Bible Reading
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, ‘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.”
[02:31]John 1:11-12 “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,”
[08:51]Luke 15:4-7 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.”
[12:10]Observation questions
- What details in John 4 show the social and religious distance between Jesus and the Samaritan woman? [06:21]
- How does the woman’s understanding of “living water” change during her conversation with Jesus?
- What contrasts are highlighted between Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman—their backgrounds, the time of their meetings with Jesus, and their responses? [07:47]
- After Jesus speaks honestly about the woman’s past, what new subject does she raise, and how does Jesus redirect the conversation? [11:30]
Interpretation questions
- Why is it significant that Jesus begins this conversation by asking a Samaritan woman for a drink, rather than avoiding her because of the barriers between them?
- Jesus knows the woman’s painful and sinful history, yet he continues to offer her living water. What does this show about the way grace and truth work together in Jesus’ ministry? [12:58]
- Jesus says true worshipers worship the Father in spirit and in truth. What might it look like for someone to have sincere feelings toward God but resist living according to his truth—or to know biblical truth without having a heart engaged with God?
- John 1 says that those who receive Jesus and believe in his name become children of God. How do Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman together show that being close to religion is not the same as personally receiving Christ? [08:51]
Application questions
- What “well” are you most tempted to draw from for worth, comfort, security, or meaning—success, relationships, money, approval, control, comfort, or something else? How has it left you thirsty? [13:49]
- Is there an area of shame, pain, or disappointment where you tend to assume Jesus would keep his distance from you? What would it look like to bring that area honestly to him instead? [11:30]
- God’s way can require surrender when comfort or control feels safer. Is there a specific act of obedience you have been avoiding because it feels costly, risky, or inconvenient? What is one step you could take this week? [17:07]
- Think of a time when Jesus met you, provided for you, corrected you, sustained you, or changed you. How could you share that part of your story simply and honestly with someone else? [26:04]
- Who in your life seems restless or is searching for satisfaction in something that cannot last? How could you show care for that person and create an opportunity to point them toward Jesus this week? [30:53]
- What would worshiping God in spirit and in truth look like in one ordinary part of your week—at home, at work, online, in relationships, or in the way you make decisions? [31:46]
