In The Heat Of The Day
One day Jesus has to travel from Judea to Galilee and He decides to travel through Samaria, as you can read in John 4:4-6
Now He (Jesus) had to go through Samaria. So He came to a town called Sychar, near the plot of the ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 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.
In fact, Jews avoid travelling through Samaria. But Jesus has a purpose to go there and you may wonder why. What could possibly be of such importance to Him that He has to go there? By the time He arrives at His place of destination He is tired and needs to take a rest. John takes notice of the time: it is the sixth hour, or to put it in our language; it is 12 o’clock midday. No doubt, it is hot at this time of the day and He will be thirsty. Moreover, He will be hungry for He sends His twelve disciples into town to get something to eat for lunch as you can read a little later on. However, there does not seem to be anyone around who is in need of His ministry. How strange. Perhaps Jesus has made a mistake, or at least a miscalculation as far as the time is concerned, for everyone knows that 12 o’clock midday is the hottest hour of the day and no-one will come to the well at that time of the day. But then, surprisingly, someone does come to the well. Who can that be? Let’s read John 4:7-8 to find out
When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give Me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food)
A Samaritan woman appears on the scene. But she cannot possibly be the person Jesus has gone to Samaria for to minister to since Jesus as a Jewish Rabbi is not supposed to talk to women in public. Moreover, she is a Samaritan woman and Samaritans are considered unclean. But Jesus actually begins to speak to her. Perhaps it is because He is extremely thirsty and his disciples are not around to provide him with some water. So this may be an emergency and, therefore, Jesus may be willing to forego the proper rules and talk to the woman. The woman is extremely surprised as well that this Jewish man is willing to ask her for a drink, as you can read in John 4:9
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)
She knows the rules well and is completely taken aback that this Jewish Man breaks all of these rules. It seems Jesus does not care that she is a woman and that He is not supposed to talk to her. Neither does He seem to care that she is a Samaritan woman and is, therefore, considered unclean for not only does He ask her for water, He continues His conversation with he, as you can read in John 4:10
“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.”
By talking about water, Jesus has the woman listening to Him. After all, the reason she has come to the well is to draw water. But that water supply will run out and she will need to come back the next day for another supply of water, and the day after and the day after… This time He turns the invitation around, for this time He does not ask the woman for water. No, He invites her to receive water from Him. However, it a very special kind of water, it is called “living water.” And what an invitation that is. No wonder the woman wants to find out more about it because this “living water” is worth further investigation. So she begins to question Jesus. And Jesus is not upset about her questions for He recognises that these are honest questions and deserve an honest answer.Let’s read John 4:11-12
“Sir,” the woman said, “You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can You get this” living water”? 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?”
The woman has observed that Jesus has nothing with Him to draw water with so she is very puzzled about His statement on “living water”. To her natural mind even “living water” has to be drawn from a well and to be able to draw from a well a container is needed. Yet, at the same time she wonders if perhaps He is able to offer her this “living water” from a well without the need for a container. If that is so then this Jewish Man standing in front of her must be even greater than her forefather Jacob, at whose well they are having this conversation. Jesus, encouraged by the woman’s honest questioning, begins to expand on His words,
as you can read in John 4:13-14
Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 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.”
Jesus makes her this amazing promise that the water He can give will mean she will never be thirsty. This is surely an offer no-one, including this Samaritan woman, can refuse as you can read in John 4:15
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.”
The woman still thinks Jesus is talking about natural water and, of course, it will be so wonderful if she does not have to make that daily trip to the well. Especially, because she is making that trip at midday, the hottest time of the day. That is very unusual for the usual time for the women to draw water is in the early morning and in the early evening when it is cooler. Jesus is, no doubt, very aware that this woman has come to the well at an unusual time to draw water. However, He does not ask her why that is so but He begins to talk about a matter which seem to be totally unrelated to water; He begins to talk about her husband, as you can read in John 4:16-18
He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” “I have no husband,” she replied. 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.”
