2BC BIBLE STUDY NOTES
Wednesday in the Word
Second Baptist Church
June 25, 2025
John 4
Verses 1-4. Jesus was ministering in the southern part of Israel (Judea). This was the area just outside the city of Jerusalem. In this area, the Pharisees and teachers of the law who opposed Jesus were more prevalent. These religious leaders were already bothering and provoking John the Baptist. So, Jesus decides to go north to Galilee. His trip would take him through Samaria. Many Jews would avoid Samaria and attempt to go around Samaria. Jesus decides to go straight through Samaria. There is information that we need to know to understand what happens in this chapter.
Between Judea (in the south) and Galilee (in the North) lie Samaria. From our understanding of Hebrew history, we know that after the reign of king Solomon and before Roman rule, Israel’s 12 tribes were divided into two kingdoms. Those kingdoms were the Northern and Southern kingdoms. The southern Kingdom consisted of Judah and Benjamin while the northern kingdom was the other remaining 10 tribes. After King Solomon ruled over the Israelites – God’s people – the unwise actions of his son Rehoboam in the tenth century B.C. led to a schism in which the kingdom was split into the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah, each with its own king. Both kingdoms devolved into corruption and sin, despite repeated warnings from prophets sent by God. Thus, God warned, they would be overtaken by conquerors. The northern kingdom fared worse than the southern kingdom, with a long line of wicked rulers. It didn’t help that the temple, where God’s people were to worship, was in the southern kingdom. In 721 B.C., the northern kingdom of Israel fell to the Assyrians. Many of the people of Israel were led off to Assyria as captives, but some remained in the land and intermarried with foreigners planted there by the Assyrians. These half-Hebrew, half-Gentile people became known as the Samaritans. In 586 B.C., the southern kingdom of Judah fell to the Babylonian Empire once and for all.
The Samaritans, being a mix of Israelites and pagan foreigners, created a religion for themselves that the Jews considered heresy. They established as their center of worship a temple on Mount Gerizim, claiming it was where Moses had originally intended for the Israelites to worship. They had their own unique version of the five books written by Moses, the Pentateuch, but rejected the writings of the prophets and Jewish traditions. The Samaritans saw themselves as the true descendants of Israel and preservers of the true religion, while considering the Jerusalem temple and Levitical priesthood illegitimate. When Jews returned to rebuild Jerusalem, they were opposed by Samaritans. This led to further ill-will as the two sects were established in the land in opposition to one another. To the Jews, a Samaritan was more revolting than a Gentile (pagan). The Jews considered the Samaritans half-breeds who defiled the true religion.
Verses 5-6. When Jesus arrives in Samaria, he decides to rest from th6ir travels near a well in the town of Sychar. At this location, the well was located on a plot of land that was given to Joseph by his father Jacob. Some believe this place is what was called Shechem in the book of Genesis. In chapter 33 of Genesis, Jacob buys a piece of land for 100 silver coins and erects an altar and calls it El-elohe-Israel. El-elohe-Israel is a Hebrew phrase meaning " God, the God of Israel." After Jacob's reconciliation with his brother Esau, he travels to Shechem in the land of Canaan. There, he purchases a plot of land and erects an altar, naming it El-elohe-Israel. Jacob’s journey to Shechem marks a significant moment in his life. Having wrestled with God and received the new name ”Israel." The naming of the altar as El-elohe-Israel signifies Jacob’s recognition of God’s personal involvement in his life and the fulfil}ment of God’s promises to his forefathers, Abraham and Isaac. The altar at Shechem, named El-elohe-Israel, holds historical significance as it represents one of the early acts of worship by the patriarchs in the Promised Land. It syrnbolizes the establishment of a place dedicated to the worship of the one true God amidst a land filled with pagan practices. The idea that God could be worshipped anywhere is the theme. The issue of worshipping God will come up when Jesus meets the Samaritan woman.
Verses 7-9. At the heat of the day, a time when most women didn’t draw water, a Samaritan woman approaches the well to draw water with water pots in hand. Usually, they would arrive at the well with their pots and a rope tied to some sort of bucket to drop in the well to retrieve the water. They had to do this at least once a day. At least once a day they had to carry a large water pot to the well and back. These pots were usually made of clay, so they were not at all light. They were heavy, but these women carried the burden daily. Because the water ran out daily, they had to replenish it daily. So every day the women went to the well to fill up the pots because the pots never could hold enough water for an extended period. Because the demand of water exceeded the capacity of the pots. The pots had to be filled up repeatedly. As she approached the well, Jesus speaks to the wonan and asked her for a drink of water. This was a cultural no-no between the Jews and Samaritans. Normally Jews would not be in Samaria and would not speak to a Samaritan and even more taboo was a Jewish man speaking to a Samaritan woman. Jesus speaking to a woman would immediately have presented a very awkward moment. Jesus was alone because the disciples had gone into town to buy food. Strategically, Jesus stays back knowing he would encounter this woman. The woman responded to the request of Jesus by stating that Jesus should not speak to her. Most likely she saw the request as Jesus being forward towards her. Later on we will discover that this woman has had several bad relationships with men which would lend her to be apprehensive towards any man who would speak to her.
Verses 10-12. Jesus looked at the woman, with her empty pots in hand, and tells her that if she knew who he really was she would have asked him for a drink of “living water.” Jesus made this statement to provoke a response. At first, she assumed living water was simply water from a well. The woman replied by stating that Jesus did not possess anything to draw water from the deep well. She questioned his ability to get any water let alone this living water. She even tells him that he must think he is greater than Jacob himself who dug the original well.
Verses 13-15. Jesus told the woman that the water he is talking about doesn’t come from a man made well, the water he speaks of is spiritual and it brings eternal life. Jesus told her that the water he was speaking of will satisfy your thirst forever. It is a water source that never runs dry. The woman still doesn’t understand what Jesus is speaking about. She still thinks he is talking about regular water. She told Jesus that she would like some of this living water so she would not have to come back to draw water anymore.
Verses 16-18. Jesus told her to go get her husband and come back. She replied that she didn’t have a husband. Jesus responded by stating she was correct that she didn’t have a current husband, but she ahs had five husbands and the current man, the sixth man, she lived with was not married to her. Jesus surprised the woman by knowing her marital history.
Verses 19-29. And the woman does what all good sinners do at the point of conviction. She changes the subject. She points to the contested issue of where the ordained place of worship was. Was it at the temple in Jerusalem or at Mt. Gerizim. Jesus explains to her that a time was coming where God didn’t desire physical worship but worship that was of a true spiritual nature. The worship of God was never about the place, but about God. The Jews were correct to worship in Jerusalem. and the Samaritans were incorrect of their assessment of Mt. Gerizim, but none of that mattered at this poInt. God was looking for a different kind of worship. But Jesus is undaunted in his desire to change her life. He turns her questions of religious worship into a revelation of freedom and blows her mind. Jesus answered the question that none could answer. She declares that the messiah will come and explain everything. Then Jesus let’s her have it. He declares “I am” the one. Now the disciples come back at that moment, but she darts off dropping her pots. She goes back to her town without her pots, to the people she was trying to avoid, to the people who she used to be ashamed to be around, to tell the people could this be the Christ he has told me everything I have ever did.
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