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, ‘Rabbi, eat something.’ 32 But he said to them, ‘I have food to eat that you know nothing about.’ 33 Then his disciples said to each other, ‘Could someone have brought him food?’ 34 ‘My food,’ said Jesus, ‘is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Don’t you have a saying, “It’s still four months until harvest”? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying “One sows, and another reaps” is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labour.’
(John 4: 31-38)
Sometimes, when I am thirsty, a drink quenches my thirst. Other times, I am both thirsty and hungry, and water alone will not fully satisfy. This experience illustrates that there is another dimension of satisfaction in life.
In verse 31, we see His disciples urging him to eat. Now, in the following verses, we shift from drinking water to discussing food to eat. The disciples had gone into town to buy food and they return encouraging Jesus to eat. However, Jesus continues in the same spiritual vein and says, "I have food to eat that you know nothing about."
His disciples are confused and wondered if someone else had brought Him food. But Jesus clarifies by saying, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work."
So there again is a physical sustenance, which is necessary, day to day, and then there is spiritual sustenance, which comes from fulfilling God's will.
Jesus continues, “Don’t you have a saying, “It’s still four months until harvest”? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. "
To understand this verse, we must see it in context. At the time these events are happening it is indeed about four months before the physical harvest. But Jesus wasn't talking about crops; He was referring to the people, specifically the Samaritans who are now coming out of the city to see Him and He says .
Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together.
What Jesus is conveying here is profound: He has sown the seeds of faith in this woman and they are about to reap a harvest of souls and this he says is the spiritual work, the "meat" that sustains Him.
He explains that when you work for the Lord, you receive spiritual rewards. These rewards are not just wages but also the joy of seeing people come to eternal life. Thereby both the sower and the reaper rejoice together.
He explains that He has sent them to reap what others have sown. In this context, He refers to the disciples reaping the benefits of John the Baptist's ministry. John had prepared the way, sowing the seeds, and now the disciples are seeing the results of that labour. Jesus emphasizes that spiritual work is a collective effort, where one person's labour will leads to another's harvest.
The main point is that there is a significant difference between merely quenching your thirst and being fully satisfied. True satisfaction comes not only from receiving eternal life (water to drink) but also from engaging in the work of the Lord (meat to eat).
Many people today are spiritually thirsty, and they of course need the water of eternal life. But even those who have trusted in Christ can feel incomplete if they do not get involved in God's work.
Because true spiritual fulfilment comes from both receiving and giving, drinking the water of life and participating in the work of the Lord.
Jesus illustrates that the deepest satisfaction in life can be found in doing God's will. Someone once said that a person is truly useful and happy only when they can say, "The will of God—nothing more, nothing less, nothing else."
Jesus like here, has always offered the gift of eternal life, which can be freely received by trusting in Him. However, the deeper satisfaction will comes from working and sacrificing for the Lord in His service.
The final part of this passage will further elaborate on this idea, demonstrating how every believer can find true satisfaction in serving the Lord and fulfilling His will.
39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me everything I’ve ever done.’ 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers. 42 They said to the woman, ‘We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Saviour of the world.’
(John 4: 39-42)
This closing section highlights that Jesus is the Savior not only for the Jews but for the entire world. The Samaritans, who were despised by the Jews, came to believe in Jesus. The message of salvation is for everyone: the righteous and the unrighteous, the influential and the outcasts.
Consider Nicodemus from John chapter 3, a respected leader, and compare him to this Samaritan woman. In John chapter 4, we see a marginalized individual with a sinful past but both found salvation in Jesus.
Whether you are a so called respected member of society, or an outcast like the Samaritan woman, Jesus Christ is the Savior for you.
This chapter tells us all anyone need do is trust in Christ and receive the gift of eternal life. Then, engage in His work to experience the deep soul-satisfying fulfilment that comes from serving Him.
Jesus Christ satisfies. Those who know Him in spirit and truth find satisfaction both in trusting Him as their Savior and in working for Him.
He saves us from eternal death and provides us with everlasting life.
It is part of the human experience to long for something more, often seeking fulfilment in the wrong places. Many chase after mirages, thinking they will find satisfaction.
Many people experience their whole life just chasing after false promises that never satisfy.
This passage today I believe contains an invitation. He is the water of life. If you have tasted this living water, you know its worth. But if you haven't, if you are unsure of your eternal destiny, now is the time to accept that invitation. Don’t wait another single day because the satisfaction that Jesus offers is real and lasting.
