Transcription

Chris
So, Kyle, see this bottled water?

Kyle
Yeah. Tell me about it.

Chris
Would it be cool? Tell me about it. Would it be cool if I took a sip of this and I was never thirsty again?

Kyle
Try it.

Chris
Oh, here we go. Um, no, it didn’t work.

Kyle
It didn’t work. Ah.

Chris
Well, today that’s what Jesus says. But he wasn’t talking about regular water. He was talking about spiritual thirst.

Kyle
I’m excited. I’m Kyle and this is Chris, and we are the Bible guys.

Chris
All right, so, Kyle, today we are supposed to do a travel destination draft list, which means we’re supposed to do rock, paper, scissors. And then whoever wins starts, and we’re going to draft places that we’ve never been, okay, that we want to travel to. Yes.

Kyle
So here’s the thing. It’s funny because if we if you played this against Jeff, yes, Jeff has been to so many places, this would have been and I’m sure he would have had a list of things.

Chris
Well, you know, it’s so funny because you can’t be everywhere. Yeah. So I think the more places he travels, the actually the greater his list becomes, right?

Kyle
Because somebody else tells him about another area and you’re missing out on this.

Chris
And then also the more obscure his list becomes. Yeah. Because he’s been to the he’s been to the main places. Right.

Kyle
Which means that my list is very minimal. Very. Right. Right. Yes. All right. You’re ready for this rock paper, scissors on shoot or what? What are we doing here?

Chris
Uh, yeah. One. Two. Three. Shoot. Okay. Ready? One two. Three. Shoot. 123.

Kyle
Shoot, I got you, I got you. All right, so we went through.

Chris
Rock, and then he crashed my scissors with his rock. Yes.

Kyle
All right, I won that one. All right. So first place I think I’d like to visit, um, Maine because I had some friends who just went there. They told me it was amazing. It’s beautiful. Very historic. I would love to go to Italy.

Chris
Oh, yeah. For sure. Yes.

Kyle
Italy with the food. Oh my gosh. And I heard too, that their food is like, um, so pure. Because when I think of, like pasta here in America, I just think of loading up on pasta. You obviously, I’m sure obviously love Italian food and all that stuff. Yeah. So but I’ve heard that when it’s there, it’s like a different sort of, uh. Yeah.

Chris
Yeah, yeah. So I was, I was in Italy for 14 hours on a layover. I managed to try to squeeze everything in in that 14 hour layover, uh, in Rome, but uh, but yeah, I did have pasta there, and it was quite good. Yeah.

Kyle
Awesome. Yes.

Chris
So. All right, so my first one is going to be, uh, Dubai. Okay. Uh, so one of my bucket list items is to go to Dubai. Interesting. And, uh, what’s really funny is, uh, uh, Jeff Forrester and Chad, uh, had a mission trip to Dubai to tie last year, and, and they, they didn’t quite know that that was like one of my top bucket lists. Yeah. And I said, uh, who’s all going? And they’re like, not you. And I’m like, oh, okay.

Kyle
In a few sentences, Why Dubai? What’s the reason?

Chris
Uh, I just am fascinated with the history of just a few years ago, meaning like two decades ago, it was just a desert. Yeah. And it’s one of the most beautiful places on the face of the planet. Yeah. Uh, now, there’s other reasons also, uh, you know, tallest building in the world is another reason, right? Yeah. So, uh, again, I’m giving you all the insignificant reasons why I would go to Dubai. Still really cool, though. There are touristy reasons, right? Okay, but there’s other reasons.

Kyle
Okay. My second my second would be Israel, for sure. And I know you’ve been a few times, but man, I would love to. Hopefully soon in the next couple of years. I’d love to go. And I’ve heard from people that even went recently who just said that. Like, you know, when you’re reading the scriptures, it’s kind of obviously a lot of times it’s in black and white. You know, you’re reading when you go there and you can see where Jesus walked and John the Baptist or what we’re about to talk about today, the woman at the well, it begins to bring those colors into color or bring it brings those stories into color, and you begin to see things how they might have actually happened, which is really cool.

