PASTOR RON ARBAUGH - CALVARY CHAPEL SAN ANTONIOmedia.calvarysa.com/pastorronnotes/John/john4.pdfPASTOR RON ARBAUGH - CALVARY CHAPEL SAN ANTONIO 2 Samaritan soil because Jews hated

PASTOR RON ARBAUGH - CALVARY CHAPEL SAN ANTONIO

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John 4:1-54; everyone thirsts for real love…

1 The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples

than John, 2 although in fact it was not Jesus who

baptized, but his disciples. 3 When the Lord learned of this, he left

Judea and went back once more to Galilee.

4 Now he had to go through

Samaria. Jesus had to go through Samaria

for a couple of reasons. 1st, He went through Samaria instead of going through Judea

because He wanted to avoid the opposition that was arising from the Pharisees…

John the Baptist was, indeed, decreasing. In fact, he was no longer the focus of the Pharisees attention. They, you see, were now

concerned about Jesus because He was gaining followers, baptizing more people than John was…

The answer? Samaria. Jesus knew the Pharisees would never follow Him through Samaria. In fact, if a Jew had a trip to make,

it wouldn’t matter how far out of his way he had to go, he would never set foot on


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Samaritan soil because Jews hated Samaritans and Samaritans hated Jews. Hated is an

understatement. Samaritans were considered dogs; they were half-breeds that resulted from inter-marriages between Assyrians (app. 700 BC) and the 10 northern

tribes of Israel. To even touch Samaritan soil was unthinkable…

There was another reason—the more important one. Jesus, you see, didn’t hate anyone. Jesus knew there was one particular woman

who needed to meet Him! This was a divine appointment! You gotta love that Jesus would reach out to the most despised woman in the entire nation of despised Samaritans…

5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar (well can be seen today; it’s in

the West Bank—a dangerous area now), 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. I love that Jesus got

tired! There are times when the devil tries to

make me feel guilty if ministry tires me out. But I have learned it’s OK to get tired; Jesus


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was a man who got tired and hungry just like me…

Here’s what’s important to remember; though Jesus was tired, He was still available for this ministry opportunity! It’s OK to be tired but

never let it stop you from taking advantage of a Divine opportunity… It was about the sixth hour.

7 When a Samaritan woman came to

draw water, It’s 12:00 or 6:00 depending

on whether Jewish or Roman time; not the time when people came out to draw water…

There are two possibilities—both intriguing. 1st, it’s possible that this lady, because of her

reputation, would be considered unfit for decent people to be around. Perhaps the other women, because this lady had a reputation for man-stealing, simply refused to have anything

to do with her… The other possibility is that this Samaritan

woman didn’t want anything to do with the others! Why? Maybe guilt. Maybe (this might hurt a little bit, ladies) it’s because women

typically don’t trust other women. I personally believe that being out in the heat of the day was this woman’s choice because she didn’t


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want to open her heart to the other women. Drawing water, you see, was a woman’s job… Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?" This is interesting. In Jn.3, it was

Nicodemus who initiated the conversation with Jesus. Here, with a single, immoral woman, it is the Lord Himself who initiates the

conversation. Jesus was an evangelist…

8 (His disciples had gone into the

town to buy food.) Jesus was hungry,

tired, thirsty. Centuries earlier, this same Jesus made water come from a rock to quench the thirst of Moses and the people of Israel. It was only weeks earlier that He had

changed water into wine… But please notice that Jesus didn’t do a miracle

for Himself. Think about it: Jesus was alone. He could have made a sandwich appear. He could have created a cold glass of ice tea. But

He never did anything for Himself. That should give us some insight about our own method of praying. Do you ask for others benefit or for your own? Follow the Lord’s

example…


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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.) John’s commentary

explains this woman’s astonishment. It was unbelievable to her that any man would address her in a non-sexual situation. That it

was a Jew, a rabbi, made this experience amazing! In Jesus’ day, a rabbi wouldn’t speak to any woman in public—even his wife…

