1A. THE MINISTRY AT SAMARIA (John 4:1-42).
1B. The Woman at the Well (John 4:1-26).
2B. The Disciples Learn a Lesson (John 4:27-38).
3B. Many Samaritans Believe (John 4:39-42).
2A. THE MIRACLES JESUS PERFORMED (John 4:43-5:9).
1B. The Second Miracle Jesus Performed (John 4:43-54).
2B. The Impotent Man Healed (John 5:1-9).
3A. THE MEANNESS OF THE JEWS (John 5:10-18).
4A THE MATCHLESS SON OF GOD (John 5:19-30).
5A. THE MANY WITNESSES POINTING TO JESUS (John 5:31-47).
1B. John the Baptist (John 5:31-35).
2B. The Works Jesus Did (John 5:36).
3B. The Father (John 5:37-38).
4B. The Scriptures (John 5:39-44).
5B. Moses (John 5:45-47).
In the last chapter we learned how Jesus dealt personally with one man. What was his name (John 3:1)? ________________________________ In John Chapter 4 we learn how Jesus dealt personally with one woman. Her name is not given. She is called "the woman of _______________________ (John 4:9) or the Samaritan woman.
Jesus and His disciples were on a journey from Judea to Galilee, and to get to Galilee they had to pass through _______________________ (John 4:4). Can you find these three places on a Bible map? Notice how Samaria is right between Judea and Galilee.
When Jesus came to Jacob’s well, the Bible says He was "________________________ with His journey" (John 4:6). Does God ever get weary or tired (Isaiah 40:28)? _____ But God the Son came in the flesh (see John 1:14), and as a man He did grow weary because of the miles He had walked. It was about the "sixth hour" (John 4:6). If John (the writer of this gospel) was using Jewish time, this would means that it was about noon (LUNCH TIME). However, it is more likely that John was using Roman time (similar to our system of reckoning time), which means that it would have been 6:00 p.m. (SUPPER TIME). Not only was Jesus tired and weary but He was probably very hungry and thirsty as well. Where had the disciples gone (John 4:8)? ___________________________________________________ They were hungry also and wanted to buy some supper!
If we had been Jesus on this day we might have said something like this: "I’m very tired from this journey. All I care about is resting and enjoying some supper alone with a nice cool glass of water!" The Lord Jesus was hungry and tired and thirsty, but He was more concerned about a certain woman than He was about resting or filling His stomach. What was more important to Him, doing God’s will or having supper (John 4:34)? ___________________________________________
Did the woman speak first to Jesus or did Jesus first speak to the woman (John 4:7)? _______________________________________________________________ He started the conversation, and what He said really surprised the woman. She was amazed that He even spoke to her! Jesus did something unusual--something which most Jews would never have done. Why was she surprised that He spoke to her and asked her for a drink (John 4:9)? _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ The Jews hated the Samaritans but Jesus loved this woman. Jesus was concerned for her soul and He dared to be different and to act differently than other Jews. Even today as Christians, people need to see a difference in the way we act and live. They need to see that we have a concern and a compassion that reaches out to all men. There might be a person in your school that hardly anyone likes or that the other students shun because for some reason he seems different from them. You can reach out to this person even as Jesus reached out to the Samaritan woman.
As they continued talking, Jesus said some things that really made this woman curious. First He told her that He would have given her _______________ water (John 4:10). She needed to know WHO JESUS REALLY WAS and she needed to know that God had a gift for her (John 4:10). She must have been puzzled: "He asked me for water, and now He says that He has water to give to me." She could not understand how Jesus could have water or where He could get it from (John 4:11).
She then asked, "Art Thou greater than our father ___________________" (John 4:12). She knew that this was a famous well because Jacob had once used it many hundreds of years earlier. Again Jesus surprised her with His answer. He explained to her that His well was much better than Jacob’s well:
Whoever drinks from Jacob’s well will _____________________ again (John 4:13). The water that comes from a well (physical water) can quench a person’s thirst for a while, but later that person will be thirsty again. Can you think of any kind of beverage that can be bought at a store which a person can drink from and never be thirsty again? _________ Food and water only satisfy for a time. This is why we must eat and drink every day.
The person who drinks from Jesus’ well "shall never ___________________" (John 4:14). That person will have a WELL in him that will never run dry! It is a well which springs up "into ________________________ __________" (John 4:14). Of course, Jesus was talking about a different kind of water. He was not talking about water for the body (PHYSICAL WATER--H2O), but He was talking about water for the soul (SPIRITUAL WATER).
Just as the body has a thirst that must be satisfied by water, so the soul has a thirst that must be satisfied. People try to satisfy their soul with pleasures and money and entertainment and many other things, but none of these things really satisfy the deep thirst that is in man. Only GOD can satisfy this thirst and He can satisfy it forever.
