The Kindness of Jesus
John 4:1-30
May 31, 2015
As you know, on Sunday nights we’ve been embarking on a study called, “It’s All About Jesus”
The first part of that study was to remind us that everything in life is all about Him.
The second part (which we began last week) is simply all about Him.
In Colossians 3 Paul wrote:
Colossians 3:12-14 “So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.”
When we studied that passage we said it was there
To remind us of our Pattern in the Christian life.
That pattern is Jesus.
He is the One we seek to be like.
It is His image that the Father is working to conform us in to.
So we are taking that list of attributes that Paul gave us there
And looking at how Jesus was those things.
Last week we looked at “The Compassion of Jesus”
We studied Mark’s account of Jesus’ feeding of the 5,000
And while the miracle is amazing, we instead focused on Jesus’ willingness to even give that crowd the time of day.
• His disciples were tired, having just returned from a missionary trip.
• Jesus was grieving, have just received word of John the Baptist’s death.
• Mark told us that they hadn’t even had time to eat.
• To that Jesus told the disciples to take a little retreat, to get away from the crowds and to rest a while.
• The only problem was that the crowd caught wind of their plans and ran ahead of them to the place where they were going and was waiting for them there.
When Jesus arrived Mark told us that Jesus “felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd”
• It was the same word used of the father whose son was demon-possessed.
• It was the same word used of the father of the prodigal son when he saw his son at a distance.
Jesus was deeply moved inwardly toward this crowd.
And so we talked about the compassion of Jesus
And how He saw the needs of others and did something about it.
Well tonight we move to the second attribute,
but it is really not that far removed.
Tonight we are talking about “The Kindness of Jesus”
Very simply put, “kindness is the action that follows the compassion”
We saw this kindness last week
When Jesus actually ministered to that crowd and fed them.
His compassion moved Him to kindness.
And the two must go hand in hand.
• Compassion without kindness is empty
• Kindness without compassion is hypocrisy
CHRESTOTES in the Greek
It comes from the root work CHRESTOS which means
That which is “good” or “pleasant” or “fit for use”
It is used in:
Luke 5:39 “And no one, after drinking old wine wishes for new; for he says, ‘The old is good enough.'”
The old wine is CHRESTOS
It is “pleasant” it is “good” it is “fit for use”
Romans 3:12 also translates it “good”
Romans 3:12 “ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.”
There we learn that no human is “good” or “fit for use” or “pleasant”
In Matthew 11, it is translated “easy”
Matthew 11:30 “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
Jesus said His yoke is “good” or “pleasant” or “fit for use”
If you want to see an opposite use of the word, we look at Romans 11
Romans 11:22 “Behold then the kindness and severity of God; to those who fell, severity, but to you, God’s kindness, if you continue in His kindness; otherwise you also will be cut off.”
There we find the opposite of this kindness to be “severity”
That which is not pleasant and that which you don’t want to use.
So when we talk about this word “kindness”
We are talking about the type of response that is “good”
Or the type of response that is “pleasant”
Or the type of response that is “fit for use”
It is the mentality behind the golden rule
Matthew 7:12 “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”
That is the epitome of kindness
It is the action that flows from a heart of compassion
Certainly you should know that God is kind
Luke 6:35 “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.”
We know also that the Holy Spirit is kind
Galatians 5:22 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,”
But tonight we want to examine the kindness of Jesus.
Now, unlike compassion,
We don’t have a specific verse that says Jesus was kind.
We don’t have a story that says, “So Jesus in kindness…”
But if we are talking about a response to humanity
That is “good” or “pleasant” or “serviceable” or “fit for use”
Then in reality almost any story about Jesus will do.
Jesus’ life was characterized by kindness.
• We could look at John 2 and watch Jesus turn water into wine for no other reason than to save a bride and groom from embarrassment.
• We could turn to Luke 5 and here a leper tell Jesus, “If you are willing, You can make me clean” to which Jesus responds “I am willing”
• We could turn to Luke 13 and not only watch Jesus heal a woman on the Sabbath, but then scold those who thought it was a bad idea, pointing out that those religious hypocrites show more kindness to their ox in a ditch than to a woman bound by Satan.
• We could turn to Luke 17 and watch Jesus cleans 10 lepers, one of which was a Samaritan. The other 9 where the “ungrateful men” who didn’t come back and yet Jesus was kind to them anyway.
• We could turn to Luke 18 and listen to the blind man crying out for Jesus to have mercy on him, and we would see Jesus respond by restoring his sight.
• We could turn to Luke 22 at Jesus’ arrest and watch Jesus heal the ear of Malchus, the slave of the high priest after Peter had removed it.