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." Jesus, the clever evangelist,

uses the tools in front of Him to introduce Himself to this woman. He’s at a well and

figures water is the perfect illustration… This woman thinks she is going to toy with the Lord as she has other men. Jesus, though, is

in control… 11 "Sir," the woman said, "you have

nothing to draw with and the well is


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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 flocks and herds?" 13 Jesus answered, "Everyone who

drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I

give him will never thirst. Indeed, the

water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal

life." Jesus’ first obstacle in this conversation

is the woman’s focus. Her focus, you see, is

on material things, the everyday things of life. Jesus, though, is concerned only about the spiritual…

There are people today who would accuse Jesus of being too heavenly-minded to be any earthly good. Not so. Jesus knows something

I pray each of you know—that material things, necessities or luxuries, will never satisfy the human thirst. If you are pursuing possessions,

if you are pursuing fun, if you are living for the treasures of this world, guess what? You will always be thirsty! But if you look to Jesus for fulfillment, well, you’ll never again thirst!


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That is Jesus’ point and that is His only concern…

Some times, we humans get frustrated with God, don’t we? We ask for our material needs to be met—the perfect spouse, the new house

or car, the perfect job, maybe even a new start in life. But even if we get these things, we are not satisfied! Then our frustration with God

boils over…

I hope you will believe the next thing I am going to say because, if you believe me, you will not have to experience it personally. If you do not believe what I am about to say,

your experience will turn out to be a painful one…

Here goes: God loves you way too much to let you be satisfied with anything except Him! No

matter how rich, no matter how famous, no matter if you receive everything on your wish list, apart from putting Jesus Christ first, you will be miserable with all of it! Please, please

believe me…

15 The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and


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have to keep coming here to draw

water." 16 He told her, "Go, call your husband

and come back." Wow, we went from

water to husbands pretty quickly, didn’t we?

Jesus has a method to His madness: there can be no conversion without conviction! Jesus needed to get this woman to understand her need to repent and be saved…

There is never a true conversion unless someone is willing to leave their life of sin. But

before they can leave it, they must admit to it! You see, many people living in sin, refuse to admit it. ‘It’s not sin,’ they say, ‘what I am

doing is not wrong. Lots of people do it.’ Some will even say that God understands them…

Jesus didn’t want to talk about water. He wanted to talk about sin. But please notice how He did it. He didn’t condemn her. He

didn’t tell her she is standing at the edge of hell! He simply wants her to acknowledge her sin and then He will show her the road to

forgiveness. That is the example we should follow ourselves… Listen to her answer…


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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." If this woman

were American, she would say, ‘You’re judging me.’ Ever think you can fool God? Lots of

people do. Lots. But He is never fooled… I have a lot of people who claim living together

without marriage is OK with God. ‘We love each other, we’re committed,’ seems to them to make sin alright. Even something to approve. But Jesus takes care to point out

that this woman is living with a man who is not her husband and does so disapprovingly! It is NOT OK…

PLEASE notice also that Jesus didn’t ask this woman to give Him the details about her 5

marriages. He doesn’t tell her she needs to go back to husband #1 and ask for forgiveness or to divorce the others and re-marry him. He simply wants her to acknowledge her sin and

move on…


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It is NEVER necessary to return to your past and drudge up all the ugly details. Ladies, it is

never necessary to offer excuses for your failed marriages. We don’t need to hear that it was his fault, or that you were a victim of emotional abuse. All God wants to hear is that

you take personal responsibility for your part… Why is the Lord so (seemingly)

unsympathetic? Because none of the reasons matter! Because all (listen, please) that matters to God is today and the future! This

woman’s past is about to be thrown out! Freedom…

A word about divorce. God hates it. But there

are times when it is unavoidable. Additionally, many Christians were divorced (several times) before we became Christians. Sadly, there are

times when other Christians try to make you feel guilty or like 2nd class Christians because you’ve been divorced. Jesus doesn’t do it to

this woman and He doesn’t do it to you… If you’ve been divorced, I want you to live in the freedom and grace of this glorious gospel

we serve. God is not finished with you and His plans for you are bigger than your divorce(s)!


