Jesus and the Woman at the Well Part 3: Leaving Your Broken Cisterns Behind - John 4:11-18

1:01And if you remember, Mount Gerizim was the place where blessings were shouted out. Mount Ebal was the place where curses were shouted out. And both lands, that of Samaria and that of Jerusalem, were under the curse, right? They both experienced the curse. The Samaritans had experienced the curse. Of God for defecting, for leaving the true God and serving idols, and they came under the curse. And the Assyrians came and took them away. Jerusalem didn't fare much better. They didn't heed the warning, and they too had the curses come upon them. All this was laid out in Deuteronomy 27 and 28. And so here comes Christ right here in the middle of these two mountains with the landscape of these blessings and curses very significant place right in the middle of the heart of Israel. And here comes Jesus to this well, who he had to come here.

2:25And the question I asked last time was: how? How does a person move from being under the curse of God to being under the blessing of God? That's the question that the scripture most certainly wants you to understand. And it's in this setting that Jesus gives living water to a woman who was under the curse of God. So the very simple answer is: how does one move from being under the curse of God to being Under the blessing of God, one has to drink in living water.

3:06And this week and next, I want to look through a little more carefully of what drinking in living water looks like. The Bible does not want you to be uninformed on this one. This is the most important thing you need to understand. How do I go from curses to blessing? How do I take in living water? What is living water? But here we are in Samaria. Jesus has just come from Jerusalem. Both capitals are under Roman rule. They're both still a people under the curse. Neither side, north or south, are in good standing, good favor, good covenant with God.

4:05And the whole reason that Israel experienced the curse is summed up very adequately in Jeremiah 2:13, where Jeremiah, quoting God, says this: For my people have committed two evils. They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, to hew. For themselves, cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water. What's a flowing fountain? What's a cistern? This imagery needs to pervade your mind as we read through this text. But a flowing fountain is a fountain or a stream, a formation where water comes up from the ground. I have one over at our close to my house. If you ever want to go for a walk with me, I can take you to one of my favorite places. It's called Minter Spring. It's the old spring that used to serve the area that people would come draw water from. It was, they called sweet water. And every time I walk by it, I like to go over there and just stand and watch this spring. It bubbles up. And you can see the stream coming up and it pools up and it flows over into a little creek or creek, right?

5:27Creek. And I always like to stop there. They used to have a little cistern there where it would bubble up until some kid threw a stick of dynamite in it, I was told, and kind of blew out the well. But you can still see this water bubbling up. Now, a cistern, a cistern isn't something that's fed with water necessarily. It's something that's hewn out or it's basically a trap for water. And in this day, they would dig out cisterns and catch rainwater. And then Problem with that is the water wasn't as good, obviously, because it needed some fresh supply coming in and out that kept it clean. Jacob's well, which is still very remarkably reliable today, is one of these flowing fountains.

6:17You go down 100 feet, and there is an underground water movement, a spring that feeds it, and that's what has kept it good. But a broken cistern. So, if you can picture a broken water trap, what does that do? That doesn't hold water, does it? A broken cistern. So, you know, if you're looking for land, if you're looking to buy real estate at this day and age, you want something with a good water supply. Now, if there's a place for sale that has right next, or even maybe in their basement, has a living stream coming through it versus a house that has a cistern down there that just keeps going empty, which do you think is a better value?

7:02Yeah, of course. It doesn't take a genius to figure out which is better: a broken cistern that doesn't hold water or a perpetual flowing fountain. So, the problem with the nation of Israel, as Jeremiah lays it out, is that Israel had abandoned trusting in God and his ways. That was the living fountain. And they put their trust in idols and idols. Idolatrous worship of objects and idolous idolatrous pursuits. All of these were like cisterns which hold no water. And that was Israel's sin. They rejected the living God and His ways to hew out their own way of life and worship idolatrous objects.

