Jesus - A Boundary Crossing, Difficulty Engaging, Thirst Quenching Kind of God

February 21, 2021 Speaker: Joel Scott Series: Light, Life & Love: A Journey through the Gospel of John

Topic: Light, Life & Love: A Journey through the Gospel of John Passage: John 4:1– 1:42

Feb. 21: Light, Life, Love: A Journey Through the Gospel of John – John 4:1-38

 

    1. Big Idea:  Jesus is a boundary crossing, difficulty engaging, thirst quenching kind of God.

 

  • Jesus is a boundary-crossing kind of God.

 

    1. Read John 4:1-10

Now he had to go through Samaria.  John 4:4

For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.  John 4:9

The daughters of the Samaritans are menstruants from the cradle. Mishnah, Niddah 4:1

  1. Jesus is a boundary crossing kind of God.  Love moves Jesus beyond expected boundaries. Those who follow Jesus must do the same.
  2. Do you see yourself as someone that Jesus might not want to get close to?
  3. Jesus deeply wants to interact with you. 

 

  • Jesus is a difficulty-engaging kind of God.

 

    1. Read John 4:11-26
    2. The Samaritan Woman’s Story
      1. She’s an adulteress and the cause of divorce.
      2. She’s a widow and recipient of divorce.

It is more likely that her five marriages and current arrangement were the result of unfortunate events that took the lives of several of her husbands. Perhaps one or two of them divorced her, or maybe she initiated divorce in one or more cases. As for her current situation, maybe she has no dowry (after these other marriages) and thus no formal marriage. (A dowry was the way to document this union in her culture) … Perhaps the man she was currently with was old and needed care, but his children didn’t want to share their inheritance with her, so no dowry document was written. Or perhaps he was already married, (and she needed protection and provision…and marriage was how a woman got those things in Jesus’ day) making her his second ‘wife’.  – Lynn Cohick

 

  • Jesus is a thirst-quenching kind of God.

 

    1. Read John 4:27-42

“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.”   John 4:10

“Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”   John 4:13

“Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”   John 7:37-38

  1. As I was sitting there on the beach in my mind’s eye, I didn’t want Him to come any closer; it was more comfortable with Him far away. I think it was fear that was causing me not to want Him to come closer. But I couldn’t ask Him to forgive me. I just kept thinking about all that I had done, and my fear that I wouldn’t be able to change. The turning point for me was when I began to visualize my sin. I could see all the things I had done all around me, it was like it was surrounding me and putting up a shield distancing me from Him. He kept walking towards me and I kept stepping away. I kept saying, "This is who I am, all these things around me, that’s ME, I want your forgiveness but only if you WANT to forgive me. This is who I am." I just kept thinking if I’m too far gone then I understand. He didn’t say anything. I just stood there with my arms at my side, and Jesus started pushing away the things surrounding me. One by one he pushed each thing away until he was standing right in front of me. Finally, I said, “I’m so, so sorry.”  And He put His hands on my shoulders and said, “I love You.” I didn’t feel any longer that I was the person surrounded by all my sins. I felt that it was just me, a girl standing there who is broken by all the things that have happened in my life. And with that, for the first time in a long time, I felt like I was really forgiven. I felt like I was sitting there with a clean slate. (www.biola.edu/blogs/good-book-blog/2011/shame-removed-honor-received-part-3)

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May 23, 2021

Intimacy Induces Influence - John 17

May 16, 2021

Expect Hardship - John 15:18-21