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If you are one of those Christians who deals with people who have been divorced this way,

you are in sin! Legalism, harshness is not God’s way. Grace is God’s way…

19 "Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet. Doesn’t it feel sometimes

like God is peering into the depths of your soul? For this woman, it did...

20 Our fathers worshiped on this

mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in

Jerusalem." This woman is doing two

things—one consciously, the other sub-

consciously. Let me explain… It is human nature, when feeling conviction of the Holy Spirit, to try to change the subject.

To try to turn attention outward instead of inward. That was what she was trying to do—‘enough about me…’

But her question points to the real desire of her heart. You see, she really did want to

know how to worship God! She could look around at her life, she could look at the lives of the people who had mistreated her, who had


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taken advantage of her, and she’s asking, ‘Where’s God in all this? How can I find God?’

Isn’t that what we all want to know? Well, Jesus is not hard to find…

He will never try to explain why bad things

happened to you. He will never apologize as though He was responsibile. But He will let you know He is sorry it happened and try to

draw you so close to Him that your hurting days will be over…

Jesus went out of His way (way out of His way) to protect, to love, to care for this woman and He will do the same thing for you and for your children if you have been hurt by men

misrepresenting God. In this case, the fruit that comes from her life will be glorious… next week!


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19 "Sir," the woman said, "I can see that

you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this

mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in

Jerusalem." 21 Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman,

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. Samaritans were just like Americans in this

way. We worship but we worship what we do not know! We worship who we want the way we want. The problem for us (and for this woman) is that unless we worship God His

way, we aren’t really worshipping God at all… You see, Samaritans passed down a legend

that Moses authorized worship on Mt. Gerazim. It’s true that Mt. Gerazim had a rich history; it is located near the ancient city of Shechem and

was the place where blessings were pronounced (curses on neighboring Mt. Ebal) shortly after Israel entered into the Promised


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Land. It was also the site of Joshua’s farewell address to the people of Israel…

But it wasn’t where God had told the people to worship! That would be Jerusalem. The

Samaritans didn’t seem concerned that their worship violated the Word of God given to Moses. They rationalized that God must have

changed His mind or that He didn’t really care how/where they worshipped, as long as they were worshipping…

But God does care! He really cares! I have people tell me all the time they have their own

way of worshipping God, their own personal relationship that’s private. They tell me God accepts it. I know one guy who told me that

He just feels closer to God playing golf or out in nature hunting than he does in a church and God doesn’t care! He does…

God wants us to be a part of a body. He knows we get strength when we’re together,

learning His Word. He knows we need to be changed inside—our focus has to move from us to others. How does that happen? By serving

others in the body! That’s why Paul wrote to the Hebrews that we should never forsake the assembling together of the saints! In


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other words, Paul says, if you want a healthy, vibrant walk with the Lord, be with other

believers instead of with a set of golf clubs…

People hate it when God gets in the way of

their ‘fun-stuff!’ Decide how you are going to worship because Jesus is about to tell you it’s His way or the (wide) hi-way… 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will

worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers

the Father seeks. You see, our Father is

on a search and rescue mission. He

searches us out, rescues us from our sin, and, in return, He retains the right to determine HOW He is worshipped…

24 God is spirit, and his worshipers

must worship in spirit and in truth." I want to say 2 things about this very important

verse… 1st, (I always burst someone’s bubble when I say this, but…) Father God is not a person like

Jesus is a person. In other words, when we get to heaven, we won’t see a human conception of our Father. We won’t be able to


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crawl up on His lap or wrap our arms around Him. You see, He is a Spirit and not a person…