7:58And in the end, such things, as Jesus, or as God clearly says, these things can't hold water. They provide no lasting satisfaction. And the same happens today, right? Where are you drinking? What are you drinking from right now? What is characteristic of your life? Have you come to the fountain of living water? Are you trusting fully in God, in His Word, His ways? Is that you? Or are you one who is like a broken cistern, pursuing your ways, your objects of worship, your objects of esteem?

8:41Well, in the end, it will not satisfy. If that is you, I think you probably already know that. And my question to you and to all of us is: do you want living water? That's really why John puts us there. Do you? Want living water, if so? This is how you go about getting it. This is what it looks like. And so here we are at a little well between two great mountains of Israel: the mountain of blessings and the mountain of curses. And it's here that Jesus invaded the world of this Samaritan world, of this Samaritan woman, and called her to leave her broken cistern behind and drink in living water.

9:34So let's read the text this morning. John chapter 4. I'm just going to pick up where we've left off, verse 10. Verse 11, actually. Remember, Jesus had just answered in verse 10, if you knew the gift of God and who it is who says to you, Give me a drink, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water. And she said to him, verse 11, Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do you get that living water? You are not greater than our father Jacob, are you, who gave us the well and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle? Jesus answered and said to her, Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst. But the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life. The woman said to him, Him, sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty, nor come all the way here to draw. He said to her, Go call your husband and come here. The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said to her, You have correctly said, I have no husband, for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband. This you have said truly.

10:57It's here that Jesus invades the world of this Samaritan woman. And I want you to see how he did it and how he invades your world today so that you will leave your broken cisterns behind and drink of what he has to give. First of all, the first way that Jesus invades your world is he inserts his importance. He asserts his importance. And if you look at this, he's already in verse 10, he has directly asserted his superiority. In verse 10, Jesus answered her and said, If you knew the gift of God and who it is who says to you, Give me a drink, you will have asked him, and he would have given you living water. So, what Jesus is basically saying, he comes and he says, What I believe Jesus is saying is something like this: If you knew the gift of God and the gift, I've already said, I believe the gift is the Son, the gift is the The Son. And God has given us a person. And the gift is that He gives Himself and He gives of Himself. The person is a giver, He Himself is the gift, and He gives.

12:14What Jesus is saying, if you knew the gift, if you knew God's gift in His Son, and you knew that God's Son is the one talking to you, you would have asked me for something only that I could give. So He says, if you knew who I was, but then He goes on to indirectly assert His importance by claiming He had water at His disposal that was far greater than any water that was in Jacob's well. So He said, If you knew who I was and you knew the water that I have, you would have been asking me. He says, You're basically Jesus saying, You need what I have more than I need what you have. Your soul is thirsty for something that only I can give you. So he, let's just walk through this. Now we'll pick that up, and we're just going to walk through this woman's response to Jesus' assertions. Basically, he says, I am important. I am the one of magnitude in your life. You need to pay attention to what I have to say. Verse 11, she said to him, and she makes a statement of the obvious, Sir, you have nothing. To draw with, and the well is deep. Pretty obvious, which leads to a valid question: where then do you get that living water? In other words, you're obviously not getting it from this well. I don't know what water you're talking about, but you're not getting it from this well because you have nothing to draw with, and the water is deep, which leads to an unthinkable implication in her mind. Verse 12, you are not greater than our father Jacob, are you, who gave us the well and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle? Basically, she's saying, okay, who do you think you are anyway? If you're going to give me better water than the water that Jacob gave us, you would have to be better than Jacob, right?

14:22Just follow her logic. Jacob dug it. Look back there. Jacob drank from it himself. So did his children. And so did his livestock. Therefore, this is good water. Jacob himself drank out of it, and he gave it to his kids. This is good water. This is a good well. There cannot be a better one unless, of course, you are better than Jacob, which I'm sure you are not. I remember some years back here at our lighthouse meeting. Mission, we had a special guest one time.

15:04She came to the in a housing crisis, needing a place to stay. And she told us, as we were letting her in, she said, You know, my husband is an ambassador to the United States from a very significant Latin country. Really? So we started calling her Miss Ambassador, right? And I'm telling the story as I remember it. So we let Mrs. Ambassador, we said, that's fine, Mrs. Ambassador, you can come in, but we do have one requirement that you get a job and that you, if you don't, you work Saturday morning in the garden with Brother Wilton.

