Jesus encounters a Samaritan woman at Jacob's well around noon and asks her for a drink of water, surprising her since Jews normally did not interact with Samaritans. He tells her about living water that will quench her thirst forever. When Jesus reveals details of her personal life that only God would know, she believes he is a prophet. They discuss the proper place of worship, with Jesus saying true worshipers will worship in spirit and truth. The woman proclaims Jesus as the Messiah to her village, and many Samaritans come to believe in him after hearing his message themselves.

1. JOHN 4
JESUS AND THE
SAMARITAN
WOMAN

2. Jesus knew the Pharisees had heard that he was
baptizing and making more disciples than John (though
Jesus himself didn’t baptize them—his disciples did). So
he left Judea and returned to Galilee.
He had to go through Samaria on the way. Eventually he
came to the Samaritan village of Sychar, near the field
that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was
there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily
beside the well about noontime. Soon a Samaritan
woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her,
“Please give me a drink.” He was alone at the time
because his disciples had gone into the village to buy
some food.

3. The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have
anything to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus,
“You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why
are you asking me for a drink?”
Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for
you and who you are speaking to, you would ask
me, and I would give you living water.”
“But sir, you don’t have a rope or a bucket,” she
said, “and this well is very deep. Where would you
get this living water? And besides, do you think
you’re greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave
us this well? How can you offer better water than
he and his sons and his animals enjoyed?”

4. Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon
become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I
give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh,
bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”
“Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me this water!
Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to
come here to get water.”
“Go and get your husband,” Jesus told her.
“I don’t have a husband,” the woman replied.
Jesus said, “You’re right! You don’t have a husband—
for you have had five husbands, and you aren’t even
married to the man you’re living with now. You
certainly spoke the truth!”

5. “Sir,” the woman said, “you must be a prophet. So tell
me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the
only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is
here at Mount Gerizim, where our ancestors
worshiped?”
Jesus replied, “Believe me, dear woman, the time is
coming when it will no longer matter whether you
worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem.
You Samaritans know very little about the one you
worship, while we Jews know all about him, for
salvation comes through the Jews. But the time is
coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers
will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father
is looking for those who will worship him that way. For
God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship
in spirit and in truth.”

6. The woman said, “I know the Messiah is coming—
the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he
will explain everything to us.”
Then Jesus told her, “i am the Messiah!”
Just then his disciples came back. They were
shocked to find him talking to a woman, but none
of them had the nerve to ask, “What do you want
with her?” or “Why are you talking to her?” The
woman left her water jar beside the well and ran
back to the village, telling everyone, “Come and
see a man who told me everything I ever did!
Could he possibly be the Messiah?” So the people
came streaming from the village to see him.

7. Many Samaritans from the village believed in
Jesus because the woman had said, “He told
me everything I ever did!” When they came
out to see him, they begged him to stay in
their village. So he stayed for two days, long
enough for many more to hear his message
and believe. Then they said to the woman,
“Now we believe, not just because of what
you told us, but because we have heard him
ourselves. Now we know that he is indeed the
Savior of the world.”

8. THE SETTING
• Going to Galilee
• 2 routes- Pass through Samaria which
could take about 3 days OR
• Cross the Jordan at a point in the
Judean Territory, going to the eastern
side of the Jordan to bypass Samaria,
and then crossing the Jordan again into
Galilee.

10. JACOB’S WELL
• By the roadside as you travelled
from Judea into Samaria.
• Its about 0.8 kilometres from Sychar
• Located on land bought by Jacob
(Gen 33:18-19)
• Joseph was buried there (Joshua
24:32)

11. SAMARIA
• Hundreds of years previously, after the death of
King Solomon in 975 BC, the nation of Israel split
into north and south. (See 1 Kings 11:26-39 and 1
Kings 12:1-24.) The northern ten tribes of Israel
were collectively called Israel, and their capital
city was Samaria (1 Kings 16:24). The southern
tribes of Judah and Benjamin were collectively
called Judah, and their capital city was Jerusalem.
A distance of 50kms separated the cities of
Jerusalem and Samaria.

