John 4:19-42 – Come See A Man
Read John 4:19-42
1) How do you understand the woman’s response in verse 20 to Jesus’ identification of her marital situation? Is she being evasive, or does she possibly want to hear more from this prophet?
2) As a prophet, she thought Jesus could settle one of the crucial differences between the Jews and the Samaritans – the proper place of worship. Look up Duet 12:5, 11 and 1 Kings 9:3. Where was the proper place of worship?
3) Seeing that they did not recognize any books after Deuteronomy, where might they have gotten the idea that Mount Gerizim was the place of worship? (See Deut. 11:26-29 and Joshua 8:30-35)
4) How did Jesus address the dispute over the place of worship in his answer?
5) What does he mean by “salvation is of the Jews”? (See Romans 9:4-5)
6) Look back to chapter 1:47-51 and Genesis 28:16-17. Jacob called the place Beth-el, or the house of God, and said that it was the gateway to heaven. Previously, Jesus had told Nathaniel that He would now be the mediator between God and men. What additional information does Jesus add to this in verses 21-24?
7) What is worship? What does it mean to worship in spirit and in truth?
8 ) List some similarities and differences between worship before Christ and worship after Christ?
9) Verse 25 represents a significant jump in the woman’s understanding of who Christ is. Again, keeping in mind that they only recognized the first five books of the Old Testament, look up Deuteronomy 18:15-18. What was the Samaritan understanding of the Messiah? How does this compare to the passage we looked at earlier in John 1:19-24?
10) Compare the different ways we have seen Jesus respond to people, such as Nathaniel (1:50-51), the crowd in Jerusalem (2:24), and Nicodemus (3:10), with his response to the woman in verse 26. What do you see about her heart at this point?
11) Before she has a chance to respond to Jesus, the disciples return from their shopping trip. What is the very next thing she does? How does her response compare with Romans 10:9?
12) The woman was surprised that Jesus would talk with her, and so are the disciples in verse 27. Why?
13) In verse 33, again, the disciples are stuck on the literal meaning of Jesus’ words, when Jesus is speaking about spiritual matters. How is it that Jesus can say his food is to do the will of God?
14) Agriculturally, a field that is white is not ready to harvest but is past the time for harvest, and if not gathered soon, the grain will fall off the stalk and be lost. What is Jesus saying to his disciples and to us, his disciples today?
15) Compare verses 36-38 with 1 Corinthians 3:5-10. How does God intend that his work will be accomplished? How should we respond to the great privilege he has given us of being fellow laborers with him?
16) Read through verses 39-42 and compare with Romans 10:17. What is absolutely necessary to genuine faith?
17) What field does God want to send you to labor in today?
