Dear Christian friends:

Last week I read in Look magazine the article about the change in the Catholic Church of Holland. Some changes seemed good to me and agreed with the Bible.

But then they asked various Catholic teachers and leaders what they thought about Jesus. Several said, He is not the Son of God only a man, a very good man. They said there is no heaven or hell. Heaven or hell is now on earth.

I was sad to read that. Not only some Catholics, but also many Protestants and some Lutherans are saying the same things today. Many people do not believe that Jesus is the Savior of the world. They don't care about any future life after death. They don't believe like we have always believed in the past.

Our text today should help us to keep our faith although all around us many are giving-up. We need the support and strength which our text offers to all who will listen. It shows that:


Jesus took great pleasure in doing His Father's will. (verses 31-34) While Jesus rested at Jacob's well His disciples went into the city of Sychar to buy food for their evening meal. While they were gone a very bad, sinful woman came to get water and Jesus talked to her about Himself the living water as you heard last Sunday.

He also told her many things about her past life that she was married and divorced five times. She is very surprised to see that Jesus knows everything about her past sinful life and she says, "I think you are a prophet. Then she asks Him a question about which the Jews and Samaritans often argued and quarreled. "Which is the exact place to worship God: here in our mountain or in Jerusalem in the temple?

Jesus told her that's not important? It's not important whether you worship God here or in Jerusalem, but it is important to worship God and really mean it really love Him in your spirit and heart, not false or show off worship.

When the woman got tired of that and didn't like what Jesus preached to her she said: "Oh you don't know everything when the promised Savior comes He will tell us everything exactly." Jesus answered : "I am He."

Then His disciples came from the city with the food and the woman hurried back to the city to tell people what Jesus said to her. Then the disciples said to Jesus, "Master eat!" He told them, "I have food to eat which you don't know about." They are puzzled and ask, "Did anyone bring Him food while we were gone? What does He mean?"

So Jesus when He saw they were very dumb and did not get the idea explained: "My food is to do what God wants, who sent Me, and to finish His work." (verse 34) Jesus would rather teach and preach about God's love for us sinners and His plan to save us lost sinners, than to eat food.

If Jesus was only a man like us and not God's Son from heaven, then He would love food and other things and seek for pleasure and satisfaction in that only as we always do.

Here we can easily see that Jesus really is the Savior of the world. He is perfectly joined with God His Father. Their wills and desires are in full agreement. He loves to do the Father's will and work.

We should try hard to be like Jesus and not selfish or have a different will than God's. Our chief joy should be to help others to meet Jesus and be saved. Because Jesus said: "For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.” (John 6:40)

Our heavenly Father wants lost sinners to hear the good news of Jesus and the cross. This should be our pleasure, not food, and clothes and cars and fine houses.

We are very weak and sinful. God show mercy to us and help us to love what You love and what Your Son Jesus loves and wants.

He really is the Savior of the world because He would rather do God's work than eat. Our text here shows that Jesus really is the promised savior from God because of His great, love for sinners. Jesus did as our text shows, He really is God's Son, our Savior.

When the woman left the well she hurried to tell all the people of the city: "Come, see a Man who told me everything I've done, is He not the promised Savior?" Then the people left the town and came on the way to Jesus. When He saw them coming He felt great love and pity for them. He compares them to a large harvest field, ripe and ready for cutting and storing into the barns.

If you have lived on a farm, you know how hard and fast the men work when the grain changes white or yellow and is ripe. The farmer loves that grain. It is very precious to him and his family. It will bring him lots of money or profit, if he hurries and gathers and stores it in the barns before the grain gets too ripe and falls off or a storm comes and destroys the crop.

So Jesus sees all people in large and small cities. He sees their souls which He saved by the blood of His cross. All the many people are very precious to Him. He wants them in heaven happy and with Him. When we see a city full of people we see some rich, some middle class, some poor. We see doctors, lawyers, bankers, tradesmen, office workers, some men and some women. We think some are nice and pretty, some are mean and ugly. We see Negroes and Indians. We fail to see their souls.

We forget that God loves them all and that He gave His Son to die for all of them. We often think the many people in the large city are cheap and worthless. We don't care if they believe in Jesus or not. But Jesus cares He loves them all: "Brown and yellow, black and white all are precious in His sight" Jesus Loves The Little Children, hymn.

Yes, Jesus really is the Savior of the world, Here He even loves the Samaritans. Jews long ago always hated the Samaritans. They refused to drink from the same cup with them. Never talked to them. Never got married to them, just like we hate the Negroes and Indians and everybody except our own family and friends.

Jesus is not like us. He really loves all the people. He really wants them to come to Him and drink His water and live forever. So we are not surprised when the Samaritans after listening to Him for two days confess: "He really is the Savior of the world."

If you will listen to what I have said today about Jesus, you too will agree and say: "He really is the Savior of the world." And if you listen to His word every Sunday and maybe sometimes read it at home, you may begin to love God's work yourself and maybe you will begin to love God's people in the cities, too!

I hope and pray that you will. I hope God will give you His Spirit so that you can begin and continue on.

Amen.