People get offended because it blows away their concept of our heavenly Father. But I can assure you that we will NOT be disappointed

when we do see Him! He will be better, more wonderful, more personal, and more intimate than anything our minds can imagine…

2nd, we need to understand exactly what Jesus was saying to this woman; if we do, it will

change the way we view worship and religion. Jews viewed worship outwardly. By that I mean that they observed the letter of the law and not the Spirit behind the law. They

observed rituals and ceremonies and thought, as long as they were doing their best to attend the feasts and make sacrifices for their sin,

they need not be concerned about keeping the Spirit of the law…

But here’s where they went wrong. God is not concerned with sacrifices and rituals. He is not concerned with ashes on a forehead. He isn’t concerned with simply attending religious

things. You see, God knows religion never changes lives. It can change behavior


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occasionally but never, ever changes hearts…

Relationship (hanging around with Jesus) is what changes hearts! Meeting Him. Not talking about Him. Not going to a church that

talks about Him. Meeting Him is the only thing that changes everything! That is what Jesus means when He says we must worship in Spirit

and truth. You see, the truth is that we are only really worshipping God when we obey Him. How do you think God feels when we

sing love songs to Him but forget all about Him the minute we leave church?

What makes anyone think God is pleased with

a commitment to behaving a little better for a time when our heart towards God never changes at all! That is why God is seeking

true worshippers…

I want to apply this as it relates to our worship

as a church (not just CC; the whole church). There can be no Spirit without Truth. Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the Spirit of Truth…

There are lots of Christians who want to come to church and let the Spirit free-flow, sort-of whatever you feel like doing, we should have


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the freedom to do it. But truth is Spirit and Spirit is truth…

That’s why we worship the way we do. We worship in song (emotions are vital to healthy worship) and we worship in truth—the Word!

Remember, it’s His way or the hi-way—any form of worship that doesn’t emphasize truth is not worship that God seeks! One of the

reasons God has so blessed Calvary Chapel is because of the balance we have found between Spirit and truth. God, I think, is

pleased with that balance…

25 The woman said, "I know that

Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming.

When he comes, he will explain everything to us." You have to love this

woman! She’s confused and she’s not afraid to admit it! But she’s certainly talking to the right Person…

26 Then Jesus declared, "I who speak

to you am he." For those who claim that

Jesus never actually said He was God, this

verse is just one of many that removes all doubt. This is an I AM statement (lit. Gr. is I am that speak unto thee…)—Jesus is


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identifying Himself with the voice that spoke to Moses from the burning bush…

Imagine her mouth at this moment. Look close—her heart is in it! God is revealing Himself to a woman that not even the other

women in the town will speak to! God is revealing Himself to an immoral woman. God is revealing Himself to a woman who has been

(hold your breath) divorced… Here’s the good news—Jesus reveals Himself

only to sinners ready to acknowledge their sin and their need to be rescued from it! This woman is about to get born-again…

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?" Jesus’ disciples were

probably a little disgusted by the sight of Jesus talking to a Samaritan woman. But, like most of us, they lacked the courage to say anything

to His face…

28 Then, leaving her water jar, Important spiritual principle here: why did


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this woman leave the water jar when her sole reason for being at the well was to get some

water? I suggest the following: When you meet Jesus, everything that was important before, no longer is! We have

people living together outside of marriage who come here all the time. One gets saved, the other doesn’t—what happens? The saved one

leaves the water jar! Same for some occupations. Strippers, bouncers, even career criminals—they leave the water jar! By the

way, where are your old water jars? the woman went back to the town and

said to the people,

29 "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did (a slight exaggeration;

we’ll excuse her because she was excited…). Could this be the Christ?" There are a lot of

us who are afraid of the thought that Jesus knows everything there is to know about us. But as we

look closely at this encounter, we see that Jesus

loved this woman even though He knew every detail about her past! In other words, Jesus wasn’t surprised by her past, He simply wanted to

set her free from it! Was she grateful? You be the judge…


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30 They came out of the town and

made their way toward him. Remember

who this woman is. She’s an outcast. Good with the men, despised by the women but also

a great salesperson! Her enthusiasm, the obvious change in her countenance, intrigued everybody! They had to see for themselves…

