Great Events of
the New Testament
Lesson #14 – The Response to Jesus
in Samaria
Family / Teacher Notes
For Sunday, June 18, 1017
Read John 4:1-42
The Pharisees watched Jesus (Luke 5:17), just as they had watched John the Baptist (John 1:19-28). It
bothered them that more and more people were following Jesus (Luke 20:4-6). They Pharisees wanted
people to follow them (Matt. 23:15), and were jealous of any competition (Matt. 27:18). The Lord did
not fear them, but in His own time he left for Galilee.
The shortest road to Galilee took you
through Samaria, but many Jews would not
go that way. Jews and Samaritans didn’t like
each other. The Jews felt that they had a
pure faith, and the Samaritans were a
corrupted religion and people. Jesus,
however, did choose to go that way: John
4:5-6 “Now he came to a city of Samaria
called Sychar, near the plot of land that
Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s
well was there, so Jesus, tired from the
journey, sat right down beside the well. It
was about noon.”
Samaria. During the days of King
Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, the United
Kingdom of Israel split into two nations (1
Kings 12): the northern kingdom of Israel, led by the rebel Jeroboam, and the southern kingdom of
Judah, under Rehoboam. Because Jeroboam was afraid that the two kingdoms might reunite, he
established a counterfeit religion. Later, a wicked northern king named Omri built the city of Samaria,
which he made the capital of the Northern Kingdom. Eventually, the name of this city became the name
of the nation.
The Jews of the northern kingdom, were very sinful, rebellious and idolatrous toward God. After
repeated warnings from God’s prophets, the Lord finally took Israel away from that land. The Assyrians
took most of the Israelites off into captivity and left only the poorest people of Israel behind. Then they
brought in people from other lands who intermarried with the remaining Israelites (2 Kings 17:23ff.).
The Assyrians even sent an Israelite priest to teach them about the God of the Israelites. While they did
practice some of God’s laws, they were also idolatrous and followed other religions. By Jesus’ time, the
Samaritans seem to believe in the God of Israel and are even waited for the coming of the Messiah (John
4:25).
Jesus was Tired. It was just about noon. Jesus and His men had been traveling and were tired, hungry
and thirsty. Jesus and His disciples came to the piece of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph
(Gen. 48:22). On this land, a mile or so from the city of Sychar, was Jacob’s well. It was a deep well—a
hundred feet deep or so—fed by a spring. Here Jesus sat down and rested. The disciples had gone to buy
food.
The Samaritan Woman. A woman from Samaria also came to the well. Three things about this woman
seem to put her at a distinct disadvantage. First, she was a Samaritan, second, she was an immoral
person, and third, she was a woman. As John explains, “Jews have no dealings with Samaritans” so it
was very unusual for Jesus to speak with this woman.
“Give me a drink” Jesus says, and the woman cannot help but ask Jesus, “How is it that You, being a
Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?”
The Water She Needs. Our Lord’s doesn’t answer her question, but starts to show her that she is the
one in need of “water,” and that the “water” He can giver her is much more important that the water
from the well. Jesus tells her, “If you knew what God wanted to give you and who I am, you would ask
Me and I would have given you living water.” When Jesus talks about “living water”, she thinks Jesus
is talking about some type of water that is better than the water in Jacob’s well. She wondered, how
would Jesus get such water and why was it any better than this well that Jacob had dug?
Jesus answered and said to her, "Whoever
drinks of this water [the water from the
well] will thirst again, but whoever drinks
of the water that I shall give him will never
thirst. But the water that I shall give him
will become in him a fountain of water
springing up into everlasting life.” (John
4:13-14) Jacob’s well “water” would
temporarily quench your thirst, and then in
time you would need more water from it.
Jesus is offering her water that will truly
satisfy what she needs. His living water
will give her eternal life.
Jesus instructs this woman to go and get her husband, and bring him back to the well. She tells Jesus she
has no husband. Because Jesus was God He knew her heart and her life. He knew all about her. Jesus
said "You have told the truth when you said, 'I have no husband’ because you have had five husbands,
and the one whom you now have is not your husband.” The woman said, "Sir, I see that You are a
prophet.”