The woman must have been surprised at His request for her to call her husband. As far as she is concerned, her husband has got nothing to do whatsoever with her receiving living water. Nevertheless, she decides to tell him the truth, or at least give Him a glimpse of what she considers to be the truth. Jesus next shocks her even further by telling her the true situation about her marital status. The woman begins to realise that the person in front of her is not an ordinary Jew but must at least be a Prophet. And He may well be the One who is able to answer some questions she has had for a long time already and which no-one has been able to give her a satisfactory answer to, as you can read in John 4:20
“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that You are a Prophet. Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
Perhaps she is trying to change the subject as well because talking about her failed relationships is possibly too painful. Whatever her reason for bringing up the issue of worship may have been, Jesus takes it up and gives her insights beyond what she has known, as you can read in John 4:21-24
Jesus declared, “Believe Me, woman, a time 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, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. God is Spirit, and His worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth.”
Jesus’ revelation about true worship is completely new to this woman. She has never heard anyone say this before. His explanation that true worship is not related to a particular place but to the condition of a person’s heart and mind before God encourages her to speak about the coming Messiah as the One who will help her understand everything, as you can read in John 4:25
The woman said, “I know that Messiah (called Christ) is coming. When He comes He will explain everything to us.”
Jesus answers her beyond her expectations, as you can read in John 4:26
Then Jesus declared, “I who speak to you am He.”
Here you have the reason for Jesus going to Samaria. It is not to meet an important political or religious leader. No, it is to meet a sinful Samaritan woman, a woman with a past, a woman rejected by her community, a women who has had to draw water at the well at midday to avoid being with the other women of the town. Such is the love of Christ for this woman that He is willing to go through Samaria, which no Jew ever did, is willing to suffer heat, thirst and hunger in order that this woman might get to know Him, her Messiah. Moreover, He has a plan and a purpose for her beyond her getting to know Him as the Messiah. As Jesus’ conversation with the woman is coming to an end, His twelve disciples rejoin Him. They have been food shopping in town and have now returned with lunch, as you can read in John 4:27
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?”
As proper Jewish men, the disciples are obviously very surprised to see Jesus talking with a woman, and a Samaritan woman at that. They may well have wanted to say to Jesus, “Please, Jesus, what about Your reputation? Don’t You know You are not supposed to talk with her? Do You realise the damage it will do to Your reputation? Perhaps, if You don’t care about Your reputation, will You not consider our reputation for our reputation will be damaged as well if word goes out that You have been talking to this woman.” But they say none of these things. Perhaps they are learning that Jesus standards are somewhat different than anyone everyone else’s.
The woman, overwhelmed by her encounter with Jesus, completely forgets why she has come to the well, as you can read in John 4:28-29 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a Man, who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” They came out of the town and made their way towards Him.”
The woman having received so much more than what she originally went to the well for cannot keep to herself what she has just received; eternal life. So she runs back to the town to share with others the Good News that she has met the Messiah, the One they have all been waiting for. This woman, who up till that time had been rejected by all the people of the town, becomes now an evangelist for Jesus and those who have not been willing to be seen in her company, listen in awe to her story of redemption, believing it for themselves. They, in turn want to meet this Messiah too, as you can read in John 4:39-42
Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in Him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to Him, they urged Him to stay with them and He stayed two days. And because of His words many more became believers. 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 Saviour of the world.”
Jesus chose a sinful Samaritan woman to save her whole town. Is that not wonderful? He looked beyond her sinful lifestyle and saw a heart that longed to get to know Him. He knew that once she had been set free to serve Him she would serve Him with all her heart and all her strength for His glory. He wants to use you too. You are not too young or too old or too insignificant for God to play a role in His Kingdom. The question is: Are you willing to be used by Him? He will help you. He will equip you for the task that He has for you. All you need to do is to be willing, just like this woman was. The moment she received the revelation that Jesus was her Messiah she went to her town to share that Good News with all the people of the town regardless of the way they had treated her in the past. The past was the past, a new day had begun. So it was for her and so it will be for you. Whatever you have experienced in the past, leave it there in the past and move into your future with Jesus as the Apostle Paul explains in Philippians 3:13-14
Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do, forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the price for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Jesus loves you beyond what you know and wants you to share with others His love for you and for them which He has shown you by dying on the Cross for you, as you can read in John 3:16-17
For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.
