The Woman At The Well

The Woman at the Well

Q: What did Jesus offer the Samaritan woman?

• a. fish and bread
• b. coins
• c. living water

Samaria was the capital of the northern kingdom. When the northern kingdom was taken captive, foreigners moved into Samaria and lived among the remaining Jews. Some of the Jews married the foreigners, and their children were known as Samaritans. The Samaritans were looked down on and avoided by Jews because they were a mixed race.

Jesus didn’t care about race. He came to save everyone, including the Samaritans. While other Jews would travel extra miles to avoid Samaria, Jesus traveled through it.

One day Jesus stopped in Samaria at a well. Women came to draw water from the well in the morning and at night. But one woman came at noon. She was a woman known for her sinful lifestyle and was probably trying to avoid the other women who might have said mean things about her.

When the sinful woman came to the well, Jesus asked her for a drink. Then he told her, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”

Jesus went on to tell her all about her life. The woman thought Jesus was a prophet because he knew things about her that he’d never been told. The woman went and told her friends to come and meet Jesus. Many Samaritans believed in Jesus that day because of Jesus’ encounter with the woman at the well.

For You

After the Samaritan woman met Jesus at the well, she immediately shared her experience with others. They came and believed too. Sometimes our enthusiasm for telling others about Jesus wears off, but it shouldn’t. If you aren’t sharing Jesus with your friends and classmates, ask God to make you not only willing to share your faith but eager to do it.

Answer: c

Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.”   John 4:10

(The Whole Story: John 4:1-42)