John Reading GuideSample

Jesus isn’t concerned about hanging with the “in” crowd. In John 4, Jesus initiates a conversation with a highly unlikely character—a Samaritan woman who had five husbands. Her gender made her culturally inferior. Her race labeled her as one to be avoided. Her lifestyle choices marked her as one to be condemned. But Jesus ignored all the social barriers meant to separate because His concern isn’t for appearances; His concern is for people. All people. Hurting people. Searching people. People who make bad choices. Empty people. Because that’s all of us, right?

In John 4:15, the woman refers to the hassle of returning to the well so often to quench her thirst. In the same way, she has repeatedly returned to the “well” of failed relationships to fill her emptiness, to quench her persistent disappointment. In John 4:13-14, Jesus offered to heal a hurt the woman didn’t even realize she had. Today He offers the same for us.

While we stuff ourselves on what the world offers—money, success, relationships, sex, possessions, entertainment—the satisfaction
is momentary at best. Jesus offers us peace and joy and love and a relationship that is fulfilling. Jesus alone satisfies our every need, quenches our every thirst, lasts forever and never disappoints. He approaches us in our current state and offers to meet our greatest need—the need for a Savior.

1) What did you learn about Jesus from this chapter?
2) How have you tried to fill your own emptiness with the things of the world? Just like the woman found herself returning to the well to try and fill her thirst, what sins do you find yourself returning to in an effort to fill the void in your heart?
3) How have you experienced Jesus’s peace or joy or love in your own life recently?