Gospel of John - Chapter 4

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1 The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John, 2 although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3 When the Lord learned of this, 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 the sixth hour.

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 flocks and herds?"

13 Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him 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 fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem."

21 Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, 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 spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in 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 who speak to you am he." 27 Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, "What do you want?" or "Why are you talking with her?"

28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, "Rabbi, eat something." 32 But he said to them, "I have food to eat that you know nothing about." 33 Then his disciples said to each other, "Could someone have brought him food?"

34 "My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Do you not say, 'Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together.

37 Thus the saying 'One sows and another reaps' is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor." 39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me everything I ever did."

40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers. 42 They said to the woman, "We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world."

43 After the two days he left for Galilee. 44(Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.) 45 When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, for they also had been there.

46 Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. 47 When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.

48 "Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders," Jesus told him, "you will never believe." 49 The royal official said, "Sir, come down before my child dies."

50 Jesus replied, "You may go. Your son will live." The man took Jesus at his word and departed. 51 While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. 52 When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, "The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour."

53 Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live." So he and all his household believed. 54 This was the second miraculous sign that Jesus performed, having come from Judea to Galilee.

A seventh email will allow you to compare your answers and take you to Chapter 5.

1. What was it that persuaded Jesus to leave Judea as shown at the beginning of Chapter 4 of the Gospel of John?

2. What do we learn of the background of the Samaritan people from 2 Kings 17:22-41?

3. Do you see any irony in Chapter 4 verses 7 through 15 of the Gospel of John; if so, what is it?

DAY TWO

1. Describe what do you think may have been the Samaritan woman’s changing perception of Jesus from his questions or statements to her as outlined below from Chapter 4 verses 7 through 18 of the Gospel of John:

• "Will you give me a drink?"

• "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."

• "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

• "You are right when you say you have no husband. 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."

2. What about a person’s physical appearance, social standing or cultural differences causes you to hesitate to speak to them, associate with them or tell them of Jesus Christ?

Share an experience when have you been able to overlook these aspects of a person or when someone has overlooked your circumstances to share the gospel.

3. Read the following verses Jeremiah 2:13, Jeremiah 17:13, Gospel of John 7:37-39 and Revelation 7:17.

What did Jesus meant by the term “living water” in Chapter 4 verse 10 of the Gospel of John and “the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” in Chapter 4 verse 14 of the Gospel of John?

DAY THREE

1. Why did Jesus ask the woman to call her husband and come back in Chapter 4 verse 16 if he knew she had no husband as shown in Chapter 4 verse 17 and 18 of the Gospel of John?

2. The woman basically agreed Jesus was right about the man she was with was not her husband in her statement "Sir…I can see that you are a prophet.” What are the possible reasons for her turning the conversation to a topic of the difference of places of worship?

3. List 5 truths from Jesus’ statement to the woman in Chapter 4 verses 21 through 24 of the Gospel of John.

DAY FOUR

1. Do you think the woman believed Jesus’ statement of these truths in the Gospel of John Chapter 4 verses 21-24? Why or why not?

2. In Chapter 4 verse 29 of the Gospel of John the woman said to the townspeople "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" What strikes you about how she explains her conversation with Jesus?

3. List 3 things the woman actually knows about Jesus based on her encounter with him.

DAY FIVE

1. List 5 things Jesus tells his disciples in the Gospel of John Chapter 4 verses 35-38.

2. Why did Jesus say what is related in Chapter 4 verses 34-38 of the Gospel of John to his disciples and what lesson for daily living do we learn from this?

3. Contrast the focus and results of Jesus to the focus and results of his disciples.

DAY SIX

1. Read Matt 13: 53-58 and Mark 6:1-6. What are the three examples Jesus gives for the types of people who would not honor him?

2. Why is it hard for a prophet to be honored in his own country?

3. What actions indicated the faith of the royal official?

Compare Your Answers for the Gospel of John Chapter 4