If this outcast wasn’t afraid to share the great news about Jesus, why is it that so many of us

are? It amazes me that we use so many excuses: Religion is private; I don’t want to make anyone angry; people will think I’m a religious nut; my boss might get mad at me if

I share—all those and more…

This woman cared only about one thing and

this is yet another demonstration of leaving her water jar behind! Listen closely: the woman who wanted nothing to do with anyone

in town suddenly cared enough about them to want them to hear the good news…

When you meet the Lord, because you realize

that He knew everything about you and forgave you anyway, you recognize that you need to forgive those who have hurt you, too!

You see, this particular water jar was anger,


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bitterness, unforgiveness—she was willing to leave it all behind to share the good news…

How do you feel when people who have hurt you or who are really different than you receive Jesus? Are you ever uncomfortable

when you look around our church and see people from different races, different economic classes, different ages with different interests?

How do you react when someone whose life is a mess (homeless, drug life-style, tattoos everywhere) comes forward to accept Jesus?

Do you open your arms to welcome them? That’s what Jesus would do! You know what this story means to us? Everyone is a target

for God’s love! It means that no one is too bad for Jesus! In fact, the only ones that Jesus cannot reach are those who think themselves

too good…

31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, "Rabbi, eat something." This proves that

his disciples were not much different than the woman was at the beginning. All they could think about was material stuff, in this case,

food! Jesus was hungry and tired. They brought back food…


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But Jesus’ real hunger had already been satisfied… 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?" As Gayle Erwin would say, “Are

these guys really the A-postles? The best God

could do?” They just don’t get it…

34 "My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish

his work. Please listen carefully here. Jesus

is telling us that nothing in this life is able to compete with the satisfaction of faithfully

completing the will of the Father! Do you believe it?

You know what, men? What your family needs more than anything else in the world—more than money, more than 2 cars, more than 2

incomes, more than a big house—is a husband/dad who is sold out for God… Next week—gratitude in action…


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34 "My food," said Jesus, "is to do the

will of him who sent me and to finish his work.

35 Do you not say, 'Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open

your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. No delay. Here’s what Jesus

sees and what He is drawing his disciples attention to. Just now the woman is running back out to see Jesus. Huge crowds of Samaritans are following

her, eager to see for themselves whether or not what she has said is true…

As Jesus looks up and says, ‘Open your eyes and look at the fields,’ the people were running out to meet the Lord. You see, people

wore turbans and robes. Their heads would be bobbing up and down as they ran toward Jesus, and it would look like a field of ripe wheat blowing in the wind. The people are

the harvest…

36 Even now the reaper draws his

wages, even now he harvests the 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.


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38 I sent you to reap what you have not

worked for. Others (OT prophets) have done the hard work, and you have

reaped the benefits of their labor." Of

course, they only reap if they sow, if they

participate in the work… This is what I want each of you to be able to see. When you see hurting people, lost people, even

those who naturally repel you or hate you or practice vile sin, I want you to see a harvest! This is one of the great things about Malta Medical.

People come hurting. They are often defiant, even opposing our efforts to pray and share with them. But instead of seeing bad people, they see

patients. Their harvest…

39 Many of the Samaritans from that

town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me

everything I ever did." What was so

appealing in her statement that Jesus told her

everything she ever did? This is amazing—she (and the others) would come to the realization that Jesus knew everything about her and

loved her anyway! The people now knew if God loved this woman, He could love anyone…


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That is precisely what I want each of you to leave here knowing today. I promise you all

that if God loved me, loving you is going to be easy! This was a woman who was looked down upon by everyone and now, here she is leading an entire city to Christ! That’s the way

it is supposed to work…

40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with

them, and he stayed two days. Contrast this with the people in the Gadarenes;

