Lesson 5

The Testimony of the Samaritans

Sabbath Afternoon

Read for This Week’s Study: John 4:1–42, John 3:26–30, Jer. 2:13, Zech. 14:8, Ezek.
36:25–27.

Memory Text: “Then they said to the woman, ‘Now we believe, not because of what
you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the
Christ, the Savior of the world’ ” (John 4:42, NKJV).
Who were the Samaritans? The northern kingdom of Israel had been taken captive
by the Assyrians in 722 b.c. To create political stability, the Assyrians dispersed their
captives throughout their empire. Likewise, captives from other nations were
brought to populate the northern kingdom, and these became the Samaritans, who
practiced their own form of Judaism.
Relations, however, were not good between them and the Jews. For instance, the
Samaritans worked against the rebuilding of the temple at the return of the Jews
from Babylon. The Samaritans, meanwhile, had built their own temple, on Mount
Gerizim. But this temple was destroyed by the Jewish ruler John Hyrcanus in 128 b.c.
At the time of Christ, this animosity continued. The Jews avoided Samaria as much as
possible. Though commerce may have gone on, other interaction was taboo. The
Jews would not borrow from Samaritans or even receive a favor from them. Within
this context, John recounts the encounter between Jesus, the woman at the well,
and the people of the Samaritan city of Sychar.

*Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, November 2.

Supplemental EGW Notes

Christ was the greatest teacher the world has ever known. He came to this earth to
shed abroad the bright beams of truth, that men might gain a fitness for heaven.
“For this cause came I into the world,” He declared, “that I should bear witness unto
the truth.” John 18:37. He came to reveal the character of the Father, that men might
be led to worship Him in spirit and in truth.
Man’s need for a divine teacher was known in heaven. The pity and sympathy of God
were aroused in behalf of human beings, fallen and bound to Satan’s chariot car; and
when the fullness of time was come, He sent forth His Son. The One appointed in the
councils of heaven came to this earth as man’s instructor. The rich benevolence of
God gave Him to our world, and to meet the necessities of human nature He took
humanity upon Himself.—Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, p. 259.

In the temple at Jerusalem a low wall separated the outer court from all other
portions of the sacred building. Upon this wall were inscriptions in different
languages, stating that none but Jews were allowed to pass this boundary. Had a
Gentile presumed to enter the inner enclosure, he would have desecrated the
temple, and would have paid the penalty with his life. But Jesus, the originator of the
temple and its service, drew the Gentiles to Him by the tie of human sympathy,
while His divine grace brought to them the salvation which the Jews rejected.—The
Desire of Ages, p. 193.

Close by the Israelites who had set themselves to the task of rebuilding the temple,
dwelt the Samaritans, a mixed race that had sprung up through the intermarriage of
heathen colonists from the provinces of Assyria with the remnant of the ten tribes
which had been left in Samaria and Galilee. In later years the Samaritans claimed to
worship the true God, but in heart and practice they were idolaters. . . .
During the period of the restoration, these Samaritans came to be known as “the
adversaries of Judah and Benjamin.” Hearing that “the children of the captivity
builded the temple unto the Lord God of Israel,” “they came to Zerubbabel, and to
the chief of the fathers,” and expressed a desire to unite with them in its erection.
“Let us build with you,” they proposed. . . . But the privilege they asked was refused
them. “Ye have nothing to do with us to build an house unto our God,” the leaders of
the Israelites declared; “but we ourselves together will build unto the Lord God of
Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia hath commanded us.” Ezra 4:1–3. . . .
Had the Jewish leaders accepted this offer of assistance, they would have opened a
door for the entrance of idolatry. They discerned the insincerity of the Samaritans.
They realized that help gained through an alliance with these men would be as
nothing in comparison with the blessing they might expect to receive by following
the plain commands of Jehovah.—Prophets and Kings, pp. 567, 568.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 27

The Setting of the Encounter

Read John 4:1–4. What was the background issue that led Jesus through Samaria?

The Pharisees discovered that the disciples of Jesus were baptizing more people than
did those of John the Baptist. This situation could create tensions between John’s
followers and Jesus’. The disciples of John, quite naturally, were jealous for their
master’s reputation and status (compare with John 3:26–30). John’s impressive reply
was that he must decrease, but Jesus must increase (John 3:30). Probably to avoid
confrontation, Jesus departed Judea to go to Galilee. Samaria provided the most
direct route between those two locations, but it was not the only route possible.
Devout Jews would take the long way around, going east through Perea. But Jesus
had a mission in Samaria.