15:47The ambassador's wife does not work in the garden. Well, I'm sorry that your ambassador didn't at least get you a motel six, but I'll tell you what, if you'll come, work in the garden, you can stay here. So she, I guess, agreed. She got into the, got into our residence over here. And then Saturday morning came around. And doors were locked. Everybody was out. If you didn't have a job, you had to be in the garden. I'm standing over there with Brother Wilton. And Miss Ambassador didn't want to come to work. In fact, she was saying, The Ambassador's wife does not come.

16:29And Brother Wilton said, Yes, you need to come over here. And eventually, she just screamed out. And I told Clyde, I said, Clyde, you know, it sure seems like she's going to greater lengths. If she'd just come over here and work an hour, she'd expend a lot less energy. He's like, Yeah, I agree. Well, so she finally, Clyde goes over there and says, You must come. She falls down on her back in the middle of Houston Avenue, screaming, The ambassador's wife does not work in the garden.

17:05Well, she didn't stay very long, it didn't work out long term. And somebody told me that her problem was that she suffered from visions of grandeur. Now, that's a nice clinical term, right? Visions of grandeur. Well, I think to some degree that's what this woman probably first, when she encountered Jesus, she probably saw this guy as a thirsty traveler who simply was having some kind of visions of grandeur. But there was something about this Jesus that demanded her respect. She refers to him as sir, and she just stays engaged. So Jesus comes to us today as a person of great importance. He did to her, and he does to us today. Let me Tell you who Jesus comes to you as? He comes to you as the only religious leader in history to have been raised from the dead. There isn't another contestant.

18:13That's how he comes to you. He said, I will establish my church, and the church is going to be here. And here we are. He said that he was the only way to heaven. He said, he is your only mediator and go-between with God. He said, he is your judge. And not only is he your judge, he is the judge of all humanity. He says to you, I am your judge. I am your creator. I am your God. And I offer to you life and every good thing.

18:52That's the person of importance that Jesus is. And he asserts himself in your life with such importance. You have to deal with him. Just like this woman did. Jesus came unashamedly asserting himself. And he comes with an offer. An offer. My question to you is: do you want to take the next step with me? Do you want the living water that he offers? Well, then you're going to have to understand. Understand who he is and be willing to believe in who he is and take the next step.

19:38He invades our world. He invades your world as a person to be reckoned with. This one individual you have to deal with. So the first way he invades our world is he asserts his importance. The second way he offers that which satisfies. He offers that which satisfies. This is what he did with this woman. He kept asserting his superiority. Yes, is basically his answer to her question. What I have to give you is better than what Jacob gave you. And yes, that's because I am greater than Jacob. Later, he's going to say he's greater than Abraham.

20:22He doesn't want us confused about who he is and his greatness. But he goes on to contrast the water in the well and the living water that he offers. Look at verse 13. Jesus answered and said to her, Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again. But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst, but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.

20:55Jesus clearly sees that the water he is offering. Is superior to what's in Jacob's well. And you can pick up here just by comparing contrast. You can see from verse 13 that the physical water is inferior because it cannot prevent someone from being thirsty again. You drink water, and what happens? You're going to need water again, right? Your physical body is going to need water again. That's the water she came to draw. But the living water makes one lose thirst for all time. The living water that Jesus is offering gives lasting satisfaction. And look at this phrase: into eternity. Well, actually, it's just we'll never thirst again, but the very word in the Greek is into the forever, into eternity, into the ages. We will never thirst.

22:01Second thing, think about physical water from Jacob's well. It can only touch the body, it has no ability to touch the soul. It remains outside of the soul, whereas the living water touches the soul of man, goes into the soul of man, and remains in the soul of man. Very different water. The physical water of Jacob's well is limited in quantity. It lessens, it disappears. Whenever we drink, it dissipates and it's gone. It diminishes, in other words. But the living water is a self-perpetuating spring. Look carefully.

