The Heartbreak of Alienation

John 4.1-27, 39-42

Barriers of Alienation

1.Social 2. Ethnic

3. Religious 4. Generational

Evangelism involves bridge-building

Jerusalem

Sychar .

Nazareth

Judea

Samaria

Galilee Sea ofGalilee

Dead Sea

River Jordan

Route of orthodox Jews

Route Jesus took

Why was it necessary for Jesus to go through Samaria?1. Not everyone seeks Jesus

out with their needs.

2. He gives value to people who think they are too bad for God.

3. Jesus is driven by compassion

4. He sets the pattern for the church’s evangelism.

Why did Jesus sit out in the sun?

1. He sent his disciples off so he could be there alone.

2. He knew why a certain woman would come at that time of the day.

3. He was determined to speak with her

4. He was prepared to experience discomfort to win others.

5. To leave us a pattern for mission.

Why was Jesus prepared to be misunderstood?1. Think of the three religious and social barriers he broke.a. He spoke to a Samaritanb. He spoke to a womanc. He spoke to a woman with a

bad reputation.

2. He knew that it is our reputation before God and not men that really matters

3. He has left an example for the church. Are we willing to be misunderstood?

How did Jesus capture the woman’s attention?

1. He asked for her help. He did what no one else did – he made her feel important because she was important.

2. People who have been crushed by the rejection of others long to feel valued. They long for dignity.

3. The graciousness of Jesus’ approach disarmed her and opened her heart.

4. Is this approach something that we can build into evangelism?

Jesus identified the woman’s real need!

1. What lay behind her sin?

2. Her restlessness of spirit.

3. She tried to fill her spiritual appetite through a string of failed relationships.

4. Augustine wrote: “Oh God, my heart was restless

until it found it’s rest in you”

Understanding the human predicament.

Just as the combustion engine has been made to run on petrol so man has been created so that he only works correctly when fuelled by God.

How would Jesus bring this woman to see her need?

Jesus appealed to her curiosity.

1. Living water!

2. He needed her to think outside of material categories.

3. She thought if the physical discomfort of collecting water could be bypassed then her difficulties would be over.

4. Jesus wanted to provide her with much more than she was looking for.

5. Curiosity can be used in evangelism today.

Shattered dreams

1. Just when the woman was excited about the future Jesus faced her with the reality of her situation.

2. He confronted her with her sin “go call your husband”

3. He addresses her conscience. He wants to restore her broken relationship with God. And that cannot be done without an awakened sense of guilt and need.

4. Jesus wounds only in order to heal.

Looking to escape

1. A short answer – “I have no husband”

2. She is now on guard.

3. She immediately wants to change the subject.

4. A good theological debate – it diverts attention from very personal needs.

5. People continue to react in this way today when God’s word makes them feel uneasy they try to turn the spotlight away from themselves.

The conversation is refocused

1. It is our heart relationship to God that is important.

2. The identity of Jesus disclosed. One of the few occasions in the gospels where Jesus makes his identity so clear.

3. Overwhelmed by Jesus self-disclosure the woman in anxious to share that news with others v29.

The fruit of Jesus’ ministryBy persevering with one woman whom society had discarded and devalued, Jesus not only transformed her life but used that transformation to bring a whole village to faith in himself.

This passage has application for1. those who see themselves as too bad for God.

2. the church encouraging us to break down barriers that might prevent us from reaching out to others.