In Timothy 4 Paul calls Satan the “accuser of the brethren.” In John 10 Jesus juxtaposes Himself with the thieves and robbers. In John 8, right after He forgives and restores the woman caught in the act of adultery (last week’s message), He says to the religious leaders of the day, “You are doing the works your father did…He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” You know one of his biggest lies? The lie that says that forgiveness of sin is only about escaping divine judgment. It’s about much more than that!
When you speak to most evangelical Christians today about the forgiveness we find in Christ, they will tell you that divine judgment is averted by the blood and righteousness of Christ, and they’re right. But that’s not the full extent of His forgiveness. In fact, when you carefully examine the accounts of Jesus’ forgiveness in the Gospels you find that His focus is on a different escape. The escape Jesus’ forgiveness offers is not only an escape from divine judgment, but an escape (a release) from our prison of bondage. We saw this last week in John 8. We’ll see it again this week.
Here at Jacob’s well, near the Samaritan village of Sychar, Jesus meets a woman in the deepest of all human bondage - the bondage of guilt, sin, and shame. Her bondage is so deep and debilitating that her soul is a lot like that well - deep and hollow.
But Jesus works His grace in a stupendous way. The problem with the text is that it’s so well read and so familiar that most people don’t dig deep enough to find the beauty. We hope to see the beauty this communion Sunday morning.
The title of the message is, “Forgiving the Stranger.” Our contention that when the Holy Spirit is transforming our minds, hearts, and souls we will begin to do what Jesus does. And what He does here is simply remarkable. Not only does He free her from the coming judgment, He frees her from the prison of her guilt and shame. He does it by knowing her, loving her, and addressing both her conscience and her heart. He addresses the sin under the sin. He frees her from the lie that her worth is determined by what she does and what others think of her.
In preparation for Sunday’s message check out Matthew 16:13-19 and 18:15-18. It’s a perfect backdrop for John 4:7-30. You may also wish to examine the following questions:
1) What is your reaction to the following quote?
“Do what you will with your nature, educate it, cultivate it, and sublimate
it as much as you please. Raise it to the loftiest pinnacle of science and
philosophy; summon to your aid all the ornaments and ordinances of the
legal system, and all the appliances of man’s religion; make vows and
resolutions of moral reform; weary yourself with monotonous religious
duties; take up vigils and fastings, prayers, and alms, take up the entire
range of dead works and after all, yonder Samaritan adulteress is as near
to the Kingdom of God as you…”
2) What does Jesus mean in John 8 when He says to that woman, “Go and sin no
more?”
3) Why did nearly every devout Jew of Jesus’ day go to great lengths to avoid
entering Samaria?
4) What is the significance of wells in Scripture? (See Genesis 16 & 21 and
compare to John 4.)
5) What is the significance of the name and location of this well?
6) What is the nature of Jesus’ words to the woman in verse 7? And her
reply?
7) The word give/gift is used in verses 7 and 10, but they are entirely
different Greek words. The first means, “Give it to me!” and the second, “a
free gift of grace.” Why is this crucial?
8) In verse 16 Jesus issues a further command. However, this one strikes both
her conscience and her heart. How? What is Jesus saying? Where is the
hope in this?
9) What is the correlation between what Jesus says in verse 26 and what God
says to Moses in Exodus 3:14?
10) How do we know that this woman’s been forgiven and transformed?
11) What does the incident teach us about living a transformed life?
12) How is it that Christ calls us to see the sin under the sin as our only
pathway to freedom?
13) What does it mean to see sin as bondage rather than simply an offense?
See you Sunday as we gather around His table to receive His fresh, transforming grace!
