Bible Study with New Season Ministries

Bible Study

Jesus meets the Samaritan woman

Read Exodus 17:1-7 Contention over water. We desperately need water to drink and to live, without water we will die. It is said, we can't live without drinking water for 3 days (I've never personally tried), although in rare cases, people have been known to do so, or when given naturally super-natural powers to do so: Moses in the wilderness and Jesus also in the wilderness. They went for 40 days. But I don't recommend you try it.

The Israelites in fact started to blame Moses for what was happening instead of praying to God. This God who'd just led them, by miracles and power out of slavery in Egypt to freedom. They were still slaves in their minds. The slave mentality. They wanted to go back to what they had known, rather than step out into the unknown, even though it meant freedom. Sometimes I think we can be like that, afraid of the unknown.

In John 4:5-42 We meet the Samaritan woman, this is a well known story. Jesus met her where she was. She had many things going against her:

1. She was a woman. Men didn't talk to women in New Testament times. This is evident in the reaction of the disciples in verse 27 when they didn't say '...why are you talking with her', although they obviously wanted to.

2. She was a Samaritan. Jews wouldn't associate with Samaritans, because they were not seen to be as pure as the Jews. (2 Kings 17:1-6 and 24-34 - you can read why). In fact Jews would go out of their way to avoid going through Samaria. They had intermarried with the occupying people a few hundred years before.

But here she was, at the well fetching water in the middle of the day - why?

The disciples had gone looking for food and so Jesus was left with the woman. (A question to think. Why did it take all of the disciples to go looking for food?)

First Jesus drew this woman into conversation asking her for some water. She was taken aback as to why a Jew would ask her for water, so immediately she was on the defensive.

As soon as she asked, He started to slowly show her who He was by promising a different kind of water, water that doesn't perish. In her mind, the Samaritan woman thought of the physical water, so if she never thirsted she would never have to go again in the heat of the day to draw water.

Then Jesus started to get personal, by asking her to go and fetch her husband. In answer to this she told Him the truth 'I'm not married,' she didn't lie or deny living with a man, just told the simple truth.

So Jesus was able to give her a Word of Knowledge - through the Holy Spirit - again naturally super-natural. Jesus told her that she'd had five husbands and the man she lived with now was not her husband. This opened the way for Him to proclaim who He was.

Was she a slave to sin? She knew what she did was wrong, but maybe didn't know how to stop. Was this reason for her being at the well in the middle of the day, because the other women would taunt her?

The Samaritan woman realised that He must have been a prophet, she also knew that Messiah was coming and quoted, 'He will tell us all things'. Jesus said 'I who speak to you now, am He'. Wow awesome. This is the first time, I believe, that Jesus admits who He is. Not to a Jew, or a man, but to a despised Samaritan and a woman. He was offering her, still in her sin, grace, the water of life - healing waters of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 5:1-11 - in verse 5 Paul says that love has been poured out by the Holy Spirit which has been given to us. The Holy Spirit is the Living Water. By grace we are saved.

We are the righteousness of God, not because of who we are but because of who He is. We are called upon as Christians to accept that we are now reconciled to God, and not try to work our way to heaven because we can't.

Verse 3 Paul writes about being joyful in our suffering, because suffering brings about perseverance. Christians are warned about suffering, people in countries where other religions are the main religion - may suffer persecution. In this country someone who becomes a Christian may well suffer at the hands of their families, friends, colleagues etc. But we can rejoice because we know that the grace we have been given will strengthen our faith. So persecution produces perseverance, perseverance produces character, and character produces faith.

Jesus died for us while we are still sinners - grace - He didn't wait for us to be in a certain spiritual place, He still doesn't even now. If someone wants to come to Christ, He doesn't wait for us to be at a certain point before entering our lives. The man on the cross, who said, 'remember me when you come into your kingdom', couldn't get down from the cross and commit a righteous act, Jesus answered, 'Today you will be with me in paradise'.

Like the woman at the well, He takes us where we are, like the woman caught in adultery in John 8:1-11, He didn't condemn, although the scriptures said they could stone her; He said to the crowd 'whoever has never sinned throw the first stone...' No-one condemned her, and so Jesus told her He didn't either. But go and sin no-more. In other words let Me, by My grace, change you to being the person I intended you to be. FREE. Get rid of our slave mentality to sin, and be free.