How Jesus Walked

[0:00] Well, good morning again, and welcome to faith. We're so glad that you're here together with us this morning. We're going to be in the Gospel of John, primarily today, and we're going to be looking, talking about Jesus.

[0:15] And, you know, a few years ago, the big thing was, and everybody wore the bracelet, WWJD. What would Jesus do?

[0:25] And as a matter of fact, back a few years ago, when people were talking about the oil crisis and the price of fuel and fossil fuel damaging the atmosphere, the climate, and people would say, what would Jesus drive?

[0:42] And that was people engaged Jesus in their environmental issues. And, you know, Jesus wouldn't drive a Yukon. You know, he would drive an electric car because it would save the environment.

[0:52] Well, I don't know what Jesus would drive, but I know that actually Jesus rode an unbroken donkey on his way into Jerusalem.

[1:04] I know that Jesus will ride a white horse when he returns. Now, while today we may not know what Jesus would drive, we do know from Scripture how Jesus walked.

[1:17] And that's what we're going to talk about in the next few minutes together this morning. And I believe it would behoove us to walk as Jesus walked.

[1:27] Now, I don't mean by that that we would walk everywhere we go. It's still engaging Jesus in an environmental issue. But the way that Jesus engaged others, the way that Jesus lived his life, when Jesus was interacting and interfacing with others, how did Jesus live?

[1:47] As a matter of fact, in 1 John 2, verse 6 this morning, if you will turn there, we read, He who abides in him, the person that is making themselves at home with Jesus, those who are in Christ, the Bible says, ought himself or herself also to what?

[2:12] To walk just as he walked. So how did Jesus walk? Well, we're going to look this morning at the Gospel of John and see how he engaged certain people and how he lived his life and how he walked.

[2:27] So if we say we are a follower of Christ, then we're to live like Jesus lived. So let's go on and look at the first thing, the first way that Jesus walked, that I believe that if we follow in his footsteps, and if we live the similar kind of life that Jesus lived when he was on the earth, we see that first of all, Jesus' walk was a caring walk.

[2:54] But for us as followers of Christ, as we live our lives at work, at play, at home, in the community, that if we live a caring life, I believe we will be living like Jesus.

[3:08] Let's take a look at our primary passage this morning, the Gospel of John, chapter number 4. And we'll be looking, beginning with verse 1, we'll be going through quite a few verses in that chapter this morning.

[3:22] John chapter 4, verse 1 says, Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, though Jesus himself did not baptize but his disciples, he left Judea and departed again to Galilee.

[3:45] But he needed to go through Samaria. So he came to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.

[3:58] Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus, therefore, being wearied from his journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. So in the caring walk that Jesus walked, first of all, we see that he needed to go through Samaria.

[4:15] There was a reason why Jesus chose the path that he chose. Now it was rather unusual because Jews going to where Jesus was going would not go through the country of Samaria because in Samaria there were non-Jews.

[4:34] As a matter of fact, the people of Samaria had been intermarried with Jews and Gentiles. And so the Jews of Jesus' day despised the Gentiles and especially despised those who were not fully Jews so much.

[4:53] Now think about it. It's not like you want to take a scenic route rather than the shortest route on your GPS. No, they were walking or they were riding and they would go through a very long path around Samaria in order to get to the other side.

[5:14] But Jesus says, I need to go through Samaria. So the Jews had no dealings with Samaritans, but Jesus decided to go through that route because Jesus knew he would be meeting with a woman who needed to hear the life-saving words that he would have to offer.

[5:36] Jesus knew that he had an appointment that he had to keep in order to get to where he was going. So he goes through Samaria because he cared enough about a single individual that he would bring the life-saving news to her.

[5:52] And when people see that we care, they're going to see that we're different and we're not like others. When people learn that we care, they'll see that we're different.

[6:06] As a matter of fact, in 1 Corinthians 13, the Apostle Paul talks about that. 1 Corinthians 13 and chapter... Excuse me.

[6:16] 1 Corinthians 13 and verse number 1, we're told, Although I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.

[6:33] It's just a bunch of noise. So if we say, I'm a Christian, but yet we're not showing love toward someone else. We might be mean-spirited or we just might be uncaring, then the Apostle Paul in Corinthians saying, if I deal with others without love, if I'm harsh or if I'm uncaring, or if I'm so self-absorbed that I don't care enough about someone else, then I'm just making noise.