So make a decision today to do whatever He lays on your heart to do. And then go and do it, just as the Samaritan woman did when she told others in her town what Jesus had done for her.
QUESTIONS
Question 1: Where does Jesus have to travel to?
Question 2: Through what region does Jesus decide to travel through?
Question 3a: According to John 4:4-6, through what region did Jesus have to go through?
Question 3b: According to John 4:4-6, to which town in Samaria did Jesus come?
Question 3c: According to John 4:4-6, to which plot of ground did Jesus come?
Question 3d: According to John 4:4-6, whose well was at that plot of ground that Jesus had come to?
Question 3e: According to John 4:4-6, who sat down by Jacob’s well?
Question 3f: According to John 4:4-6, why did Jesus sit down by Jacob’s well?
Question 3g: According to John 4:4-6, what time of the day was it when Jesus sat down
by Jacob’s well?
Question 4: Which region do Jews avoid to travel through?
Question 5: Why does Jesus travel through the region of Samaria?
Question 6: How does Jesus feel when He arrives at His place of destination?
Question 7: What does John take notice of?
Question 8: What time of the day is it when Jesus arrives at His place of destination?
Question 9: What will the temperature be like at that time of the time?
Question 10: What will Jesus be in need of at that time?
Question 11: What else will Jesus be in need of?
Question 12: Does there seem to be anyone around who is in need of His ministry?
Question 13: Has Jesus made a mistake?
Question 14: Why may Jesus have made a miscalculation, at least, as far as the time is
Question 15: Does someone come to the well at 12 o’clock midday, the hottest hour of the day?
Question 16a: According to John 4:7-8, who came to draw water?
Question 16b: According to John 4:7-8, what did Jesus ask the woman?
Question 16c: According to John 4:7-8, who had gone into the town to buy food?
Question 17: Who appears on the scene?
Question 18: Can the Samaritan woman be the person Jesus has gone to Samaria for to minister to?
Question 19: Why can the Samaritan woman not be the person Jesus has gone to Samaria to minister to?
Question 20: How are Samaritans, including the Samaritan woman, viewed by Jews?
Question 21: What does Jesus do?
Question 22: Why does Jesus begin to talk to the Samaritan woman?
Question 23: Is the Samaritan woman surprised that this Jewish Man is willing to ask her for a drink?
Question 24a: According to John 4-9, what did the Samaritan woman ask Jesus?
Question 24b: According to John 4-9, what do Jews not do in relation to Samaritans?
Question 25: Does the Samaritan woman know the rules?
Question 26: How does the Samaritan woman feel about Jesus breaking all the rules?
Question 27: Does Jesus not care that the Samaritan woman is a woman and He is, therefore, not supposed to talk to her?
Question 28: Does Jesus seem to care that the Samaritan woman is from Samaria and, therefore, considered, unclean by Jews?
Question 29: What does Jesus do next to show He does not seem to care that she is a Samaritan woman?
Question 30a: According to John 4:10, what did Jesus then talk to the Samaritan woman about?
Question 30b: According to John 4:10, what did Jesus say about the One who had asked
the Samaritan woman for a drink?
Question 30c: According to John 4:10 would the One who had asked the Samaritan woman
for a drink, have given her living water if she had asked?
Question 31: How does Jesus have the Samaritan woman listening to Him?
Question 32: Why has the Samaritan woman come to the well?
Question 33: Will the water supply of the Samaritan woman run out?
Question 34: Does Jesus continue to ask the Samaritan woman for water?
Question 35: What kind of water does Jesus invite the Samaritan woman to receive?
Question 36: What does the Samaritan woman do when Jesus begins to talk to her about living water?
Question 37: Is Jesus upset about the questions of the Samaritan woman?
Question 38a: According to John 4:11-12, what did the Samaritan woman say to Jesus?
Question 38b: According to John 4:11-12, what question did the Samaritan woman ask Jesus?
Question 38c: According to John 4:11-12, who did the Samaritan woman compare Jesus to?
