Jesus Christ - The Weary One |
| Written by Craig Wilson |
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JESUS CHRIST – THE WEARY ONE John 4:1-6 From his opening words of this gospel the Apostle John has been describing Jesus Christ to us. He has carefully chosen words to describe to us who Jesus is. John has described Jesus Christ as the eternal Word. He has described him as the Creator, as the Light and the Life of men. John the Baptist adds to our understanding of who Jesus is when he declares that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. John the Baptist also testifies that Jesus is indeed the Son of God. After these opening declarative statements about Jesus, John shifts his focus to the actions of Jesus. The actions of Jesus like the words of John paint a living portrait of who Jesus Christ is. For instance John records Jesus calling his first disciples teaching us that Christ is a leader and one who deserves and is worthy of being followed. Next we have Jesus at the wedding in Cana. There he turns the water into wine displaying his divine miracle working power and ability, thereby confirming the words of John through his actions. Shortly thereafter we see Jesus in the Temple driving out the moneychangers and the merchants. The Lord’s actions demonstrate his zeal for pure and proper worship as well as demonstrating his authority. In John three we have our first look if you will of Jesus the evangelist. Nicodemus a leading teacher, if not THE leading teacher of Israel came to Jesus by night. Nicodemus came to check this guy out. “Who is it that is calling disciples and making such a ruckus in the Temple, and turning water into wine? ” The religious guys want to know what was going on, they wanted to know who this man is. Also in John three we see the growing public awareness of Jesus. He and his disciples were out in the Judean countryside hard at work teaching and baptizing those who responded to the Lord’s message. So many people were responding to the Lord’s that it upset the disciples, the followers of John the Baptist. When they brought this to the attention of the Baptist how did he respond? Did he get upset? Did he throw a fit like the Olympic wrestler did this week when he threw down his medal because he didn’t win the gold? No, not at all! In fact he does just the opposite. He’s not upset at all. In fact he couldn’t be happier! He was filled with joy that people were coming to Christ. He knows that his ministry is complete; he has fulfilled the assignment that God had given to him. From this point forward John the Baptist fades away and the focus is exclusively on Jesus. What do the actions of John the Baptist teach us about Christ? His actions teach us that Jesus Christ is the Pre-Eminent One. Jesus Christ is the one, the only one worthy to be exalted; in deed he must be exalted. As John says so eloquently “He must increase, but I must decrease. ” SUMMARY: Let’s stop for just a moment and summarize what we have learned about Jesus in only 3 chapters. • Jesus is the eternal God • Jesus is the Son of God • Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world • Jesus is passionate about worship • Jesus is powerful enough to turn water into wine • Jesus is uncompromisingly committed to the truth that in order to see the Kingdom of God you must be born again All of this truth climaxes in a crescendo “HE MUST INCREASE, BUT I MUST DECREASE” Yet as wonderful as all these things are about Jesus there is so much more to learn about him. I think it would be fair to say that in these opening chapters of John the divinity of Christ has been revealed and emphasized for us. The Humanity of Christ Now as we begin to cross the boundary from chapter three to chapter four we are exposed, we are made aware of the humanity of Christ. In the incarnation God became a man, God became a human being. Jesus is both God and man simultaneously. Unfortunately the humanity of Christ is not sufficiently emphasized for us as Christians today. Perhaps that is why so many times we have a hard time identifying with Christ in the midst of our daily struggles and constant temptations. If we don’t adequately contemplate and consider the humanity of Christ we are going to have a hard time identifying with Christ, and drawing strength from Christ in the midst of our daily battles. Do you realize that Jesus resisted, successfully resisted temptation as a man? His perfect obedience to the Father was accomplished as a man, in his humanity. It is the humanity of Christ that allows Christ to function as our mediator. If we neglect the humanity of Christ we do so to our own detriment. As one commentator wisely observed “Jesus’ life is really the supreme human success story. ” Perhaps it would be good to let the Scriptures remind us that Jesus lived his life by experiencing all the pressures and the limitations that we experience. “For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. ” (Heb 2:18 ESV) “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. ” (Heb 4:15 ESV) “He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness. In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. ” (Heb 5:2,7-8 ESV) As life happens to us, we need to remind ourselves that Jesus Christ in his humanity has truly identified with us. THE PASSAGE Do we see the humanity of Christ in John four? Look at verse six. “Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. ” (John 4:6 ESV) The humanity of Christ demonstrated Do you see it? John points out to us that Jesus was weary, that Jesus was tired. Jesus was hot, he was thirsty, and he was tired. Why was he hot, why was he thirsty, why was he tired? Because he was human he had to deal with the limitations that his physical body placed on him. Remember it gets pretty hot in that part of the world, much hotter than it gets here. For instance I googled the current temperature in Iraq yesterday afternoon and it was 114 degrees! That is hot! Jesus has been out in the hot sun, walking on the hot dusty roads, with the heat of the noon day sun beating down with all of its force. Jesus is hot, Jesus is tired, and Jesus is thirsty. Jesus sets down on the side of the well, sweat running down his forehead and drips off the end of his nose and puddles in the dust. His throat is dry, he wants a drink of water, check that he needs a drink of water. Why? Because he is human! Not only did Jesus get thirsty, the gospels teach us that he got hungry, he got tired. Just like we do he had to deal with this physical limitations. That’s what I want you to fix in your mind this morning. Jesus got tired, Jesus got hungry, Jesus got tired. Just like we do. I want us to go one step further and take note of the reason why Jesus was tired and