John 4:1-42
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Intro/Background
Last week we talked about testimonies (personal story of how Jesus has changed your life)
We saw the testimony of John the Baptist, and we learned about how to put together our own testimony (story)
We used the “Before-Then-After” method where you discuss your life before you met Jesus, your “then” moment of meeting Jesus, and the after on how life has been different after following Him as your Savior
Tonight we’re going to read a really cool story about this interaction Jesus has with a woman who has had a troubled life
It’s such an awesome picture of the heart that Jesus has for each one of us
If you look at the paragraph heading in your Bible for this section, it says “A Samaritan Woman Meets Her Messiah”
We’re going to see the personal nature of Jesus’ calling of her to follow Him, and how that calling in personal for each one of us too
Jesus needs to be our Messiah
We’re also going to see more examples of how powerful a testimony is, and why ultimately our whole goal is to invite others to meet Jesus so that He can save them too
We’re going to read out of the NLT translation tonight as I think it will really help to bring our story to life.
If you’re using your Bible app on your phone, you can pull the NLT up, or you can go to Bible.com on your phone
Use the Calvary Guest network for free wifi
Lesson - John 4:1-42.
Verses 1-4
This reminds of us the petty argument we read about last week where the Pharisees tried to get into with John the Baptist over how many followers he had vs. Jesus
So Jesus knew about the argument, so to help John out, He leaves the region of Judea to go back to His home region of Galilee.
Of course you know that the quickest way between two points is a straight line, so if you walked in a straight line from where Jesus was to Galilee you’d go through this area called Samaria
That was a problem
As we’ll see in a minute, the Jews and the Samaritans hated each other. It’d be like if you are an Eagle Valley student, if you had to walk through the halls of Battle Mountain, decked out in your Eagle Valley gear, to get somewhere, only 10Mx worse
This hatred dated back ~ 750 years before this time!
In 722 BC, the Assyrian kingdom invaded Israel and took away the northern tribes
As part of their domination strategy, the Assyrian’s would bring back people from all over their kingdom to fill in the area they just took over
They would bring their own languages/customs/religion and prevent a unified nation from revolting against the throne
So the few Jews that were left in the area started to get married to and assimilate with the new population, and that’s how the Samaritans came to be
They build their own temple to worship God at and thought the Jews had walked away from God
The Jews on the other hand, hated what the Samaritans were doing
There was a lot of bad blood between the two groups
They destroyed that temple ~150 yrs before this
The Samaritans defiled the Jewish temple in ~6 AD by scattering bones everywhere
And not to long after Jesus, the Samaritans massacred a group of Jews headed to Jerusalem
To a Jew, to be called a Samaritan was a huge insult
Jews would intentionally add extra time to their trips and go around Samaria when traveling from Jerusalem to Galilee just so they didn’t have to talk to or see any Samaritans
And yet you have Jesus that intentionally chooses to go right through the middle of an area that was considered “off limits” to the Jews
“He had to go” is not b/c there was no other way, but it was because the Father had called Him to go that way, so He had to follow it - such a cool picture us - when God calls us to do something, we have to do it
Verses 5-10
So they come near this town and the disciples head into town to find some food while Jesus hangs back
He sits down at this well and a Samaritan woman comes to get water in the middle of the day
Now that was a strange thing actually to be fetching water in the middle of the day
It was the hottest part of the day, and this well was outside of town so you’re carrying water a long ways in the heat
Water can get heavy!
Normally you’d fetch water in the morning or evening when it was cooler
We’re going to find out though that this woman is an outcast b/c of her lifestyle. The people in town didn’t want anything to do with her, so to avoid the glares or whispers behind her back, she went to go get water at the time no one else was there
And yet, there was Jesus. And He asks her for some water
She knows that He’s a Jew and basically throws all this history and bad blood we just talked about back in His face and says, “why are you even talking to me?”
And Jesus has this crazy response, “If you knew who you were talking to, and the gift that God has for you, you would ask me for water and I’d give you living water”
That’s one way to engage in a conversation!
Could you imagine if you heard that from a stranger? You were doing a regular, every day chore, and you meet this random dude and He starts telling you about a gift of living water that God has for you.
She’s hooked in this conversation, so she asks Him what He’s talking about
Verses 11-14
She tells Him, “How are you going to get this water? You don’t have a rope. You don’t have a bucket. You’re the one who asked me for water. Besides, what do you mean your water is special, don’t you know this is Jacob’s well?”
This well was the one that Jacob, like Jacob and Esau, like Jacob and his 12 sons, like Jacob that lived ~1500 years before this, had dug the well. They saw this as a claim to how special they were as Samaritans, this was special water, nothing could be better than water from this well
And Jesus says something so amazing to her that we need to listen to - Verses 13-14.
