1. Jesus Talks With a Samaritan Woman John 4

2. Ok, so let’s take a look at one of the amazing things that Jesus did while he was still walking the earth. Go ahead and open your Bible to John chapter 4. I will be using my NIV Bible, but you can use whatever you have, the story is still the same. This story talks about the woman at the well. Maybe you are familiar with this story, maybe you aren’t, but I will break it down for you regardless. It is a short story, but there are so many things packed into it that if you just take it for what you read off the page, it is just another story to you. Until you actually understand a little bit about the people in the story, you don’t really have much! Once you have your Bible out, lets begin.

3. Jesus The first person named in this story, one of two main characters The Son of God, at about thirty years old; fully human, fully God A thirsty, tired man(yes, even Jesus needed water) Walking from Judea to Galilee, which is about a fifty mile trip through what is mostly dry and hot, I feel like it would be similar to walking fifty miles through southern Georgia or northern Florida

4. The Woman Lived in a town called Sychar in Samaria We would categorize her as a prostitute, but we need to get to know her a little more before we throw that label on her This particular woman has had a lot of hardships throughout her life, no one has ever taught her how to love, maybe she had mean parents, maybe she had no parents at all, maybe she was abused as a child, no one knows but Jesus She has had five husbands, so as you can see, she goes looking for fulfillment in life from men, and she has not found anything yet, ‘but maybe there’s someone out there for her’ She probably has a low self esteem and is a little ashamed of her life, but can you blame her? She does not know what else to do, she is lost in a battle of love Jesus is about to change her life.

5. John 4:1-9 1 Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— 2 although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3 So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee. 4 Now he had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon. 7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) 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.) As you can see, this woman is very surprised that Jesus said anything to her at all, because it says even here, Jewish people did not ever talk to Samaritan people, and neither did men talk to women. Jesus saying anything to this woman was very unlikely, but he is the Son of God, and he wanted to make an impact on this woman’s life. She was also even surprised to see anyone at the well, because it was high noon and the sun was hot. You see, as we already talked about, this woman was probably ashamed of herself and her life, so by not going to the well in one of the cooler parts of the day, she was trying to avoid contact with any other people.

6. John 4:10 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.” Jesus is still talking to her, but he does not come back and ask for a drink again, he says ‘if only you knew.’ People knew that God has promised to send a Messiah, but no one knew who he would be or what he would look like, so at this point this woman still doesn’t know much about Jesus, this person asking her for a drink. He is not talking about literal water, here. Jesus is talking about her soul; remember, her soul is thirsty for love, and Jesus, because he is the Son of God, knows this. Jesus, because he is the Son of God, can provide this living water.

7. John 4:11-12 11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?” Now, when we think of a well, something like this probably comes to mind: something that some people have in their yard that is either a decoration or it is somewhat functional to drink out of. We have faucets inside if we want clean drinking water.

8. However, her well may have looked very similar to one of these wells; just a big hole in the ground. She may have had to tie a bucket or a jar to a rope and lower it down, or she may have had to climb into the well and dunk the jar into the water herself. Not as easy as our wells today, huh? Also, Jews did not drink out of or use the same dishes as Samaritans; they did not associate at all… So when she said to Jesus “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep,” she was pointing out to Jesus how foolish (and maybe a bit rude) he was for asking her to do this.

9. John 4:13-15 13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but those who drink 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.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” The woman still thinks that Jesus is talking about actual water, the stuff she can drink. She would love to not have to come back here every day in the hot sun just to get water, she would love to be able to stay inside her home doing other things where people cannot see her. He is using water as a reference that she can understand. He knows that she knows that she has to come back to this well every day to get more water or else surely she will become dehydrated. He is using this to talk about himself and his gift. Jesus himself is the source of living water, the source of eternal life. Not water for her body, water for her soul. Water is the source of life, yes? So Jesus, then, the living water, would be the source of eternal life…

10. John 4:16-18 16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” 17 “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.” Jesus, because he is the Son of God, knows this woman, remember? He knows that she does not know what love is or how to be loved, and he calls her out on it. He is saying ‘you are right, you keep looking for love and fulfillment from empty pots, broken cisterns, and you are still doing it in hopes that someday you will find something worthwhile.’ Any other person would not have given this woman the time of day, any other person but Jesus believes this woman is beyond help, and all they can do is watch her go through it; unlike Jesus, who can help her out of it.

