Why did Jesus leave Galilee?
Where did He go?
Did Jesus baptize people? Who did?
Along the way, where did Jesus need to pass through?
What town was Jacob’s well near?
What time was it when Jesus rested by the well? (The Jewish day started at 6:00 AM)
Who came to draw water? What did Jesus ask her for?
Why was the woman surprised at this request?
What was Jesus’ response? What did He want her to ask Him for?
Like Nicodemus and the Jews, did this woman understand what Jesus was trying to say?
What were all the reasons the woman gave for why this offer of “living water” didn’t make sense to her?
What did Jesus say is the result of drinking “living water?”
Despite her misunderstandings, did she end up asking Him for His water?
Then, what did Jesus ask her to do?
What was her response?
What was Jesus’ surprising reply?
How many husbands had the woman had?
What does the woman decide that Jesus is, since He knew this information about her?
Then, she seemingly changes the subject and asks what questions?
Where do the Jews worship? Where do the Samaritans worship?
According to Jesus, what is true worship? Are either of those places the only places of worship?
Verse 22: why is salvation “of the Jews?”
Is the woman starting to understand how spiritual knowledge is attained? Who does she say will come to enlighten them?
Who did Jesus tell her that He is?
What happened right after that?
What were the disciples surprised at?
Where did the woman go then? What did she leave behind?
What was her report to the people in the village?
What was the result? Did anyone listen and follow her to Jesus?
In the meantime, who was Jesus talking with?
What did they want Him to do?
What was Jesus’ “food?”
How long, as the saying went, was there between planting and harvest?
Did Jesus think the harvest was ready?
What is the payment for harvesting?
Did the disciples sow the harvest that they were to reap?
What did the Samaritan woman tell her fellow villagers that made them believe in Jesus?
How long did Jesus stick around with them there?
Then, besides the testimony of the woman, why did even more of them believe?
Who were they convinced that Jesus was?

Thought Questions

What does Jesus removing Himself from Judaea tell you about Him?
Why did Jesus go through Samaria? Most Jews went around it. Did He just want a shortcut?
Think about all the times so far that Jesus has made veiled, metaphorical references to His kingdom–to Nicodemus, to the Jewish leaders, to his disciples, to the Samaritan woman (and we’re only in the fourth chapter!) Who among them ended up understanding what Jesus was talking about, and who didn’t? Why do you think that is? Do you think it has more to do with Jesus’ clarity of explaining, or with what their minds were open to understanding?
If a stranger came up to you and revealed that he knew all your deep, dark secrets, how would you respond? Would you be frightened, shocked, and ashamed, or would you go tell all of your friends about this? What does the woman’s response tell you about her? About Jesus? Do you think the fact that He went out of His way to show unprejudiced kindness toward her made a difference?
Read verse 22 again. What role does knowledge play in salvation? How can our knowledge make us more effective in God’s work? How can we receive that knowledge?
Why do you think Jesus was so direct in telling this woman exactly who He was? Did He often do that in his life on earth?
If you were one of those disciples who caught Jesus talking to a foreign woman, what would your response be? Do you think it was eventually made clear to them? What happened that made them understand Jesus’ action here?
What did the woman say to bring her fellow villagers to Jesus? (Hint: Also remember how the first disciples called each other to Jesus.) Was she an educated theologian? Did she preach a long sermon? How can you apply her approach to your witness?
Do you have to be the sower to reap the harvest? What might it mean to only perform one small part of the process of spiritual “farming” in another person’s life?
Are you willing to work for the harvest? Is the reward (verse 36) enough for you?

My prayer is:
that, like Jesus, I would seek those who are considered “lesser” in society to offer assistance and hope in Christ’s Kingdom,
that my mind would be open to not only the knowledge of Christ’s Kingdom, but to His correction of my faults,
and that my first response to His correction would not be to recoil but to tell everyone, “Come and see.”