Glory Revealed
Week 4 - John 4
Revealed to the Samaritans

I. The Appointment (John 4:1-26)

A. The Scene (vv. 1-6)

John 4 begins by saying that Jesus decided that it was time to conclude His disciples’ baptizing ministry in Judea and head to Galilee. Verse 4 tells us that He had to go by way of Samaria.

B. The Woman (vv. 7-9)

When Jesus spoke to this woman, He crossed huge cultural barriers. First, he spoke to a Samaritan. The Jews and the Samaritans had a murderous hatred for each other. Not only did Jesus cross the barrier of race, He also crossed the barrier of gender. Rabbis were forbidden to speak to a woman in public.

C. The Conversation/Part 1 (vv. 9-22)

Jesus begins to probe to see if she is willing to admit her thirst.

Revelation 7:17

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D. A Lesson on True Worship (vv. 23-24)

Worship in truth

Wrong thinking about God is idolatry because an idolatrous heart assumes God is other than He is.

God is other than He is.

What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. The history of mankind will probably show that no people has ever risen above its religion, and man’s spiritual history will positively demonstrate that no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God. Worship is pure or base as the worshiper entertains high or low thoughts of God.

For this reason the gravest question before the Church is always God Himself, and the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like. We tend by a secret law of the soul to move toward our mental image of God. This is true not only of the individual Christian, but of the company of Christians that composes the Church. Always the most revealing thing about the Church is her idea of God.

—A.W. Tozer (The Knowledge of the Holy, p.1)

Our worship must include the total revelation of who God is.

Worship in spirit

Jesus is talking about worshiping in the human spirit. He is not only looking for those who will worship Him in the truth of who He is, but also in the very depth of their inner being—in spirit.

God is looking for worshippers‍

The central reality in worship is not that we are seeking God, but that He is seeking us!

Zephaniah 3:17

E. The Conversation/Part 2 (vv. 25-26)

II. The Aftermath (John 4:27-45)

A. The Woman

B. The Disciples

III. A Second Appointment and a Second Sign (John 4:46-54)

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