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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. John 4: 4-30 NIV
The Jews hated the Samaritans. They considered them to be second or maybe third class citizens. No Jewish
man in his right mind would be caught talking to a Samaritan, much less a Samaritan woman, especially THIS
Samaritan woman.
But Jesus did. It's what He didn't say that spoke volumes. He didn't condemn, or berate.
He simply talked. Asking for a drink of water. He used ordinary conversation to lead into heavenly
teaching.
Do you realize that this is the first time in scripture where Jesus identifies Himself as the Messiah. It
is interesting that He didn't reveal this to the religious leaders of the day, no, He revealed Himself to the lowest
of sinners; a Samaritan harlot.
In turn, this shunned woman, who came to the well alone when the other women were gone, went to the men of the city to
tell them that the Messiah was there.
I wonder if they followed her to the well because they believed her, or were just curious. Whichever, many
of them believed.
Jesus also speaks to us today. God is Spirit and we must worship Him in spirit and in truth. No longer must
we make a pilgrimage to a distant land to worship. Actually, we don't even have to go to a church building to
worship. I'm not saying that we should all quit going to church. What I'm saying is that we should worship when are
are NOT at the church building.
So what are the lessons we should learn from this study?
We need to be prepared to witness wherever we are. We never know when we will run into a lost person and will be
able to turn a normal conversation into a heavenly moment.
We must also continue to worship where ever we are.
THINK ABOUT IT:
How do you worship God ouside of the church?
Is there someone you would like to see give their life to Jesus?
How can you develop a relationship with this person?
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