Here is a teaching of part 1 of chapter 4 of the book of John. If you want to check out previous Bible studies and chapters going forward, join our group here. Once you get added into that Facebook group, you can go to the "units" tab and you'll see all of the chapters and their study guides as they are being taught.
Part 1 of John Chapter 4:
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.
All right, so I'm just going to stop there real quick and discuss a couple of things with you guys. So there was already people that were opposing Jesus or not agreeing with his ministry, especially the Pharisees. They didn't like Jesus' popularity and they also resented his message because it challenged a lot of their teachings. So the reason why Jesus went North and started going towards Galilee was because he was just starting his ministry and it wasn't time for him to openly go up and confront these leaders. Jesus was on a mission and he had a lot of more miraculous signs and things that he needed to do, so he went towards 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 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.)
Okay, so first, I just want to talk about Samaria. After the Northern kingdom, with its capital being Samaria, fell to the Assyrians, many Jews were deported to Assyria. Foreigners were brought in to settle the land and help keep the peace. So there were marriages between the foreigners and the remaining Jews that resulted in a mixed race. In the opinion of the Jews who lived in the Southern kingdom, this was impure, so the "pure" Jews didn't like the mixed race called Samaritans, because they felt their fellow Jews who had the marriages had betrayed their people and the nation. The Samaritans had an alternate center for worship on Mount Gerizim to parallel the temple at Jerusalem, but it had been destroyed 150 years earlier. So the Jews did everything that they could to avoid traveling through Samaria. They would travel these long routes around Samaria to go to Galilee or wherever they needed to go. But Jesus didn't have a reason to live by these cultural restrictions and the route through Samaria was shorter, so that's what he took.
Now, Jacob's well was on the property that was originally owned by him. And we see here in Genesis 33: 18-19 "After Jacob had come from Paddan Aram, he arrived safely at the city of Shechem in Canaan and camped within sight of the city. For a hundred pieces of silver, he bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, the plot of ground where he pitched his tent." So that was the same plot of ground where this well was at. This well was a well that had water seeped from rain and dew, it wasn't a spring-fed well, and it was collecting at the bottom. Wells were almost always located outside the city along the main road, and twice each day, morning and evening, women came to draw water. The woman came at noon, probably to avoid meeting people who knew her reputation. She didn't think anybody would be there and we'll see in the verses going forward that she definitely didn't expect a Jew to be there.
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."
I'm going to stop right there and discuss a few things with you guys here. So Jesus gave this woman this message about pure water that would quench her spiritual thirst forever. This woman that was a Samaritan, she was a member of the mixed race that the Jews didn't like, and was known to be living in sin, no respectable Jewish man would talk to a woman under these circumstances, but Jesus did. This just goes to show that the gospel is for every person. It doesn't matter what they've done, what their race is, their past sins, none of that matters, everyone can be saved by Jesus Christ. The gospel can be said to anyone and everyone needs to hear the gospel.
So what did Jesus mean by living water? In the old Testament there were many verses that were speaking of thirsting after God as one thirsts for water. If you want to check those out, some of the verses that speak of it is: Psalm 42:1, Isaiah 55:1, Jeremiah 2:13, and Zechariah 13:1. Also, a couple of other verses: so God is called the fountain of life in Psalm 36:9 and the spring of living water in Jeremiah 17:13. So when Jesus said that he would bring living water that could forever quench a person's thirst for God, he was claiming to be the Messiah. Only the Messiah could give this gift that satisfies the soul's desire.
So just as our bodies need food and water to survive, also our souls need food and water, but this is spiritual food and water that our souls need. I think the Samaritan woman was confused on the differences of this living water for your soul and water that's actually going to quench your thirst. Also, I'm sure no one had ever talked to her like that before about spiritual food and water. Just as we wouldn't deprive ourselves from food and water, we shouldn't deprive our souls from spiritual food and water. The only way to really quench our spiritual thirst and hunger is through the living word, Jesus Christ and the written word, the Bible.
