Bible ReadingJohn 4:1-42 “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, “Give me a drink,” 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.’ Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, ‘What do you seek?’ or, ‘Why are you talking with her?’ So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, ‘Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?’ They went out of the town and were coming to him. Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, ‘Rabbi, eat.’ But he said to them, ‘I have food to eat that you do not know about.’ So the disciples said to one another, ‘Has anyone brought him something to eat?’ Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Do you not say, “There are yet four months, then comes the harvest”? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, “One sows and another reaps.” I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.’ Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, ‘He told me all that I ever did.’ So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, ‘It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.’”
[00:50:37]Ezekiel 47:1-12 “Then he brought me back to the door of the temple, and behold, water was issuing from below the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was flowing down from below the south end of the threshold of the temple, south of the altar. Then he brought me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate that faces toward the east; and behold, the water was trickling out on the south side. Going on eastward with a measuring line in his hand, the man measured a thousand cubits, and then led me through the water, and it was ankle-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was knee-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and led me through the water, and it was waist-deep. Again he measured a thousand, and it was a river that I could not pass through, for the water had risen. It was deep enough to swim in, a river that could not be passed through. And he said to me, ‘Son of man, have you seen this?’ Then he led me back to the bank of the river. As I went back, I saw on the bank of the river very many trees on the one side and on the other. And he said to me, ‘This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, and enters the sea; when the water flows into the sea, the water will become fresh. And wherever the river goes, every living creature that swarms will live, and there will be very many fish. For this water goes there, that the waters of the sea may become fresh; so everything will live where the river goes. Fishermen will stand beside the sea. From Engedi to Eneglaim it will be a place for the spreading of nets. Its fish will be of very many kinds, like the fish of the Great Sea. But its swamps and marshes will not become fresh; they are to be left for salt. And on the banks, on both sides of the river, there will grow all kinds of trees for food. Their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary. Their fruit will be for food, and their leaves for healing.’”
[01:15:21]Isaiah 44:3 “For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.”
[00:56:18]Revelation 22:17 “The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.”
[00:56:26]Observation questions- In John 4, what does Jesus say the woman would have done if she had known both “the gift of God” and “who” was speaking to her? [00:57:16]
- What details in John 4 show that Jesus knew the Samaritan woman’s personal story before she explained it herself? [01:02:44]
- In Ezekiel 47, what changes happen wherever the river goes, and what kinds of pictures are used to describe that change?
- In John 4:28-30, what does the woman leave behind, where does she go next, and what message does she bring to the town? [01:25:24]
Interpretation questions- Jesus begins with “the gift of God” before addressing the woman’s broken story. What does that suggest about how grace works in a person’s life? [00:57:42]
- Jesus knows the woman’s past and still offers her living water. How does being fully known by Jesus change the way shame and guilt are understood? [01:03:32]
- Jesus says that whoever drinks ordinary water will thirst again, but his water becomes a spring welling up to eternal life. What does that reveal about the difference between temporary relief and true soul-level satisfaction? [01:08:31]
- Ezekiel’s river brings life to barren places, and John 4 ends with one woman’s encounter spreading to a whole town. What does that suggest about how God’s life in one person can affect other people too? [01:23:45]
Application questions- God looks for thirsty people, not people who already seem put together. Where has spiritual thirst shown up lately—in weariness, distraction, grief, dryness, or something else? [00:56:26]
- Yesterday’s water cannot sustain today. What are the signs that someone is trying to live on an old encounter with God instead of returning to him for fresh strength now? Which of those signs feel familiar right now? [01:19:05]
- Jesus does not force his way in; he invites people to ask and receive. What tends to keep a person from asking—pride, shame, busyness, confusion, feeling unworthy, or something else? Which barrier needs to be brought honestly before the Lord? [01:06:19]
- Many things can feel satisfying for a moment but still leave the soul thirsty. What “wells” are most tempting right now—success, approval, comfort, relationships, possessions, achievement, or something else? How can someone tell when a good thing is being asked to do what only Jesus can do? [01:10:08]
- Some people keep pouring into others but forget to return to the source themselves. What does “returning to the well” look like in a real week for a busy person? [01:20:27]
- The Samaritan woman left her water jar because she had found something greater. What old weight, habit, or false source may need to be left behind in order to walk more freely with Jesus? [01:28:18]
- Living water is meant to flow outward into homes, workplaces, neighborhoods, and cities. Where is there one place or one relationship this week where the river of God could flow through a word of kindness, peace, testimony, prayer, or encouragement? [01:25:24]
