1Therefore when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John 2(although Jesus Himself was not baptizing, but His disciples were), 3He left Judea and went away again into Galilee. 4And He had to pass through Samaria. 5So He came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph; 6and Jacob’s well was there. So Jesus, being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
7There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” 8For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. 9Therefore the Samaritan woman said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” 11She said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water? 12“You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?” 13Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; 14but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”
15The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw.” 16He said to her, “Go, call your husband and come here.” 17The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have correctly said, ‘I have no husband’; 18for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly.” 19The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. 20“Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” 21Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22“You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23“But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. 24“God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.” 26Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”
Interesting Words
He had to
dei – it is necessary, inevitable, there is need of; less frequently: it is a duty, what is proper.
• General necessity – John 3:30; Luke 15:32; Acts 4:12; 5:29;
• Required by Jesus – Luke 19:5; John 3:7; Matt 16:21;
water
hudór – water for general use, e.g. drinking water, water in rivers.
• Common Use – Matt 3:16-17; John 3:23; Mark 9:41; Luke 8:25;
• Spiritual Meaning – Luke 3:16; Heb 10:22; Eph 5:26-27;
gift
dórea – a (free) gift, a gift (without repayment).
• Matt 2:11; Acts 11:17;
• Rom 3:24, 5:17; Eph 2:8-9;
am
eimi – I exist, I am, the basic Greek verb which expresses being, i.e. “to be“
• We must believe that God exists; He wants us to come and reason with Him – Heb 11:6; Isa 1:18;
• Jesus is the Messiah, bringing light to the world, and having existed from eternity past – John 8:12, 8:24-25, 8:58;
Cross References
• Acts 16:7 – God prevented Paul from going to Mysia on his first missionary journey.
• God directed Philip to preach to the Ethiopian – Acts 8:26, 27, 39;
• Rev 21:6 – Jesus offers the free gift of salvation to all who thirst.
• Jesus offers living water to mankind – John 7:38;
Discussion Questions
- What do you think it means that Jesus “had to” pass through Sameria?
• The Spirit leads and for us to be a part of his inner core we have to be obedient
• Other examples of this obedience include
▪︎ Abraham, called from Ur – Heb 11:8, 9-10
▪︎ Joseph, sold by his brothers into Egypt – Gen 50:20
▪︎ Jesus, followed God’s will to the cross – Matt 26:38,39
▪︎ Paul, appointed and called into the ministry – Phil 1:6; 1Tim 2:7;
• The Spirit leads by command thru the Word
• He leads by circumstances (if they agree with the word). - How did Jesus direct the conversation with the woman? How can we apply this to conversations we have with others?
• He initiated the conversation and chose the topic that interested her.
• He was thirsty, sitting next to a well, with a woman next to Him able to draw water, naturally He would ask for help. He expressed His need and His humanity. He was vulnerable.
• It is also convenient that several OT passages use water as an illustration for spiritual guidance.
• He gave her dignity by asking for a drink from her source.
• And the OT also uses water as a type of spiritual transformation, spawned by true repenrance, Ps 1:1, 2-3; - Why is water so significant to this conversation?
• Thirst was convenient – Ps 42:1
• It was a good starting point for the Gospel – Isa 12:2-3; Jer 2:13
• It addressed the woman’s current felt need. He knew those needs.
• Jesus still has to answer her questions
• He still had to tell her plainly who the Messiah was.
• Significance was given it by the current situation, but He knew what she needed. - What is the gift Jesus is talking about?
• That would be the gift of salvation. Jesus (God) is the gift (eternal life, knowing God, John 17:3)
• The gift of faith that brings man to repentance
• The whole relationship with God that those who are called really want.
• It is that relationship and fellowship that all men crave – 1John 1:3
• That relationship that God also seems to crave – Gen 1:26; James 4:4-5 - Why does He immediately throw cold water on the fire with all this talk about husbands?
• The whole reason that we need a savior is because of our sin problem.
• Were it not for sin, we could have a relationship with God but unfortunately that ship has sailed and now we are all sinners.
• Jesus had to point this out for the woman for her to seek a savior, to seek the Messiah.
• From her immediate questions about where to worship, you could see that she was missing this major point.
• Talking about and dealing with her sin of adultery was the first step toward the solution, the first part of the gift.
• Cold water is from the human perspective. Actually, it is the only loving thing to do for her, otherwise she is condemned to judgement. - What does v.23 tell you about God’s purposes behind the entire plan of salvation?
• It actually starts in v.21 , where Jesus describes a true relationship based on knowledge not superficial physical practices. Knowing God in reality, His holiness, His righteousness is all part of the plan.
• God is seeking and has been seeking a relationship with man from the day his creation was conceived, (Gen 1:26).
• God is seeking a real relationship with His creatures from the very beginning:
▪︎ First step let the Word… His Son handled creation, perfecting the possibility of true communication.
▪︎ It was done in consultation with Wisdom (again, the Son)
▪︎ He imparts His Wisdom to us thru the Holy Spirit, we who have demonstrated ability to understand His created universe.
▪︎ Exercise that relationship with true humility… not scientific pride but true created humility – Rom 9:20-21; - How would you describe this woman’s hope in the Messiah, and how Jesus fulfills that hope?
• Seems like she too really wanted to worship God in truth, she was simply asking how, where.
• She was an agnostic in that she heard several different stories and was simply trying to do it correctly.
• She kind of knew Jesus had the answer, calling Him a prophet in v.19.
• She showed her true desire for an everlasting solution when recognized Jesus’ ability to see her sin problem
• She also expressed her underlying desire for a solution when she made a statement of faith about the hope she had for the coming Messiah… John 4:25;