John & 1,2,3 John | Lecture 7 : BC301-John-20260831

So, good morning. Yeah, and good morning to all of you who are online. We'll begin with a word of prayer. We'll commit our entire time into the Lord's hands so that the Lord says something to us which will be of benefit to us personally. So, can we have one person praying for us? Yeah, go ahead. >> Let's close your eyes. Let's pray. Our gracious father, Lord, we thanks for this wonderful time, Lord. As we are going to the book of John, Lord, you speak and you reveal you reveal your your your knowledge through that Jesus, Lord. You give us the wisdom to understand everything, Lord. We should establish the word your word on our heart tablet, Jesus, Lord. I submit Pastor Deepika into your hand, Jesus, Lord. You use her as an vessel to deliver your word in a right way, Jesus, Lord. We submit our classes into your mighty hand. In Jesus' precious name I pray and ask. Amen. >> Amen. Yeah. So, last class we were looking at John 3:16. We saw that God chose to love people who had rebelled against him, who had who had who did not care about honoring him. Rather than punishing them, he wanted to love them and save them. And so, he sends his son into the world. We also looked at the the grammar in that particular word, John 3:16, of monogene. Monogene which can be translated as only begotten or as one and only. Two different translations all together. And we saw that the word begotten doesn't quite make sense either in the context of Isaac or in the context of Jesus because Jesus is not begotten by the father. The father doesn't give birth to him in the the way Isaac is not Abraham's only begotten because Abraham had two begotten and I know he had two sons Ishmael. So the term gennao which means to give birth to doesn't seem to really make sense for either Isaac's context or for Jesus context. On the other hand when we assume that you know monogene gene is derived from the other Greek word genos it begins to make sense because genos is talking about a unique type or a unique category of something of an object or a person. And so we we see that Isaac is very unique. He's not like Ishmael because Isaac is the only one through whom God said the Abrahamic covenant would continue. So the Abrahamic covenant can be inherited only by Isaac. He's unique in that sense. And we also know that Jesus is is a very unique son because even though he became fully human, he also remained fully divine at the same time. So uh genos which means uniqueness of a particular type or category, that seems to make more sense. So which is why most modern translations they don't they don't use that term only begotten. They accept that it must be genos which is talking about uniqueness and so they say one and only. You know the only type is what they are trying to indicate. Um I have a window which asks me to avoid audio feedback. Would you like to merge your audio with theirs? All right. I'll decline. I wish the the softwares would not offer too much help. We don't need their interference. So yeah. So today we will we'll move on verse 19 onwards. If someone could read out for us 19 to 21. >> This is the word that light has come into the world, but people love darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God. >> So, Jesus has explained. Nicodemus says, "How can this be? This being born from above and all of that? How can it be possible?" And Jesus says, "It is possible because when the Son of Man is lifted up in the same way that bronze serpent was lifted up, anyone who looks at him and believes in him and believes that the judgment will come upon him rather than upon us. Anyone who's willing to accept that, they will be saved." So, Jesus has explained that. So, after having explained that, Jesus now says, "This is the verdict. You can choose. You can either choose what I have told and come into the light and be saved, or you can choose to remain in the darkness and hide in the darkness. Why? Because you choose to enjoy the sinful things and the evil things more than the things of God." So, we see two kinds of people mentioned over here. Those who have loved darkness and because they love darkness, they don't want to come into the light because once they come into the light, all their dark deeds will be exposed. Everyone will be able to see how evil they are and how wicked their choices are. And so, they prefer to hide in the darkness where people will not really be able to see how um wicked they are on the inside. On the other hand, there are people who long to live a godly life, who want to be uh God-pleasing. Such people have no hesitation coming into the light because the light will show that what they are doing is correct. The light will show that they are living godly lifestyles. So, without any fear, they will come into the truth. So, here Jesus is basically asking Nicodemus, "Which category do you fall into? Are you like some of those other Pharisees who pretend that they love, you know, God and love the truth, but all their behavior and all their actions indicate that they would prefer to hide in the darkness and hide what is actually going on inside their hearts? On the outside, they stand on the footpath and make long prayers, and people think they're so godly, but on the inside, they are hiding in the darkness, I know all the evil that they are doing." So, here Jesus is asking, "Now the word verdict is given. People who do that, you know, will end up with judgment. Their deeds will be exposed one day. They will be punished. So, do you want to be in that category, or do you want to come into the light?" Now, this is a good point, you know, that we who choose to live godly lives, we have we have no problem coming into the light because uh the light will only show that we are doing good things. But what about when we fall? What about when you and I sin? What about when we do something so shameful that we don't ever want anyone to know that we dishonored the Lord in that way? Then what do we do? Like the people of