Chris
So I’ve only been to Israel once. Okay. And of all the places I visited, the most, the most significant place that stands out in my mind is the scripture we’re reading today. Mhm. That’s awesome. Um, and then okay, my second one is going to be or my. Yeah. Second one is Bora Bora. Okay. I want to go to Bora Bora. I just, I long for uh, you know those commercials that I see with, with the huts, you know, I want I want to do one of those one day.

Kyle
Well, since you just threw out a little party spot, I think I’ll throw out one as well. Um, I have friends who have a place in Cancun that they’ve invited me to visit. I know everybody go. It’s, like, totally a tourist trap, I know that, but I would like to go to Cancun. Just. They they have a place or they have a FAM member. There’s a place that’s right on the beach and they’re like, we just do not. We just sit in the beach. White sand, blue blue water. I’m like, sign me up. I need to go there. Yeah.

Chris
And I’ve been to Cancun, okay. And it is definitely a tourist trap. Yes, but it’s very nice. Yeah. Um, so my, my, uh, my third one is going to be Australia.

Kyle
Oh, yeah. You got me.

Chris
There. I’ve, uh, I’ve always seen it. I want to go. And I think that Sydney would be an incredible place. Yes, I do have a friend who lives in Australia. Okay. I don’t know if he’s listening right now, but if you are. Hey, Jim. But, uh, I would definitely, uh, stay with him. Uh, my.

Kyle
In-laws are actually going to Sydney or. They’re. Yeah, they’re going to Sydney in the next week or two. They’re big travelers. They’ve been in a lot of places. And they just that was off their bucket list. So yeah.

Chris
My daughter stayed in Perth for a couple of years. Oh, really? Yeah.

Kyle
I didn’t know that. Wow. That’s cool. Um, okay. So I’m going to go with, um.

Chris
She’s not really my adopted daughter. I just call her that.

Kyle
Okay. I’m about to say I’m like, I didn’t know that. Okay, so I think we’re on number four. I’m going to go with, uh, my fourth pick. I’ll go with Germany because that’s where, uh, just for family reasons. Yeah. Um, I’d like to go and see, you know, just where some of my, uh, you know, great, great great grandparents lived and that sort of thing. So I’d like to go to Germany. I don’t know if it’d be like the. It’d be like.

Chris
So are you all German?

Kyle
Yeah.

Chris
You’re all German.

Kyle
No, no, no. Sorry, sorry. No. Uh, German on like a vast majority of my family is German on my mom’s side, a little bit of Irish. It’s like Irish and German and then German and German, so. Oh, yeah, that’s my wife.

Chris
My wife is Irish and German. Okay. Yeah, yeah. And I’m Italian and German. Okay. So our kids are mostly German. Uh, and then my, my other draft list is going to be, believe it or not, Tokyo. Oh, interesting. I want to go to Tokyo. Okay. I want to see.

Kyle
Where they filmed the movie. Uh, no.

Chris
No, it’s not movies. It’s all about, um, just the, uh. By the way.

Kyle
That was a joke where they filmed the movie Tokyo Drift. You know that one? That’s fast and furious.

Chris
I immediately cut you off. Yeah, but, uh. But no, there’s been plenty of movies filmed in Tokyo. Yeah, uh, but no, I actually want to, uh, go there just because it’s it’s a just a great city, and it’s the and it’s obviously the city in Japan, right?

Kyle
Yeah. Yeah. So, okay, so, um, I would say the next one I would say is, uh, there’s a, I think it’s in the Netherlands I want to throw out, I think because I’d actually be curious, because the Netherlands, uh, I remember seeing a documentary years ago where it said that the happiest, uh, people actually, uh, live in the Netherlands. Do you know that when they actually did, like, a survey, it’s not like people’s like like what they would consider a happy or content life. It’s in the Netherlands. Isn’t that interesting? Yeah, a lot of it. They say it’s because it’s, uh, communal living, a lot of communal living there. Yeah. So people live together.