22:49Here on earth, it sustains a person spiritually, but it also crosses over into eternity, into that life eternal. It crosses the threshold of eternity. He doesn't just give water that diminishes, he gives a well, a spring that is perpetual. Do you see the difference? One diminishes, one increasing. That drink becomes a whole well, a spring. It springs up. The word in Acts 3:8 is of a man, a crippled man, springing up. That's water springing out of the ground and spills over into a stream. That mentor spring close to my house that I told you about, there's no need for a bucket to go down because the water is right there. It's right there. And it keeps going. It's very accessible. So, as we looked at this last time, what is the living water? Well, so far, just in the comments, Context of where we've been in the first few chapters of John. First of all, we can say for sure: living water is spiritual in nature, right? It flows into the soul of man. It's not something of man, but it's something that flows through man. Living water is dispensed by Jesus. Living water is life-giving, it contains the properties of life itself. Living water refreshes, it satisfies the soul. There's only one conclusion: living water is the Holy Spirit. Jesus, let me bring this very, let me tighten this up a little bit. See, it's Jesus' Spirit.

24:48That's what you need. If you're going to go from blessing, I mean, from curses to blessing, you're going to need the Spirit, the heart that God is pleased to bless, and that is the Spirit of Christ Himself. That's the Holy Spirit. That's the Spirit God blesses. And the verification of this, you can keep going on. I mean, this is just if we summarize what was here, but I don't think we need to be confused about this at all.

25:22In verse 4:24, God wants his worshipers to worship in spirit and in truth. And if we're going to worship Him in spirit and in truth, Truth, he must give us his spirit. In John 6:63, the Spirit, it is the Spirit who gives life. The flesh profits nothing. John 7:38, he who believes in me, as the scripture said, from his innermost being will flow rivers of living water. But he spoke of the Spirit of whom those who believed in him were to receive.

25:57There's no question. This living water in John's mind is the very spirit of the Son of God himself. And that's what you need, right? It's our broken cisterns that are the problem. But the emphasis, the emphasis of this analogy is that the spring abides forever. The one drink becomes a perpetual spring that goes into eternity. And if you compare this with John 3:16, we're working our way through John 3:16. You know, it's notice it's the one who believes that has eternal life. And in John 4:14, the one who shall drink living water also has eternal life.

26:49We put them together. And what John is communicating: belief is the spiritual counterpart to drinking. Physical. Drinking in is likened to spiritual belief. You see that? Taking in. That's the concept here. And the one drink, and get this, the one drink becomes a continual fountain. The one belief becomes a dynamic of perpetual growing belief. That's what it does. That's why his water is superior. And I must take a theological side note here. And I hope you know I'm not here to promote a certain system of thought other than that which comes straight out of the scripture.

27:53But I don't want you to sit under my teaching and be confused about this one issue. There are those who say that a true believer can lose their salvation. The whole Catholic teaching, the whole pseudo-Catholic teaching of Arminius would argue that a true believer can become an unbeliever and walk away from the faith that a true believer can become. An unbeliever and become an apostate. And friends, I want you to follow Jesus' own words here. Understand the implications of what he is saying.

28:47Jesus's analysis or analogy of the drink becoming a perpetual fountain makes such a notion exegetically impossible. That drink becomes a fountain that goes all the way into eternity. For that, for one to be able to become a genuine believer and walk away and become an unbeliever doesn't fit with what Jesus is saying here at all. It basically is, no, that doesn't happen. The drink that you become doesn't go on to eternity, it doesn't become a fountain.

29:37And very early in John's gospel, John lays this out for us because he doesn't want you or I to be ignorant or confused over this one issue. What he gives not only remains, but it expands. Belief becomes more belief. Now, physical water is as necessary to human life as anything we know. Without physical water, the human body cannot live. And in the same way, the Holy Spirit is necessary for the human soul to live. And without the Holy Spirit, the human soul does not live.