How can a person drink of the water that Jesus gives? What must a person do in order to "never thirst" (John 6:35)? _________________________________________________
Did the Samaritan woman want the water that Jesus had (John 4:15)? ________ Like this woman, people need to understand that Jesus has what they need. There is a great Saviour and a great salvation, and this is just what people desperately need.
The Samaritan woman was not yet ready to drink from the living water that Jesus offered her, because she did not yet fully realize her need. Was this woman a righteous woman or a sinful woman (John 4:16-19)? ___________________________ Did Jesus know all about her? _______ Jesus very carefully showed this woman and reminded this woman about her sin (John 4:16-19). She had been divorced again and again and she was now living with a man that she was not even married to (John 4:18).
Just as people need water to live and exist physically, so also people need GOD and His gift of eternal life so that they might have spiritual life and have their deepest needs satisfied (John 4:10,14). The Lord Jesus Christ came to save sin-sick people (see 1 Timothy 1:15 and John 3:17)! Before a person can be saved, he must first realize that sin separates a person from the living God. He must then realize that Christ died on the cross to take care of the sin problem (2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 3:18). This Samaritan woman needed to see her NEED OF THE SAVIOUR. As Jesus showed the Samaritan woman, so also we need to show people GOD’S WONDERFUL PROVISION FOR THEIR NEED. God is a GREAT SAVIOUR and God has a GREAT GIFT for sinners! God’s wonderful invitation to men is this: COME AND DRINK! Compare Revelation 22:17; John 6:35; Isaiah 55:1.
The woman of Samaria then changed the subject and started talking about worship (John 4:20). Jesus gave her a brief but important lesson about worship (John 4:21-24). It is not so much WHERE a person worships but it is WHO and HOW a person worships that really counts! How does God want people to worship Him (John 4:24)? ______________________________________________
The Samaritans hoped that someday the Messiah (the promised Saviour-King) would come to earth (John 4:25). What amazing truth did Jesus reveal to this woman about Himself (John 4:25-26)? ____________________________________________________________________
Finally the disciples returned from town with the supper they had bought. Were they surprised and amazed to find Jesus talking with a Samaritan woman (John 4:27)? ________ After the woman went her way the disciples came to Jesus and said, "Master, ________ (John 4:31).
They knew Jesus was hungry and they wanted Him to have supper! Jesus wanted to use this occasion as an opportunity to teach His disciples something. The only thing they had on their minds was FOOD! They were hungry and they wanted to eat! Jesus wanted to teach them that there is something even more important than food! Food is important and man cannot live without food, but there is also something more important than food! Notice what Jesus told them in John 4:32 (the word "meat" means "food"). This puzzled the disciples! Jesus had puzzled the Samaritan woman and now we see that He also puzzled His own disciples! "How could Jesus have food? Has any man brought Him anything to ______________?" (see John 4:33).
Jesus was not talking about the kind of food they were thinking about. They were thinking about food for the stomach. Jesus was talking about a much more important kind of food. What kind of "meat" or food was Jesus talking about? What did Jesus hunger for more than anything else (John 4:34)? _____________________________________________
Jesus wanted His disciples to look beyond physical needs and see spiritual needs (see John 4:35-38). A person’s physical needs are important. Man cannot survive without proper food and drink and clothing. But a person’s spiritual needs are far more important.
Have you ever seen pictures of starving children? Do they have real physical needs? ________ Suppose a person brings these starving children enough food to fill their stomachs for years, but never tells them about Jesus Christ and their need to be saved. Are these children going to die someday? ________ If they are not saved will they spend forever and ever in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:15; 21:8)? ________ Food is important, but do you see how there is something much more important? What is more important---what happens to the body or what happens to the soul (Matthew 10:28)? ___________________________________________ Jesus wanted the disciples to lift up their eyes (John 4:35) and begin to see SPIRITUAL NEEDS all around them! We need to learn the same lesson. Do you know people with real spiritual needs? Do you know people who need to be saved?
Someone might think, "Why is it so important to talk to just one person about spiritual things? It might be important to talk to 20 or 50 or 100 people, but why spend time with just one person?" The answer to this is found in John 4:39. The Lord Jesus took the time to talk to ONE WOMAN, and look what happened: "MANY of the Samaritans of that city _______________________ on Him" (John 4:39). The time He spent with this one person paid off greatly. Because of this MANY Samaritans came to Him and He was able to spend _______ days with them (John 4:40)! And then "MANY MORE __________________________" (John 4:41)! Sometimes if we are faithful to do the little things (like talking to just one person), God will bless it and turn it into big things!