Chris
And we got to wrap this up. So last two real quick with that comment. Commentation. Yep. Uh, uh, I’ve been to Maui, Hawaii. So I want to visit all the other Hawaiian Islands.

Kyle
Okay. You love it. Yeah, that sounds great. All right, so today we’re going to get into the scripture here. We’re going to get reading. Is there any setup you want to do before we get into this Chris. Or should you just get right into the verses?

Chris
We should jump right in. Okay. So you’re going to read Matthew 412. Yep. Yeah. I guess I should say, uh, he’s going to read one verse from Matthew, one verse from Mark, and then 26 verses in John. And the reason why is because again, Matthew, this is the same incident. So right after the Passover feast, uh, and the feast of the Unleavened bread, or the Passover day and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Jesus, then, you know, leaves Jerusalem and then goes back up north to his hometown in Galilee, in the region of Galilee. And the other two gospels record this as like, hey, when it was over, he sort of went home, right? Yeah. And then John says, but there was a significant thing that happened on the way home, which is the woman at the. Well, yeah.

Kyle
Okay, here we go. Matthew 412 says this. When Jesus heard that John had been arrested, he left Judea and returned to Galilee. That’s it. Yep. Simple. All of it. Matthew’s description of it was very straight to the point mark. Also straight to the point says. Later on, after John was arrested, Jesus went into Galilee, where he preached God’s good news.

Chris
Yep. And again, it just coincides with the events. Exactly.

Kyle
So John picks it up and says this Jesus knew the Pharisees had heard that he was baptizing it and making more disciples than Jesus. Though Jesus himself didn’t baptized them, his disciples did. So he left Judea and returned to Galilee. Then says he had to go through Samaria on the way. Eventually, he came to the Samaritan village of Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well. About noon time soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, please give me a drink. He was alone at the time because the disciples had gone into the village to buy some food. The woman was surprised, for Jews refused to have anything to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus, you are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink? Jesus replied, if you only knew the gift that God has given for you and you are speaking to you, you would ask me and I would give you living water. But sir, you don’t have a rope or a bucket, she said, and this well is very deep. Where would you get this living water? And besides, do you think you’re greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this? Well, how can you offer better water than he and his sons and his animals enjoyed? Jesus replied, anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again, but those who drink the water I give you will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring with them, giving them eternal life. Please, sir, the woman said, give me this water, then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get water. Kyle
Go and get your husband. Jesus told her. I don’t have a husband, the woman replied. Jesus said, you’re right. You don’t have a husband. You’ve had five husbands and you aren’t even married to the man you’re living with now. You certainly spoke the truth, sir, the woman said, you must be a prophet. So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount? I don’t know Gerizim where our ancestors worshipped, Jesus replied, believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him for salvation comes through the Jews. But the time is coming. Indeed, it’s here now when true worshipers will worship the father in spirit and in truth. The father is looking for those who will worship him that way. For God is spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth. The woman said, I know the Messiah is coming, the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us. Then Jesus told her, I am the Messiah.

Chris
Yeah. Wow. Yeah, that’s that’s an incredible passage. And there’s a lot to be found in there. And so let’s just start with, uh, some overall thoughts. Yeah. Uh, which is, by the way, the biggest thought that stands out to me is this is that this is the first time that Jesus reveals plainly that he’s the Messiah to any person. Now, if you’ve been listening to the last few days, we already talked about how John 316, the most popular version of the Bible, wasn’t given from the mountaintops to the masses. It was given to Nicodemus one on one. And once again, Jesus is not shouting this. You know the truth. I mean, it is. It is the truth of his ministry, which is I’m the Messiah. I’m the long awaited thousands upon thousands, you know, hundreds of prophecies fulfilled. I’m the one to come to save the human race. I am God in the flesh. I’m the Son of God. Like. Like he. And you would expect that truth to be delivered from the, you know, mountain tops in a setting that you know, required, you know, his, his authority or his proof. But once again, what does he do? He finds a woman, not just any woman, but a woman who’s outcast. Yeah, a woman who feels rejected. A woman who feels unloved, distanced from God. And he delivers the truth. The very first time he reveals he’s the Messiah is to this woman I love. I think that that’s probably the thing that sticks out to me the most about this story.