So here in verse 15, the woman thought that the water that Jesus was talking about would make her not have to return to the well again. She was interested in his message because she wanted it to make her life easier. I know a lot of us can relate. There's been a lot of times where I'm like "Jesus, can you just do this for me, so my life will be easier?" Or "If only you could do this, then it would make my life so much easier." Christ did not come to take away challenges from our lives, he came to change us on the inside so we can deal with all of our problems from God's perspective.
So the spiritual food and water that Jesus Christ provides and the fruits of the Spirit that we have within us when we're saved by Jesus Christ, allows us to go through life and go through all the struggles and the hard times in life. We just have to continue to lean on Jesus and continue to tap into the fruits of the Spirit because they're within us. We have to make sure that we're constantly practicing patience, love, kindness, joy, and the other fruits. So this woman at the well didn't immediately understand what Jesus was talking about. Sometimes it takes time for us to accept something that changes our lives. Jesus allowed the woman time to ask questions and to put all the pieces together. This just goes to show that sharing the gospel is not always going to have immediate results, so whenever you're spreading the gospel to others and you're telling them about Jesus and how he's going to change their lives, you want to give them some time to really soak that in because whenever someone's telling you something that's going to change your life, a lot of times you may be hesitant to accept it right away.
John Chapter 4 part 1 Study Guide:
Why did Jesus go through Samaria?
Why did Jews not associate with Samaritans?
What type of people should we spread the gospel to?
What do our souls need to have eternal life?
What is the only way to quench our spiritual thirst and hunger?
In verse 15, what did the woman want Jesus to do?
What is your biggest takeaway from this Bible Study?
I think I'm actually going to put chapter 4 into three different parts because this is such a rich chapter that has so many great messages. I like to do these bite-sized Bible studies where I go part by part on the book of John to really help you understand it and for it to not be too overwhelming. Especially for people that are just beginning their journey with studying their Bible and really having that relationship with Christ. So for today, I'm going to stop right here.
The takeaways from this that I really want you guys to get here is:
1. Sometimes you're going to have to go through uncomfortable places to really spread the gospel and let people know about Jesus Christ, just as Jesus went through Samaria.
2. We're going be around people that we may not like or we may not agree with their life, and vise versa, but it shouldn't stop us from spreading the gospel and letting other people know about Jesus Christ.
3. As disciples of Jesus Christ, it's our duty to spread the gospel and let everyone know about how amazing Jesus is, how he's changed our life, and how he can change the lives of others.
4. This living water that Jesus provides, and that the written word provides, is eternal. But we have to constantly be studying our Bibles, seeking the truth of God's word, and then spreading it to others.
Before I let you go, I did want to say a quick prayer for you guys... Lord I pray that you be with every single person reading this right now. Lord I pray that you wrap your arms around them and show them so much love. I pray that they open up their eyes to see the truth of your words, and their heart, their mind, and their spirit to you. Lord I pray that they get out of their comfort zone this week and talk to people that they may not have ever thought about talking to about you. I pray that they spread the gospel and let people know about how amazing you are. Lord I pray that they have peace knowing you're in complete control, faith that your will be done, and courage to be able to step out of their comfort zone and spread the gospel to others. I love you so much Lord. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Never forget to choose faith over fear.
-Lorena Camille (Faith Fuels My Fire)
Also, to celebrate the 1 year anniversary of this podcast and hitting episode #50, I'm doing a GIVEAWAY! It will start Tuesday, Oct 27 and ends on Nov 11
HERE'S HOW TO ENTER:
2. Share it in your IG stories and tag me @_lorenacamille_
3. You can enter 1x a day by sharing a screenshot of an episode from the podcast in your IG stories & talking about it. Make sure you tag me @_lorenacamille_
4. Request to be in the Facebook group if you're not already in it. I'll be announcing the winner live in the group on Nov 12
p.s. If you'd rather listen to Faith-based, business, mindset, and mental health tips, then check out my podcast. There I will share my personal experiences, stories I've never told before, and bring you along with this hot mess life of mine. New episodes every week.
For weekly Bible Studies, tune in every week to my podcast. Every week I go over a new chapter/s of the Book of John.
You can also follow me on Instagram (_lorenacamille_) I'll be posting frequently and doing daily stories.
For past Bible Studies on the book of Jeremiah, join our Facebook Community
Comentarios