John 4:27-41

http://biblehub.com/parallelgospels/Jesus_Meets_the_Woman_of_Samaria_at_Jacobs_Well.htm

Invitations are opportunities we extend to others to join us.  When we have something special it is a good thing to invite others to share in the joy of what we have found.  The biggest blessing any of us can have is the forgiveness of our sins.  When we experience the forgiveness of our sin through faith in Christ it is only natural that we invite others to do the same.  Today we use social media to share all about our daily experiences and pass along different things that we find interesting.  We take pleasure in sharing good things with others.  The same should be true of the Gospel.  Once we understand the Word of God it is only natural that we share it with others.

THE WOMAN INVITES OTHERS TO COME AND SEE JESUS: Once the woman understands that Jesus is Messiah; she leaves her watering pot behind and rushes back to the city so that others can come out and see Jesus.  This should be the natural and automatic response of all who place their faith in Christ.  There is nothing that is more important than knowing Jesus.  There was no way that she was going to miss the opportunity to invite the other people from her city to come out with her and meet Jesus.  Her actions demonstrate that her faith in Jesus was genuine.  The fact that she went and told others demonstrates that she believed that Jesus was exactly who He claimed to be.  When we fail to tell others about Jesus it demonstrates the weakness of our own faith.  When we put our own agendas above the mission of spreading the Gospel it indicates that we have very mixed up priorities.  Once the woman understands who Jesus is her task of getting water becomes obsolete.  There is nothing more important than telling others about Jesus.  If we truly believe in Jesus it will change all of our priorities.

JESUS INVITES THE DISCIPLES TO GO TELL OTHERS ABOUT JESUS: When the disciples come back to Jesus with food they urge him to eat.  His response was that food could not be His priority at the moment because of the number of people who were coming out to meet Him due to the woman’s testimony.  Jesus urges His disciples to take their eyes off of the “harvest” of food they had just purchased and look up to see the harvest of souls that were headed their way.  The Lord and the woman had been planning seeds while they were out shopping and now those “seeds” had sprouted and were ready to be harvested.  Proclaiming the Gospel to people is a great joy and is a means of laying up treasures for our eternal lives in the presence of the Lord.  God’s Word and men’s souls are the only things that are eternal and Jesus urges His disciples to invest in that which is eternal.  The time for telling others about Christ is now.  Jesus wants His disciples to put their lunch down next to the empty water pot and get to the task of harvesting the souls of men, women and children who were coming out of the city to see Him.  No matter what we are doing there is nothing more important than telling others about how they can spend eternity with us in the presence of Jesus.   

OTHERS INVITE JESUS TO STAY AND MANY BELIEVE IN JESUS: As a result of the woman’s testimony as well as the disciple’s ministry many of the Samaritans believed in Jesus over the next couple of days.  The people begged Jesus to stay with them for longer so that they could hear Him and get to know who He truly was.  Jesus stays there for another two days and many do believe in Him.  Most Jews would not even walk through this territory because they considered themselves as superior to the Samaritans.  Jesus not only walks through the city, he stops at the well and then ends up staying for days with the people.  Jesus wants His disciples to know that He will not discriminate against people because of their race or social status.  He also wants His disciples to know that there is nothing more important than people.  Too often our agendas are so full and inflexible that we simply don’t have time to witness to others.  Our work so we can pay our bills and buy food must never be more important to us than spreading the fame of Jesus to the nations of the world.  The testimony of the woman and the messages of the disciples pointed these people to Jesus and many of them are in heaven today because of these faithful ministers of the Gospel.


APPLICATION: Go and tell others about who Jesus is and how they can be saved from their sin.  Don’t allow watering pots or lunches to become the priority of our lives.  Invest our lives in that which is eternal.  Don’t allow water, lunch or our agendas become so important and our schedules so tight that we can’t spend time with people and tell them about the Lord.

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