Kyle
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I love it. And I know, you know, we’ve talked about this before in different messages and even on the podcast, the fact that she was there at noon, right, that the heat of the day, the hottest point of the day, um, clearly she’s, you know, got a lot of shame and guilt. She doesn’t want to be seen. And then even for him to go there for for a man to be there at that time, uh, you know, that hour, um, being there was just like, a scam. It could be seen as, like, a very scandalous thing. And I love the fact that.

Chris
Jesus didn’t care.

Kyle
About that. And that’s what’s so cool about it, is Jesus kind of broke down those barriers because she her heart, who she was, and that news mattered way more to him than people’s opinions of him, or the gossip and the rumors and all that.

Chris
Yeah. So we’ll get to his conversation in just a minute, but let’s cover the circumstances that we’ve already unpacked, which is, number one, women went to the well twice a day in the cool of the morning and the cool of the evening. So she’s there at noon and it says very specifically, she’s at noon, right. The sixth hour. That was important.

Kyle
For them to note.

Chris
Your version might say, right. Yeah. Number two, uh, everybody else walked around Samaria. Now, by the way, that goes back to their history. Uh, their history, uh, actually is uh, actually it was in my notes. I saw it earlier, but it actually goes it speaks into, uh, after the Northern Kingdom, with its capital of Samaria, fell to the Assyrians, many Jews were deported out of Assyria, and foreigners were brought back in to settle in the land to help keep the peace. Now, this this was back when the, um. Remember they were divided into the northern and the southern kingdom, back in the Old Testament, in Second Kings 17 and it says the intermarriage between those foreigners and the remaining Jews resulted in a mixed race, impure in the opinion of the Jews who lived in the southern kingdom. Thus the pure Jews hated this mixed race, called them Samaritans because they felt that their fellow Jews had, uh, intermarried and betrayed the people of their nation, the Samaritans. And this is the part where it’s important. The Samaritans had set up an alternate center for worship for themselves at Mount Gerizim, and that’s listed in verse 20 to parallel the temple in Jerusalem. But it had been destroyed 150 years earlier before this conversation took place. While there was a long standing prejudice between Jews and Samaritans, Jesus did not live by such restrictions. So. So the conversation that they’re having is they’re having like conversations about the Messiah, which is why she said, hey, you Jews worship in Jerusalem. We have to create our own place. And everybody knows for hundreds of years we worship here on this mountain. And then Jesus leads into the conversation that says, hey, there’s a time coming where it’s not going to be restricted because God’s not going to be just at the temple, and God’s not going to be at your mountain, but God’s going to be everywhere. Chris
That’s what he was saying. And he was saying, it’s going to be in spirit and truth. It’s going to be an action of the heart. That’s what he’s referring to. And there’s a time coming. And then she’s like, what are you talking about? So. So we haven’t fully covered the fact that that every pure Jew who was offended. And by the way, it’s also important to note this, the reason why they were also offended and the Samaritans were offended by the Jews is because when it came time to rebuild the temple, uh, the Jews did not let Samaritans partake. And so that’s one of the reasons why they built their own temple, because they were so offended. They’re like, fine, well, we will do our own thing. Yeah. You don’t want us touching the temple and rebuilding the temple. And so that was also a separation. So Jews would actually go from southern Jerusalem. And instead of going straight up through Samaria and straight up to Galilee with oftentimes. What they would do is they would go up and they would actually cross the Jordan River and go on the other side of the Jordan River this way, and then cross the Jordan River again and go around the entire middle section of Samaria, which would add two full days to their journey if if on foot. Mhm. Because just because they didn’t want to talk to or associate or deal with Samaritans, that’s how, uh, unclean they were. And yet this is Jesus is a rabbi. Yeah. And he’s a man. And women had, you know, women women were regarded as having no voice in the court of law. Right? They were they were, they were they were seen as less than. Which is why she says, are you kidding me? Chris
I’m a woman and you’re a Jew and you’re a rabbi and you’re a man.