• We could turn to John 8 and watch Jesus come to the rescue of a woman caught in adultery telling the crowd to only throw stones if they were without sin.
The point being is that it is not hard to spot kindness in Jesus.
No verse specifically says that He was kind,
But His kindness drips from every story.
He gave the favorable response.
He was not severe
He was not harsh
He was kind
And tonight, in order to look at His kindness
I have chosen the story of the Woman at the Well
I picked this story, not just because Jesus was kind,
But because it was kindness to such an extreme
That it was a bit of a surprise to His disciples.
At the end of the story we read:
John 4:27 “At this point His disciples came, and they were amazed that He had been speaking with a woman, yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Why do You speak with her?”
This story demonstrates a degree kindness
That was a shock even to His disciples.
In their minds kindness didn’t have to go this far.
So we look at this story as an example of unnatural kindness.
We look at this story as an example of kindness you wouldn’t ordinarily show
This story is an example of God’s kindness
Which is “kind to ungrateful and evil men.”
We’ll divide it up into 4 points.
#1 UNEXPECTED CONVERSATION
John 4:1-9
(1-3) “Therefore when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus Himself was not baptizing, but His disciples were), He left Judea and went away again into Galilee.”
It is obvious that Jesus is not seeking
To get into some sort of “baptism war” with John.
• This wasn’t about publicity…
• It wasn’t about numbers…
• Jesus simply came to do His Father’s will and save the lost sheep.
But you understand why He is traveling, and verse 4 gives us the setting.
(4) “And He had to pass through Samaria”
And to the Jewish reader, that was a big deal.
If you will remember, Jews and Samaritans didn’t exactly hit it off.
Most of you are familiar with who the Samaritans were,
But in case you are not, let give you a little history.
• You are familiar how Solomon’s son Rehoboam acted foolishly and caused the nation of Israel to be divided.
• When we studied the Kings, you saw this divided Monarchy with a King in Israel and also a King in Judah.
• Eventually Omri became King in Israel and he bought the city called Samaria and made it his capitol city. Ahab ruled from this city as well.
Then in 2 Kings 17, the nation of Israel (northern kingdom) was destroyed.
2 Kings 17:5-6 “Then the king of Assyria invaded the whole land and went up to Samaria and besieged it three years. In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried Israel away into exile to Assyria, and settled them in Halah and Habor, on the river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.”
The problem was that when the King of Assyria moved foreign refugees into the land of Israel, God judged those refugees.
2 Kings 17:24-26 “The king of Assyria brought men from Babylon and from Cuthah and from Avva and from Hamath and Sepharvaim, and settled them in the cities of Samaria in place of the sons of Israel. So they possessed Samaria and lived in its cities. At the beginning of their living there, they did not fear the LORD; therefore the LORD sent lions among them which killed some of them. So they spoke to the king of Assyria, saying, “The nations whom you have carried away into exile in the cities of Samaria do not know the custom of the god of the land; so he has sent lions among them, and behold, they kill them because they do not know the custom of the god of the land.”
So the solution to God’s judgment was to move some Israelites back into the land so that they could teach the new refugees what God expected.
(Indeed this is rich since it was Israel’s failure to obey God
That cost them the land to begin with.)
The result of the project was full-scale pluralism.
2 Kings 17:29-35 “But every nation still made gods of its own and put them in the houses of the high places which the people of Samaria had made, every nation in their cities in which they lived. The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima, and the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites burned their children in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech the gods of Sepharvaim. They also feared the LORD and appointed from among themselves priests of the high places, who acted for them in the houses of the high places. They feared the LORD and served their own gods according to the custom of the nations from among whom they had been carried away into exile. To this day they do according to the earlier customs: they do not fear the LORD, nor do they follow their statutes or their ordinances or the law, or the commandments which the LORD commanded the sons of Jacob, whom He named Israel; with whom the LORD made a covenant and commanded them, saying, ” You shall not fear other gods, nor bow down yourselves to them nor serve them nor sacrifice to them.”
Summed up in the end of the chapter.
2 Kings 17:41 “So while these nations feared the LORD, they also served their idols; their children likewise and their grandchildren, as their fathers did, so they do to this day.”
So after the deportation of the northern kingdom of Israel,
We had a group of pagans intermixed with a group of Jews.
They intermarried, they became pluralists
And they became known as Samaritans.
You can obviously understand why the Jews hated them,
THEY WERE THE WORST OF TRAITORS.
So why did Samaritans hate Jews?
Because after 70 years in Babylon the Jews returned to their land and reclaimed it from the pagans who had moved in.
