The Samaritan woman

Jesus journeys from Judea to Galilee, passing though Samaria

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.

The hour is not yet right for a confrontation in Jerusalem, so He leaves the area for now.

Israel is divided into three regions: Judea in the south, Galilee in the north, and Samaria in the middle. When a Jew wanted to go from Judea to Galilee, the most direct route led through Samaria. But good Jews would never go that way. They would go through Perea on the other side of the Jordan River. Why? Because there was such tension between the Samaritans and the Jews, that Jews uttered the word `Samaritan' only as a curse word. Why were the Samaritans so despised? In the year 722 BC, the Assyrians invaded Israel from the north, and carried the ten northern tribes into captivity. It was brutal. The Assyrians put fishhooks in the mouths of the Jews, tied them together, and literally dragged them out of northern Israel back to Assyria, where they were held hostage. Then the Assyrians sent some of their people down to Israel, where they intermarried with the Jews not taken into captivity. The marriages which took place between the Assyrians and the Jews produced the Samaritans — half-breeds in the eyes of the Jews. Barred from the Temple, the Samaritans built their own temple on Mount Gerazim.

 Although they still believed in the Pentateuch — the first five books of Moses — they changed the stories. The Garden of Eden was on Mount Gerazim. Noah's ark landed on Mount Gerazim. And Abraham offered Isaac — you guessed it — on Mount Gerazim.

As Jesus headed north to Galilee, He said, `I'm going straight through Samaria.' Why, because there was a Divine appointment awaiting Him there. The following story is another classic illustration of how to witness and share our faith. Contrast this fourth chapter of John, with John 3. In John 3, Jesus talks to a religious man named Nicodemus. In John 4, He talks to an immoral woman whose name is not given. In John 3, Nicodemus is a calm contemplator. In John 4, the woman is a fiery debater. In John 3, Jesus speaks with Nicodemus in the cool of the night. In John 4, Jesus speaks with the woman in the heat of the day. In John 3, Nicodemus initiates the conversation. In John 4, Jesus begins the dialogue. For you who are interested in personal evangelism, there is much to chew on as you see the different methods our Lord employs to draw people to Himself.

Why must Jesus go through Samaria? Because there were people there who needed to hear Him!

Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at a well

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.

Notice that John records Jesus' weariness - He genuinely submitted Himself to our limitations.

She comes for water at an unusual hour, and alone - perhaps there was a sudden need, or maybe she is a social outcast.

A Rabbi would not have spoken with a woman in public (even his own wife!), or drink from a Samaritan's cup.

Jacob's well still stands. The well is 150 feet deep and one of few verifiably authentic Biblical sites. But if you get the opportunity to visit Jacob's well, take your helmet, as it's located in the war-torn West Bank.

Jesus — the One Who fed 5,000 on the hillside by the Sea of Galilee with a few loaves and fishes, the One Who fed 4,000 shortly thereafter, the One Who is the Provider of all good gifts — is hungry. And what does He do? He sends His disciples into town to pick up some food. You'll never once see Jesus perform a miracle to satisfy His own need, desire, or hunger. `Turn these stones into bread,' taunted Satan after Jesus had fasted forty days in the wilderness (Matthew 4:3). But Jesus refused — which causes me to analyze my own prayers and consider how often I make requests of the Lord for my own satisfaction versus how often I pray for the needs of others and the glory of the Kingdom.

Jesus gets her interested in the living water that He offers

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."

Is she a sincere seeker or a cynical critic? All depends on the tone of her voice; but she does come to belief at the end.

We could talk much of Jesus' technique in speaking to this woman, but most outstanding is that He simply and sincerely cared about her.

Jesus directs her from her sinful life to true worship

16) He told her, "Go, call your husband and come back."
17) "I have no husband," she replied.
18) Jesus said to her, "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."
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."

Jesus used supernatural knowledge in ministering to this woman; the Holy Spirit may want to speak a word of knowledge through us in a similar situation.

The issue of her sinful life must be confronted: what does she love more, her sin or the Messiah?

Does she evade the issue with her reply or is she addressing a true stumbling block? There is no way to know from the text alone. But Jesus was more interested in winning a soul than in winning an argument.

John 4:23 . . . for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

The Father seeks worshippers. If this verse isn't underlined in your Bible, underline it now. Whenever you feel far from God, don't try to find Him. Let Him find you. He can find you a lot easier than you can find Him, so just start worshipping. With bended knee, lifted hands, and open heart, embrace Him through your praise. This is a real key for your Christian walk. When you feel God's a million miles away, worship. If it's in your car during lunch hour, if it's locked in your bathroom when everyone else is still asleep, if it's walking down the street — whatever it might take, get away and start worshipping. Start acknowledging the greatness and goodness of God. The Father is seeking those who do. Try it. You'll see.

The Samaritans believed that Moses commissioned an altar to be built on Mount Gerazim, the mountain of blessing - this was their justification of they system of worship on that mountain. But like all mongrel faiths, they worship what they do not know.

True worship is not of places and trappings, but in spirit and in truth. To worship in Spirit means you are concerned with the spiritual realities, not outward sacrifices, cleansings and trappings. To worship in Truth means you worship according to the whole council of God's word, especially in light of the New Testament revelation.

Jesus reveals Himself to sinners!

The woman tells her neighbors; Jesus teaches His disciples

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."

Jesus was right: there is nothing more satisfying than doing the work of God.

They can now reap a harvest immediately; and they will reap it from seeds they have not sown (typical of most spiritual reaping).

Many Samaritans believe on the Savior of the world

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."
 

“...Savior of the world.” First time used.

A Comparison:

       Nicodemus                       Samaritan Woman

• A man with a name          Unnamed Woman

• Good Reputation             Bad reputation

• Wealthy man                    Poor woman

• He came to Jesus            Jesus came to her

• Outstanding Socially        Social outcast

• A Jew                                A Samaritan

• Religious (upright)            Worldly (immoral)

• No immediate response  Immediately told city

• Jesus was blunt                Jesus was tactful

• Began talking of spiritual  Began talking of physical things                    things

Healing of the nobleman's son: the second sign

Jesus comes to Galilee and is greeted by a request

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."

Jesus encountered many in Galilee who were only interested in His miracles - He therefore questions this man accordingly.

Jesus heals the nobleman's son

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 his entire household believed.
54) This was the second miraculous sign that Jesus performed, having come from Judea to Galilee.

Jesus made a severe test of this man's faith, forcing him to believe in Jesus' word alone. Many times, healing "dramatics" spur weak and ignorant faith.

But the man took Jesus at His word and departed