What did the Samaritans learn about Jesus Christ (see John 4:42)? (circle the correct answer)
a. He was the Saviour only of the Jews but not of the Samaritans.
b. He was the Saviour only of a few people.
c. He was the Saviour of the world (all men everywhere).
d. He was the Saviour of the disciples and no one else.
Jesus’ first miracle was performed in Cana of Galilee when He turned the water into wine (John 2:1,9). His second Galilean miracle was performed in the same city (John 4:46 and compare verse 54).
A certain nobleman had a son who was sick, and this concerned father thought that Jesus could help (John 4:46). How sick was this boy (John 4:47)? ________________________________________ What was wrong with him (John 4:52)? ___________________________________ What two things did the nobleman ask Jesus to do (John 4:47)? 1)______________________________ 2)____________________________ As we shall see, Jesus would do the second but not the first. Jesus did not want this man to have a faith that was based on SIGHT (John 4:48). He wanted him to have a faith that was based on God’s Word plus nothing! Jesus just spoke the word, and He expected this man to believe it. Jesus said, "GO THY WAY, YOUR SON LIVES!" (see John 4:50).
Did Jesus "come down" with the nobleman as the nobleman had asked (John 4:49-52)? _______ At first the nobleman must have thought that Jesus needed to be physically present in order to heal his son. But when Jesus said, "THY SON LIVETH" the nobleman _________________________ the word that Jesus had spoken" (John 4:50). Did Jesus give him any "signs" or "miracles" which he could see with his eyes? ______ All he had was Jesus’ word and nothing else, and that is what he believed! Did the words of Jesus come to pass just as Jesus had said (compare John 4:50 with 4:51)? When did the boy start getting well (see John 4:52-53)? ______________________________________________________________________________
This miracle clearly demonstrated the power of Christ: 1) He was able to
heal a boy who was at the point of death even though He was miles away from the one who
was sick; 2) He was able to heal this boy just by the power of His spoken Word plus
nothing! We are reminded of Psalm 33:9--"For He spoke and it was
______________; He commanded and it _________________ fast." God
does not want us to believe because we have seen; God wants us to believe because He
has said!
The first part of John Chapter 5 tells us about another great healing miracle. What city did this miracle take place in (John 5:1-2) _____________________________________________ There was a pool in this city where a variety of sick folk would gather. Some were blind, some were lame and some were paralyzed (John 5:3). They were hoping to be cured by the waters of this pool (John 5:4).
The man Jesus healed is described in John 5:5. He is also called an "impotent" man (John 5:7) which means that he was "without (physical) strength." How long had this man been an invalid (John 5:5)? _____________________________________
What was the very first thing Jesus asked this man (John 5:6)? ________________________________________________________ This means, "Do you want to be healed?" This man wanted to be healed but he did not have very much hope that it would ever happen (see John 5:7). Apparently these sick people had reason to believe that when the waters in the pool were troubled or stirred up, only the first person into the pool would be healed (John 5:4,7). This man did not think that he would ever be able to get there first unless someone could help him. Little did he know that Jesus could heal him INSTANTLY without even using the waters in the pool!
Again Jesus merely SPOKE THE WORD: "Rise (get up), take up thy bed,
and ___________" (John 5:8). Did it take the man 5 minutes or 5 hours or 5 days to get
healed (John 5:9)? He was healed I________________________ (John 5:9), just as Jesus
had said!
On what day did this amazing miracle take place (John 5:9-10)? _________________________ The Sabbath day was the seventh day of the week (Saturday), a day on which the Jews were not to do any work.
What did the Jews think about this wonderful miracle which Jesus had done? Did they think it was wonderful that this impotent and weak man could be instantly healed? Did they thank God that a man who was an invalid for 38 years could now walk as well as a healthy man? Were they GLAD, SAD or MAD (John 5:16)? ________________ Were they grateful to Jesus for the great thing He had done (John 5:16)? _______ They were angry at the impotent man because he carried his bed on the Sabbath (John 5:10) and they were angry at Jesus because He healed on the Sabbath (John 5:16)! Jesus then said something that made them even more angry: "My __________________ worketh hitherto, and I __________ (John 5:17). Jesus was saying that God was His F________________ and therefore He was the SON of God. Because of this the Jews wanted to KILL Him (John 5:18). They thought that it was blasphemy for a mere man to call God His Father!
Today someone might say, "I believe that Jesus was the Son of God. I
do not believe that Jesus is God. He is not God, He is
merely the Son of God." But
this person does not really understand what Jesus meant when He said that He was the SON
OF GOD. In the days when Jesus walked this earth, when a person said, "God is my
Father" he was "making himself _______________ with God" (John 5:18). When
Jesus claimed that He was the SON OF GOD He was really saying, "I AM EQUAL WITH GOD.