Question 38d: According to John 4:11-12, who had given the people the well and had drunk from it himself?
Question 39: What has the Samaritan woman observed about Jesus?
Question 40: Why is the Samaritan woman puzzled about Jesus’ statement on living water?
Question 41: Why does the Samarian woman think that this Jewish Man standing in front of her must be even greater than her forefather Jacob?
Question 42a: According to John 4:13-14, what did Jesus explain to the Samaritan
woman about the water in the well?
Question 42b: According to John 4:13-14, what did Jesus explain to the Samaritan
woman about the water that He would give someone?
Question 42c: According to John 4:13-14, what did Jesus promise the Samaritan woman will happen with the water that He gives to someone?
Question 43: What is the offer Jesus makes that the Samaritan woman cannot refuse?
Question 44a: According to John 4:15, what did the Samaritan woman ask Jesus?
Question 44b: According to John 4:15, why did the Samaritan woman ask Jesus for living water?
Question 44c: According to John 4:15, what would the Samaritan woman not have to do
anymore if she is no longer thirsty?
Question 45: What does the Samaritan woman still think Jesus is talking about?
Question 46: Why will it be so wonderful for the Samaritan woman if she does not have to make that daily trip to the well anymore?
Question 47: What is the usual time for the women to draw water?
Question 48: Is Jesus aware that this Samaritan woman has come to the well to draw water at an unusual time?
Question 49: Does Jesus ask this Samaritan woman why she has come to the well to draw water at such an unusual time?
Question 50: What does Jesus begin to talk to this Samaritan woman about?
Question 51a: According to John 4:16-18, what did Jesus tell the Samaritan woman to do in relation to her husband?
Question 51b: According to John 4:16-18, what did the Samaritan woman tell Jesus about her husband?
Question 51c: According to John 4:16-18, did Jesus agree with the Samaritan woman’s words that she had no husband?
Question 51d: According to John 4:16-18, how many husbands has the Samaritan woman had?
Question 51e: According to John 4:16-18, is the man the Samaritan woman now has her husband?
Question 52: Will the Samaritan woman have been surprised at Jesus’ request for her to call her husband?
Question 53: Does her husband have anything to do with her receiving living water?
Question 54: Does the Samaritan woman decide to tell Jesus the truth about her husband?
Question 55: How does Jesus shock the Samaritan woman?
Question 56: What does the Samaritan woman begin to realise about the person in front
of her?
Question 57: What may the person in front of the Samaritan woman be able to do for her?
Question 58a: According to John 4:20, what did the Samaritan woman call Jesus?
Question 58b: According to John 4:20, who did the Samaritan woman say worshipped on this mountain?
Question 58c: According to John 4:20, what do the Jews claim is the place where they must worship?
Question 59: Why is the Samaritan woman trying to change the subject by beginning to talk about where they must worship?
Question 60: Does Jesus take up the subject of worship?
Question 61a: According to John 4:21-24, what time is coming?
Question 61b: According to John 4:21-24, do the Samaritans worship what they know?
Question 61c: According to John 4:21-24, do the Jews know what they worship?
Question 61d: According to John 4:21-24, why do the Jews know what they worship?
Question 61e: According to John 4:21-24, what time has now come?
Question 61f: According to John 4:21-24, what kind of worshippers does the Father seek?
Question 61g: According to John 4:21-24, why must God’s worshippers worship Him in spirit and in truth?
Question 62: Is Jesus’ revelation about true worship new to the Samaritan woman?
Question 63: What does encourage the Samaritan woman to speak about the
coming Messiah?
Question 64: What does the Samaritan woman say to Jesus about the coming Messiah?
Question 65a: According to John 4:25, what did the Samaritan woman tell Jesus she knows?
Question 65b: According to John 4:25, what will the Messiah do when He comes?
Question 66: According to John 4:26, what did Jesus declare to the Samaritan woman?
Question 67: Has Jesus gone to Samaria to meet an important political or religious leader?
Question 68: Why has Jesus gone to Samaria?
Question 69: Why does the Samaritan woman have to draw water at the well at midday?
Question 70: How does Jesus show His love for the Samaritan woman?
