LESSON 1- “Finding God When You’re Not Looking” John 4:1-39

START HERE In 1492, Christopher Columbus discovered America, which has become the most powerful and influential nation in the world. In 1955, Dr. Jonas Salk discovered the cure for polio, which has saved countless lives. In 1967, Jack Kilby, working in a lab at Texas Instruments discovered the first micro-chip, which paved the way for nano-technology and personal computers.

ASK What discoveries or inventions have personally impacted you in “life-changing” ways? How have they impacted you?

What discoveries do you wish would be made in the near future? (i.e. cure for cancer)

Discovery is about finding something you didn’t even know existed. We all make numerous discoveries throughout our lives. In our relationship with God, the first step for all of us is the same – Discovery! What will you discover in the coming weeks about joining God where He is already working – about getting in the flow?

READ

John 4:1-39

1 When Jesus knew that the Pharisees heard He was making and baptizing more disciples than John 2 (though Jesus Himself was not baptizing, but His disciples were), 3 He left Judea and went again to Galilee. 4 He had to travel through Samaria, 5 so He came to a town of Samaria called Sychar near the property that Jacob had given his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, worn out from His journey, sat down at the well. It was about six in the evening.

7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water.

“Give Me a drink,” Jesus said to her, 8 for His disciples had gone into town to buy food.

9 “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 Samaritans.

10 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.”

2

11 “Sir,” said the woman, “You don’t even have a bucket, and the well is deep. So where do You get this ‘living water’? 12 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.”

13 Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks from this water will get thirsty again. 14 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.”

15 “Sir,” the woman said to Him, “give me this water so I won’t get thirsty and come here to draw water.”

16 “Go call your husband,” He told her, “and come back here.”

17 “I don’t have a husband,” she answered.

“You have correctly said, ‘I don’t have a husband,’” Jesus said. 18 “For you’ve had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”

19 “Sir,” the woman replied, “I see that You are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, yet you Jews say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.”

21 Jesus told her, “Believe Me, woman, an hour 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, because salvation is from the Jews. 23 But an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. Yes, the Father wants such people to worship Him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

25 The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will explain everything to us.”

26 “I am He,” Jesus told her, “the One speaking to you.”

The Ripened Harvest

27 Just then His disciples arrived, and they were amazed that He was talking with a woman. Yet no one said, “What do You want?” or “Why are You talking with her?”

28 Then the woman left her water jar, went into town, and told the men, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could this be the Messiah?” 30 They left the town and made their way to Him.

31 In the meantime the disciples kept urging Him, “Rabbi, eat something.”

3

32 But He said, “I have food to eat that you don’t know about.”

33 The disciples said to one another, “Could someone have brought Him something to eat?”

34 “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work,” Jesus told them. 35 “Don’t you say, ‘There are still four more months, then comes the harvest’? Listen to what I’m telling you: Open your eyes and look at the fields, for they are ready for harvest. 36 The reaper is already receiving pay and gathering fruit for eternal life, so the sower and reaper can rejoice together. 37 For in this case the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap what you didn’t labor for; others have labored, and you have benefited from their labor.”

The Savior of the World

39 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.”

REVIEW

Context/Commentary/Background

4:1–3. In Greek these verses are one long sentence, introducing the reader to a second-long interview by Jesus. The words, When the Lord learned of this (v. 1), are actually the first phrase in Greek in verse 1. The sudden prominence of Jesus, evidenced by the growth of His followers, caused the Pharisees to take special notice of Him. Since Jesus was working on God’s schedule, He knew how His ministry would end. Until that appointed time, He must live carefully, so He withdrew from the conflict until His “hour” (7:6, 8, 30; 8:20; cf. 12:23; 13:1; 17:1). He left Judea (cf. 3:22) and went back … to Galilee.

This second interview is another illustration of the fact that “He knew what was in a man” (2:25). The Samaritan woman contrasts sharply with Nicodemus. He was seeking; she was indifferent. He was a respected ruler; she was an outcast. He was serious; she was flippant. He was a Jew; she was a despised Samaritan. He was (presumably) moral; she was immoral. He was orthodox; she was heterodox. He was learned in religious matters; she was ignorant. Yet in spite of all the differences between this “churchman” and this woman of the world, they both needed to be born again. Both had needs only Christ could meet.

