John 4 Bible Study

Bible Study – John 4.1-42

In this study we are looking at the encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well.

First read verses 1 to 6.

Q1 Why did Jesus decide to leave Judea and return to Galilee at this time?

Q2 What do you know about the bad history between the Jews and the Samaritans? (For an explanation from the Jewish perspective, see 2 Kings 17.24-41).

Q3 We are told that Jesus “had to” go through Samaria to get to Galilee. In fact most Jews would take the longer route around Samaria, so how should we interpret verse 4?

Q4 Why was Jesus waiting at the well?

Now read verses 7 to 15.

Q5 Jews would not drink from a cup which had been touched by a Samaritan, for fear of becoming “unclean”. Have you ever experienced this kind of prejudice? What is the effect of Jesus’s opening request?

Q6 In what ways is physical thirst a useful analogy for spiritual thirst?

Q7 Jacob (also known as “Israel”, see Genesis 32.28) was an ancestor of both Jews and Samaritans. In what ways is Jesus greater than Jacob? How is the water he provides different?

Now read verses 16 to 42.

Q8 How significant is Jesus’s supernatural knowledge of the woman’s past and present life? (verses 16-18, 29, 39).

Q9 Thinking of our own lives, do you believe that God knows every detail and yet still loves and accepts us? If not, how would you put it?

Q10 Do you see any significance in Jesus’s words that salvation is from the Jews (verse 22)? (It might be helpful to refer to Genesis 12.2-3).

Q11 It seems that the Samaritans were also waiting and hoping for the Messiah, the Christ, the Saviour of the World (verses 25, 29, 42). How do you think Christians should relate to people of other faiths today? In what sense are we all waiting and hoping for the same thing?

Q12 What does this passage say about the evangelistic task – in terms of motivation, resources, approaches? In what ways are you challenged to see and do mission differently?