SCRIPTURE
Woman at the Well: Everyone May Receive the Living Water of God’s Word
John 4:5-15 but continue reading through 42 if you can! (from the Deep Blue Bible)
“He came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, which was near the land Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there. Jesus was tired from his journey, so he sat down at the well. It was about noon. A Samaritan woman came to the well to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me some water to drink.” His disciples had gone into the city to buy him some food. The Samaritan woman asked, “Why do you, a Jewish man, ask for something to drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (Jews and Samaritans didn’t get along or talk to each other. It’s a big deal that Jesus is talking to her!) Jesus responded, “If you recognized God’s gift and who is saying to you, ‘Give me some water to drink,’ you would be asking him and he would give you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you don’t have a bucket and the well is deep. Where would you get this living water? You aren’t greater than our father Jacob, are you? He gave this well to us, and he drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks from the water that I will give will never be thirsty again. The water that I give will become in those who drink it a spring of water that bubbles up into eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I will never be thirsty and will never need to come here to draw water!”
DISCUSSION
1. Have you ever been really thirsty? Have you even had water from a well?
2. The woman at the well was not liked by the people in her town; she was an outcast. Who is somebody from school with whom you and your friends don’t ever pay with or talk to? Could you try to be like Jesus and include them this week?
3. This story shows how Jesus met and welcomed people of all kinds into God’s love and presence. As Jesus disciples, why do you think it’s important to include everyone? Is that easy or hard to do?