11. John 4:19-24 19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” 21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” This woman now knows that Jesus may be a prophet and knows more about her than she would like him to know, and she tries to defend herself a little bit. Jesus says that there will be a time when she understands that it does not matter where or when she worships the Lord, because what she believes now is not all true. God is a spirit, not an object, therefore He is everywhere and hears us every time. God wants us to seek him for the truth about our lives, and once we do that, his Spirit will fill us.

12. John 4:25-26 25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” 26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.” She knows that the Messiah is coming and does not yet believe that Jesus is the one, even though he has just broken a ton of rules and had a conversation with her about the things that eat her heart up the most. She says to him ‘the Messiah will tell us what to do when he comes, it’s only a matter of time.’ He says “I am he;” you can imagine how this woman feels! Convicted, yes. Excited? Yes! She has just met and learned from the Messiah, the Promised One, how to live her live, how to change her life, from the mouth of God himself! She has just become a true believer of the Spirit of God, all because he sought her out when she was trying to hide from the pain in her life. Have you ever felt or heard God seeking you out in your painful moments? Did you deny him, or did you listen for him to explain himself?

13. The Disciples Rejoin JesusJohn 4:27-30 27 Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?” 28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him. Even the disciples were surprised to see Jesus talking to this woman, obviously they still had a little to learn about him, too! However, they did know enough about him to know that he was probably doing something amazing by talking to this woman, so they left it alone. The woman, in the heat of the day, leaves her water jar at the well, she abandons her fears at Jesus’ feet to go tell the people in the town what she has just experienced. She is no longer afraid of what they think of her because she knows Jesus understands and wants to make her life better, he promised her living water! (and fyi, God always keeps his promises, the only one who can truly do that) She no longer cares about how people mistreated her, she wants to share her experience with everyone.

14. John 4:31-37 31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” 33 Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?” 34“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now those who reap draw their wages, even now they harvest the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.” The disciples think that Jesus is probably hungry, so they offer him food. Jesus comes back with ‘the only thing I need for fulfillment is to do the work of my Father.’ Jesus points out that people always wait for the fields to be ripe before they harvest them, but he is saying ‘look, there are so many people out there and so many hearts that need to be changed, go and tell them about me, tell them about my Father, so that they may believe!’ He is basically saying that whatever we are doing in our lives is going to stay with us for eternity; either we are going to heaven or to hell, and unless we commit our lives to Jesus, we cannot get ourselves out of going to hell. Somewhere down the line, someone has planted a seed in these people’s hearts about Jesus, and he is telling the disciples to go find that seed and harvest it so that the person can live their life to the fullest, it won’t be hard work, but it has to be done nevertheless.

15. Many Samaritans BelieveJohn 4:39-42 39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers. 42 They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.” Because the woman was willing to share with people the story about her life, about her hardships and challenges and about how Jesus just helped her to see the light on it all, a lot of people began to believe in Christ that day! But it didn’t stop there, she then brought these people back to Jesus with her so that they may begin a relationship with him as well. They told her ‘now we don’t just believe because we have heard, we have met Him ourselves and now we can get to know Him just like you!’

16. Go ahead and read the scripture all the way through, this time understanding a little more about it. It’s ok, I’ll wait. Is there a well that you keep going to in order to find fulfillment in but have yet to find it? Is this well of regular water or of living water? This woman could have very well continued to get her water and have gone back to her house by herself, but this event changed her life and she was filled with the excitement of the Lord! Have you had an encounter like this yourself? What came of it? How did it change you? Have you told anyone about it? How do you share your relationship with Jesus with other people?