Devotional - John 4:1-10

Passage To Study:

John 4:1-10

[1] Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John [2] (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples), [3] He left Judea and departed again to Galilee. [4] But He needed to go through Samaria. [5] So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. [6] Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. [7] A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” [8] For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. [9] Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. [10] Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.

What are the facts of the passage?:

When Jesus came to know that the Pharisees had heard that His ministry had grown both popularity and in effectiveness to surpass John's; He knew that the time of opposition had come and He leaves Judea and goes into Galilee.
He needed to travel through Samaria to get there.
In the process, at the end of the day, they arrive at the well of Sychar.
The disciples go away to buy food and Jesus waits by the well.
There He meets the Syro-Phoenician woman.
He asks her for a drink of water.
She, knowing He was a Jew, asks Him why He is even speaking to her.
Jesus tells that if she knew who was offering and What was being offered she would have asked Him for Living Water and gotten it!

What do those facts mean?:

Two things startle me about this passage. First is the statement that Jesus stayed in Judea until He knew that the Pharisees knew that He had become both more popular and more effective than the Baptist. This was because He knew that this would bring fierce opposition from them and it was not yet time for such fierce opposition.

The second thing is the reference to "having" to go through Samaria. The fact is, there was no human compulsion to go through Samaria. There was a perfectly acceptable route that used the east side of the Jordan River. The only compulsion that He could have been speaking of would have been a heavenly one. He had an appointment in Samaria that He had to keep.

How do those facts apply to my life?:

Do I allow God to exercise this kind of control over my life?

What should I do in response?:

Check and see!

Day

The Samaritan Woman