darkness, do we go and hide in the darkness like the people of evil? Or do we continue to stay in the light? Because a lot of Christians think once they know they do something which which which has displeased the Lord, they think, "Oh, now God must be so upset with me. I better go and hide far from him because otherwise, you know, he will he will scold me. He will tell me that he no longer loves me." And we have all these negative thoughts and ideas. And this is what I read in one book. Uh the person said, "Even if you have sinned, do not hesitate to come into the full light. Why? Because this light is a light of love. It's a warm light which wants to actually restore you. All you need to do is come into the light with your sin and repent and say, 'Lord, yes, it's true. What I have done is dishonorable. What I have done is sinful. And I'm coming over here in my helpless state with my dirt, and your light can clearly expose it and show it. Yes, now Lord, you clean up this dirt. You help me. You help me to overcome." So, what that person said in the book is when when a believer comes into the light, it's not a light of judgment that they are coming into. It's a light of love. It's a light where your sins have already been forgiven. You know, because Jesus already paid the price on the cross. So, now all he wants to do is to repair you, restore you, change your heart so that you don't repeat that in the future. So, here we see that God wants to forgive. He wants to purify us. So, even when we commit a sin, we should boldly come into the light knowing that our God will forgive and he will give us a repentant heart. So, even if you're having a heart which doesn't want to repent, you can come to him plainly in the light and say, "Lord, my heart has become so hard. I'm not even wanting to give up this thing. But Lord, you help me to." It's always better to be in the light in front of your father and ask him to deal with your sin issue because as long as you're hiding in the darkness, Satan continues to have control. He'll drag you deeper and deeper into the darkness. He'll make make sure that your the distance between you and God continues to increase. And then there's a lot of destruction. So, even in our most hardened condition, it is better to come fully into the light, allow God to expose the dirt there is, and say, "Yes, Lord, my heart is so hard. I don't even want to repent. I'm in that kind of a pathetic, helpless state. Oh, Lord, you said that if I come to your throne of grace." In Hebrews chapter 4, you said, "If I come to your throne of grace, I will find grace, and I will find mercy in my time of need." So, it's better always to just come into his light, and openly admit what we are, and we see him working and changing. Because I've seen that so many times in my life. You know, it's very nice to be a teacher, a Bible teacher, and come and teach the Bible. But then I have my own daily walk, right? And I have my own set of weaknesses, right? And it's so shameful that a teacher should be should should, you know, fall lower than the standards which God has set. So, again and again, I've come to him and said, "Lord, I'm coming in all my shame, and it's so humiliating, but it's the truth. This is where I am. Only you can change me." And he begins to help. He begins to empower. So, there is always victory in his light. No point in hiding in the darkness just because you're ashamed of, you know, where you are. It's always better to come to him. He will repair. He will restore. He will make us into the kind of persons who can walk around with our heads held high with dignity. The Lord can do that for us, and he wants to do that for us. Which is why it says in 1 John chapter 1, verse 9, "If we confess our sins," you know, rather than pretending, rather than making excuses, rather than hiding in the darkness, "if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive us our sins, and not just forgive us, he will purify us from all unrighteousness." That's the beautiful promise in 1 John 1:9. And so, we who are the children of light, we don't hide in the darkness even when we sin. We don't hide in the darkness even when we have a hard heart. We choose to come and stand boldly in the light of his love because he will help us. He will restore us. Okay, so that's the boldness that we have. So, um the next uh you know, encounter, not exactly an encounter because uh uh it's an encounter between John's disciples and um someone who is speaking uh from from Jesus' teaching. Uh this would be your verses 22 to 36. So, this is basically what is happening in this verses. Let's look at what it says over here. Uh if you could read out verses 22 to 25 of chapter 3. >> After this, Jesus and his disciple went out into the Judean uh countryside, where he spent some time with them and baptized. Now, John also was baptizing at uh Aenon near Salim because there was plenty of water, and people were coming and being baptized. They was before John uh John was put in prison. prison. An argument uh developed between some of some of John's disciples and a certain Jew over the matter of uh ceremonial washing. >> 26. >> They came to John and said to him, "Rabbi, that man who was with you on the other side of Jordan, uh that one you testified about, look, he is baptizing and everyone is going to him." >> So, here, there's an argument which has developed between John the Baptist's disciples and a certain Jew. Doesn't name the man over here. It could be Nicodemus. It could be John the writer, you know, the one who was writing this gospel. We don't know, but this person who is representing Jesus is basically saying ceremonial washing is not enough. It's not going to take you into the kingdom. You need something more. And John's disciples are very upset because you know, all of Jerusalem and all of Judaea, all the people were coming to them till now for baptism. Because they held John the Baptist in high honor and they were all coming to him for baptism. And so the disciples were doing the