Pay Attention to Waterholes

Jesus’ life and ministry ping-pongs between Judea and Galilee, Jerusalem and Capernaum. The two cities are about 100 miles apart, but it is a walking world, and that’s a four or five-day journey on foot.

So Jesus is in perpetual motion as we see him in the Gospels, moving from one place to another, preaching and healing the sick.

Everywhere Jesus goes he wants to…

Make Disciples:

 “he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John” (John 4:1).         

Jesus has been in the “Judean countryside” baptizing in the Jordan River in the vicinity of John the Baptist and his meetings. Everyone shows up for these events.

“Everyone is going to him,” said the staunch loyalists of John the Baptist (John 3:26). For most preachers, this would have been really tough on their egos. A new preacher arrives in town, and he quickly builds a following larger than yours, and made up of many people who used to come to hear you.

But John is fine with it. The Baptist is decreasing, and Jesus of Nazareth is increasing in influence and popularity. John says that it must happen this way because he is only the attendant to the Bridegroom, not the bridegroom. He is rejoicing in it.

Jesus was devoted to the task of making disciples. John records that Jesus “was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John” (v1). Jesus was making disciples in Judea.

• He was calling people to repentance and to the kingdom of God. A disciple is a learner, pupil; one who follows your teaching.

• The word translated “gaining” here is often translated “making.” Jesus was “doing” or “making “disciples.” He told his disciples to do the same in what we call The Great Commission: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them” (Matthew 28:19). We are following Jesus when we make disciples and baptize them.

A life goal and mindset. The word “disciple” is a noun here where in the Great Commission it is the verb form of the same word. Disciples are made. Some people turn this into a new English word, “discipling.” Spell check marks it as misspelled.

• We follow Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life. We want everyone on Planet Earth to know him and the good news.

Upon learning that the Pharisees were talking about his popularity, Jesus decided to leave Judea. He had been in Judea perhaps six months, according to some calculations. He stayed at least long enough to build a following that was substantial. He left in the midst of great success, not because of any failure.

Make the Most of Time and Travel:

“Now he had to go through Samaria” (Acts 4:4).

Occupational Necessity.

• We all travel these days, much more than previous generations. We travel by air, by bus, by car, and by train. We stay in hotels and eat in restaurants.

• I will travel to California in two weeks to attend a meeting of Golden Gate seminary trustees. Such a long-distance obligation and opportunity would not have been possible 50 years ago. On my journey I will sit beside strangers in four different flights.
• We interact with people in all kinds of ways when we travel. We often hear stories—and tell them—about conversations in the process of travel. I have told them to you—about sitting next to a man who pops the question: “What do you think of divorce?” He didn’t realize it, but he was starting a spiritual conversation.

• Travel gives us the opportunity to meet strangers, to spend time with them, and to have conversations with them. This is the normal process of everyday life in our generation.

• We need to pay attention to Jesus on this journey. It is a relatively long journey. How long has it been since you set out on a journey of four or five days? That is what Jesus is doing here.

Mission Necessity.

• Jesus “had to go through Samaria.” Jews often traveled on the east side of Jordan going north in order to avoid the region of Samaria. The necessity that Jesus feels surely came from his mission, not in the geography.

• Jesus chose his route based upon the opportunity afforded him to continue exactly what he was doing in the Judean countryside—making disciples.

• The fact that he chose to continue his mission in Samaria may have surprised some Jews, but it was wholly consistent with the Savior’s choices and behavior. Samaritans were people, too, who needed the good news of the Savior.

Cross-Cultural Necessity.

• Samaria was hostile territory in a way. To go through Samaria was to take the risk that you would be rendered unclean. You were likely to come in contact with the eating utensils of Samaritans. Using them, or a host of other things, could make you unclean as a Jew.

• Jesus paid no heed to these religious objections to traveling through Samaria. He was focused on the people, not on the problems. He saw the opportunity to share God’s word, not the danger of being compromised in his reputation.

• We must shed our reluctance to connect to people across cultural boundaries if we are to follow Jesus faithfully.

• One day soon Philip, one of the first deacons, would ignite a great evangelistic campaign among the Samaritans that would startle Peter and the Twelve and indicate how powerful the gospel was among all peoples of the earth (Acts 8).

Make No Excuses:

“Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well” (Acts 4:6).

Jesus was tired. That is usually excuse enough for us to check out of our responsibilities and opportunities. Jesus came to a well near the town of Sychar about the noon hour.

• Jesus sat down by Jacob’s Well. This is an indication that he is putting it on pause, so to speak.

Jesus was thirsty, but he does not have any vessel with which to draw water. He could have been consumed by and focused upon his own needs. But in fact he will leverage his thirst to help a lost soul find the living water. 

See the Woman. A woman came to draw water from the well. Jesus once said to his critics, “Do you see this woman?” They were religious professionals so caught up in their own opinions that they could not even see the woman.

• Jesus speaks to the woman even though it is against their customs and traditions. Jesus asks her for a drink even though her water vessel would render him unclean when it touched his lips.

• We must learn the lesson of treating every human being with the dignity and worth that the image of God requires.

Jesus sees you though you feel you are invisible.