Jesus cast demons out of Legion and the people there begged Him to leave! These are the 2 responses to the work of God in the

human heart…

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 Savior of the world." You

have to believe for yourself! You can’t believe because someone else does or because everyone else is. You have to decide…


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The final thought on this woman’s story is this: It doesn’t matter what decision you make

(except for you). You see, if you choose not to believe, it doesn’t make it any less true! Jesus is the way (only), the truth (only), the life (only)! What choice do you make? Be

honest enough to make your own decision. Do your own study. Don’t take my word, the word of your college professor, or your parents or

friends. Find out what is true—for yourself…

43 After the two days he left for Galilee. 44 (Now Jesus himself had pointed out

that a prophet has no honor in his own country.)

45 When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had

seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, for

they also had been there. There were

times, I think, when ministry bummed Jesus out. No—not doing the work of His Father, but the way people responded to Him when He did…

Jesus has just finished two days of beautiful ministry in Samaria. The whole town

responded—and believed! Not just one


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woman’s life had been changed, but everyone’s life had been changed. Why? Because they

heard Jesus teach. They saw how He lived and they believed…

What a let-down this trip back home would be.

Earlier (and often), we are told that Jesus was nothing special in His hometown. The Bible tells us that Jesus could not do many miracles

in Nazareth because the people lacked faith. Mark’s gospel tells us Jesus was amazed at their lack of faith…

But this time His reception was different. They actually welcomed Jesus in Galilee. When they had heard the stories of what He did at the

feast, well, it was like local-boy makes good. Had Jesus changed? No. The only thing that changed was their perception of Him. Why?

Because of miracles! Here was Jesus, speaking the truth from God’s Word, and they only cared about miracles! Sort-of like, ‘what

can you do for me, Jesus?’ They welcomed Him for all the wrong reasons… Please notice that Jesus didn’t care. He was

willing to be taken advantage of, willing to have people come to Him for the wrong reasons. His job was simply to tell the truth


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and do the work His Father sent Him to do. How they responded was a personal choice…

Are there some here this morning who also welcome Jesus only because you hope He might do something spectacular for you? From

our perspective (post-cross) if dying for you wasn’t enough, how dare you ask God to do something else for you? Welcome Jesus

because He loves you! Because He’s God! Or don’t welcome Him at all. Your choice…

46 Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the

water into wine. And there was a

certain royal official (lit. king’s man) whose son lay sick at Capernaum. This royal official was more than likely a member of King Herod’s staff. But he was also a dad—his son was sick in the nearby

town of Capernaum... Herod was, of course, an enemy of Jesus and this man was taking a huge risk (taking risks

with Jesus is a good thing!) by coming to Him. But, as I said, he was a dad who would be willing to risk even his life for that of his son…


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47 When this man heard that Jesus had

arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal

his son, who was close to death. 48 "Unless you people see miraculous

signs and wonders," Jesus told him, "you will never believe." Jews were

always looking for miracles—not unlike our church culture today. Jesus is rebuking the people (not the man; Gr. word is plural—

Jesus is addressing the people in His hometown) because they will not believe unless they see some miraculous event…

But that’s not the real reason Jesus is rebuking them. You see, they have already seen

miracles. They had heard all about the things Jesus was doing (remember, Nicodemus had said that he knew Jesus was from God because of all the miraculous things He had been doing.

In fact, the whole area of Judea was buzzing with conversation about the miracles Jesus had

done…

But that was precisely the problem. Miracles never produce real faith. If they didn’t believe

in Him by now one more miracles wouldn’t do it. Same thing is true in our church culture.


