WOMAN @ SYCHAR

ANCIENT WATER JAR

Jesus and his disciples left Judea and headed back to Galilee and stopped in Sychar, by Jacob's well at Noon.

"In Samaria, Jesus came to the town called

Sychar, which is near the field that Jacob gave

to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there.

Jesus was tired from his long trip, so he sat

down beside the well. It was about noon. 

John 4:5-6  ERV

Perhaps a late sleeper, a woman goes to the well for her daily water at Noon.  Jesus asks politely for some water.

"A Samaritan woman came to the well to get

some water, and Jesus said to her, “Please

give me a drink.” This happened while his

followers were in town buying some food.

John 4:7-8  ERV

The woman was suprised that a Jewish man

was asking a Samaritan woman for water.

Jews don't associate with us.

"The woman answered, “I am surprised that

you ask me for a drink! You are a Jew and I

am a Samaritan woman!” (Jews have nothing

to do with Samaritans.)  John 4:9  ERV

Jesus said, You don't know who I am, and the

Living Water that God can give you.

"Jesus answered, “You don’t know what God

can give you. And you don’t know who I am,

the one who asked you for a drink. If you

knew, you would have asked me, and I would

have given you living water.”  John 4:10  ERV

The woman replied,  This is a deep well and

you don't have anything to get water with.  Tell

me, how are you getting the living water?  Do

you think you are greater than Jacob, who

gave us this well?

"The woman said, “Sir, where will you get that

living water? The well is very deep, and you

have nothing to get water with.  Are you

greater than our ancestor Jacob? He is the

one who gave us this well. He drank from it

himself, and his sons and all his animals drank

from it too.”  John 4:11-12  ERV

The woman may have given Jesus something

to drink. Jesus, if you drink this water you'll get

thirsty again.  

"Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this

water will be thirsty again. But anyone who

drinks the water I give will never be thirsty

again. The water I give people will be like a

spring flowing inside them. It will bring them

eternal life.”

John 4:13-14  ERV

The woman said, OK, I don't want to be thirsty

anymore.  I won't need to go to the well

anymore if you give me your living water.

"The woman said to Jesus, “Sir, give me this

water. Then I will never be thirsty again and

won’t have to come back here to get more

water.”  John 4:15  ERV

Jesus asked her to can you go and get your

husband?

Jesus told her, “Go get your husband and

come back.”

John 4:16  ERV

The woman said, I don't have a husband.

Jesus replied, I know...you have five 

ex-husbands and currently living with an

unmarried man.

"The woman answered, “But I have no

husband.”

Jesus said to her, “You are right to say you

have no husband. That’s because, although

you have had five husbands, the man you live

with now is not your husband. That much was

the truth.”  John 4:17-18  ERV

The woman answered, You must be a prophet.

My people worship on Mount Gerisim, and you

Jews tell people they must worship at your

temple in Jerusalem.

"The woman said, “Sir, I can see that you are a

prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this

mountain. But you Jews say that Jerusalem is

the place where people must worship.”     

John 4:19-20  ERV

Jesus told the woman, there will be a time

coming when you don't have to be on Mount

Gerisim or at the Jerusalem Temple to worship

the Father.

"Jesus said, “Believe me, woman! The time is

coming when you will not have to be in

Jerusalem or on this mountain to worship the

Father.  John 4:21  ERV

Jesus continues, telling her that Jews

understand salvation and true worship.

"You Samaritans worship something you don’t

understand. We Jews understand what we

worship, since salvation comes from the Jews.

John 4:22  ERV

Jesus tells the woman, God the Father is

Spirit.  And the true worshipers must worship in

spirit and truth.

"But the time is coming when the true

worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and

truth. In fact, that time is now here. And these

are the kind of people the Father wants to be

his worshipers. God is spirit. So the people

who worship him must worship in spirit

and truth.”  John 4:23-24  ERV

The Samaritan woman said, When the

Messiah comes, he will explain everything.

Jesus told her that he is the Messiah.

"The woman said, “I know that the Messiah is

coming.” (He is the one called Christ.) “When

he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

Then Jesus said, “He is talking to you now—I

am the Messiah.”  John 4:25-26  ERV

When the disciples returned, they didn't inquire

why Jesus was talking to the Samaritan

woman.

"Just then Jesus’ followers came back from

town. They were surprised because they saw

Jesus talking with a woman. But none of them

asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you

talking with her?” John 4:27  ERV

Leaving her water jar, the woman went to town

to tell people to come and see the Messiah.

"Then the woman left her water jar and went

back to town. She told the people there,  “A

man told me everything I have ever done.

Come see him. Maybe he is the Messiah.” So

the people left the town and went to see

Jesus.  John 4:28-30  ERV

As Jesus and his disciples entered town, they

begged Jesus to go and eat.  Jesus said, I've

got food you don't even know about.  The

disciples thought he had all ready eaten.

"While the woman was in town, Jesus’

followers were begging him, “Teacher, eat

something!”

But Jesus answered, “I have food to eat that

you know nothing about.”

So the followers asked themselves, “Did

someone already bring him some food?”

Jesus said, “My food is to do what the one who

sent me wants me to do. My food is to finish

the work that he gave me to do.  John 4:31-34

ERV

Jesus gives an illustration of planting and

harvesting.

"When you plant, you always say, ‘Four more

months to wait before we gather the grain.’ But

I tell you, open your eyes, and look at the

fields. They are ready for harvesting

now.  Even now, the people who harvest the

crop are being paid. They are gathering crops

for eternal life. So now the people who plant

can be happy together with those who

harvest.  It is true when we say, ‘One person

plants, but another person harvests the

crop.’  I sent you to harvest a crop that you did

not work for. Others did the work, and you get

the profit from their work.”  John 4:35-38  ERV

Many people believed in Jesus just because of

what the woman had told them.  While other

people believed in him, because they heard

what he said.

"Many of the Samaritan people in that town

believed in Jesus. They believed because of

what the woman had told them about him. She

had told them, “He told me everything I have

ever done.”  The Samaritans went to Jesus.

They begged him to stay with them. So he

stayed there two days. Many more people

became believers because of the things he

said.

The people said to the woman, “First we

believed in Jesus because of what you told us.

But now we believe because we heard him

ourselves. We know now that he really is the

one who will save the world.”  John 4:39-42

ERV  (Easy to Read version)