4:4. He had to go through Samaria. This was the shortest route from Judea to Galilee but not the only way. The other route was through Perea, east of the Jordan River. (See the two routes on the map.) In Jesus’ day the Jews, because of their hatred for the Samaritans, normally took the eastern route in order to avoid Samaria. But Jesus chose the route through Samaria in order to reach the despised people of that region. As the Savior of the world He seeks out and saves the despised and outcasts (cf. Luke 19:10).

4

“Samaria” in New Testament times was a region in the middle of Palestine, with Judea to the south and Galilee to the north. Samaria was without separate political existence under the Roman governor. The people were racially mixed and their religion resulted from syncretism and schism from Judaism. Its center of worship was Mount Gerizim. Even today in Israel, a small group of Samaritans maintain their traditions

4:7–8. With His disciples in the city buying food, Jesus did a surprising thing: He spoke to a Samaritan woman, whom He had never met. She was of the region of Samaria, not the town of Samaria. The woman was shocked to hear a Jewish man ask for a drink from her. 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.

4:9. Surprised and curious, the woman could not understand how He would dare ask her for a drink, since Jews did not associate with Samaritans. The NIV margin gives an alternate translation to the Greek sentence with the word synchrōntai (“associate” or “use together”): the Jews “do not use dishes Samaritans have used.” This rendering may well be correct. A Rabbinic law of A.D. 66 stated that Samaritan women were considered as continually menstruating and thus unclean. Therefore, a Jew who drank from a Samaritan woman’s vessel would become ceremonially unclean.

4:10. Having captured her attention and stimulated her curiosity, Jesus then spoke an enigmatic saying to cause her to think. It was as if He had said, “Your shock would be infinitely greater if you really knew who I am. You—not I—would be asking!” Three things would have provoked her thinking: (1) Who is He? (2) What is the gift of God? (3) What is living water? “Living water” in one sense is running water, but in another sense, it is the Holy Spirit (Jer. 2:13; Zech. 14:8; John 7:38–39).

4:11–12. She misunderstood the “living water” and thought only of water from the well. Since Jacob’s well was so deep how could Jesus get this living water? Today this well is identified by archeologists as one of the deepest in Palestine. Are You greater than our father Jacob? she asked. In Greek this question expects a negative answer. She could not conceive of Him as greater than Jacob. Her claim “our father Jacob” is interesting in light of the fact that the Jews claim him as the founder of their nation. That well had great tradition behind it but, she wondered, What does this Stranger have?

4:13–14. Jesus began to unveil the truth in an enigmatic statement. This water from Jacob’s well would satisfy only bodily thirst for a time. But the water Jesus gives provides continual satisfaction of needs and desires. In addition, one who drinks His living water will have within him a spring of life-giving water (cf. 7:38–39). This inner spring contrasts with the water from the well, which required hard work to acquire. Jesus was speaking of the Holy Spirit who brings salvation to a person who believes and through Him offers salvation to others.

NIV New International Version

5

4:15. The woman could not grasp this dark saying because of her sin and materialism. All she could understand was that if she had a spring she would not get thirsty and would not have to work so hard.

4:16–18. Since she was not able to receive His truth (1 Cor. 2:14), Jesus dealt with her most basic problem. (Apparently, she never served Him a drink. He forgot His own physical need in order to meet her spiritual need.) Jesus suggested she get her husband and bring him back with her. This suggestion was designed to show her that He knew everything about her (cf. John 2:24–25). Her marital history was known to this Stranger, including the fact that she was living in sin. Thus in a few words Jesus had revealed her life of sin and her need for salvation.

4:19. Her response was most interesting! Jesus was not just a passing Jewish Rabbi. Since He had supernatural knowledge, He must be a prophet of God.1

But instead of confessing her sin and repenting, she threw out an intellectual “red herring.” Could He solve an ancient dispute? Samaritan religion held that the one place of divinely ordered worship was on top of nearby Mount Gerizim, whereas the Jews said it was on the temple mount in Jerusalem. Who was right in this controversy?