30:27So, physical water, and I believe this physical water is something we really need, but it is earthly, right? And I think we can, this speaks characteristically of every earthly pursuit. They will all come to an end, right? They will all come up, but you need something of an eternal dimension. And when you drink in, when you have belief in the eternal God, it adds an eternal dimension to your soul by necessity. But here's the point: Jesus offers that which truly satisfies, not just temporarily, but forever.

31:08If you are not satisfied, you probably don't know Christ. Or you are, you don't understand the biblical truths that are yours in Christ. Either way, let us grow in understanding and the implications. You should not be in the same theological situation. 20 years from now, or where you were 20 years ago, there should be growth. So here's the step: do you believe in him? Do you believe who he is? Do you believe in what he is really offering here?

31:49And are you ready to take the next step with me in receiving living water? So, Jesus, number one, what does he do? He comes and he asserts himself as someone important in your life. That's how he invades our world. Second, he offers you that which truly satisfies. And third, he exposes that which is insufficient. He exposes that which is insufficient. Look at verse 15. The woman said to him, Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw.

32:32Give me, you give me this kind of water. That's what I want. I mean, I like the sound of that, right? I mean, she obviously doesn't understand, just like Nicodemus, she definitely doesn't want to, she doesn't have to, doesn't want to walk all this way over here. Can't really tell what's going on in her mind. She may be being skeptical, she may be being pragmatic, or she may be being genuine. But whatever it is, she asks for living water. And there it is. Verse 10, or in verse 10, when Jesus said, if you knew the gift of God and you would ask, he would give it. And here we are in verse 15, and here is her request.

33:13Jesus had led her to ask for it, and from here on out, the language changes. From here on out, there's no more figurative language. Jesus gets very direct, very plain, very simple, and very personal. The woman had asked for living water, and Jesus immediately begins to give it to her. Well, you want to know what happens when a person or when a soul is given living water? Pay attention, because that's what's happening in our text. So at this point, she needs to know who Jesus is and understand her thirst for living water. She needs to understand the thirst. So in verse 16, look at what Jesus says. He said to her, Go call your husband and come here. I love the Greek. It's very, you go, you call your husband, and you come here.

34:12Now, Jesus knew she didn't have a husband. What was he doing? Well, first of all, he was revealing himself. Remember, she needed to know who he was. Second, he was awakening her conscience. The purpose of his words was to bring. Into the light, the woman's marriage to sin. This was her broken cistern. This was Israel's broken cistern. And there at this well, Jesus is bringing it to light. Let me tell you your problem. It's the same as Israel. Let me tell you why you're under the curse. Let me tell you why this whole land is under the curse. It's because you've rejected the living fountain and you are married to your sin and your idolatrous ways.

35:05These, this is your broken cistern, and that's what she's going to have to leave behind. Leave behind. So basically, Jesus is coming to her: Do you ask me for living water? Do you want that great spiritual gift? Then I'm going to put my finger on your spiritual disease. I'm going to put my finger on the greatest ailment to your soul. I'm going to put my finger on the reason why you are under the curse. And it is your marriage to your sin.

35:38You know, if you're going to receive living water, you're going to have to leave your broken cisterns behind. As long as you are married to your sin, you have no capacity to receive living water. That's where Jesus goes. And I know this takes me into another field. Moment. And I honestly, I just want to follow the text. I don't want to, I'm sure I've already made some of my Armenian brothers and sisters angry, so I might as well make some other people angry, and that's not my intention at all. I just don't want you to sit under my teaching and miss this, especially when we come to such clear points in Scripture. Listen, repentance is necessary for you to receive living water. As long as you are married to your broken sister, you have no capacity for living water. And if you'll notice that the very first sip of this water is conviction of sin. Listen, convictions of sin, that conviction that leads to true belief is that is belief.