baptism on behalf of John the Baptist. But now they're all leaving and they're going off to Jesus. Why? Because John the Baptist promised. He said, "I am only washing you with water. There is one who will come after me who will baptize with the Holy Spirit." So obviously they're all are going over there. They want to obviously go to the one who can give them a higher level of cleansing. So So this So John's disciples are probably arguing over here and saying, "No, no, what we are doing is correct and good." But this certain Jew who is who is mentioned over here in verse 25, this man seems to be saying just washing with water, the ceremonial washing is not going to help. You need a higher baptism. So that seems to be the argument. So John's disciples are very upset. They come to John the Baptist and they complain and they say, "Look, the man that you were telling about, everyone is going to him. Nobody is coming to us anymore." And then this is what John replies in verse 27. John says, "A person can receive only what is given them from heaven." Each one of us who is there in the class right now in the online here in the class, we all have been given something from heaven. God felt that that would be the best thing for us to have and so he gave it to us according to Psalm 139, which I always keep going back to. All the days of your life, which have been ordained, have already been written down in his book. So, what he thought would be best for you, for your set of skills, for your talents, for your preferences, that is what he has given to you. It has been given to you from heaven. No one can take it away from you. And you need to value that and be satisfied with it. John the Baptist was very satisfied with what he had been given. There's no desire in his heart that, "Oh, I wish I was the Messiah." There's no such desire. He's quite content to have been the person who prepared the way and made it straight for the Messiah. He's very satisfied with his assignment. So, we need to ask ourselves, "Am I really satisfied with the calling that God has given me? Or is there a longing in me that I should have been an apostle or a prophet or a or a healing and deliverance person?" Whatever. You know, so if your heart is not yet satisfied with the calling given to you, and you're feeling that I wish I had been given something else, ask the Lord to show you how beautiful your calling is. Because as long as you're seeing the way the world sees, you know, our different callings, you'll always have the world's opinion about your calling. But when God starts showing you how important your particular role is, you know, even if it is just in your family, and you're being that one light in your family where everyone else is, you know, living in worldly ways, but you're standing there as a light, you don't understand the significance of that, but that is playing such a vital role. You're the example you're setting over there is one day going to change the and you know, the lives of people in your family circle, and they will be set free from their bondages because of your prayers and what you're doing. I mean, even the greatest evangelist cannot do what you're doing over there for your particular family circle. So, each of us has this very special calling upon our lives. And if when we help when we ask the Lord to show us how important our specific calling is, then our eyes are opened and we're able to value what has been given to us. So, John the Baptist here is very satisfied with the role given to him, and he explains, "You see, I was never meant to be the bridegroom. I was just meant to be the bridegroom's friend." And that is what he talks about in the next few verses, um verses 28 to 30 if you can read out. >> You yourself can testify that I said, "I'm not the Messiah, but I'm sent uh ahead of him. The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens uh for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. How must be How Sorry, he must become greater. I must become less." >> Yeah, so basically, John the Baptist is using an example from their culture. Um you know, when the bridegroom is getting ready for his wedding, it's the bridegroom's uh closest friend who makes all the arrangements. He takes care of all the details. I mean, modern weddings are different, but you know, back then, uh the the the girl's family will be in some other place altogether. So, basically, it's this bridegroom's friend who goes over there, you know, um makes arrangements with them for their travel, for them to come over here to this town where, you know, the wedding is going to take place. So, a whole bunch of details are taken care of by the bridegroom's friend. But in the end, he's not the one who's going to get married. It's the bridegroom who's going to get married. But the friend doesn't mind because I mean, you know, it's a privilege that he was chosen by the by his friend. You know, the bridegroom chose him to make all the arrangements because the bridegroom trusts him that much. So, here John says that I am like that. I'm like that friend. So, I have no desire to be the Messiah. I was quite happy making the arrangements for the bridegroom. And it's the bridegroom who will marry the church. So, the church will always admire Jesus. They will They will worship him. They will listen to what he is saying. They'll not admire and worship John the Baptist. And John the Baptist is okay with that. Now, we need to be that kind of leaders. A lot of people in ministry, they long for the worship of their followers. They want their followers to say, "Oh, this person is so wonderful. He's so anointed. And he's so great. And oh, we should give him money. We should We should know do nice things for him." Those are the kind of uh fleshly expectations which a lot of people have in ministry. But we should understand, we are just the bridegroom's friend. Our followers should be worshipping Jesus. They should be honoring him. They should be praising him. When we when If I do a miracle, they