Portraits of Jesus Lesson 7
Questions
“Jesus, the Living Water”
John 4:1-42
- What was the difference in the baptism of Jesus’ disciples and that of John? Why is it noted that Jesus himself was not baptizing? What does Jesus’ willingness to leave Judea and go miles away from John’s ministry say about our Savior?
- Why did Jesus “have to” go through Samaria, most Jews would have gone around?
- Why was the Samaritan woman at the well at noon, the hottest time of the day?
- Why was there such resentment between the Jews and the Samaritans? How did it impact their views on proper worship?
- Why was the woman shocked that Jesus spoke to her? What was shocking about what he asked? Why was Jesus willing to do this?
- What did the woman hear when Jesus said “living water”? What did Jesus mean? (Consider Jer. 2:12-13; Zec. 14:7-9; Rev. 22; Is. 44:3-4; Eze 39:29; Joel 2:28-29; John 7:37-39.)
- Why does the Samaritan woman respond as she does to Jesus’ offer of living water?
- How does Jesus show himself to be greater than Jacob?
- How is the woman’s response similar to Nicodemus’ response to Jesus?
- Why did she perceive Jesus to be a prophet and what did that mean to her?
- Perceiving Jesus to be a prophet, what question does she ask? Was this really an important question to her, or was she just trying to change the subject? Why?
- What was Jesus’ answer about proper worship? What does this mean for the Samaritan woman? What does it mean to us? What is meant by “spirit and truth”? What is different about this worship from the past? When will this worship start?
- What does Jesus confess about himself to the woman? What is her understanding of this? How does she respond?
- What impact does her testimony make on the Samaritan village?
- What impact should this conversation between the Samaritan woman and Jesus have on us and our witness in the world?
by David Bearden
