Face to Face - Part 4 [Notes]

Lives were changed after an encounter with Jesus... lives of people just like you and me.

Today's Takeaway // When we see a need, we should care enough to intervene.

When Jesus knew that the Pharisees heard He was making and baptizing more disciples than John (though Jesus Himself was not baptizing, but His disciples were), He left Judea and went again to Galilee. He had to travel through Samaria, so He came to a town of Samaria called Sychar near the property that Jacob had given his sonJoseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, worn out from His journey, sat down at the well. It was about six in the evening.^d
– John 4:1-6 (HCSB)
_{^d 4:6 Lit the sixth hour; see note at Jn 1:39; an alt. time reckoning would be noon}

[Samaritans are] a people of mixed, Gentile/Jewish ancestry who lived between Galilee and Judea and were hated by the Jews.
– HCSB

A woman of Samaria came to draw water. “Give me a drink,” Jesus said to her, for His disciples had gone into town to buy food. “How is it that You, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a•Samaritan woman?” she asked Him. For Jews do not associate with ^hSamaritans¹.
– 1 John 4:7-9 (HCSB)
_{^• A people of mixed, Gentile/Jewish ancestry who lived between Galilee and Judea and were hated by the Jews
^h 4:9 Or do not share vessels with
¹ The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Jn 4:1–9). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.}

The normal prejudices of the day prohibited public conversation between men and women, between Jews and Samaritans, and especially between strangers. A Jewish Rabbi would rather go thirsty than violate these proprieties.²
– Walvoord
_{² Walvoord, J. F., Zuck, R. B., & Dallas Theological Seminary. (1983-). The Bible knowledge commentary : An exposition of the scriptures (Jn 4:7–8). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.}

Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God, and who is saying to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would ask Him, and He would give you living water.”
– John 4:10 (HCSB)

“Sir,” said the woman, “You don’t even have a bucket, and the well is deep. So where do You get this ‘living water’?
– John 4:11 (HCSB)

You aren’t greater than our father Jacob, are You? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and livestock.”
– John 4:12 (HCSB)

Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks from this water will get thirsty again.But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again—ever! In fact, the water I will give him will become a well of water springing up within him for eternal life.”
– John 4:13-14 (HCSB)

“Sir,” the woman said to Him, “give me this water so I won’t get thirsty and come here to draw water.”
– John 4:15 (HCSB)

“Go call your husband,” He told her, “and come back here.” “I don’t have a husband,” she answered. “You have correctly said, ‘I don’t have a husband,’” Jesus said. “For you’ve had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” “Sir,” the woman replied, “I see that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain,^r yet you Jews say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.”³
– John 4:16-20 (HCSB)
_{^r 4:20 Mount Gerizim, where there had been a Samaritan temple that rivaled Jerusalem’s
³ The Holy Bible: Holman Christian standard version. (2009). (Jn 4:15–20). Nashville: Holman Bible Publishers.}

Jesus told her, “Believe Me, •woman, an hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know. We worship what we do know, because salvation is from the Jews. But an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father inspirit and truth. Yes, the Father wants such people to worship Him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
– John 4:21-24 (HCSB)
_{^• When used in direct address, “Woman” was not a term of disrespect but of honor.}

God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
– John 4:24 (HCSB)

“the true worshippers cannot be identified by their attachment to a particular shrine, but by their worship of the Father in spirit and truth.⁴
– D.A. Carson
_{⁴ Carson, D. A. (1991). The Gospel according to John (p. 225). Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; W.B. Eerdmans.}

You Samaritans worship what you do not know. We worship what we do know, because salvation is from the Jews.
– John 4:22 (HCSB)

“Salvation is from the Jews” in the sense that it is available through Jesus, who was born of the seed of Abraham.⁵
– E.A. Blum
_{⁵ Blum, E. A. (1985). John. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p. 286). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.}

The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will explain everything to us.” “I am He,” Jesus told her, “the One speaking to you.”
– John 4:25-26 (HCSB)

Then the woman left her water jar, went into town, and told the men, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could this be the Messiah?” They left the town and made their way to Him.
– John 4:28-30 (HCSB)

Now many Samaritans from that town believed in Him because of what the woman said when she testified, “He told me everything I ever did.”
– John 4:39 (HCSB)

And they told the woman, “We no longer believe because of what you said, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this really is the Savior of the world.”
– John 4:42 (HCSB)

1. Read John 4:1-19, 25-26. What are some things we learn about Jesus from these verses? What do we learn about His humanity and His deity?
2. What are some examples of prejudice we see in our culture that would be similar to that of the Jews and Samaritans? Looking at Jesus’s example of reaching out to this woman, what are some things we can do to break down barriers when we see it in our culture?
3. Read John 4:13-14. What do you think Jesus meant by what He said in these verses? Why is water a good analogy of salvation? How does Jesus quench our spiritual thirst?
4. Why do you think Jesus brought up this woman’s marital status at this point in the conversation? How might Jesus’s statement about her husband have exposed her need for a Savior?
5. Read John 4:21-24. How would you respond to someone who said, “It doesn’t matter what we believe as long as we believe?” What do you think Jesus meant when he said we have to worship God in spirit and in truth?
6. What can we learn from the Jesus’s interactions with other people about how to be more effective in sharing our faith with others?

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