[7:02] I believe there are a lot of Christians who are just making noise because they're not doing it in love. And so Jesus cared enough about this one individual, this one person in this despised country that he walked that way because he knew that he would meet an individual that needed him.

[7:24] So Jesus exhibited a caring walk. But Jesus also exhibited a sharing walk. Jesus' walk not only showed that he cared about people, he showed that over and over and over again.

[7:40] But Jesus shows that his walk was a sharing walk. Let's take a look at verse 7 as we continue on in John chapter 4.

[7:51] Verse 7 says, A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, Give me a drink. For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.

[8:04] Then the woman of Samaria said to him, How is it that you being a Jew ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?

[8:15] For Jews have no dealing with Samaritans. Jesus answered and said to her, If you knew the gift of God and who it is who says to you, Give me a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.

[8:36] The woman said to him, Now this intrigued her. This piqued her curiosity. She said, Sir, you have nothing to draw with. And the well is deep.

[8:46] You don't have a bucket. You have no rope. You have no way to draw water out of this well. Where then do you get that living water?

[8:56] Are you greater than our father Jacob who gave us this well? Jacob was the one who dug the well many, many, many years before and drank from it himself as well as his sons and his livestock.

[9:08] Jesus answered and said to her, Whoever drinks of this water, speaking of the physical water that she would draw from the well, will thirst again. He says, But whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst.

[9:23] But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.

[9:34] The woman said to him, Sir, give me this water. I want some of it that I may not thirst nor come here to draw. Can you imagine when you're thirsty and you want water for your family, you have to walk out to a place where you need to draw the water, carry it back, no indoor plumbing, having to go to a well, back and forth.

[9:57] And she will find a little bit later in this story that she came at a certain time because she didn't want others to look sideways at her because of the lifestyle that she was living.

[10:09] She would much rather have this living water that she would never have to come to this well again. So Jesus piqued her curiosity and he cared enough to share the truth with her.

[10:23] This was a conversation opener that would lead to her salvation. He started by saying, give me a drink. He asks her to do something for him and then in turn, she's willing to listen to what he offers her.

[10:41] So I believe that as we are dealing with other people, I think we can look for conversation openers, ways that we can connect with other people.

[10:52] Speaking of something that you both have in common, it might be fishing, it might be hunting, it might be your work, it might be your hobby. But what Jesus did was, Jesus found some common ground and he was going to share with her words of life.

[11:07] But what he did was, he did not begin with a long dissertation about who he was. What he did was, with a very, very simple conversation opener, piqued her curiosity and utilized something that they had in common.

[11:23] They both needed water. And so he asks her, give me a drink. Now here's the thing, where did Jesus meet this woman?

[11:35] He met her where she was. He met her in her hometown. He met her where she was. So how do we reach people with the gospel?

[11:47] Often we expect them to come to church. Often we expect them to come to maybe an event that we hold. But in reality, what we see all throughout Scripture is, where did followers of Christ reach others?

[12:02] They reached them where they were. They reached them in the marketplace. They reached them in homes. They reached them wherever they were. So what Jesus is showing us is he is meeting her in her comfort zone.

[12:15] He is meeting her where she felt comfortable, where she was in her daily routine. So this woman came to draw water. What was on her mind?

[12:27] Water. And so what did Jesus ask her about? Water. And so Jesus met her in her comfort zone, where she was. His conversation starter was something about what they had in common and something that would have not been out of place.

[12:45] When you meet someone in the grocery store and for whatever reason you come together and you start talking about something, it's like, oh, by the way, do you know Jesus as your Savior?

[12:58] Wow. I mean, that's a bit of a shock to most people. But no, you talk about whatever it is that you are involved in at the moment and then maybe some way, sometime during that conversation, you may be able to segue into talking about Jesus.

[13:17] And as a follower of Christ, really as any individual, do we not like talking about what we like? If you're a sports fan, what do you talk about?

[13:28] You talk about sports. If you like hunting and fishing, if you find someone else, even if they don't like hunting or fishing, what do we tend to do? We tend to talk about what we like.

[13:40] And sometimes, even to the point of boredom in others. Why? But we don't care why because we are so enamored with that which we love.

[13:51] And if we love Jesus, will it not be just routine for us to talk to other people about Jesus? What has Jesus done in our life? What has he done for us?

