A conversation with Jesus

When I studied words in this passage, the word “speak” and its different forms stood out. John’s record allows us to listen in on a real-time conversation Jesus had with an individual and her acquaintances. John used five different words that relate to speaking, and one word he used four times, with different shades of meaning. Overall, those who participated in this conversation, and now we who eavesdrop, speak in the following ways:¹ 

• have a conversation (vs. 27)
• tell someone something (vs. 29)
• request or urge someone (vs. 31, 40)
• repeat a proverb (vs. 37)
• narrate a story (vs. 39)
• testify, or witness to the truth seen, heard, and known (vs. 39)
• imply contempt for a speaker (for the woman) (vs. 42)
• receive instruction from a teacher (vs. 42)

Jesus is indeed the living, active Word, and we also use words to invite people to know Jesus.

John also included three different words to describe seeing and looking. Jesus certainly extended his invitation to the woman and her entire village.

*How have you experienced conversations with Jesus?

*What types of conversations have you experienced sharing Jesus with others?

Read John 4:27-30.

• Even though the disciples were surprised, they didn’t question Jesus.
• They wondered with astonishment.²
• Does this show their faith? submission to Jesus’ authority? or …?
• The woman left her water jar, indicating she intended to return.
• She also assumed her friends would come to meet Jesus.
• She invited the townspeople to come see Jesus with perception, to come to know him.³
• The woman connected Jesus’ knowledge of her life with God’s promised Anointed One to come.
• However, when Jesus said he was indeed the Christ, she still wondered.

*What surprises you about Jesus?

*How can we demonstrate our faith and submission to Jesus’ authority?

*What are some ways we can invite people to meet Jesus?

Read John 4:31-38.

• While the woman was away, the disciples encouraged Jesus to have lunch for nourishment.⁴
• They focused on practical needs—as I also considered lunch options before studying this passage!
• Jesus reminded his disciples spiritual food offers greater sustenance than physical food.
• He clarified for the disciples: spiritual nourishment is to seek and do God’s will.

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says” (James 1:22).

• Jesus was sent from God as a messenger.⁵
• The will of God here is for God’s good pleasure—for his glory.
• To finish God’s work is to reach the goal.⁶
• This scene records Jesus’ first teaching about the harvest.
• These moments in history aligned with God’s master plan and timeline.

“But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship” (Galatians 4:4-5).

• Jesus’ work was also “the work of the Father which He gave Christ to do.”⁷
• Later, Jesus would tell his disciples this work is also our work.

“As long as it is day, we must do the works of him who sent me …” (John 9:4).

• Others prepared the way and made ready for the disciples’ ministry.
  Jesus encouraged them to open their eyes and look at the harvest with pleasure.⁸
• Jesus continued his teaching by embedding a proverb within instruction.
• Not only have others gone before and prepared a harvest, Jesus will send the disciples away to labor for the gospel work by scattering seed and reaping good fruit for the kingdom.⁹

*How does spiritual food offer us sustenance and nourishment?

*How can we work for God’s pleasure and glory?

*In what ways is Jesus’ work for God also our work?

*When have you reaped spiritual fruit from what others have sown?

Read John 4:39-42.

• The woman returned with villagers in tow, eager to hear more based on her story:
• This man knew all about me—the sin, bad parts, the past, and still accepted me and offered God’s gift: living water.
• The Samaritan townspeople were willing to hear Jesus’ teaching and learn from him.
• They believed in Jesus “as Messiah, able and ready to help His followers.”¹⁰
• Perhaps John recorded the information to prove Jesus’ previous conversation with the disciples about the harvest.
• The Samaritans’ belief was not only based on the woman’s testimony, but also on their hearing for themselves.

“For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ (quoting Joel 2:32) How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?” (Romans 10:12-14).

• They believed Jesus was the “Savior of the world.”
• As Jesus said, he came to call those who realized their need, which stands in contrast to the Jews’ perception of their spiritual life.

“ … Jesus said, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick’” (Matthew 9:12).

*How does Jesus’ calling those in Samaria apply today?

*What have you seen and heard about Jesus that has helped your faith?

 

1. Spiros Zodhiates Th.D., The Complete Word Study New Testament, King James Version (AMG Publishers, 1991), 658, 907, 924, 945-946.
2. Zodhiates, 719.
3. Zodhiates, 508.
4. Zodhiates, 350.
5. Zodhiates, 1137
6. Zodhiates, 1373
7. Zodhiates, 650.
8. Zodhiates, 720.
9. Zodhiates, 877.
10. Zodhiates, 1161.