12. • All the kings of Israel, without exception, were unfaithful and
disobedient to God. They embraced idolatrous religions and were
extremely wicked. After repeated prophetic warnings about coming
disaster – unless Israel repented – the northern kingdom of Israel
was overpowered by the Assyrians in around 724 BC.
• Most of the Israeli inhabitants – those who survived the attack –
were taken to foreign lands where they were assimilated into the
native populations (2 Kings 17:5-6; 17:22-41).
• The Assyrians sent five eastern tribes to live in Northern Israel.
These five tribes brought with them their own foreign religions and
customs. The tribes were sent with the purpose of diminishing the
Israeli identity and culture. The eastern foreigners intermarried with
the remaining, much depleted Israeli population. This hybrid people
group was the beginning of the Samaritans.

13. • In 586 BC, the southern kingdom of Judah was also
conquered by the Babylonians (2 Chron. 36:15ff), and the
whole of Israel and Judah came to be known as Samaria.
Many Jews were exiled from their homeland and taken
captive into Babylon. When the Persian King Cyrus was
divinely led to allow the Jews to return 70 years later (Ezra
1:1ff), only the most devout Jews returned to Jerusalem,
with the purpose of rebuilding the city and its Temple.
• Meanwhile, the Samaritans had developed their own
compromised version of Judaism. The Samaritans still
believed in the God of the Jews, but they worshiped at
Mount Gerizim (instead of Jerusalem) with their own,
adapted, worship practices. The Samaritans also had their
own Pentateuch in Aramaic, which differed from the Hebrew
Pentateuch in places.[To this day, the Samaritans do not
accept the poetic and prophetic books of the Hebrew
Scriptures.

14. • In around 400 BC the Samaritans built a temple on Mount
Gerizim. this caused a lot of tension and hostility between
the Jews and the Samaritans. The Jews ultimately
destroyed the Samaritan temple in 128/9 BC.
Nevertheless, the Samaritan religious community still
survives today.
• Most Jews regarded the Samaritans as ignorant,
superstitious, mongrels, outside of God’s favour or
consideration. The Samaritans however were still very
much part of God’s plans as shown in the fourth chapter
of John’s gospel where Jesus brings the Good News to a
Sychar, a Samaritan village. Moreover, Jesus specifically
mentions Samaria in Acts 1:8 where he tells his disciples:
“You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea
and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

15. SIXTH HOUR
Matthew 27:45- Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the
land unto the ninth hour.
Mark 15:33 - And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over
the whole land until the ninth hour.
Luke 23:44- And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over
all the earth until the ninth hour.
John 4:6- Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with
his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.
John 19:14- And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth
hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!
Acts 10:9- On the morrow, as they went on their journey, and drew nigh
unto the city, Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth
hour:

16. • This was about noon time.
• This Samaritan woman flees from the women in
the village because she was immorally sinners.
Even though she made an effort to escape yet she
was caught by Jesus and it was a perfect time.
• God has a perfect time to each one. He has a time
table to use us effectively. God didn’t mind our
sin. As long us we are willing to confess and ask
forgiveness, He will use us again. Imagine this
sinful woman was the reasons that the people in
the village heard the gospel of Christ.

17. THE REQUEST
A woman of Samaria came to
draw water. Jesus said to
her, “Give Me a drink.”

18. •PERSONAL LIFE
Jesus wants her to
acknowledge her past.
Her sincerity is commended

19. Her proclamation as prophet
•Duet. 18: 21-22 –
knowledge that could
only come through
divine revelation or
insight.

20. WORSHIP
• John 4:20
• Jacob’s well is located at the foot of
Mount Gerizim, which is about 2890 high
• During Alexander the Great’s rule
Manasseh asked for permission to build a
temple
• This temple became a rival to that of
Jerusalem

21. THE SAMARITANS WITNESS
• Request for living water- 4:15
• Testimony about Jesus- 4:25
• Object of Witness- People 4:29 (remember
Andrew 1:39; Philip and Nathaniel 1:46)
• Result of witness- the people believed
• The People respond-4:39
• The people’s request 4:40
• The people’s testimony

22. LESSONS
•ATTITUDE TOWARDS THE
SOCIALLY DESPISED
•ATTITUDE TOWARDS WOMEN
•DUTY TO SPREAD THE NEWS