Ezra 4:1-3 “Now when the enemies of Judah and Benjamin heard that the people of the exile were building a temple to the LORD God of Israel, they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers’ households, and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we, like you, seek your God; and we have been sacrificing to Him since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us up here.” But Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of fathers’ households of Israel said to them, “You have nothing in common with us in building a house to our God; but we ourselves will together build to the LORD God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia has commanded us.”
So if you want to know the danger, just picture an Israeli today
Seeking to travel through Palestine.
And that animosity was alive and well in Jesus’ day as well.
Luke 9:51-53 “When the days were approaching for His ascension, He was determined to go to Jerusalem; and He sent messengers on ahead of Him, and they went and entered a village of the Samaritans to make arrangements for Him. But they did not receive Him, because He was traveling toward Jerusalem.”
(If you’ll remember, that was when James and John asked Jesus
If He wanted them to call down fire on those Samaritans)
But you get the picture.
This is not set up to be a pleasant trip Jesus is taking.
(5-6) “So He came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph; and Jacob’s well was there. So Jesus, being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.”
So here Jesus is, at noon, sitting near a well in land originally promised to Joseph, now occupied by pagan half-breads.
And the incident arises.
(7-9) “There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Therefore the Samaritan woman said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)”
Jesus is by Himself because the disciples had gone to buy food.
And up walks this woman.
And I’m sure you’ve heard the background on this woman before.
• We already know that she is a Samarian
• We will soon find out she has been married 5 times and is now shacking up with her boyfriend.
And many have noted that she was probably coming to draw water at noon
To avoid the scorn of all the other women
Who routinely came in the morning to gather water.
WE HAVE A SINFUL, PAGAN WOMAN.
And Jesus asks her for a drink of water.
It was the equivalent of saying, “Nice day isn’t it”
He was just being friendly.
And His kindness literally shocked the woman.
“How is it that You being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)”
Obviously Jesus is about to be up to something spiritual here,
But I just want you to see His kindness toward this woman.
AS FAR AS JESUS WAS CONCERNED:
• She was a different race
• She was a different gender
• She was a different religion
• She had a different moral code
THIS WOMAN WAS OFFENSIVE TO JEWISH MEN
A couple of weeks ago Carrie and I went to eat at Olive Garden.
• We had suspicions that our waiter was homosexual, but we don’t know.
• However the two girls in the booth across from us most certainly were.
And here in the Bible belt in rural Texas
You know the awkward feeling that arises when we are confronted there.
What is more, before those two ladies ate,
They held hands and prayed for their food.
But across from me at a public restaurant were
• Two ladies of a different sexual orientation,
• Two ladies of a different moral code,
• Two ladies of a different religion.
Now do you get the picture of the scenario Jesus is in?
He encountered a person that would have been offensive
To any other Jewish man of his day.
And yet, He showed kindness to her through an unexpected conversation.
• She knew what He was
• She was under no misconception that they might be friends.
• Truth be known, she probably felt just as awkward around Him as we expected Him to feel around her.
But Jesus showed kindness.
And then, He continues.
An Unexpected Conversation
#2 AN UNDESERVED PROPOSITION
John 4:10-14
There is obviously going to be meat left on the bone here in a theological sense.
But I just want you to pay attention to the conversation.
Jesus tells this woman that God is giving
And that living water is available.
And I hope you pick up on the woman’s cynical response.
(it is borderline insulting)
(11-12) “She said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water? 1″You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?”
I can’t help but read that with a little sarcasm there.
“Yeah right, who do you think you are? Jacob?”
Right there she gave Jesus every excuse to say,
“Fine lady, I was just trying to help, that’s why we don’t talk to your kind”
Imagine if you decided to go sit in the booth with the two homosexual women and strike up a conversation in kindness, only to have them insult you.
Would you continue the conversation?
Well, Jesus did.
(13-14) “Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”
Obviously we could talk more about the implications of what Jesus said, but mostly I just want you to recognize that He offered her “eternal life”
• She wasn’t Jewish…
• She wasn’t worthy…
• She wasn’t even seeking…
And yet Jesus offered it to her anyway.
That is what we all kindness.
It came in the form of an unexpected conversation
And an undeserved proposition.
#3 AN UNRESERVED REVELATION
John 4:15-26
Again the story carries more than we can fully cover,
But the gist of the story goes like this.
• This woman actually likes what she hears from Jesus and says, “Sure, I’ll take it”. Give me this living water (she is still thinking in terms of actual water)
To which Jesus gives the first revelation.
(16) “Go, call your husband”
• You know the story:
• She says she doesn’t have one
• Jesus exposes her past and sinful present
Some would say, “Wait, that’s not kindness”
Sure it is…it is the ultimate kindness.