Read John 4:5–9. How did Jesus use this opportunity to open a dialogue with the
woman at the well?

Jacob’s well was located right next to Shechem, while Sychar, where the woman was
from, was about a mile away (1.5 km). Jesus sat by the well while His disciples went
into the city to buy food. He had no access to the cooling water of the well. When
the woman came to draw water, He asked her for a drink.

In John 3, it was surprising that Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews and a rabbi, would
lower himself to come to Jesus. He came by night to avoid discovery. But, in John 4,
the woman hides in broad daylight, perhaps avoiding contact with other women who
came either at the beginning or end of the day when it was cooler. After all, why did
she go such a long way to fetch water, and in the middle of the day when it was hot?
Whatever the reason for her being there, meeting Jesus would change her life.

What scene unfolds next? A Jewish teacher is compared to a Samaritan woman of

poor reputation. What a contrast! And yet, in this exact context, a remarkable
encounter unfolds.

What are some of the taboos in your own culture that could hamper your witness to
others? How do we learn to transcend them? Bring your answer to class on Sabbath.
Supplemental EGW Notes

Christ recognized no distinction of nationality or rank or creed. The scribes and

Pharisees desired to make a local and a national benefit of the gifts of heaven and to
exclude the rest of God’s family in the world. But Christ came to break down every
wall of partition. He came to show that His gift of mercy and love is as unconfined as
the air, the light, or the showers of rain that refresh the earth.
The life of Christ established a religion in which there is no caste, a religion by which
Jew and Gentile, free and bond, are linked in a common brotherhood, equal before
God. No question of policy influenced His movements. He made no difference
between neighbors and strangers, friends and enemies. That which appealed to His
heart was a soul thirsting for the waters of life.
He passed by no human being as worthless, but sought to apply the healing remedy
to every soul. In whatever company He found Himself He presented a lesson
appropriate to the time and the circumstances. Every neglect or insult shown by men
to their fellow men only made Him more conscious of their need of His divine-human
sympathy. He sought to inspire with hope the roughest and most unpromising,
setting before them the assurance that they might become blameless and harmless,
attaining such a character as would make them manifest as the children of God.—
The Ministry of Healing, p. 25.

The Saviour longed to unfold to His disciples the truth regarding the breaking down
of the “middle wall of partition” between Israel and the other nations—the truth
that “the Gentiles should be fellow heirs” with the Jews and “partakers of His
promise in Christ by the gospel.” Ephesians 2:14; 3:6. This truth was revealed in part
at the time when He rewarded the faith of the centurion at Capernaum, and also
when He preached the gospel to the inhabitants of Sychar. Still more plainly was it
revealed on the occasion of His visit to Phoenicia, when He healed the daughter of
the Canaanite woman. These expe-riences helped the disciples to understand that
among those whom many regarded as unworthy of salvation, there were souls
hungering for the light of truth.—The Acts of the Apostles, p. 19.

In the days of Christ, selfishness and pride and prejudice had built strong and high
the wall of partition between the appointed guardians of the sacred oracles and
every other nation on the globe. But the Saviour had come to change all this. The
words which the people were hearing from His lips were unlike anything to which
they had ever listened from priest or rabbi. Christ tears away the wall of partition,
the self-love, the dividing prejudice of nationality, and teaches a love for all the
human family. He lifts men from the narrow circle that their selfishness prescribes;
He abolishes all territorial lines and artificial distinctions of society. He makes no
difference between neighbors and strangers, friends and enemies. He teaches us to
look upon every needy soul as our neighbor and the world as our field.—Thoughts
from the Mount of Blessing, p. 42.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 28

The Woman at the Well

Read John 4:7–15. How does Jesus use this encounter to start witnessing to this
woman?

“The hatred between Jews and Samaritans prevented the woman from offering a
kindness to Jesus; but the Saviour was seeking to find the key to this heart, and with
the tact born of divine love, He asked, not offered, a favor. The offer of a kindness
might have been rejected; but trust awakens trust.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of
Ages, p. 184.

As was the case in His encounter with Nicodemus, Jesus knows what is in the
woman’s heart. In response to her surprise that a Jew would ask such a favor of a
Samaritan, Jesus goes directly to the point. “ ‘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’ ” (John 4:10, NKJV).