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When we go ‘miracle-shopping,’ we lose the Person of Jesus. Even our pursuit of miracles

is selfish; our motivation is to see what God will do for me… But even when He does do something

miraculous, we remain skeptical. Just like the people here, we don’t believe; instead, we simply look for the next miracle or the next

move of God. Finally, we end up settling for false signs and wonders and most Christians wouldn’t recognize a real miracle if it slapped

us in the face… Contrast this with the beautiful story of the Samaritans we spent 3 weeks studying. They

believed. Did Jesus do any miracles? No. They simply believed because of the words that Jesus spoke! That is the beauty about

believing. We believe because of what God has done, not because of what we hope He will do…

49 The royal official said, "Sir, come

down before my child (lit., my dear little

boy) dies." You can almost hear the

frustration of the nobleman (this is no time to teach, my son will die!). He was in a hurry; Capernaum was 22 miles from Cana. If they


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were to make it in time to help his child, they would need to leave immediately. He doesn’t

care to talk theology—his son is near death! He just wants Jesus to come and heal his kid… Very important point here. Did this man have

great faith, enough that Jesus would have to heal his son? No, of course not! In fact, this man waited until the very last minute, until he

was desperate, to come to Jesus! Please listen—Jesus doesn’t care how long you wait or how desperate you are! This man could have

come sooner (certainly he had heard about Jesus’ miracles) but he didn’t want to risk his position in Herod’s palace. Jesus could have said, ‘Sure, NOW you need me,’ but He

didn’t… Jesus is going to heal the boy and reward the

tiny little, late faith of this man! Why? Because Jesus delights in showing the love of His Father! So Jesus tests the man to see

whether or not he truly will believe if he sees a miracle…

50 Jesus replied, "You may go. Your son

will live (better trans.: your son is living right

now!)." The man took Jesus at his word

and departed.


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51 While he was still on the way, his

servants met him… I can imagine what

this man must have thought when he saw his servants coming toward him. I think he

probably had the instant of terror—‘must be bad news,’ he would have thought…

But then he would remember Jesus’ promise—His Word! He would have remembered the authority with which Jesus

spoke. ‘No, my son has been healed…’ When you remember the promises of God and the authority from which they come, you will know that you need not worry! God’s

promises—His real ones—are always yes & amen! His news, was, of course, good… with the news that his boy was living.

52 When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, "The

fever left him yesterday at the seventh

hour." 53 Then the father realized that this

was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live."

So he and all his household believed. The nobleman had earlier believed in the

Lord’s promise. Now he believes in the


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Lord’s Person! He is born-again! He and his household believed…

Amazing, isn’t it, when we consider how much God will do through the faith of just one person? Earlier in this chapter, it was one

outcast woman. Here, it’s one well-to-do important man! But when they believe, when Jesus reveals Himself to them, they convince

others! That is our job…

Interesting footnote: It is thought by many that this nobleman (king’s man) is the man named Manaen from Acts 13. He would have been the foster-brother of Herod as they grew

up together in the palace. If true, this event marks the day a man who would become a leader in the early church got saved…

54 This was the second miraculous

sign that Jesus performed, having come from Judea to Galilee. Key

phrase in this story: The man took

Jesus at his word and departed. This

man became a believer because He took Jesus at His word. That’s the same reason we all

became believers. There was some set of


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circumstances in our life that forced us to take God at His word…

Since this man believed and likely became a leader in the early church, here’s the question I want to close with today: Do you take God at

His Word—as a believer? Here’s what I mean: Are you still controlled by

sin? Not if you take God at His Word! Are there things in your life God doesn’t want

there? Not if you take God at His Word! Does God love you? If you take God at His Word, you know the answer is yes. What if

you don’t feel His love? Doesn’t change the answer…

The only real definition of faith—it is simply taking Jesus at His Word. Do you have faith?

Documents

PASTOR RON ARBAUGH - CALVARY CHAPEL SAN ANTONIOmedia.calvarysa.com/pastorronnotes/John/john4.pdfPASTOR RON ARBAUGH - CALVARY CHAPEL SAN ANTONIO 2 Samaritan soil because Jews hated