Listen to what Scripture says about God’s kindness:
Romans 2:4 “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?”
God’s kindness confronts sin because sin kills people.
Could we have called Jesus kind if He had left her in her dangerous condition?
Certainly not.
Jesus showed extreme kindness to her.
Now the woman instantly changes the subject.
(19-20) “The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. “Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.”
She drops the conversation about her immorality and immediately moves to the age old question of “Where should I go to church?”
This is a favorite trump card of cynics today.
You go up sharing Jesus, and it won’t be long before someone will throw at you all the many varieties of Jesus that are proclaimed in order to ask you why yours is supposedly right and everyone else’s is so wrong?
But Jesus pushes through that argument by reminding the woman that God doesn’t seek church attenders, God seeks true worshipers.
The where is not important, it is the why and the how that matters.
(24) “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
It doesn’t matter if you are in the right place
If you are worshiping the wrong way.
Now the woman still isn’t buying all that Jesus said.
She basically tries to retreat to the argument that “No one really knows”
(25) “The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.”
She was trying to settle on neutral ground.
“Well, no one really knows do they? I guess we’ll just have to wait for Messiah to tell us definitively.”
And then Jesus gives a greater revelation still
(26) “Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”
Jesus just revealed His truest identity
And He did so to this immoral, pagan, Samaritan woman
Think of all the dignitaries He might have revealed that to,
And He chose to tell her.
By the world’s account this woman is a nobody
By the world’s account this woman has no value
Why bother?
And yet Jesus not only has the kindness to speak to her,
To offer her eternal life, but also to reveal Himself to her.
He offered a relationship to her.
That is kindness to a whole new level.
• It’s one thing to talk to that person who offends you.
• It is another thing to witness to that person who offends you.
• But to offer a relationship to that person is kindness beyond what most of us want to give.
And yet Jesus isn’t finished.
An unexpected conversation An undeserved proposition An unreserved revelation
#4 AN UNBIASED RECEPTION
John 4:27-30
Now here of course the disciples arrive somewhat shocked.
(Do you think if you were sitting in Olive Garden with two homosexual women having a meal and one of your friends from Spur walked in they might be a little surprised?)
Well the disciples were.
Then the woman leaves, runs to the town, and invites all of her pagan friends to come out and meet this Jesus.
(30) “They went out of the city, and were coming to Him.”
Alright a conversation with one woman in private is one thing,
But now you want me to talk to all of her friends?
And you know how friendly circles go.
• I promise you the first people she told were people just like her.
• I would image at the front of this crowd were more immoral women (because that was her circle) coming to meet Jesus.
Let me give you another example:
Luke 5:27-32 “After that He went out and noticed a tax collector named Levi sitting in the tax booth, and He said to him, “Follow Me.” And he left everything behind, and got up and began to follow Him. And Levi gave a big reception for Him in his house; and there was a great crowd of tax collectors and other people who were reclining at the table with them. The Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?” And Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
When Matthew the tax collector got saved he immediately brought all his tax collector buddies to meet Jesus.
When this immoral woman got saved, who do you think she brought?
Well, how is Jesus going to respond?
• He’s not alone anymore.
• The disciples are now watching.
• And here comes this woman back with all of her friends.
Now it isn’t just private kindness, your reputation is on the line.
It will cost you something to be kind to these people.
Do you want me to show you how we often respond?
Galatians 2:11-13 “But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For prior to the coming of certain men from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to withdraw and hold himself aloof, fearing the party of the circumcision. The rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy.”
That’s how I usually do it.
I gradually pull away – it is unkind to say the least.
But what did Jesus do?
Well, let me fast-forward the story.
John 4:39-43 “From that city many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all the things that I have done.” So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they were asking Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. Many more believed because of His word; and they were saying to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed the Savior of the world.” After the two days He went forth from there into Galilee.”
Now sure we could talk about the gospel
And the necessity of repentance and faith.
John actually uses that story as a contrast to Nicodemus in John 3.
Whereas Nicodemus came at night so that his deeds wouldn’t be exposed,
This woman went and told everyone that her deeds had been.
She was saved, Nicodemus was not.
Point being, there is much more to the story.
But what I want you to see tonight
Is a tremendous example of the kindness of Jesus.
• It is a kindness that reaches beyond stereotypes and offenses
• It is a kindness that offers salvation to the worst
• It is a kindness that offers a relationship to those who don’t deserve it.
It is the same kindness that God has.
Luke 6:35 “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.”
So when Paul says:
Colossians 3:12 “So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;”
Now you have a better understanding of what he was talking about.
So go be kind
Go be good
Go be pleasant
Go be fit for use
Jesus certainly was
Matthew 11:30 “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
