John | Reading Plan + Study QuestionsSample

JOHN 4

JESUS SPEAKS WITH A SAMARITAN WOMAN AT THE WELL

Jesus leaves Judea and travels towards Samaria. The Israelites and the Samaritans had a previous history of dispute and animosity. Jesus willingly enters Samaria and speaks kindly towards the Samarian people. Specifically, a woman alone at a well.

Jesus asks the woman at the well for some water and she is surprised that a Jewish man would speak to her. He explains that the water from the well will always leave her thirsty, but that He could provide her with living water that never runs dry.

When the woman asks for this water that Jesus offered, He asks her to call her husband to the well. The woman explains that she does not have a husband. Jesus knows that she had previously had five husbands, and the man she is currently with is not one of them. Because Jesus knows the intimate details of her life, the woman believes that He is a prophet or someone with incredible abilities. Jesus tells the woman that He is the Savior, and she believes Him. She then goes to tell others the good news.

During this time, the disciples urge Jesus to eat. He responds that His focus is creating a harvest of eternal lives, showing His mission of sharing His message with all people. Jesus arrives in Cana in Galilee, the same place where He turned water into wine at the wedding, and performs His second sign or miracle. He heals the son of an official leader, simply by declaring he will live, causing his family to believe that Jesus is who He claims to be.

STUDY QUESTIONS

To what was Jesus referring when He offered the Samaritan woman at the well “living water”?

How did Jesus convince the woman at the well of His identity as the Messiah? What did the woman do in response?