Scripture Passage: John 4:1-26

Scripture Roadmap W = warning I = information

©2008 Terry Hadaway used by permission

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Context: The Pharisees viewed John the Baptist and

Jesus as competing with one another. Capernaum in

Galilee was the headquarters of Jesus’ Galilean ministry.

While there, He most likely stayed at Peter’s house.

Principle: Jesus extended the offer of salvation to those

the “religious” community despised.

Application: An authentic encounter with Jesus Christ is

life-changing. When we walk away from worship and Bible

study unchanged, we have not experienced Jesus

authentically.

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The

Pharisees were legalistic in

their keeping of the Law of Moses.

From them we get modern day Judaism.

By studying them we can discover the

dangers of religious legalism.

The necessity of Jesus

going through Samaria was

motivated by His desire, not

geography. Sychar was a

small town near Shechem.

Samaritans were a mixed

race of people who can be

traced back to Israel’s

Babylonian exile. Most of

the Israelites were taken to

exile, but a few remained

behind. They intermarried

with those who moved into

the area while the Israelites

were gone. Therefore, they

were not considered to be a

pure race of people. When

the Israelites returned,

hostilities flared up. Those

hostilities between the Jews

and the Samaritans

persisted into the first

century. The sixth hour was

noon.

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Jews didn’t speak to women or to

Samaritans. By speaking to a Samaritan

woman, Jesus broke two Jewish rules. The

fact that the disciples were gone indicates

that they might have tried to prevent

Jesus from speaking to the woman. In this

passage, there is a Messianic clue—Jesus’

revealed that He knew the woman’s

marital status. Jews and Samaritans

allowed a woman to divorce up to three

times. The fact that the woman had been

married five times suggests that she was

extremely immoral.

The Samaritan Bible included only the first

five books of the Old Testament (the

Pentateuch). Their failure to accept the

remainder of the Old Testament meant

that they knew little about the promised

Messiah. Verse 26 is the only time before

His trial in which Jesus specifically claimed

to be the Messiah. He said it here because

it did not offend the Samaritans for HIm to

make this claim.

In

speaking to the

woman, Jesus never

condoned or excused her

immoral lifestyle. We must be

certain to communicate

biblical morality and the fact

that Jesus changes lives.

There are

cultural variations in people’s

understanding of who Jesus is and what

He means. As we lead, we must continually let

Scripture tell us about Jesus rather than

conforming Him to cultural

expectations. .

Like Jesus, we must be willing to share our

faith with people of all kinds, but we should

never compromise biblical truth for the

sale of persuading someone to make a

decision. There is a huge difference

between making a decision and making a

commitment.

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4:1-6

4:7-18

4:19-26