If you take a drink of water, you will get thirsty again, there is no doubt about it
But if you drink the water that Jesus has to offer, you will never be thirsty again
Jesus of course isn’t talking about literal water and thirst, but a spiritual thirst
This spiritual thirst exists in each one of us, we are thirsty for something more, something greater than us, something to satisfy our souls
And we might try to find all kinds of things to fill that thirst
The world can turn to $, relationships, stuff, drugs or alcohol, or popularity to quench that thirst, but you will always be thirsty again
You can get $, but you’ll always want more, it’ll never be enough.
You can get to the top of your class and be the most popular sophomore or senior, but it won’t be enough.
You can get that hot girl or hot guy, but they won’t be enough
But what Jesus has to offer, eternal life, will satisfy the thirst that we have.
We just have to drink it once and be satisfied for life. And not just satisfied, but we will have a well that springs up water gushing out of our soul.
Nothing but Jesus can do that in our lives.
Look at the impact it has on this woman...
Verses 15-18
She’s starting to get it, but she’s not quite there, Jesus needs to drive home this point w/ her a little more.
She says, “Give me this water!”
Jesus replies, “Go get your husband,” and she says, “Oh, well I’m not married.”
Jesus says, “You’re right. You’ve been married 5 times, and the dude you’re living with right now you’re not even married to!”
Does Jesus say that to condemn her?
No - John 3:17. He’s trying to show her that she is broken. She’s an outcast for this reason - this would have been looked down upon big time in town
Think about the reputation that the guy or girl at school who sleeps around a lot has. Kinda the same thing here.
This catches her off guard and makes her uncomfortable (having our sin exposed always makes us uncomfortable), so she’s going to try to change the subject and get the conversation back on the Jewish & Samaritan rivalry
Verses 19-26
She puts the focus back onto this rivalry about where you should really worship God
This wasn’t a real question - “Where do you think the temple should be located?” - this was an attempt to get the conversation off of her sin and onto a controversial subject
“I don’t want to talk about my sin, uh, what do you think of making kids wear masks in school, go!”
Jesus responds that there is a time coming soon where it doesn’t matter where you worship God, what matters is that you worship Him in Spirit and in truth
Following after Jesus isn’t about a place or an outward appearance or rituals, its about your spirit worshipping God and who He is. It’s about the truth of His word and following after that.
This woman is blown away. Jesus’ words are tugging at her heart and she lays out, “I know one day the Messiah is coming, that will be so great.”
I see her heartache, the Jewish/Samaritan dispute, her divorces, her lifestyle, her shame, her rejection from society, her loneliness all come out with this longing - “One day it will be better....”
And Jesus tells her that one day is now - the Messiah is here
Man, imagine what was going on in her soul at that moment
It’s the same for us. No matter our past, our struggles, our failures, or our broken heart, the Savior of it all, the one who gives us living water that fills us up and never leaves us thirsty again, is here to save us
Verses 27-30
She runs into town to tell everyone about this encounter with Jesus
Meanwhile, the disciples come back with food.
They’re all judgy about her (“Why is Jesus even talking with that Samaritan?”), and they’re all worried about trying to get Jesus to eat something when He is obviously concerned about this woman
Verses 31-38
The disciples are stuck on their snacks, but Jesus is like, “Yo, boys, you are killing me. There are things that are way more important than stuffing your face, like saving souls!”
He tells them that there is a harvest of souls out there that all need to have these same conversations that Jesus had with this woman
Life is about more than just ourselves. Do you ever look at your classmates at school and have your heart break for their salvation? Do you see them as people who need to be saved from their stuff just like Jesus saved you?
Verses 39-42
So this woman went and used her testimony to share with all kinds of people, and all these people got saved b/c of her!
They come to follow after Jesus and begged Him to stay in town longer
He hangs out for 2 more days to keep teaching them
And what’s cool is in verse 42 where they tell this woman that her story meant a lot, but what was the difference maker was when they met Jesus themselves
Your story can point someone in the right direction, but ultimately what people need is not just a story about a changed life, they need to meet the Savior that changes lives for themselves
It’s our job to point them to Jesus
Small Groups
Tonight’s lesson was a bit longer than normal, but I wanted to get through this whole story
We’ll still spend a few minutes in small groups talking through everything, but let’s pray first
Prayer
Sample Small Group Questions
Sample Small Group Questions
What was your favorite part of the story that we read tonight?
In what ways do you relate to the woman that Jesus talked to?
In what ways do you relate to the disciples?
How do people try to satisfy their hunger and thirsts in life?
How is Jesus’ gift of eternal life different from what the world offers?
Do you think your generation is “ripe for harvest?” How can you harvest and bring people to eternal life?
Prayer Requests & group prayer