then take not of Jesus did even though he was tired. Why was Jesus wearied? Why was Jesus tired? If we look back to verse four we read “And he had to pass through Samaria. ” (John 4:4 ESV) What does John mean by that? Does John mean that it was the only way to go? Or perhaps does it mean something else? We know that Jesus and the disciples have been in Judea teaching and baptizing. Jesus began to attract so much attention resulting in the Pharisees taking note of what was going on. Because it wasn’t time for Jesus to fully engage the Pharisees, that would come later in the Lord’s ministry, Jesus leaves Judea and he is headed back to Galilee. Jesus would have many confrontations with the Pharisees, but not right now. Judea is located in the southern part of Israel, and Galilee was located in the north. Guess what lay right between the two; the area known as Samaria. The shortest distance between any two points is always a straight line. This straight line would have gone right through Samaria. The path that Jesus chooses was the shortest way, but it was not the only way. There were some very strict Jews who would not under any circumstances go through Samaria. They would take a longer route around Samaria. The point is when John says Jesus had to go through Samaria he does not mean that he had to because it was a geographical necessity. The word “had” refers to something that is a necessity, something that is inevitable. Leon Morris writs “Probably the necessity lay in the nature of the mission of Jesus…the expression points to a compelling divine necessity. ” In other words it was the Fathers will for Jesus to go through Samaria. But why? Because there was a woman there who needed to hear about living water, who needed to hear about eternal life. God knew that there was a lady there that he wanted to hear the gospel. God knew that there was a lady that he had determined to save. Part of the truth here in this passage is an encouragement to us in our evangelism. That is that God is at work in the lives of those he has determined to save. In the coming weeks we will examine this encounter between Jesus and this woman in greater detail. What strikes me is that Jesus even though he was hot, he was tired, and he was thirsty he did not let that keep him from engaging this lady with the gospel. Think about that. Aren’t the Lord’s actions a rebuke to us? Jesus didn’t make any excuses, he didn’t take the easy way out. He didn’t say “Father it’s hot, I’m tired, I’m thirsty. When I cool off I’ll talk to her. No! Jesus seized the opportunity when it presented itself. Aren’t the actions of Jesus convicting to us? Jesus worked hard at reaching out to people. He broke through barriers in order to reach out to others. No effort was to great for him to make. No divide was too wide for him cross. But what about us? Will we even cross the street? Richard Phillips writes “Serving the gospel is always hard work, and so it was for Jesus. Such was his care for others that he wearied himself bringing the gospel to them. He traveled a long road through Samaria. When he arrived at the town of Sychar, John tells us “Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. ” (John 4:6 ESV) Likewise if we care for others salvation we will expend ourselves in ministry to them, in prayer, in service, and in witness. If we are not willing to be wearied, if we do not find ourselves sometimes needing a rest from our labors then we are not likely to accomplish much in Christian ministry. ” Phillips goes on to say “Many of us are ineffective evangelists simply because we are too lazy and self-centered. We are not willing to cross the street to meet people. We do not care enough about the eternal destiny of friends, family members and co-workers to risk the social hazard of talking about the Lord. ” What do you use your free time for? You have it, what do you do with it? Do you use it for yourself “having fun”? Do you use it for reaching out to others? Do you want the church to grow? Reach out to others! The Lord’s method of growing in here is by reaching out there! I’ve just finished reading the biography of George Whitefield. George Whitefield was an evangelist from England during the 18th century. He is an example of one who wearied himself in the work of the Lord. In England Whitefield built and pastored two large churches as well as founding the Methodist movement. He traveled to America six times at a time that it took months to cross the Atlantic Ocean. In America besides preaching to hundreds of thousands of people he established an orphanage for children in what is now the state of Georgia. He was also instrumental in founding five or six colleges in America, each of which still exists today. Whitefield preached the gospel for over thirty years until he died at the age of 56. During those thirty plus years he averaged preaching 3 – 4 times each day, seven days a week. That means that over the course of his thirty years it is estimated that he preached between thirty to forty thousand sermons. Much of his adult life he suffered serious physical problems, and on numerous occasions he was pelted with rocks, rotten vegetables and even dead cats as he preached the gospel of Jesus Christ. On at least one occasion a hostile crowd beat him so severely that he almost died and most certainly would have died if he had not found shelter in a home that opened it’s doors to him. On the day that he died he preached two times, the last sermon was delivered just hours before his death. Let me read you an eyewitness account of the last hours of George Whitefield’s life. CONCLUSION There was only one George Whitefield. But we can learn from the example that he set. He was a tireless servant of Christ. He lived and died sharing Christ with everyone he could despite the risks, despite the inconvenience. How can we motivate ourselves to follow in the footsteps of Christ, who wearied himself bringing the gospel to this lady at the well? Just consider one thing, someone labored to bring you the gospel. Sometime took the time to share Christ with you. Sometime risked rejection so you wouldn’t one day be rejected by Christ. Maybe it was some no name pastor who faithfully studied the Bible, prayed over the Scriptures and preached a message that God used to bring you to faith in Christ. Maybe it was a godly mom and dad who faithfully prayed for you and lived Christ in front of you. Maybe it was a neighbor who took the time to cross the street to bring Christ to you. You can have the privilege of sharing Christ with someone else, just like someone shared Christ with you. We as a church have a lot of work to do in the coming weeks, we will be tired, we will grow weary. But it will pleasing to Christ. |