The woman’s response was like that of Nicodemus, who asked, “ ‘How can these
things be?’ ” (John 3:9, NKJV) in the context of a new birth. She asked, “ ‘You have
nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living
water?’ ” (John 4:11, NKJV). In both cases, Jesus was pointing them (one, a
prominent Jewish teacher; the other, a Samaritan woman of dubious character) to
the transcendent spiritual truths that each one needed to hear and understand. In
each case, Jesus was basically telling them both the same thing: they need a
conversion experience.

What is the Old Testament background to Jesus’ statement about living water? (Jer.
2:13, Zech. 14:8).

Water is necessary for life; humans cannot exist without water, and so water can be
a powerful and appropriate image of eternal life, as well. Hence, Jesus says, “
‘Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water
that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into
everlasting life’ ” (John 4:14, NKJV).

Read John 7:37, 38. What is Jesus saying to us in these verses, and how do we
experience what He is promising here?
Supplemental EGW Notes

Christ neglected no opportunity of proclaiming the gospel of salvation. Listen to His

wonderful words to that one woman of Samaria. He was sitting by Jacob’s well, as
the woman came to draw water. To her surprise He asked a favor of her. “Give Me to
drink,” He said. He wanted a cool draft, and He wished also to open the way
whereby He might give to her the water of life. “How is it,” said the woman, “that
Thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews
have no dealings with the Samaritans.” Jesus answered, “If thou knewest the gift of
God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give Me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of
Him, and He would have given thee living water. . . . Whosoever drinketh of this
water shall thirst again: but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him
shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water
springing up into everlasting life.” John 4:7–14.—The Ministry of Healing, p. 27.

How much interest Christ manifested in this one woman! How earnest and eloquent
were His words! When the woman heard them, she left her waterpot, and went into
the city, saying to her friends, “Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I
did: is not this the Christ?” We read that “many of the Samaritans of that city
believed on Him.” Verses 29, 39. And who can estimate the influence which these
words have exerted for the saving of souls in the years that have passed since then?
Wherever hearts are open to receive the truth, Christ is ready to instruct them. He
reveals to them the Father, and the service a-cceptable to Him who reads the heart.
For such He uses no parables. To them, as to the woman at the well, He says, “I that
speak unto thee am He.”—The Ministry of Healing, p. 28.

You must seek to have an indwelling Saviour, who will be to you as a well of water,
springing up into everlasting life. The water of life flowing from the heart always
waters the hearts of others.
The water that Christ referred to was the revelation of His grace in His Word. His
Spirit, His teaching, is as a satisfying fountain to every soul. . . . In Christ is fullness of
joy forevermore. . . . Christ’s gracious presence in His Word is ever speaking to the
soul, representing Him as the well of living water to refresh the thirsting. It is our
privilege to have a living, abiding Saviour. He is the source of spiritual power
implanted within us, and His influence will flow forth in words and actions,
refreshing all within the sphere of our influence, begetting in them desires and
aspirations for strength and purity, for holiness and peace, and for that joy which
brings with it no sorrow. This is the result of an indwelling Saviour.—Ellen G. White
Comments, in The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, vol. 5, p. 1134.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29

“ ‘Sir, Give Me This Water’ ”

“ ‘Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you
from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a
new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a
heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes,
and you will keep My judgments and do them’ ” (Ezek. 36:25–27, NKJV).
How does Ezekiel 36:25–27 reflect the truths Jesus was seeking to give to Nicodemus
and to the woman at the well?

In both cases, Jesus was seeking to reach these people with spiritual truths, even
though He used illustrations from the natural world to do so.

At first, neither person understood what Jesus meant. How, asked Nicodemus, can a
man be born again? That is, how can he return to his mother’s womb? Nicodemus
clearly was functioning at a mundane and earthly level, even though Jesus clearly
was pointing him toward spiritual truth. This woman, too, took Jesus’ words about
the water in a literal sense when Jesus was clearly talking about something spiritual.

The woman’s response to Jesus’ offer of living water was, “ ‘Give me this water, that
I may not thirst, nor come here to draw’ ” (John 4:15, NKJV). She reasoned that the
water Jesus offered would obviate trips to the well, thus reducing the risk of facing
others. It is striking that the conversation shifted so quickly from Jesus’ asking for a
drink to the woman’s asking Him for a drink.

Read John 4:16. How did Jesus respond to the woman’s request?