I AND MY FATHER ARE _________" (John 10:30). This is why the Jews wanted to kill Jesus! In
their unbelief and meanness they wanted to put Him to death! And what were His great
crimes? 1) He healed a man on the Sabbath (JOHN 5:9); 2) He said that God was His Father (JOHN 5:18).
In John 5:19-30 Jesus speaks about Himself and His relationship to the Father. How many times do you find the word "SON" in these verses? __________ How many times do you find the word "FATHER"? _________ In these verses we learn several wonderful things about the matchless Son of God:
The word "quickeneth" means "gives life." The Son is the One who gives life to whom He will. In John 5:24 we learn that He gives everlasting life to those who believe. According to John 5:24, what are 3 things that are true of everyone who believes:
1) He has everlasting _______________.
2) He shall not come into condemnation (or judgment).
3) He is passed from _______________unto _______________.
If you have done the first part of John 5:24, then these three things are true about you!
The Father "hath committed all ______________________ unto the ________" (John 5:22). All men must someday stand before Jesus Christ, the perfect Judge and the perfect Man. "He is the Son of __________ (John 5:27). No one will ever be able to say, "The Judge does not know what we go through as men. He does not know what it is like being in our shoes!" No, the Judge is the SON OF MAN! He was and is a true man just like us! No man is better qualified to be the JUDGE!
The Father and the Son should both be honored! What if a person says, "I believe in God the Father, but I do not believe in Jesus." Is this person honoring the Son? _______ "He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the F_______________ (John 5:23). Those who hate Jesus really hate the Father also! If you want to find out what a person thinks about God (the Father), ask them to tell you what they think about Christ!
Suppose you were to go to a cemetery and cry out with a loud voice, "Listen all of you dead people. I want you to come out of the graves!" If you were to do this, do you think anything would happen? When it comes to bringing people out of their graves, we are very helpless and powerless!
But when those in the graves hear Christ’s voice the Bible says that they "shall come F_____________ (John 5:29)! Jesus mentions two resurrections here: 1) the resurrection of ____________ (this is for saved people); 2) the resurrection of ___________________________ (this is for unsaved people).
THE MANY WITNESSES POINTING TO JESUS
In Deuteronomy 19:15 we read, "at the mouth of two ______________________or at the mouth of three _______________________ shall the matter be established." Was Jesus Christ really the Son of God? Was He really the promised Messiah, the King of the Jews? Was He really everything He claimed to be? Jesus had several witnesses that pointed to the fact that He was just what He said He was! We learn about these witnesses in John 5:31-47:
John the Baptist clearly pointed to Jesus Christ as we have already studied. John was a faithful witness (John 5:33), burning and shining brightly for the Lord (John 5:35).
The changing of water into wine, the amazing healing of the nobleman’s son, the healing of the impotent man─all of these miracles pointed clearly to the fact that Jesus Christ was none other than the Son of God.
"And the ____________________ Himself, which hath sent Me, hath borne _____________________ of Me" (John 5:37). God the Father was another Witness who pointed to Christ. But did the Jews believe in the One that the Father sent (John 5:38)? ________God sent His beloved Son into the world, but for the most part men rejected Him and "received Him not" (John 1:11).
Jesus told these Jews to "search the ________________________" (John 5:39) because the Scriptures are another witness that points clearly to Christ. The Jews had the Old Testament Scriptures (the 39 Books) and in these books God promised that He would send the Messiah. The Old Testament Books clearly pointed to Christ (see Luke 24:27,44), but the Jews still rejected Him when He came into the world : "and ye will not _____________ to Me, that ye might have __________" (John 5:40—literally "ye were not willing to come to Me..."). Christ was willing to give them LIFE but they were unwilling to come to Him! Compare 1 Timothy 2:4 where we learn that God desires all men to be saved. If a person refuses to come to Him, then that person cannot have life (see John 14:6; 17:3; 20:31). "I am come in my Father's Name, and ye ____________________ Me _______" (John 5:43).
The Jews knew of no man greater than Moses. He was the great lawgiver and the man who led the children of Israel out of Egypt. Moses was also a WITNESS who pointed to Christ because Moses "wrote of _______ " (John 5:46). Moses wrote the first 5 books of the Bible and these books pointed clearly to Jesus Christ. For example, in Deuteronomy 18:15-19 Moses wrote about the great Prophet who would come. This Prophet was none other than Jesus Christ.
THEREFORE, those who reject Jesus Christ must also...
l)...reject John the Baptist and his ministry
2)...ignore the miracles that Jesus did
3)...reject God the Father’s witness and His Word
4)...disbelieve the Old Testament Scriptures
5)...refuse to believe what Moses wrote
What about you? Jesus Christ is the WATER OF LIFE! He wants to give you LIFE! He wants to satisfy you forever so that you will NEVER THIRST! Have you come to Him or do you refuse to come to Him (see John 5:40)?
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