Kyle
She’s like pointing out all the things that now we are seeing.

Chris
Like, are you talking to.

Kyle
Me like, this shouldn’t be happening, right? Yes. Yeah.

Chris
And so, so their conversation, uh, their conversation is, is I love how Jesus starts with, uh, give me water and she’s like, uh, you know, uh, why are you here? Why are you talking to me? And then he says, if you knew who you were talking to. Yeah, right. Uh, I would give you living water. And then she, of course, doesn’t understand. She thinks he’s still talking about water. And then she says, well, I’d like to have this because I’d like to not come back to this. Well, again, which is why we introduced it this way. Right. And Jesus is like, no, no, no, no, no, no. And then I love her objections. And this is where I know I’m talking a lot. No, go ahead. But, um, I’ve been to Israel, and this is why this is the most significant part for me. So did you know that Jacob’s well is still there and that you could still drink from it? Mm. No. And there’s a lot of places in Israel where they sort of guess where Jesus is. And it’s sort of funny, like they build churches in holy sites. And they was like, this is where Jesus said to the disciples on the shore of Galilee, come and follow me. And I’m thinking, he could have said it anywhere on the shore of Galilee. Right? How do you know this is where he said it? Right? But, you know, it’s sort of close. Yeah. Well, this is an unmistakable, absolute piece of real estate where, you know, this conversation took place. Number one, it says it was in the city of Sychar. There’s only one well, in Sychar currently. Right now, number two, uh, the mountain ranges go like this. And so you’re not going to walk on the side of a hill. Chris
That’s impossible. You’re going to walk in the valley between the mountains, which means like there’s only one. Well, that’s right there. Uh, and so, you know that Jesus had to have literally walked on this path, hit the city of Sychar, which is still there, and they built a church around the well and, you know, like a Pepsi two liter, uh, is like a or a Coke two liter. Sorry, I chose Pepsi for all the fans out there. Uh, you know, it’s like wide. And then it sort of comes into like a, like a small spout. Yeah, well, the opening for the well is only maybe this big, right? But when you look down in it with a light, you see that it looks like 30 or 40 men. It opens up have, have, have dug side by side and, and it goes deeper than any other well in all of Israel. And by the way, it’s ice cold because it’s actually the frozen snow caps from current modern day Lebanon, which has Mount Hermon, which stands 9302ft, or something like that above sea level. And there’s actually snow in modern day Lebanon, and it actually melts and runs through the ground. And actually they dug this well so deep that when we were sitting at this, well, um, he said, watch this. And he dropped a pebble and we counted to like 12. Wow. Before it hit wow. Right. And then and then he lowered the rope and then everybody drank from the well. Wow. Well, in Israel, 120 degrees with no shade is the difference between life and death. Yeah. And so finding a well. But not just any. Well, but we’re talking ice cold water in Israel where there’s no refrigeration. Yeah. So can you imagine when Jesus says, I have living water? Chris
And she’s like, are you kidding me? This is Jacob’s well we’re talking about here, right? Are you greater than our father, Jacob? Who dug this well? Or how can you possibly supply better water than what is rapidly known as the best water in all of Israel? Yeah, like nothing is greater than this, right? Well, I love it too.