should walk away saying, "Praise Jesus. He healed me." They shouldn't walk away saying, "Oh, praise Deepika. Oh, what a wonderful woman she is." That totally, you know, misses the point. Because what will Deepika do for that family later on, you know, when they have the next set of problems? You see, if they get attached to me, I'm really letting down the bridegroom because if I if I point them to the bridegroom, he can help them their entire life. That is what John the Baptist brings out over here in the next few verses. This is what he says in verse 31. Uh look at what he says in verse 31. If you can read out that. >> The one who comes from above is above all. The one who is from the earth belongs to the earth and speaks as one from earth. And the one who comes from heaven is above all. >> You see, the one who comes from heaven is above all. John the Baptist as a human is only able to speak in earthly terms. But the one who has come, this bridegroom, he's going to be talking in a heavenly way which can help the people in a way John the Baptist can never help. And that is why he explains in in the next few verses in verses 30 to 35. He explains how uh how much superior Jesus' ministry is compared to his earthly ministry, you know, compared to John the Baptist's earthly ministry. How much higher Jesus' ministry is. Uh if you can read out verses 32 to 35. >> He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. Whoever has accepted it has certified certified that God is truthful. For one for the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God for God. God gives the spirit without limit. The father loves the son and has placed everything in his hands. >> The father loves the son and has placed everything in his hands. And this Jesus has been given the Holy Spirit without any limit. The Old Testament prophets were each given a portion of the spirit to do the work that they were doing. You know, the prophesying, the ministering, the advice to the king that they would give. Each of them had a certain amount of anointing resting upon them. But this son who has come, this bridegroom who has come, there's no limit to the to the quantity of Holy Spirit that he, you know, has. The spirit has been given to him without limit. And everything has been placed in his hands. And so, John the Baptist is saying it's good if people are going to him. I am from the earth. I can only give some earthly help. But, it's better if they go to the bridegroom, because the bridegroom can help them in a way which I can never help. And that is why he says in verse 36, "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life for God's wrath remains on them." Now, over here when it talks about God's wrath and anger remaining upon the head of each person, it's not saying that God hates these people. Because in John 3:16, it was very clearly told, "God so loved the world." He loves us, but his judgment is still resting on our heads until we come under Jesus' covering. Once we come under Jesus' covering, the price which Jesus has paid, you know, that becomes that that gets applied, and so the anger is no longer on our head. But, until that time, even though God loves every single person, the wrath, the judgment of God remains on their heads until they come under the covering of Jesus. Only then is the judgment lifted from their heads. And that is why it is so important for us to believe in the Son so that we can have eternal life. So, we have finished chapter three. If we move into chapter four, we basically see Jesus' encounter with two categories of people, the Samaritans first, and then later the Galileans. So, we will look at the Samaritan account. Most of it is mainly his interaction with one particular lady, and then through her, even the rest of the Samaritan town is also saved. So, we will maybe begin by reading out um verses 1 to 6. Yeah. Chapter 4 verses 1 to 6. >> Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John. Although in fact, it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee. Now he had go to through Samaria. Uh so he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Ja- Jacob's well was there and Jesus uh tired as tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon. >> Yeah. So here, um it says that Jesus, you know, is is sensing that the opposition is going to increase because the Pharisees have heard that number of followers are increasing and so they they may start opposing him and it's not yet time for Jesus to get crucified. There are many, many more things that he needs to do first and so he thinks it's better to, you know, just leave and go. So he leaves Judea. So please note, he's actually leaving a place called Judea which is very close to your Jordan River. So which basically means there's a this is there used to be this long road uh along the side of the Jordan River. So Jesus could have easily used that road to go back to Galilee from Judea. So from Judea to your Galilee, there's this road which runs along the Jordan River which you can use to go to Galilee. There's There's no need for you to even enter into Samaria, into Samaritan territory. But it says in verse 4, he had to go through Samaria. So which means the Holy Spirit was making him go. The Holy Spirit was telling him that it's necessary for you to go and that is why he does not choose this shorter route. He takes a longer route and goes through Samaria, which brings him to this particular well, Jacob's well, which Jacob had dug once upon a time long back, and it's still providing water. So, the Samaritans are using that particular well. So, he specifically goes, taking this other route, because the Holy Spirit is guiding him to go over there to minister to that particular Samaritan town. And [snorts] um so, you probably are familiar with why everyone hated the poor Samaritans. Um Do people remember your Old Testament history? Um in your 2 Kings chapter 17, verses 24 onwards, we see that when the Assyrians, you know, come and they take away these um northern