4:21. A time is coming (cf. v. 23) referred to the coming death of Jesus which would inaugurate a new phase of worship in God’s economy. In the Church Age, because of the work of the Spirit, worship is no longer centered in temples like those on Mount Gerizim and Mount Zion.

4:22. Jesus was firm in His declaration of the issues involved. The Samaritan religion was confused and in error: You Samaritans worship what you do not know. They were not the vehicle for the salvation of mankind. Israel was the nation chosen by God to have great privileges (Rom. 9:4–5). When Jesus said, Salvation is from the Jews, He did not mean that all Jews were saved or were especially pious. “Salvation is from the Jews” in the sense that it is available through Jesus, who was born of the seed of Abraham.

4:23. With the advent of the Messiah the time came for a new order of worship. True worshipers are those who realize that Jesus is the Truth of God (3:21; 14:6) and the one and only Way to the Father (Acts 4:12). To worship in truth is to worship God through Jesus. To worship in Spirit is to worship in the new realm which God has revealed to people. The Father is seeking true worshipers because He wants people to live in reality, not in falsehood. Everybody is a worshiper (Rom. 1:25) but because of sin many are blind and constantly put their trust in worthless objects.

4:24. God is Spirit is a better translation than the KJV‘s “God is a Spirit.” God is not one Spirit among many. This is a declaration of His invisible nature. He is not confined to one location. Worship of God can be done only through the One (Jesus) who expresses God’s invisible nature

1 Edwin A. Blum, “John,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 285–286.

KJV King James Version

6

(1:18) and by virtue of the Holy Spirit who opens to a believer the new realm of the kingdom (cf. 3:3, 5; 7:38–39).

4:25. The Samaritans expected a coming messianic leader. But they did not expect Him to be an anointed king of the Davidic line, since they rejected all the Old Testament except the Pentateuch. Based on Deuteronomy 18:15–18, they expected a Moses-like figure who would solve all their problems. The Samaritan woman now understood a part of what Jesus said. She wistfully longed for the messianic days when the Messiah would explain everything.

4:26. This self-declaration by Jesus Himself—I … am He (the Messiah)—is unusual. Normally in His ministry in Galilee and Judea (cf. 6:15) because of political implications, He veiled His office and used the title “Son of Man.” But with this Samaritan the dangers of revolt by national zealots were not a problem.

4:27–30. The woman, excited by Jesus’ statement about Himself and because of the arrival of the disciples, left and went to the village. In her joy of discovery she forgot her water jar. It was more important to her now to share her new faith. Her words A Man who told me everything I ever did, were bound to stir interest. Perhaps in that village some who heard her had been partners in her past life. Perhaps they wondered, Could this One also know about us?

Could this be the Christ? she asked them. More literally, her question was, “This couldn’t be the Messiah, could it?” The question expected a tentative negative answer. She framed the question this way, in all probability, because she knew the people would not respond favorably to a dogmatic assertion from a woman, especially one of her reputation. Just as Jesus had captured her attention by curiosity, so she raised the people’s curiosity. They decided to investigate this matter.

4:31–32. As the disciples spoke with Jesus, they sensed something had happened. Before, He was tired and thirsty. But now food and drink were not important to Him. His mood had changed. They offered Him food, but He gave them instruction. I have food to eat that you know nothing about is another of His enigmatic statements.

4:33–34. The disciples’ misunderstanding set the stage for Him to clarify His statement. As usual, the disciples were confined to thinking materialistically. Jesus said, My food … is to do the will of Him who sent Me. This does not mean Jesus had no need of physical food, but rather that His great passion and desire was to do God’s will (cf. 5:30; 8:29). He knows that man does not live by bread alone, but “by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (Deut. 8:3). His priority is spiritual, not material. It is the Father’s work which must be done (cf. John 17:4).

4:35. Farmers have a period of waiting between their sowing and their reaping. Four months more and then the harvest was probably a local proverb. But in the spiritual realm there is no long wait. Jesus has come so now it is the day of opportunity. All that is needed is spiritual vision and perception. If the disciples would look around, they would see people with spiritual hunger. The Samaritans in their white garments coming from the village (v. 30) may have visually suggested a wheat field ripe for harvest.