Abruptly, Jesus changes the topic of discussion, telling the woman to go call her
husband and come back. Why the sudden shift in topic? The woman’s actions
bespoke avoidance. Jesus could read her heart. She must face her situation to find
healing. “Before this soul could receive the gift He longed to bestow, she must be
brought to recognize her sin and her Saviour.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p.
187.
Supplemental EGW Notes

The great difference between the Jews and the Samaritans was a difference in
religious belief, a question as to what constitutes true worship. The Pharisees would
say nothing good of the Samaritans, but poured their bitterest curses upon them. So
strong was the antipathy between the Jews and the Samaritans that to the
Samaritan woman it seemed a strange thing for Christ to ask her for a drink.—
Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 380.

The prince of teachers, [the Savior] sought access to the people by the pathway of
their most familiar associations. He presented the truth in such a way that ever after
it was to His hearers intertwined with their most hallowed recollections and
sympathies. He taught in a way that made them feel the completeness of His
identification with their interests and happiness. His instruction was so direct, His
illustrations were so appropriate, His words so sympathetic and cheerful, that His
hearers were charmed. The simplicity and earnestness with which He addressed the
needy, hallowed every word.
What a busy life He led! Day by day He might have been seen entering the humble
abodes of want and sorrow, speaking hope to the downcast and peace to the
distressed. Gracious, tenderhearted, pitiful, He went about lifting up the bowed-
down and comforting the sorrowful. Wherever He went, He carried blessing.—The
Ministry of Healing, pp. 23, 24.

Jesus came to impart to the human soul the Holy Spirit, by which the love of God is
shed abroad in the heart; but it is impossible to endow men with the Holy Spirit, who
are set in their ideas, whose doctrines are all stereotyped and unchangeable, who
are walking after the traditions and commandments of men, as were the Jews in the
time of Christ. They were very punctilious in the observances of the church, very
rigorous in following their forms, but they were destitute of vitality and religious
devotion. They were represented by Christ as like the dry skins which were then
used as bottles. The gospel of Christ could not be placed in their hearts; for there was
no room to contain it. They could not be the new bottles into which He could pour
His new wine. Christ was obliged to seek elsewhere than among the scribes and the
Pharisees for bottles for His doctrine of truth and life. He must find men who were
willing to have regeneration of heart. He came to give to men new hearts. He said,
“A new heart also will I give you.” But the self-righteous of that day and of this day
feel no need of having a new heart. Jesus passed by the scribes and the Pharisees, for
they felt no need of a Saviour.—Selected Messages, book 1, p. 386.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 30

The Revelation of Jesus

Read John 4:16–24. What did Jesus do to show this woman that He knew her
deepest secrets, and how did she respond?

The light was too blinding to look at directly. While recognizing Jesus as a prophet,
the woman practices avoidance again. She asks Jesus a question of religious
controversy between Jews and Samaritans—the proper place to worship.

In response, Jesus pointed out that the Samaritans did not know what they
worshiped. Their worship was a synthesis of Judaism and paganism. The Jews
worshiped the God who reveals Himself—another important admission for a
Samaritan.

Worship of the true God is not tied to a place. The discussion, therefore, about a
place of worship was irrelevant to the conversation. For God is spirit, and those who
worship Him must do so in spirit and in truth. The woman accepted the plain truth
conveyed by Jesus and was ready for more.

Read John 4:25, 26. How did Jesus reveal His identity to her?

In all four Gospels, this is the only passage before His trial in which Jesus plainly
stated to someone that He was the Messiah. And He did it not to some large crowd
or important personage but to an unnamed Samaritan woman, alone, at Jacob’s
well. He is interested in any lonely soul who feels separated.

And so to this woman, who not only was from a foreign culture but also was not of
the highest moral character, Jesus openly reveals who He is. And, having revealed to
her His knowledge of her darkest secrets, He also gave this woman a great reason to
believe in Him, as well.

What should this story tell us about why the gospel needs to break down the barriers
that we humans create with each other?
Supplemental EGW Notes

Jesus had begun to break down the partition wall between Jew and Gentile, and to
preach salvation to the world. Though He was a Jew, He mingled freely with the
Samaritans, setting at nought the Pharisaic customs of His nation. In face of their
prejudices He accepted the hospitality of this despised people. He slept under their
roofs, ate with them at their tables,—partaking of the food prepared and served by
their hands,—taught in their streets, and treated them with the utmost kindness and
courtesy.—The Desire of Ages, p. 193.