36:49I mean, that's the very aspect. If you believe God and what he says about sin, all of a sudden, a conviction, a real honest conviction, is a statement of belief, is it not? Look at the woman's answer. The woman answered, I have no husband. Three words in the Greek, not, I am having a husband. All of a sudden, Miss Chatty gets really quiet. I mean, if you go back, one commentator counted up all the words in this dialogue, and wow, she's talked. She talks a lot, but not here. She gets very quiet. But look at Jesus' gentle. Response. Jesus said to her, You have correctly said, I have no husband, for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband. This you have said truly. I like how he says it. Really, it's like you have correctly said, or really, it's like you have beautifully stated that. You have stated that very nicely, very fitting. Yeah, you have no husband. In fact, you're living with a man and he's not your husband. You've had many husbands. And wow, he just parades before her very gently. He parades before her information that, number one, only he could know. And she is going to understand this is the Christ or come to that belief.

38:22And he parades that before her. But it also, can you imagine how it would feel if you're sitting there and all of a sudden the stranger draws out for you your secret sin and parades it out there? It'd be a little bit shocking, right? While I'm talking about theological issues, sorry, I might as well go down another route, too, because this touches on so many of them. And that deals with how do you interpret scripture? Do we interpret this literally or do we interpret this allegorically? Augustine reads these five husbands. As the five senses of the body, and the five husbands are the soul, or by the which the soul of natural man is ruled. So, these five senses, these five husbands are the five natural senses in which man is ruled. Another one says the woman is typical of human nature, and the five husbands are different dispensations, and she just happens to be under the law of Moses, and that's what's happening here. Another one says the five husbands are five pagan deities. If the Greek, if there was more, I mean, there was more than five, but anyway, just no, no, let's not go allegorical. These are five literal husbands. Don't know why she was divorced.

39:49Some of them may have died, some of them divorced, you never know. But the point of all this, she was a relational disaster. She was living in sin, and that this sin certainly contributed to her divorces and her dissatisfaction and lostness in life. And it didn't satisfy, didn't give what it was held out. Such is anyone who pursues worthless and idolatrous objects. But her broken cistern made a mess of her life. But our Lord. Lord, just and you think about this. Let me tell you something about the Lord. He knows every little thing about you.

40:38There is nothing hidden from him. He knows every transaction of your life. There are no secrets hidden from him. And I want you to respond to him the very same way that she does. Look at verse 19. We'll just look at this briefly. The woman said to her, Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Now, you think about that. Think about that. She didn't contest, she didn't argue. She didn't excuse, did she? She said, You're a prophet. You've got it right.

41:20It's a very honest confession. And I think the effect of Jesus' words upon this woman were double. First of all, there was a pain and shock and horror that his words brought. But there was also a tremendous freedom. She was liberated from going on to having to continue to conceal her sin. Conversation's out. I know about your sin, and I'm offering you living water anyway. Well, we're going to pick up this flow of living water in next week, but sufficient to say right now that just Jesus invaded the world of this Samaritan woman by asserting his importance, by offering her that which satisfies, and by exposing that which was insufficient. And he does the same today.

42:26For you to go from being under the curse of God to being under the blessing of God, you need a right spirit. You need living water. You need that spirit that God is well pleased to bless. Do you know who he is? You remember, God said it: this is my Son in whom I am well pleased. You need that spirit. That is the living water. God blesses a right attitude, a right heart, and a right disposition. But where do you get that? You get that from him.

43:07He gives himself and he gives of himself. That's our Lord. That's his gift. But you're going to have to leave your broken cisterns behind. Christ's spirit is the living water. That we so desperately need, and that he is so freely offering to you today. I'm going to read Revelation 21:6 again. It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.

43:58Are you thirsty for what only God can give you? And I'm going to ask you to pray a very bold prayer. Say, God, I may not fully understand everything, but I want what you have to offer. I want to receive what you offer. Please do whatever is necessary. I receive it. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we just come before you, thanking you, thanking you for coming so clearly and pointing out the distinction between blessings and curses. Father, we need that Spirit of your Son, your Holy Spirit, that is one with you and one with your Son. And Father, it's too wonderful for us to even comprehend. And yet, we see in the text, we see here in your word, that this is what you give.

44:56So, Father, we pray. We ask. For your forgiveness, for how we have hewn, dug out broken cisterns. Father, we truly desire that living water, your Spirit poured into our lives. We pray that in Jesus' name, amen.