7

4:36–38. As reapers, the disciples had the great and rewarding privilege of leading people to faith in Christ. Others had already done the work of sowing. This perhaps refers to the ministry of the Old Testament prophets or to John the Baptist’s ministry of preparation. Both kinds of workers—the sower and the reaper—get their pay. Reapers harvest the crop for eternal life, that is, Jesus’ disciples were involved in ministry to others, in the issue of death and life (2 Cor. 2:15–16).

Harvesttime in the ancient world was a time of joy (Ruth 3:2, 7; Isa. 9:3). There is also great joy at the time of salvation (cf. Luke 15:7, 10, 32). The disciples had the greater joy of seeing the completion of the process (John 4:38). A sower has a harder time because he sees no immediate fulfillment. John the Baptist stirred a nation to repent but he died before the day of Pentecost, when the disciples in great joy saw thousands come to faith in Jesus.

4:39. The little revival among the Samaritans is notable because the theme of natural rejection by Israel had been sounded (1:11) as well as the note of a wider ministry (3:16; cf. Acts 1:8). The testimony of the woman, though, from one point of view was unnecessary (“not that I accept human testimony,” John 5:34); yet it was effective. That Jesus knows what is in a person and that He has comprehensive knowledge of one’s life is an indication of His deity (Ps. 139; John 1:47–49; 2:24–25).2

Content Setting the scene: Let’s go back and look at John 4:1-6. Jesus was more than likely avoiding trouble with John’s disciples and the Pharisees who were troubled by Jesus and His growing popularity (4:1). So, Jesus was on the move. (see John 4:1-3).

“And he had to pass through Samaria.” (John 4:4, ESV)

Jesus wanted to intentionally go to Samaria. It was part of His mission.

2 Edwin A. Blum, “John,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 286–287.

8

(1) Am I responding to what is God revealing?

God wants to reveal Himself to us.

In John 4:10, Jesus makes a profound statement. He says, “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.”

In this statement, Jesus is implying that the woman does not understand the gift of God, nor does she know the One who offers this eternal gift. God is consistently and constantly revealing Himself and other things to us. We must ask ourselves the question, where are our eyes? Are our eyes on ourselves, others or on things? Are our eyes on God and what He is revealing to us?

ASK What distractions in life cause us to take our eyes of God?

After being distracted, how do you refocus on God?

We cannot respond to what God is revealing if we can’t see what He is doing.

BACKSTORY: Samaria-After King Solomon died, Israel was split into the Northern Kingdom (Israel) and Southern Kingdom (Judah). The Northern Kingdom made Samaria their capital city. The Southern Kingdom kept Jerusalem as their capital. In 722BC the Assyrians wiped out the Northern Kingdom and renamed the whole region Samaria. The population of Samaria was made up of a lot of different people and their religion was a mix of different and corrupt beliefs. The Jews (Judah) regarded the Samaritans to be in some ways worse than the Gentiles because of their corrupt religion. The Samaritans also in turn hated the Jews therefore causing a lot of tension between the nations/people groups.

9

During this conversation, Jesus shares truth and the fact that He knows about her and her life. He is revealing Himself to her. He wants her to recognize who He is and what He is offering. In verse 19 she comes to an important conclusion about who Jesus is when she says, “I see that you are a prophet.”

After we put our eyes on Him and see where He’s at work, then we must decide to join Him in His work.

Jesus is in the work of redemption and saving the lost. He is offering a right relationship with God through this “living water” that only He can offer and we cannot earn.

No matter who you are and what you are going through, Jesus will meet you where you are and He’ll give you the opportunity to respond.

How will you respond?

(2) Am I taking responsibility for my own spiritual growth?

Once God gives reveals to us that next step, we must make a choice. We have to decide if we will follow Him. Sometimes we follow, other times we make excuses or try to find reasons why we can’t take that next step.

