Bible Reading
Mark 5:25-34 And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?” And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’” And he looked around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”
[01:09:43]John 4:1-26 Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. And he had to pass through Samaria. So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.” Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 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. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
[01:10:33]Acts 9:1-6 But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” And he said, “Who are you, Lord?” And he said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.”
[01:14:35]Joshua 5:13-15 When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?” And the commander of the Lord’s army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.
[01:30:06]Observation questions
- What details show the woman in Mark 5 had suffered not only physically, but also socially and financially before she came to Jesus? [01:09:43]
- What does Jesus use as the starting point for His conversation with the Samaritan woman, and how does He turn that ordinary subject toward eternal life? [01:12:02]
- In Acts 9, what was Saul intending to do when Jesus stopped him, and what simple instruction did Jesus give him next?
- What was Joshua’s first question to the commander of the Lord’s army, and what does the commander’s answer reveal before any battle plan is given? [01:31:11]
Interpretation questions
- Jesus calls the healed woman “Daughter” and sends her away in peace. How does this show that Jesus gave her more than physical healing—especially after years of exclusion and suffering? [01:09:47]
- Jesus meets the Samaritan woman in an ordinary place while she is doing an ordinary task. What does this reveal about Christ’s willingness to meet people in places and moments they may not expect? [01:14:21]
- Saul was certain he was doing the right thing, yet Jesus showed him that he was fighting against God. What might “kicking against the goads” look like when a person resists God’s correction or direction? [01:16:01]
- Joshua wanted to know whose side the commander was on, but the answer was essentially that God had come to take over. How does this correct the idea that God exists mainly to support a person’s plans? [01:31:25]
Application questions
- The woman with the issue of blood pressed through fear, pain, and the crowd to come to Jesus. Is there an area of hurt, shame, or disappointment where you have been holding back from bringing the whole truth to Jesus? What would it look like to come honestly to Him? [01:10:09]
- Jesus did not withdraw from the woman others would have called unclean, but brought her healing, peace, belonging, and wholeness. Who in your daily world may feel pushed aside, and how could you reflect Jesus’ welcoming heart toward them this week? [01:35:18]
- Jesus met the Samaritan woman at a well and used water to speak to her heart. What ordinary part of your life—work, family routines, a hobby, creation, or a difficult circumstance—might become a place where you become more attentive to Jesus? [01:19:45]
- Sometimes God’s direction can challenge plans, habits, or attitudes that feel normal and right to us. Where might you be resisting God’s prompting rather than yielding to Him, and what could a faithful next step look like? [01:16:45]
- Christ holds all things together, so workdays, meals, family pressures, and hard seasons are not outside His care. Where do you most tend to put God in a separate “Sunday box,” and how could you invite His presence into that specific part of life? [01:36:50]
- A real encounter with Jesus can become a memorial point: “Jesus met me here.” What past moment of God’s faithfulness do you need to remember in the season you are in now? How might remembering it strengthen your faith today? [01:40:40]
