#11 John 4:1-26
Leader: Have your Student write down the Passage and the Questions then, give them a week to prepare.
Passage: John 4:1-26
Questions:
- 1) What do we learn about Jesus in his conversation with the woman at the well?
- 2) What questions do you have?
Then, this week the Student will:
- Read the Passage every day!
- Handwrite the Passage
- Answer the questions
When you do meet again, you will go over this…
John 4:1-26
4 Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— 2 although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3 So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.
4 Now he had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.
7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”
13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”
17 “I have no husband,” she replied.
Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”
19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”
Notes for Leader:
Open your time together with prayer. Be sure to ask the Holy Spirit to lead the conversation and teach what needs to be learned and heard during your discussion. He will give you the words that you need! May you grow closer together and closer to Jesus.
Briefly review what you learned last week. Now, let’s see what more we can discover about who Jesus is…
Here is what we noticed.
1) What do we learn about Jesus in his conversation with the woman at the well?
v.6 Jesus was tired from the Journey — He is fully man, a long walk makes him tired.
v.7, 8 Jesus was thirsty and hungry (his disciples went to get food) — He is fully man
v.9 He is Jewish, but he did not care about race, status, or gender
v.10 He offers “living water”
Jeremiah 2:13 “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
John 7:38 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”
Jeremiah 17:13 Lord, you are the hope of Israel; all who forsake you will be put to shame. Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust because they have forsaken the Lord, the spring of living water.
Revelation 7:17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; ‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’ ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”
v.13-14 water=Spirit
v.16-18 Jesus knows us, even if we don’t think he does
v.19 The woman thinks he is a prophet
v.23 What kind of worshippers does God desire? “Worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth”
- Spirit (not flesh) – heart of worship is genuine
- Truth (not false) – offering real worship
v.24 repeat of v.23 Spirit and Truth
v.26 “I am He” – the Messiah (Christ), the chosen one to save man from sin.
A few additional things to note:
v.4 “He had to go through Samaria” – the quickest route from Judea to Galilee was through Samaria, but most devout Jews would take the long way, going around Samaria, so they did not have to come in contact with any Samaritans. Why did he have to? He had a divine appointment with the woman at the well, and the people in Samaria needed to hear him.
v.6 “It was about noon” — this is the hottest part of the day, most people came to the well to do the heavy job of hauling water during the coolest part of the day, in the morning or evening… and yet, a woman came at noon. Why? She was an outcast, and avoided the crowds and their cutting remarks and cold shoulders.
v.7 Jesus spoke to the woman… this surprised her because by tradition, a rabbi does not talk to a woman in a public place and a Jew would not drink from a Samaritan’s cup.
2) What questions do you have?
Don’t be nervous about this one… the Holy Spirit will help you answer. If you are discipling a young child (and most others!), remember that they are not expecting a doctoral dissertation when you answer, so keep it simple and true. And, it is ok to say, “I am not sure, let’s look into that together.” And then add that question to your study for next week.
This passage has a lot of deep information, I know the Spirit will lead a great conversation!
Now, look ahead to next week’s study and give your student the next passage and questions to prepare this coming week.