Kyle
I love that, you know, you’re pointing out that you know, that the the water, the temperature is the difference between life and death. So she’s going there for the water, almost like to like it’s like when she got there and anybody who got there at that time of day, it was like saving them. It was giving them new life. They drank that water. I’m sure it felt so refreshing. And then Jesus meets her at that spot just to say like, no, no, no, I have something better for you. I have something that will give you eternal refreshment, not just momentary. And I just think that’s so cool. But, um, one of the notes that points out from, uh, verses 20 through 24, I want to point out, uh, is that it says the woman brought up a popular theological issue, the correct place to worship. But a question was a smokescreen to keep Jesus away from her deepest need, which is. True. I mean, she was kind of trying to, like, leave me alone. Let’s not talking about my husbands. Then. Then Jesus directed the conversation to a much more important one. Uh, the location of worship. Worship is not nearly as important as the attitude of the worshippers. I don’t think that’s really important. I mean, you kind of hit on that earlier, but I think that’s how we can kind of translate us to now. It’s like the location where we go and worship and how we worship and what music or all that kind of stuff. It’s like, I think that that God is looking for the right heart. And by worship, I mean, like we think of worship a lot of times as like music. But just when you’re worshiping God, like, do you have the right attitude when you’re driving your car and you’re, you know, worshiping, not singing, but just in a state of worship when you’re on your family, when you’re on vacation, all those things. Kyle
Do you have the right attitude in worship or is it strictly based on a location so many people think of? I have to be in the right spot in order to worship God. And that’s just not true.

Chris
Or like God exists only at church? Yes, only at church.

Kyle
And only these places.

Chris
Church to pray. Yes, I got to go to church in order to, you know, ask my sins to be forgiven.

Kyle
Yes. Yeah, right. And it’s between a window of time on this day, Sunday, between 1030 and 1130. That’s my time to worship. And I think what Jesus is trying to tell her is explaining that there will come a time where, like, you will worship in spirit and truth, and therefore we’re living in that time where we have access to the Holy Spirit, we have access to God, and we can worship wherever we’re at, which is so cool that we get to live in the benefit of that. 2000 years later, I have to put.

Chris
A plug in for the Chosen. Yeah. And and you have to watch the episode of The Woman at the. Well, it’s by far by by far the best depiction that I’ve ever seen of Jesus interacting with woman at the. Well, it’s very emotional and it’s it’s unbelievably well done. And and it makes sense because a lot of times when you read this conversation, you’re like, they’re talking about mountains and things and you’re like, what is talk? What are they talking about? Well, we’ve sort of unpacked that. Well, the conversation on the chosen, it’s just worded so well.

Kyle
Yeah. And it’s the tone. You see the tone, you see the emotion, you see all that stuff.

Chris
It’s it’s great. Yeah. You’re right about that. That’s a really good point. Yeah. Uh, the tone in which it was probably delivered. And then of course, once he starts pointing out her, her, her, her issues and her life and he says, go and call your husband. That was so brilliant of him, right? I mean, obviously he’s Jesus, but he’s like, go and call your husband. And she’s like, I have no husband. He’s like, yeah, you’re right.

Kyle
I know, dude.

Chris
You’ve had five husbands and the guy you’re living with is currently not your husband. And so, you know, naturally, you know, she she then receives, you know, the fact that he says, I’m the Messiah and, you know, and the chosen. I remember she says, you’ve chosen the wrong person. I’m getting. I can’t even believe I’m getting emotional even saying this. And he says, I came to the well just to meet you. And by the way, the Scripture tells us he had he he must go through Samaria. That’s what it says. So everybody else was going back to Galilee and they went around, but it says, But Jesus, Jesus said, I must go through Samaria, which means he did have an appointment with her. Yeah. And he knew.

Kyle
For sure the chosen took some liberties with that statement. Oh for sure. But at the same time, I do think it was an accurate statement. And and the way it was worded and so simply, it was definitely beautiful. Yeah. So.

Chris
Well, listen, there’s probably a lot more to say, but we’re hitting that time. And so it’s just a great encouragement. So go back and read it and sit in that all day. Jesus delivers the best truths one on one, to those who feel the most disconnected and most unworthy. It’s a great truth for today. So we’ll see you next time on The Bible Guys.