PICTURE (LEFT): Modern day picture of Jacob’s Well in Samaria/Sychar (West Bank, Israel outside of Nablus). In verse 11, the woman begins to look for reasons why she can’t take Jesus up on His offer of living

“Faith is the quenching of your soul’s thirst in the fountain of God Himself.” -John Piper

God is offering a relationship for you with Jesus. You know you need Him. But faith is more than mentally knowing your need for God. Jesus revealed Himself as the Living Water. When you drink from the fountain of Jesus, your heart will be satisfied with all that God has for you. Then the power of sin to lure you away becomes almost powerless. The more we receive from Jesus, the less we are tempted to look elsewhere for what will only disappoint. -Pastor Glynn

10

water. She says, “you don’t even have a bucket, and the well is deep.” She is making excuses, not willing to take responsibility for her spiritual growth. We too can allow past choices to serve as excuses keeping us from that next step. Or perhaps we we get caught up in the mindset that discipleship is all about “head knowledge” failing to pay attention to experiencing personal transformation and life-on-life disciple-making relationships.

Later in the story, the woman again will look for another reason why she cannot begin the discipleship process with others. In verse 24 she says, “I know that the Messiah is coming…When He comes, he will explain everything to us.” She was immediately looking to pass that responsibility on to someone else (the Messiah).

Do these verses resonate with you? Have you passed on your responsibility to disciple others?

A disciple maker only needs to be one step ahead of those they are discipling.

After Jesus reveals Himself as the Messiah to the woman, she has what Pastor Henry Blackaby calls a “Crisis of Belief” in Experiencing God. She immediately went back to the people she knew and began telling them about the Messiah. “And they told the woman, ‘we no longer believe because of what you said, since we have heard for ourselves and know that this really is the Savior of the world.” John 4:42. She immediately began the process of disciple-making. She took responsibility for her spiritual growth and began to pour into to others.

3) Am I using the resources God has given me to influence those God places before me?

What resources does this woman have? In these brief verses about her, we learn that she did not have a strong social status. She had been divorced 5 times and had little financial resources. She

Discipleship is not about depth, it’s about demonstration (living out biblical truths in the context of a relationship with others). Any believer can be a disciple-maker. Every believer can make disciples. You don’t have to wait till you know everything about the Bible, you just have to know the God of the Bible. -Pastor Glynn

Our greatest discipleship opportunities happen in the lives of those we are already in relationship with as we live out what we are experiencing in God. We're not just bringing people to Jesus; we’re bringing them along in Jesus. Discipleship is a lifelong process, not a quick “hail Mary” kind of prayer. You should start by discipling the people you already know.

-Pastor Glynn

11

didn’t own much, and she even left some of that behind to tell others. We read these verses, “the woman left her water jar, went into town, and told the people, ‘Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” John 4:28-29.

This woman may not have had social status, wealth or even a strong family history, but she did have a voice.

She was willing to respond to what God was revealing to her, take responsibility for her own spiritual growth and use the resource God had given her to influence those God had put in front of her. She used her voice. She was willing to go “all in” letting others know about Jesus. Her willingness to obey made a huge impact on the kingdom. John 4:39 says, “Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of what the woman said when she testified.” Are you willing to use what God has given you for others to know Him?

Today’s lesson is a direct reminder that we must DISCOVER where God is at work and what He is revealing. When we see those things, there will always be a required response.

REFLECT (1) What kind of things can you discover about God by intentionally looking at what He is

revealing to you? (2) What can we learn from the transition that this woman goes through at the well? Are there

any similarities in her story and yours? If so, what are they? (3) Why is your story (or journey) with Jesus so important? How can you use what God has

rescued you from to relate to others to testify of His life-changing power? (4) Think about resources that God has given you. What are some of those resources? How

are you using them to help others discover God? (5) In what ways does this story prompt you into to action? What’s your next step?

Your greatest resource is not your success; it’s your story. When you leverage the experiences that God has already allowed you to have, you can make a difference in someone’s life. Share your story. -Pastor Glynn

The Gospel message turns Christians outward, not inward. We've been reconciled to reconcile.

-Pastor Glynn

"The only thing that will matter 300 million years from now is who is in heaven, who is in hell." -Cahill

12

RESPOND (Provide an index card or piece of paper to everyone in your group.)

Take some time to evaluate your life. Make a list of at least three people that God has put around you (work, home, church or other places) that you can begin or continue to disciple/pour into. Remember that discipleship and evangelism go hand-in-hand. It might mean sharing the gospel with someone and helping them grow or it could be helping a new Christian mature in the faith.