[Sunday, December 14, 2025] The Lord is coming to you | John 4:5–26

[Sunday, December 14, 2025] The Lord is coming to you | John 4:5–26

Sermon by Rev. Jinkook (Danny) Sohn (Hope of Heaven Baptist Chuch) 

 

2025. 12. 14. 주일예배 설교- 요한복음 강해 
본문: 요한복음 4:5–26
제목: 주님께서 찾아오십니다

설교자: 손진국 목사 (하늘소망교회)

 

Today’s passage shows the scene where Jesus goes to the well to meet a Samaritan woman in the town of Sychar.

What are the four major world religions? Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism. One of the key differences between Christianity and other religions is that God comes to seek human beings. Of course, other religions also speak about meeting God. They say they hear the voice of God through prophets and learn the will of God through sacred texts, claiming that this is not so different from Christianity. Just as Christianity has the Bible, Islam has the Qur’an, which records the revelations that Allah (God) gave to the prophet Muhammad through the angel Gabriel. Hinduism is a polytheistic religion that believes in many gods. Among them are the Trimurti: Brahma, who created the universe; Vishnu, who sustains it; and Shiva, who destroys and renews it. They also have sacred texts, the three major ones being the Vedas, the Upanishads, and the Bhagavad Gita. What about Buddhism? Buddhism has the Tripitaka—Sutra, Vinaya, and Abhidharma—among which the Sutras record the teachings of Buddha. The three major sutras are the Avatamsaka Sutra, the Diamond Sutra, and the Lotus Sutra. In fact, Buddhism is not a religion that believes in a god. Siddhartha Gautama, known as the Buddha, was a human being. Born as a prince of the Shakya clan in ancient India, he left his royal life in search of the truth about human suffering. After long years of ascetic practice and meditation, he attained enlightenment and taught what he had realized to many people. The name “Buddha” was given to him after enlightenment and means “the awakened one.” Therefore, Buddhism is essentially atheistic, and some even consider it a philosophy. However, because it involves bowing and religious rituals, it is classified as a religion.

Unlike these religions, Christianity teaches that God came to seek human beings. How did He come? God Himself became human and came to us. This is called the Incarnation. When God was born as a human being, what name were we told to call Him? Jesus.
[Matthew 1:21] She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.
What is His other name? Immanuel. [Matthew 1:23] “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
What does Immanuel mean? It means that God is with us.

I hope you believe this amazing truth that God still comes to seek us today. Through today’s message, I want us to reflect together on how He comes to us.

 

1. The Lord Comes To The Brokenhearted.

Who is the person Jesus goes to meet? A Samaritan woman. It was not the woman who went looking for Jesus, but Jesus who went looking for her. For Jesus, a Jew, to enter Samaria and speak with a Samaritan woman was something that should not have happened at that time.

[Verse 9] The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)

Why did Jews not associate with Samaritans? At that time, Jews regarded Samaritans as cursed people and their land as unholy. Therefore, they avoided even setting foot in Samaria. The background is this: after King Solomon, Israel was divided into the northern kingdom (Israel) and the southern kingdom (Judah). Both kingdoms failed to serve God, worshiped idols, and disobeyed God’s word, and eventually both fell. The northern kingdom fell first to the Assyrian Empire in 722 BC, and about 130 years later, the southern kingdom fell to the Babylonian Empire in 586 BC. Samaria had been the capital of the northern kingdom, and by the time of Jesus, it had become the name of the region where the descendants of the northern Israelites lived. The Assyrian Empire, which conquered the northern kingdom, implemented a brutal policy of erasing national identity. They deported Israelites to live among other conquered peoples and brought foreigners into the land of Israel, encouraging intermarriage so that ethnic purity would be lost. In addition, the people of the northern kingdom did not want to go to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices at the temple, so they built a temple on Mount Gerizim and worshiped there. Because of this, Jews condemned Samaritans as a corrupted group that had lost purity both ethnically and religiously. In response, Samaritans lived with feelings of alienation and hostility toward Jews.

Furthermore, who was this woman?
[Verse 18] You have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.
From Jesus’ words, we see that she had had five husbands, and even the man she was living with was not truly her husband. This suggests that her family life had repeatedly broken down for various reasons, and she was still living in that brokenness.

What time was it when Jesus met her?
[Verse 6] Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.
Noon in the Middle East is the hottest time of the day, when people usually avoid going out. Yet this woman chose that time to draw water. Why? She likely wanted to avoid meeting people. She was probably weary of being despised, ignored, mocked, and judged by others.

It is into such a wounded, failed, and hopeless life that the Lord comes. He comes right into the place of pain and wounds that she most wanted to avoid. But what Jesus says to her there is shocking.
[Verse 16] He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”

For her, the issue of her husband was a wound she wanted to hide—a source of shame, disgrace, and sin, the darkest part of her life. Yet Jesus brings it into the light at the brightest time of day, noon. Why does He do this? So that she would no longer live trapped in darkness, but come out into the light.
[John 8:12] When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Dear brothers and sisters, is there something dark that you want to hide from the Lord? Is there a wound, shame, or sin? The more we try to hide it, the deeper into darkness we go. Bring it to the Lord, who is the light. Believe that the Lord is the One who lights a lamp in our darkness and makes it bright. [Psalm 18:28] You, Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.

[Application] Is there a wound I am hiding deep in my heart right now? Do I truly believe that Jesus has come to find me, and am I opening my heart to Him?

 

2. The Lord Comes To Solve Our Thirst

[Verse 7] When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”
Jesus asks the woman He meets at the well to give Him some water. Normally, she would simply give Him water, but instead of giving water, she says something. What does she say?