Question 71: In what specific way does the Samaritan woman get to know Jesus?
Question 72: Does Jesus have a plan and a purpose for the Samaritan woman that is beyond her getting to know Him as her Messiah?
Question 73: Who rejoin Jesus when His conversation with the Samaritan woman is coming to an end?
Question 74: Where have Jesus’ disciples been while He had his conversation with the Samaritan woman?
Question 75: Why have Jesus’ disciples been to town?
Question 76a: According to John 4:27, how did Jesus’ disciples feel about Jesus talking to a Samaritan woman at their return?
Question 76b: According to John 4:27, did Jesus’ disciples ask Him why He was talking to a Samaritan woman?
Question 77: Why are Jesus’ disciples surprised to see Him talking with a Samaritan woman?
Question 78: What may Jesus’ disciples well have wanted to say to Him?
Question 79: Are Jesus’ disciples possibly worried about themselves?
Question 80: Do Jesus’ disciples say anything to Jesus about His reputation or their reputation?
Question 81: What are Jesus’ disciples possibly learning?
Question 82: Why does the Samaritan woman forgets why she has come to the well?
Question 83a: According to John 4:28-29, what did the Samaritan woman do after her conversation with Jesus?
Question 83b: According to John 4:28-29, what did the Samaritan woman leave behind?
Question 83c: According to John 4:28-29, what did the Samaritan woman do when she went back to the town?
Question 83d: According to John 4:28-29, what did the Samaritan woman say to the people of the town that Jesus could be?
Question 83e: According to John 4:28-29, how did the people of the town respond to the Samaritan woman’s words to them?
Question 84: What can the Samaritan woman not keep to herself?
Question 85: What does the Samaritan woman do?
Question 86: What does the Samaritan woman become?
Question 87: How do those who have not been willing to be seen in the Samaritan woman’s company, respond to her story?
Question 88: What happens to those who have not been willing to be seen in the Samaritan woman’s company, after they have listened to her story of redemption?
Question 89: Who do those who have not been willing to be seen in the Samaritan woman’s company, want to meet?
Question 90a: According to John 4:39-42, who believed in Jesus?
Question 90b: According to John 4:39-42, why did many of the Samaritans from that town believe in Jesus?
Question 90c: According to John 4:39-42, what was the Samaritan’s woman testimony?
Question 90d: According to John 4:39-42, what did the Samaritans of that town ask Jesus to do?
Question 90e: According to John 4:39-42, how did Jesus respond to the request of the Samaritans of that town to stay with them?
Question 90f: According to John 4:39-42, what happened as a result of Jesus’ words to the Samaritans of that town?
Question 90g: According to John 4:39-42, what did the Samaritans of that town say to the Samaritan woman?
Question 90h: According to John 4:39-42, what do the Samaritans of that town know?
Question 91: Who did Jesus choose to save her whole town?
Question 92: What did Jesus do in relation to the Samaritan woman?
Question 93: What did Jesus know about the Samaritan woman?
Question 94: Does Jesus want to use you too?
Question 95: Are you too young, too old or too insignificant for God to play a role in His kingdom?
Question 96: What is the next question?
Question 97: Will God help you?
Question 98: What do you need to do?
Question 99: What did the Samaritan woman do the moment she received the revelation
that Jesus was her Messiah?
Question 100: What had begun for the Samaritan woman?
Question 101: What are you to do with your experiences in the past?
Question 102a: According to Philippians 3:13-14, what does Paul do?
Question 102b: According to Philippians 3:13-14, toward what goal does Paul press on?
Question 103: How much does Jesus love you?
Question 104: How does Jesus want you to share His love for you?
Question 105: How Jesus shown you His love for you?
Question 106a: According to John 3:16-17, what has God loved?
Question 106b: According to John 3:16-17, how has God shown His love for the world?
Question 106c: According to John 3:16-17, what will happen to those who believe in God’s Son?
Question 106d: According to John 3:16-17, why will those who believe in God’s Son not perish but have eternal life?
Question 107: What decision should you make today?
Question 108: What are you to do once God lays on your heart something you are to do?