John 4:10-15, Gospel Bridges (Woman at the Well, 3)

First, Jesus established rapport (built a bridge for the gospel) by meeting basic human needs in the life of the woman of Samaria.  Then He crossed that bridge to the woman by meeting basic spiritual needs.  He created a curiosity for the gospel.  We need to add one thing to our thoughts in the previous post.  We need to pray that the Holy Spirit will do His work of conviction (John 16:7-11) as part of this.  This is what the Spirit does and we need to ask our Father to move in the life and soul of the person we want to speak with about Christ.

o   They need to understand the gospel, v10.  Jesus quite often shared spiritual truth by building on earthly truth.  With Nicodemus, it was being “born again.”  With the woman, it had to do with water.  Jesus also used bread, the door of the sheep, and, with Jewish people, He could use the sacrificial system or stories (such as the bronze serpent) from the OT.  The key in all of these is that they were true to the gospel.  Asking Jesus into your heart, or words like salvation, redemption or atonement can be hard for people to understand.  Remember: it is the gospel that is the power of God to salvation (Rom. 1:16).  Understanding the gospel is a basic spiritual need.

o   They need to hope in the gospel, v13-14.  Jesus did not go into detail about specific things this woman would experience if she put her faith in Christ.  But He did continue with the “water” illustration to tell her that this gift of God would be life-changing in a refreshing way, bringing eternal life.  Again, we see John 3:16, replacing death with life.  This woman likely was not a particularly hopeful sort of person, given the apparent “failures” of her life.  But, in case you didn’t know, this is the way it is about most of the people you know.  Apart from Christ, as Paul put it, life is hopeless (Eph. 2:12; 4:17-19).  Don’t be fooled by what people often say.  This is the Bible’s description.  Take some time in Ecclesiastes and you will see that the things that people typically strive for are, in the end, vanity (empty; all is empty)!  One thing you can count on is that the gospel is a message of hope.  It is a basic spiritual need to know that there is hope.

Jesus connected with this woman, having crossed the gospel bridge to meet with her.  She is now interested.  She understands that He has something to offer that is like a drink of cool water to a dry and thirsty soul.  And He has told her that drinking this water will be eternally satisfying.  We know this because of her request in v15: Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.  She is on board, even though she is thinking in earthly ways.  But her request is an admission, by her, that her life is not satisfying and that she is open to Jesus’ offer.  She is now ready to walk with Jesus back across the bridge.