John 4:1-42 When therefore the LORD knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John,… I. A TESTIMONY TO THE TRUE HUMANITY OF OUR LORD. In His spiritual thirst for the woman's salvation we must not lose sight of His natural thirst. Christ was thoroughly human. Grasping this we see — 1. His ability to suffer death. 2. The power of His example. 3. His kinship with us. 4. His sympathy for us. II. AN IMPLICATION OF HIS DEITY. 1. Had He been a man claiming Divine powers would He have asked for water? A pretender would have attempted a miracle. 2. His Godlike reserve. Christ is never prodigal of miracles because conscious of the fulness of His Divine power. He uses natural means whenever they can serve His purposes. III. AN INSTANCE OF THE FREENESS AND GREATNESS OF HIS LOVE TO SINNERS. 1. The woman embodied all that could excite the aversion of a Jew. (1) Her Samaritan birth rendered her an object of sectarian hatred, (2) Her sex forbade a rabbi to be familiar with her. (3) Her loose life would have brought down the contempt of a Pharisee. 2. But Christ had no national animosity, sectarian bigotry, professional dignity, or self-righteous loathing. 3. He sees a lost soul in whom longings for better things have not been wholly stifled and sets Himself to save her. IV. A LESSON OF WISDOM, TACT, AND ZEAL IN SAVING SOULS. 1. Christ suits His method to individual characters and circumstances — touching with equal ease the two extremes of society. 2. He seizes trifling opportunities. 3. He sets a signal example of turning secular things to sacred uses. 4. The lesson He here teaches can only be learned by practice. 5. The encouragement to learn this lesson is that our wise and Divinely-directed efforts in small matters may yield rich results. V. AN EMBLEM OF HIS THIRST TO SAVE SINNERS. 1. This was deeper than His spiritual craving. 2. He thirsts now for you. 3. This thirst can only be quenched by your surrender. (A. Warrack, M. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, |
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