Israel people as slaves, they put other people from other countries, they bring them and put them over here in this region. So, in this entire Samaria region of Samaritan region, outsiders have now been placed over here. And these outsiders, they come along with their idols, and they start, you know, worshipping their idols over here in Samaria. And then, God begins to send lions among them to kill them off, because they have brought idol idol worship into the place. And so, the people are very very scared, and they say, "Uh look, the God of this place is sending lions to kill us. We don't know what the God of this place wants. We don't know how to worship him. Kindly send us somebody who can teach us how to worship this God of this land." And so, they uh the Assyrian king gets hold of one of the priests, you know, the Levites, and sends him over here uh to to Samaria to teach these people about the living God. So, they listen to what he teaches, and they accept it to an extent, but what they do is they take some of their idol worship and their idol practices and they mix it with the true teaching of Yahweh. So, the Samaritans basically end up with Samaritans basically end up with a mixed religion. They believe in somethings from the truth, but they also have have not given up some of their old heathen pagan ways. So, that is why they are a corrupted people. And that is why if you remember your own Bible history, at the time of Ezra and when when they come to Ezra and they say the Samaritan people, they come to Ezra and they say, "We will help you in building the second temple." Ezra says, "No, thank you. We'll manage on our own." Because he understands that these people have become corrupt. They are not What do they say? They say to Ezra, "We too follow the same God as you." But he says, "No, we will do this on our own. We don't want you mixing with this." Why? Because their religion was a corrupted religion. Which is why in the time of Jesus, people did not the Jewish people did not like the Samaritans. They regarded them as something inferior, as a corrupted people who are not following the true ways. And so, the Samaritans always have you know have held this grudge inside them thinking, "Oh, these Jewish people, they don't like us. They treat us like as if we are inferior in some way." Okay, now that's the background. So, with that background in mind, when you read that Jesus is asking her for water, she's a bit surprised because she knows how the Jewish people behave. You know, whenever a Jewish person comes across a Samaritan, they hold their nose up and they act like as if they're very superior and great. So, she's very surprised that this gentleman is actually asking her for water. And so, she says, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" And so, then Jesus you know begins to address the bigger issue which is there in her heart. He says, you know, if you were to ask me for a drink, then I would give you living water. So, when Jesus says, I will give you living water, she's not thinking about anything supernatural. That word living water basically talked about, you know, water which looks like as if it's alive. When water comes out of the ground like a spring, you know, it comes out with full energy. That was basically called living water in, I mean, in their um, Hebrew, um, wording. So, it was it was I mean, you know, when you say living water, you're basically talking about springs coming out, springing out of the ground. So, she's basically thinking that Jesus is referring to some spring, you know, some underground spring somewhere which is able to provide some really good quality water. And that is why she says to him, "Sir, you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob who gave us the well and drank from it himself?" You know, so, the well which we have is really nice, you know, it's been providing water for so many generations. Imagine from the time of Jacob the the well has not dried up. So, it must be like a really good, solid well. And so, she says, "What is the spring that you're talking about? Is it better than our well?" And then Jesus says, "Anyone who drinks from this well will get thirsty again. But if anyone drinks from the spring which I am talking about, they will never get thirsty ever again." And, um, so, uh, this woman is rather surprised and she says, "Oh, wow, I wish I could have that kind of water because then I would never ever be thirsty." But of course, you know, Jesus is not referring to actual water. He is referring to the spiritual waters because this woman definitely has a need for, you know, everyday water. I mean, we all need water. Um, more than food we need water. Water is very basic, water and air, most fundamental for our existence. So, she does need water, but there's a great need inside her heart. And that thirst is greater than her physical thirst, and God wants to quench not just her physical thirst. He wants to quench even her the thirst which is there on the inside. Because this poor lady, you know, has been rejected by so many men. You can imagine in what a terrible condition she is. And that is why, you know, when she says, you know, get give me that water and so that I'll never be thirsty, Jesus says, "Yes." And he begins to talk to her about her personal matters. So, he says, "Go call your husband and come back." Jesus very well knows that the poor lady does not have a husband at the moment. So, why is he bringing up this very painful, shameful topic? He's not bringing up this topic to humiliate her. He's bringing up this topic to quench her thirst. She said, "Give me water so that I know I am and my thirst can be quenched." So, Jesus is saying, "Fine. Let's address this issue so that your thirst can be quenched." So, sometimes there are these, you know, wounded, unhealed places in our life which we just kind of push to the back because we don't know what to do with them. You know, when people have hurt us, people have rejected us, things have been done to us, and that