[14:02] How has he made a difference in our life? How can we, because we care about others, we're willing to share what we have that has made a difference in our life. And so Jesus is sharing with her.

[14:14] So physical water was a means by which Jesus uses to talk to this woman about living water, about himself, about Jesus Christ himself.

[14:27] And so reminding her of her thirst, physical thirst, was a way to talk to her about her spiritual thirst.

[14:39] And we see that in their conversation. So one thing we might ask is, when was the last time we talked to someone about Jesus? So Jesus had a caring walk.

[14:52] Jesus had a sharing walk because what we're going to see is he's willing to talk to this woman about himself, about what he offers.

[15:04] But also what we see is, as we continue on in this passage, is his walk was a burden-bearing walk. A burden-bearing walk.

[15:15] Let's continue on. Verse number 16. So he cares enough to go through an area of the country where the Jews would not go ordinarily.

[15:27] So he cared enough about an individual to go through a place where others might talk badly about him. Others might look down on him because of where he went.

[15:40] and he was willing to share with this woman, but he was also willing to go to where she was hurting and help her bear this burden. Verse 16. Jesus said to her, Go call your husband and come here.

[15:56] So he says, Go have your husband come. Verse 17. The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said to her, You have well said. I have no husband for you have had five husbands.

[16:07] And the one whom you now have is not your husband in that you spoke truly. She said five husbands and the person she's living with right now is not her husband.

[16:20] He says, You're telling the truth. You've rightly spoken. Verse 19. The woman said to him, Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. How else would you know?

[16:33] Our fathers worshipped on this mountain and you Jews that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship. Say that in Jerusalem this is a place where one ought to worship. Verse 21.

[16:45] And Jesus said to her, Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem worship the Father. You worship what you do not know.

[16:56] We know what we worship for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming and now is when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.

[17:07] For the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is spirit and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. Verse 25.

[17:18] The woman said to Him, I know that Messiah is coming who is called Christ. When He comes He will tell us of all things. Even as a Samaritan she knew that the Messiah would one day come and listen to what Jesus says to her.

[17:37] Jesus said to her, I who speak to you am He. I am the Anointed One. I am the Messiah. So how did Jesus begin to reach her where she hurt?

[17:53] He said, Go get your husband. He knew the guy wasn't her husband. But He knew that's why she was coming at the time she was coming or when she was coming. And so what we see is Jesus is reaching down, reaching into her, her existence and saying, I know that you are not satisfied.

[18:15] I know that you know that there's something missing in your life. She had thought herself too sinful for salvation.

[18:28] She was looking at herself, she was looking at her situation and she realized, I've had five husbands and the guy I'm living with right now is not my husband. And she would find that Jesus knew all about her but yet He still cared.

[18:48] Isn't that great? That even though, no matter what we've been through, no matter what we have done, no matter who we are, Jesus sees through, Jesus knows who we are, Jesus knows where we've been, He knows what we've done and yet He still loved her.

[19:07] And what we see when we look at people around us, many people find that they're too sinful to receive God's grace. Many people that we interact with on a regular basis may think they're too guilty because I've actually heard people, people have told me, you don't know what I've done.

[19:26] God could never forgive me for what I've done. And some of the things people have done are pretty difficult or pretty, could be pretty, pretty bad. But we can say by the authority of God's Word that God loves the world.

[19:46] God loves sinners. And that even while we were still in our sin, Christ died for us. And none of us, no individual, is too guilty to receive God's grace.

[20:01] So he looked inside her situation and said, go find your husband. And he knew that she would say, well, I'm ashamed, but I don't have a husband.

[20:14] And so, but yet he's still willing to care for her. The ground is level at the cross. We realize that no matter who we are, no matter what we've done, we can know Jesus as our Savior and receive forgiveness of our sin.

[20:33] But another thing we see in Jesus' conversation with her is he didn't allow her to get him off track. Because what we're going to see, we're going to go back to the previous verses is, excuse me, he avoided a religious argument.

[20:50] And she did what very many people will do today. Jesus talks about living water. Jesus talks about what he can offer to her. And then she goes, talks about a place to worship.

[21:01] Let's look at verse 20. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain. Because what he was saying previously here was, you've had five husbands, and he says, the one you're with is not your husband now.

[21:19] And so what does she do? She changes the subject. She says, our fathers who worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.

