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SUNDAY’S COMING: BIBLE STUDY
Bible Study for the Third Sunday of Lent (03/15/20)
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The Holy Gospel: John 4:5-42
Jesus came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.
A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”
Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!” The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.”
Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you want?” or, “Why are you speaking with her?” Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?” They left the city and were on their way to him.
Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So the disciples said to one another, “Surely no one has brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. Do you not say, ‘Four months more, then comes the harvest’? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”
Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I have ever done.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world.”
************************************************************
Points to Ponder:
What is necessary for life in this world is water, and it is a need that is not peculiar to the Jews or to people of faith, but to all people – all nations. Here John sees Jesus in his encounter with non Jews, and the first instance takes place a well, where people come to get water and life. The scene is heightened by the fact that the woman is a Samaritan, a people despised by the Jews. Nevertheless, Jesus sits with her and talks with her. Jesus chooses to pass through Samaria. If you look at verse that precedes the beginning of our pericope, you learn that Jesus “had to” pass through Samaria. So the intentionality of his visit is made clear, and we ask ourselves what constrained Jesus to do so – the mission? The father’s will? We meet a Jesus who is tired yet ready to engage this Samaritan woman.
Wells are a familiar place of encounter in the Bible, Rebekah is met at a well, Jacob meets Rachel at a well, Moses protects the daughters of the priest of Midian at a well. The time is also significant. It is not at night such as the conversation with Nicodemus, but it is at noon. Why is the woman drawing water at noon rather than the usual times of morning or evening? Is she avoiding contact with others? Jesus too breaks tradition by asking for a drink from her, not honoring the tradition of not speaking to women unrelated to you. There is an ignorance of dietary laws as well.
Jesus breaks apart all the social and theological conventions in order to show himself to the woman. This begins the discussion about the nature of water and of “living water.” She will understand the interaction and request in earthly terms and Jesus will move to help her understand the spiritual nature of the event. She challenges him with the enmity that Jews had toward Samaritans. Jesus speaks of the water as a “spring of water welling up to eternal life.” There is more, however.
Jesus exposes her situation in life – the fact that she has had five husbands. This provides an opening for understanding – the authority that Jesus has to speak. What follows is a discussion on worship and relationship with God. The final showing is Jesus as the Anointed One.
The woman’s growth in understanding, moving from earthly things to heavenly things is reflected in the disciples who suddenly appear and who are startled by the social situation. The matter of Jesus’ supposed hunger allows him to teach the disciples about the spiritual nature of things much in the same way as he taught the woman. But it is the disciples whom he is training in the future mission to the Gentiles. “Look up and see the fields ripe for the harvest.” The remaining part of the pericope is the evidence that the Samaritans themselves bring, “we know that this is truly the savior of the world.” - Michael T. Hiller
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The Take Away: What does this mean for my life? Some questions –
1. Where do you find living water?
2. How is Jesus Messiah for you?
3. How do you witness to your faith?
*******************************************************************
After studying the Word, you might want to pray the Collect for Sunday:
Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
SUNDAY’S COMING: BIBLE STUDY
Bible Study for the Third Sunday of Lent (03/15/20)
************************************************************
The Holy Gospel: John 4:5-42
Jesus came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.
A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”
Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!” The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.”
Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you want?” or, “Why are you speaking with her?” Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?” They left the city and were on their way to him.
Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So the disciples said to one another, “Surely no one has brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. Do you not say, ‘Four months more, then comes the harvest’? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”
Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I have ever done.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world.”
************************************************************
Points to Ponder:
What is necessary for life in this world is water, and it is a need that is not peculiar to the Jews or to people of faith, but to all people – all nations. Here John sees Jesus in his encounter with non Jews, and the first instance takes place a well, where people come to get water and life. The scene is heightened by the fact that the woman is a Samaritan, a people despised by the Jews. Nevertheless, Jesus sits with her and talks with her. Jesus chooses to pass through Samaria. If you look at verse that precedes the beginning of our pericope, you learn that Jesus “had to” pass through Samaria. So the intentionality of his visit is made clear, and we ask ourselves what constrained Jesus to do so – the mission? The father’s will? We meet a Jesus who is tired yet ready to engage this Samaritan woman.
Wells are a familiar place of encounter in the Bible, Rebekah is met at a well, Jacob meets Rachel at a well, Moses protects the daughters of the priest of Midian at a well. The time is also significant. It is not at night such as the conversation with Nicodemus, but it is at noon. Why is the woman drawing water at noon rather than the usual times of morning or evening? Is she avoiding contact with others? Jesus too breaks tradition by asking for a drink from her, not honoring the tradition of not speaking to women unrelated to you. There is an ignorance of dietary laws as well.
Jesus breaks apart all the social and theological conventions in order to show himself to the woman. This begins the discussion about the nature of water and of “living water.” She will understand the interaction and request in earthly terms and Jesus will move to help her understand the spiritual nature of the event. She challenges him with the enmity that Jews had toward Samaritans. Jesus speaks of the water as a “spring of water welling up to eternal life.” There is more, however.
Jesus exposes her situation in life – the fact that she has had five husbands. This provides an opening for understanding – the authority that Jesus has to speak. What follows is a discussion on worship and relationship with God. The final showing is Jesus as the Anointed One.
The woman’s growth in understanding, moving from earthly things to heavenly things is reflected in the disciples who suddenly appear and who are startled by the social situation. The matter of Jesus’ supposed hunger allows him to teach the disciples about the spiritual nature of things much in the same way as he taught the woman. But it is the disciples whom he is training in the future mission to the Gentiles. “Look up and see the fields ripe for the harvest.” The remaining part of the pericope is the evidence that the Samaritans themselves bring, “we know that this is truly the savior of the world.” - Michael T. Hiller
*******************************************************************
The Take Away: What does this mean for my life? Some questions –
1. Where do you find living water?
2. How is Jesus Messiah for you?
3. How do you witness to your faith?
*******************************************************************
After studying the Word, you might want to pray the Collect for Sunday:
Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.