thirst continues. I mean, we we know the Bible, we know the scriptures, we pray, we worship, we do all of that. But there are some areas which have still been left unhealed. And God wants to address even those issues so that we can be healed even in those issues, and our thirst can be fully quenched. So, it's God doesn't just say, "Ah, yeah, you have your wounds. You know, live with them." He wants to heal us even in those areas. So, there may be, you know, we may not have counselors out here who can handle those issues. They may not know what kind of advice to give for the problems that you have faced in your life. And that was the case with me. So, which is why it was in 2024 January I asked the Lord. I said, "Lord, you are an amazing counselor." Because that's what the Holy Spirit is, right? The Holy Spirit is supposed to be a counselor. I said, "Lord, I don't know if if I go to people whether they can help me with my issues. I'm I'm coming to you. You be my counselor. You help me with these issues that I I wasn't actually sure what the issues were even. I'm I know that I'm hurting, but I don't even know why I am hurting. I don't know what my issues are." So, how on earth do I go to a counselor? What do I say to them? So, I said, "Lord, you know it all. You be my counselor." And that was in 2024 Jan. And now here I am in the middle of 2026 and I see so much change. And I'm so grateful to the Lord. Without his help I would never have gotten where I am today. It's been such a blessing. So, this Lord of ours, you know, when he touches upon this raw things in your life which you don't really want to talk about because so much hurt is there around those issues. And so, those issues are so complicated. A person can't just say, you know, "Do step one, step two, step three, and you'll be healed." It doesn't work like that. I mean, there are there are deep issues which only the Holy Spirit can handle. He wants to do for us what he wanted to do for this lady. And that is why he's you know, he's he's kind of pulling out that very very raw issue even though it's a hurtful issue. And he says to her, "Go, call your husband and come back." And she very frankly says, "Five husbands have dumped me." You know, I mean, we don't know whether it was her fault, whether she was living an an immoral lifestyle due to which those men rejected her, or whether the poor lady was just not up to their expectations. So, maybe it was partially her fault, or maybe it was not her fault. But the point is five men literally threw her out of their house saying, "We don't want you back inside." Imagine what that would do to a person on the inside. I mean, how horribly painful that would be." And so, finally she has reached a stage where nobody's willing to marry her. So, the man that she is living in with you know, with right now is not a husband. He has not you know, he didn't give even give her the dignity of marrying her. He just said, "Come live." So, she's living with him even I mean, without marriage because she has no options left. That is the level of pain which this woman is living in and Jesus understands the deep thirst. Only a person who's gone through such circumstances knows what that kind of a thirst is, right? Where nobody's able to really help you, bring you out. And this Jesus can do that. So, he's saying, "You come to me, you start drinking from my living waters and you will actually have your thirst quenched." So, it's a it's a level of work and healing which the Lord does inside us which nobody else can do. So, he's inviting her and telling her, "I can quench your thirst in a way that no one else can." And the Lord is so right when he says that. You know, so he can do that. Now, here Jesus is talking about him being you know, I mean of him providing living waters and all of that. In the Old Testament, there is a very interesting reference which actually talks about that. So, it's not just something that you know, living waters is not something that you hear about only in your New Testament. This is something that's already there in your Old Testament. Let's look at that particular passage and see something interesting that is there in that passage connected to this whole living water business, you know, so Jeremiah chapter 2 verses 11 to 13. Jeremiah 2 11 to 13. >> Has a nation ever changed its gods? If they are not gods at all, but my people have exchanged their glorious God for worthless idols. Be appalled at this, you you heavens, and shudder with great horror, declares the Lord. My people have committed two two sins. They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cis- cis- cisterns. uh broken uh >> broken cisterns >> cisterns that cannot hold water. >> Yeah. What to do? Sometimes they use this, you know, complicated English, and we just have to bear with it. So, here, you know, God, Yahweh, is saying, "These people, these Israelites, they have rejected me. I'm a fountain of living waters, and these people did not want me. They didn't want to drink from my waters. What did they do instead? They decided to, you know, arrange for their own supply of water by digging cisterns." A cistern is just a very complicated word which talks about a water pit. You know, you dig um it's like our underground sumps today. You know, we all have a modern sumps, which is of course made with proper concrete and cement and all of that. But back then, they would use bitumen and other things which can seal the edges. So, they would dig a deep pit. They would seal the walls of that, you know, pit with whatever they had, whatever materials they had back then, and they would actually use it to store water. So, it is like an underground water pit, where you know, you would store water, something like your modern sump. So, um Here, Yahweh is saying, "They didn't want my living waters, and so they decided to dig for themselves these cisterns." But the point is these are broken cisterns. The water leaks out. They think that I know they've dug this themselves a nice alternate