[21:31] So Jesus says, believe me, the hour is coming when we won't worship here or there. but we'll worship the Father. He says, you worship what you don't know.

[21:43] We know what we worship for salvation is of the Jews, but the hour is coming. And now is, when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.

[21:55] He's saying, God's Spirit. God doesn't dwell in a particular place. Those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth. And the woman says, I know that the Messiah is coming, the one called Christ, the anointed one.

[22:13] He says, she said, when He comes. There are many people today who say, well, you know, we really, we don't know, we can't know for sure. You know, one day maybe. So she says, one day He's going to come, the Messiah's going to come, and He's going to tell us what to believe or where to worship.

[22:30] So Jesus says, I, I'm the one speaking to you. I am the one that you're talking about.

[22:42] And what we see is, God is concerned about holy people. He's not concerned as much about holy places. So what's He telling her? This mountain?

[22:55] That mountain? That's not the deal. He said, really, it's not as important where you worship as what? As who you worship. We worship the Father.

[23:08] He's a spirit, and we're to worship Him in spirit and in truth. Not to say, well, you know what, I'm, you know, a person says, well, I'm Catholic, or I'm Baptist, or I'm Methodist, or I'm this, or I'm that, or you've got to go to Mecca, or you have to do this, or you have to do that, and you have, and we make all kinds of regulations and rules and we say, well, you know what, you're not right with God unless you fill in the blank.

[23:33] Where Jesus told her, that's not important. What's important is who you worship and worship Him in spirit and in truth. So God is interested in people who follow Him, worship Him, and who trust Him as their Savior.

[23:52] So Jesus showed in His walk that He was caring, He cared enough about people. He cared enough to share the gospel with this woman and He was willing to bear her burden.

[24:05] He was willing to speak to her where she hurt. He was willing to allow her to realize her need for salvation. And what was He doing?

[24:17] He was offering her a brand new life. He was offering a way for her to be rid of her guilt, to receive forgiveness of sin, and to be able to have a brand new life.

[24:31] So that's what we can offer as followers of Christ. And so as we look at John chapter 4, how did Jesus walk? Well, the Bible says if we say we follow Him, we need to walk as He walked.

[24:43] He cared enough about people to go to where people that needed Him were. He cared enough about people to share the truth of the gospel. And He cared enough about people to be willing to bear their burden.

[24:55] So as we think about ourselves, as we wind this down to a close this morning, how do we live? How do we walk? Do we care enough about people to meet them where they are?

[25:08] And to not be so self-absorbed and so into ourselves that that's all we want to talk about. No, we meet them where they are. We find something we have in common.

[25:18] And then we're able to transition to talking about Jesus. Because really, at the end of the day, that's the only thing that will make a difference in their life.

[25:30] Is Jesus and trust in Christ as our Savior. So Jesus is still calling to thirsty people today. People who thirst and hunger for righteousness.

[25:42] People who thirst and hunger for something more. Something different. Something better. There are many people around us who are hurting. There are many people around us who don't feel fulfilled. Who feel empty.

[25:54] And we can offer them Jesus Christ. As people respond to that compassionate call, they'll never thirst again.

[26:05] So how did Jesus walk? Caring walk, sharing walk, and a burden-bearing walk. So our question today as we consider as we consider what are our next steps.

[26:19] Well, as we look at our connection cards this morning, one of the things is how can we develop a caring walk? Asking ourselves, God, how can I care for others?

[26:32] Show me. How can I develop a walk that will share the truth of the gospel with others? And how can I develop a burden-bearing walk?

[26:43] Let's pray. Father, this morning as we've come together today, we thank you for your goodness. Father, we thank you that our Savior, Jesus Christ, has given us the example of how to deal with others, how to talk to others, and how to share the gospel with others as well.

[27:03] So help us, Father, to be able to walk a life that is worthy of our calling.

[27:15] And Lord, help us to be able to look at every person that we meet as an opportunity to share the love of Christ. Father, we thank you for this day.

[27:26] We thank you for this week. And Lord, we pray for those who are hurting, for those who are not here today. Lord, we pray that you would meet their needs. And we thank you for what you're going to accomplish in us and through us.

[27:42] For it's in Jesus' name that we pray. Amen. Amen. Let's all stand. And this morning, as we close our time together this morning, if our ushers will come and be prepared, amen where the food.

[28:08] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.