[Verse 9] The Samaritan woman said to Him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can You ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
What does her tone sound like? Doesn’t it seem a bit annoyed, unpleasant, and unwilling to even speak? In today’s words, simply put, it is like saying, “What are you talking about?”

Knowing her heart, Jesus speaks about who He is.

[Verse 10] Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water.”
And He speaks about the living water that He gives.

[Verse 13–14] Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

The Lord is telling this woman what the greatest thirst in life is—the true thirst of life.

Are you thirsty? When I lead worship and preach, I keep a cup of water in the pulpit, and whenever my throat is dry, I drink it. There is this kind of physical thirst, but what other kinds of thirst are there? When I was in university, there was a song I sang often called “With a Burning Thirst.” Do you know it? It was sung by Kim Kwang-seok and was made from the poem “With a Burning Thirst” by the poet Kim Ji-ha. Part of the lyrics goes like this: “Only the memory of a burning thirst deep in my chest secretly writes your name. With a burning thirst, with a burning thirst—long live democracy.” This poem and song express the spirit of Korea in the 1970s and 80s and describe a spiritual, ideological, and political thirst for democracy that is limited to a certain time and place.

So what kind of thirst is the Lord talking about in today’s passage? It is not physical thirst. It is not a thirst limited to a certain time or region. This thirst is one that all people have, beyond time and place. It is a spiritual thirst that every human being has. The Lord came to this world to resolve this spiritual thirst.

What is the cause of this thirst? This woman had five husbands, and even the man she had now was not her true husband. What does this mean? It means that the thirst within her could not be satisfied by people. The same is true for us. True healing begins when we know the true problem.

We must know that our thirst cannot be solved by the things of this world. Then what can solve it?

[Verse 14] Whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

The Lord says that when we drink the water He gives, it becomes a spring welling up to eternal life within us. What does this mean? It means receiving eternal life, and that spring refers to the Holy Spirit. The Lord is the One who gives the Holy Spirit. What do we call those who have received the Holy Spirit? They are called people who have been born again.

Only those who have received the Holy Spirit can have the true thirst of life—the spiritual thirst—resolved. Is there anyone here who has not yet received the Holy Spirit and whose fundamental spiritual thirst has not been resolved? Ask God today.

[Luke 11:13] If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!

If you do not know how to ask, there is a gospel-sharing time after today’s service, so please join.

[Application] What am I trying to use to satisfy my thirst? Am I honestly revealing the true thirst of my soul before Jesus?

 

3. The Lord Comes to Establish True Worshipers

Every time I read today’s passage, I am deeply challenged by the Samaritan woman. From a purely human perspective, she appears to be a shameful and disgraced sinner. Yet I am led to think that her soul was always marked by a longing for God. Why do I say this? When the Lord exposed the issue of the husbands she wanted to hide, we read in verse 19 that she regarded Jesus as a prophet. [Verse 19] The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.”

And what is the very first question she asks Jesus, whom she now recognizes as a prophet? [Verse 20] “Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.”

She asks about worship. Is that not remarkable? If someone were told that the man she was living with was not her true husband, what would most people ask next? Perhaps, “Then how can I meet a real husband who will satisfy my heart?” But instead, she asks how she can offer true worship.

What about you and me? How do we think about worship? Do we have a deep hunger for worship? Jesus teaches her about true worship.

[Verse 23] “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship Him.”

Beloved saints, now is the time to worship God in truth. God is seeking those who will worship Him truly. I earnestly desire that all the members of Haneul Somang Church may become the true worshipers whom God is seeking.

Then how can we offer such true worship? [Verse 24] “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Jesus teaches that worship is not offered merely through form, appearance, or procedure, but in spirit and in truth. Why is that? Because the God who receives our worship is Spirit.

To worship in spirit means to worship according to the inspiration and leading of the Holy Spirit. In other words, those who have received the Holy Spirit—God’s children who have been born again—are able to worship God. Then what does it mean to worship in truth? The truth is Jesus Himself.

[John 14:6] Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Without Jesus, who is the Truth, we cannot offer true worship. Ultimately, it is through Jesus that we receive the Holy Spirit and come to understand the word of truth. Only when we believe in and receive Jesus can we offer true worship.

Today’s message teaches us that the spiritual thirst of our lives can be quenched only through true worship. True worship is the act of lifting up our souls in Christ, placing God as our highest value. A.W. Tozer once said, “Worship is the soul’s trembling recognition of God as supremely worthy.” Remember that worship is not about “doing it well,” but about responding to God in spirit and offering Him our whole heart.

[Application] With what kind of heart am I worshiping today? Am I truly meeting God through worship?

Let me conclude the message. As we live our daily lives, we feel our hearts cracking and drying out day by day. The world promises us many kinds of water, but they only wet us for a moment and soon disappear. But Jesus says to us, “Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty forever.”

Jesus comes to find us as we hide in our wounds, shame, and disgrace. He fills us with the living water of eternal life and establishes us as true worshipers before God. I pray that you will believe this. As we offer our hearts to the Lord today, and as we cry out like the Samaritan woman, “Lord, give me this water also,” may our souls be restored and our worship come alive. May all of you experience this grace, in the name of the Lord.

 

하늘소망교회(담임 손진국 목사)는 뉴질랜드 오클랜드 북부 실버데일에 세워진 한인교회로 '하나님의 마음으로 사람을 살리는 교회'입니다.

Hope of Heaven Baptist Church (Senior Pastor: Rev. Jinkook Sohn) is a Korean church established in Silverdale, Auckland, New Zealand. It is a church that saves people with the heart of God.