source of water, but you know what? Their cisterns will always leak. The water will not stay because it's not living waters. It's not the waters which I am providing. So, here in this passage, Yahweh is is condemning these Israelites and telling them however much they may try to go for alternate sources of you know providing for themselves, it'll never be enough. It'll always leak. It'll It'll never be sufficient to quench their thirst. There's only one person who can quench their thirst, and that is the living God who who is like a fountain of living waters. And there's another thing which you know God says in the earlier verse, verse 11, he says, "My people have changed their glory for what does not profit." If they had stayed with me, I I would bring them great glory. I would bring them honor. They would be honored among the nations. But instead of enjoying that honor and glory, they've chosen to reject me, and they've chosen to take something which doesn't profit them. Here they are trying so hard to dig water pits for themselves, and those water pits are leaky. The water in them will never stay. If they come back to me, not only would I quench their thirst, I would restore their glory. They would be honored because that's what Jesus also says in you know he says that in in your John chapter 17 verse 22, he says, "I have given them the glory that you gave me." So, the Lord wants us to be glorified. This woman who has been humiliated by you know five husbands and been thrown out of the house like as if she can just be someone who you know who can be discarded, God wants to restore her glory. He wants to restore her dignity. This lady matters and that is why Jesus could have easily just gone down the, you know, Jordan River Road to to Galilee. But the Holy Spirit made him he had to come over it says, you know, that's the wording used over there. Why? Because here is a lady whose dignity has been stripped away. There's no glory left over there. There's only dishonor. And the Lord cares enough to quench her thirst and restore her glory, restore her dignity. And that is what God wants to do for every one of us. So when we take shortcuts, when we choose to live in sin, when we compromise, when we dig our own water pits, it seems nice for a while, but it never fully quenches the thirst because the water leaks away. On the other hand, if we come to the Lord and if we exchange our shameful ways for his glory and his dignity, then you know, we not only not only will our thirst be quenched, we will also receive honor. You know, and even people also will treat us with honor. So this is the dignity which actually the Lord is offering this lady. Like I said, you know, in our John 3 passage, these are all summaries which are placed over here in the Bible. You can't have every single dialogue, you know, word of dialogue written down because that would not that would become too lengthy. So here we have a just a brief summary of the main things which were discussed between her and Jesus. But Jesus probably would have had a much longer conversation, you know, there would be many, many more details added because later she says to the townsfolk people, "Everything about my life he told me." So they So here we just have a very brief summary of what was discussed, the main thing being the living water which Jesus can give. Okay, so um So once this lady realizes that this is a man of God who seems to know spiritual things, uh she begins to talk about an issue which which has been kind of on her mind. So, she says in your verse 19, you know, she talks about how uh they worship in a different place and the Jewish people worship in a different place. And um So, uh she wants to know who is correct because this is a um debate which has been going on between the the Jewish people and the Samaritan people from the time of Ezra. The Samaritan people, they are doing their worship on Mount Gerizim, you know, where they have built a temple of their own. But on the other hand, the Jewish people worship at the Jerusalem Temple. And so, the Jewish people always condemn them and say, "Look, you people are not even coming to the Jerusalem Temple. You go and worship on that Mount Gerizim." So, this woman says, "Who's right? Who's correct?" So, even though this woman has had to live with different men and uh you know, her condition is not exactly spiritual, somewhere in her heart she too is interested in spiritual things. So, don't just judge a person on the outside because they smoke or drink, you know, or they're involved in bad habits. They have taken up those bad habits as a crutch. You know, that crutch is helping them to live, but it's of course the obviously not a good crutch. So, they they use this other means of trying to somehow survive life. And so, when you just look at them at surface level, you think, "Oh, here is a person who doesn't even care about the things of God." But inside, they may be starving and hungering and aching and thinking, "If only if the Lord could help me." So, never dismiss a person just by, you know, by looking at them on the outside. This woman in all of her uh what what would you say? Immorality, you know, because she's been rejected by so many men and now she's living with a man who's not even her husband. In spite of all of that, she too is interested in spiritual things. And so now when she sees that here is a man who is willing to listen to her and clear her doubts, immediately she asks this question. I mean, she could have asked him so many different questions, right? But this is the question she asks about worship. And she says, you know, she's basically asking him who is the correct And so then Jesus immediately steps in and says in verse 21, "Woman, believe me, a time is coming when you you know, over here the word you is plural, not just the lady but everyone, when you, all of you, will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem." You and then, you know, he explains that what Jesus what the Father is looking for is people who