A Question About Worship. Since the woman realized that Jesus was a prophet, she wanted to ask a
question: “Our fathers worshipped on this mountain; and you say that in Jerusalem is the place where
men ought to worship." (John 4:19-20) One big difference between Samaritans and Jews was that the
Samaritans believed they must worship God on Mount Gerizim, while the Jews insisted God must be
worshipped in Jerusalem. If Jesus were “a prophet,” then He could settle the dispute, at least for this
woman. Jesus says three interesting things:
1. The Location of Worship Would Not Be Important. “Woman, believe Me, the hour is
coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father.” The
Jews thought of Jerusalem as the most important place to worship, but under the rule of Jesus,
Jerusalem would no longer be important. People would be able to worship in any city.
2. The Jews Had Been Worshipping in the Right Place. The Lord told the woman, “You
worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews.” The
Jews had been correct. Their worship in Jerusalem was based on a knowing what the Scripture
taught. When Jesus said, “Salvation is of the Jews” He isn’t saying that the Jews would save
people, but that God had chosen to reveal His will to the Jews and that God had worked in their
history to bring about salvation. Jesus was a Jew and it would be His work that brought about
man’s salvation.
3. True Worshipers Must Worship in Spirit and Truth. Jesus says, “But the hour is coming,
and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is
seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit
and truth.” Because God is Spirit, men must worship God “in spirit”; that is, they must worship
God spiritually. It is what we call worshipping from the heart. When we sing hymns, God is not
interested in our just mouthing words. He is interested in our hearts meaning what we sing. We
must also worship in truth. Men cannot worship God any way they choose (as the Samaritans
had); men can only worship God in accordance with what He has revealed in His Word. This is
the kind of worshipper God seeks.
Jesus Reveals that He is the Messiah. The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he
who is called Christ); when he comes, he will show us all things.” (John 4:25). She realizes that
somehow when the Messiah comes, He will clear up these matters; He will reveal the truth about how
people must worship God. Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.” (John 4:26)
The disciples came at this point and the woman leaves her water jar behind and rushes back to town. The
Lord’s disciples were surprised that He would talk to a woman, but they do not ask Him any questions
about why He was talking to her. They urge Jesus to eat what they have just brought from town, but the
Lord’s response to His disciples’ is not what they expected: “I have food to eat of which you do not
know.” Where did He get this food they wondered? Instead of speaking of literal food, He was talking
about spiritual “food.”
Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.” Jesus was always
ready to teach these men about the greatest, most important things they could do. When we are hungry,
a good meal makes us feel better, we feel satisfied. Jesus is explaining that when we do what God wants
us to do, it is the most satisfying thing of all. It makes us happy knowing that we’ve done the right thing.
While Jesus has this conversation with the disciples, the woman has arrived back at her city and told the
people, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” (John 4:27-29). The
woman wondered if Jesus might really be the Christ. The whole city started making their way out to the
well, along with the woman.
The Time for the Harvest is Now. While all this was going on with the Samaritans, Jesus told His
disciples, “Do you not say, 'There are still four months and then comes the harvest'? Behold, I say to
you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!” We know that a
harvest is the time that crops are ready to be picked. But the harvest Jesus is talking about has to do with
winning people to follow Him.
Jesus told His disciples that they shouldn’t say, “there are four more months and then comes the harvest”
because that would mean that harvest time is still a ways off. That might have been true for harvesting
grain, but it is not true for the harvest of souls. Jesus is saying that there was no time to lose, no time to
waste. Harvest time has come. The disciples were the harvesters and they seem to have no idea that a
great “harvest” is about to take place. In just a short time a whole city of Samaritans would arrive to talk
to Jesus.
The Samaritan Response. “And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the
word of the woman who testified, "He told me all that I ever did." So when the Samaritans had come to
Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. And many more believed
because of His own word. Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of what you
said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the
world.” (John 4:39-42)
We are told of no miracles (other than Jesus letting this woman know that He knew all about her life of
sin), of no signs being performed by our Lord in Samaria (though of course there could have been
miracles that John chose not to record). The Samaritans’ believed “His own word”, they believed what
Jesus said and they know knew that He was “the Christ, the Savior of the world.”
Bible Quiz
1. What famous thing was near the city of Sychar? (John 4:5,6)
2. Who did Jesus ask to give Him a drink? (John 4:7)
3. What kind of water did Jesus say He could give to this woman? (John 4:10)
4. In John 4:13 Jesus said, “Whoever d______________ of the water I shall give him will never
t__________________ .”
5. The woman at the well thought that Jesus was what? (John 4:19)
6. What two ways did Jesus say true worshippers should worship in? (John 4:23,24)
7. In John 4:35 Jesus talked about a harvest. What is a harvest?
What kind of harvest is Jesus talking about?
8. Many of the Samaritans b______________________ in Jesus. (John 4:39-42)