will worship in spirit and in truth. So here, probably, you know, Jesus when he says you when you a time is coming when you will worship neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem, is probably referring to both the Jewish Jews and the Gentiles. Because whatever the Jews were doing in the temple, even that is not adequate worship once the New Testament begins, you know, once the new covenant is established by Jesus. So once the new covenant is established, it's not enough if the Jews go to Jerusalem and offer a lamb. Jesus is now the lamb. They need to worship him. So things are going to change radically now. So here, Jesus is basically saying a time is coming very very soon when it's not going to be enough to worship either on your Gerizim or even in Jerusalem because you will have to start worshiping in spirit and truth by accepting this Jesus. So the Father is going to be seeking that kind of worshipers. You know, so um that's the statement which Jesus makes. Um that would be your verses 23 and 24. So if you can maybe read out all the way from 23 to 26. 23 to 26. >> Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the spirit and in the truth. For they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit and his worshipers must be must worship in the spirit and in the truth. And the woman said, "I know that Messiah called Christ is coming. >> [snorts] >> When he comes, he will explain everything to us." Then Jesus declared, "I, the one speaking to you, I am he." >> So Jesus says, you know, worship is going to change radically. The Father is going to be seeking people who will worship in spirit and in truth. In the sense, these are people who have been born again through the spirit. Only they can offer true worship. The others can offer an outward ritual. They can sing the right songs. They can, you know, place the correct things in front of the idol. You know, it's it's a very superficial worship. Or if it's if it's a Jew, they would go and, you know, sacrifice a lamb. It's all outwardly. But those who have been born again and who have become a different new person, new creation on the inside, they literally worship out of their spirit. It's It's your spirit communing with God's spirit. This direct, you know, union between you and God when you are engaged in worship. That kind of a worship is not possible without the Holy Spirit. So here, Jesus is saying that is going to be true worship. A day will come when there'll be direct contact between your spirit and his spirit. Your spirit will literally worship him and say, "Lord, I glorify you and honor you for who you are." Your spirit is excited for all the things that he's doing in your life and it just reaches out to his spirit in gratitude, in love, and actual worship takes place. You know, whether there's singing going on or not, whether you're lifting your hand or not, there's an actual worship going on. That is the kind of worship that the Father longs for. And so this lady says, you know, these things which you are saying is like really right, but when the Messiah comes, he's going to tell us he's going to teach us how to do all this. And Jesus is, you know what? I am he. I'm already here. That is what got this lady so excited. She went running. She called the whole town and she said, you know, the Messiah has come. He can now explain to us exactly how we should worship. And he told me everything about myself. So they're all excited equally and they all come and they ask him in fact to stay 2 days with them so that they know they can enjoy, you know, listening to him and learning from him. And he must have taught them how to actually worship. So they became people whom the Father, you know, who who are able to please the Father with their worship. Imagine just some Samaritan town of people whom the Jews didn't even have any respect for and these people became worshipers whom the Father was highly pleased with. So God, so this is such a beautiful thing that the Holy Spirit leads Jesus specifically to come to this town so that an entire town's life can be changed and transformed. So I always wonder, you know, what happened to this lady after that? I mean, God must have worked in her life. God must have given her a future and a hope. I wish I knew, you know, what happened with her life later, but of course we'll know all of those details when we get to heaven. Um so, um we are like, you know, over time, so we have no choice. The person who was supposed to ring the bell completely forgot. I know they're the 2 minutes late, but yeah, it helped me to finish what I had to say. So yes, let's just very quickly close with a word of prayer. Lord, we just thank you so much that you are the fountain of living waters. Yes, Lord, what you're saying in your scripture is so true. So many times we want to dig our own wells because we don't really want to follow you. But Lord, it's true. Those Those wells which we dig always leak. The water never stays. It never satisfies. But oh Lord, when we come to you, you really know how to feed us, how to make us strong, how to nourish us, how to satisfy our hunger and quench our thirst. You're the one true source, oh Lord, of complete satisfaction of an abundant life. We thank you, oh Lord, that we have the privilege of knowing someone like you. Now, Lord, help us to stay to sit at your feet and learn from you so that our lives can be greatly changed and transformed. We're committing ourselves into your hands. You take the initiative, the same way you took the initiative with the Samaritan lady. You take the initiative, come to us, show us how How our lives can be changed, what we need to do. In the same way you taught those people in the Samaritan village, teach us, Lord, every day what changes we need to make, what we can do so that we can have a completely satisfied, whole life, Lord. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Thank you so much. You people are good listeners, even the online people. Thank you, ma'am. Thank you. Thank you.