The stay of Jesus in Samaria was designed to be a blessing to His disciples, who were
still under the influence of Jewish bigotry. They felt that loyalty to their own nation
required them to cherish enmity toward the Samaritans. They wondered at the
conduct of Jesus. They could not refuse to follow His example, and during the two
days in Samaria, fidelity to Him kept their prejudices under control; yet in heart they
were unreconciled. They were slow to learn that their contempt and hatred must
give place to pity and sympathy. But after the Lord’s ascension, His lessons came
back to them with a new meaning. After the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, they
recalled the Saviour’s look, His words, the respect and tenderness of His bearing
toward these despised strangers. When Peter went to preach in Samaria, he brought
the same spirit into his own work. When John was called to Ephesus and Smyrna, he
remembered the experience at Shechem, and was filled with gratitude to the divine
Teacher, who, foreseeing the difficulties they must meet, had given them help in His
own example.—The Desire of Ages, p. 193.

As soon as she had found the Saviour the Samaritan woman brought others to Him.
She proved herself a more effective mis-sionary than His own disciples. The disciples
saw nothing in Samaria to indicate that it was an encouraging field. Their thoughts
were fixed upon a great work to be done in the future. They did not see that right
around them was a harvest to be gathered. But through the woman whom they
despised, a whole cityful were brought to hear the Saviour. She carried the light at
once to her countrymen.
This woman represents the working of a practical faith in Christ. Every true disciple is
born into the kingdom of God as a missionary. He who drinks of the living water
becomes a fountain of life. The receiver becomes a giver. The grace of Christ in the
soul is like a spring in the desert, welling up to refresh all, and making those who are
ready to perish eager to drink of the water of life.—The Desire of Ages, p. 195.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31

The Testimony of the Samaritans

Read John 4:27–29. What surprising action did the woman take?

Jesus’ discussion with the woman was interrupted by the arrival of the disciples.
Though surprised that He was speaking with a woman, they did not question Him.
Instead, they urged Him to eat.

The woman, meanwhile, left her water pot and rushed into the city to share with
others what she had just experienced with Jesus.

Read John 4:30–42. What happened following this encounter, and what does it teach
about how the gospel can be spread?

It seems strange that Jesus’ narrative about a harvest would interrupt the story of
the conversion of many in the city. But John wants us to see how Jesus understood
what was happening. Sharing the plan of salvation with a Samaritan woman was far
more important to Him than eating. To lead souls to salvation was His purpose, and
He used this occasion to teach His disciples the urgency of sharing the gospel with all
people, even with those not like them.

There are many high points in the Gospel of John. Surely John 4:39–42 is among
them. Many of the Samaritans believed because of the woman's testimony: “ ‘He
told me all that I ever did’ ” (John 4:39, NKJV).

The Samaritans asked Jesus to stay with them. The result was that many more
believed because of the Word of Jesus. “Then they said to the woman, ‘Now we
believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we
know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world’ ” (John 4:42, NKJV).

What should this story tell us about how powerful the witness of even one person
can be? How powerful a witness are you to what Jesus has done in your life?
Supplemental EGW Notes

The Pharisees despised the simplicity of Jesus. They ignored His miracles, and demanded a
sign that He was the Son of God. But the Samaritans asked no sign, and Jesus performed no
miracles among them, save in revealing the secrets of her life to the woman at the well. Yet
many received Him. In their new joy they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because
of thy saying: for we have heard Him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the
Saviour of the world.”
The Samaritans believed that the Messiah was to come as the Redeemer, not only of the
Jews, but of the world. The Holy Spirit through Moses had foretold Him as a prophet sent
from God. Through Jacob it had been declared that unto Him should the gather-ing of the
people be; and through Abraham, that in Him all the nations of the earth should be blessed.
On these scriptures the people of Samaria based their faith in the Messiah. The fact that the
Jews had misinterpreted the later prophets, attributing to the first advent the glory of
Christ’s second coming, had led the Samaritans to discard all the sacred writings except
those given through Moses. But as the Saviour swept away these false interpretations, many
accepted the later prophecies and the words of Christ Himself in regard to the kingdom of
God.—The Desire of Ages, pp. 192, 193.

The Saviour is still carrying forward the same work as when He proffered the water of life to
the woman of Samaria. Those who call themselves His followers may despise and shun the
outcast ones; but no circumstance of birth or nationality, no condition of life, can turn away
His love from the children of men. To every soul, however sinful, Jesus says, If thou hadst
asked of Me, I would have given thee living water.
The gospel invitation is not to be narrowed down, and presented only to a select few, who,
we suppose, will do us honor if they accept it. The message is to be given to all. Wherever
hearts are open to receive the truth, Christ is ready to instruct them. He reveals to them the
Father, and the worship acceptable to Him who reads the heart. For such He uses no
parables. To them, as to the woman at the well, He says, “I that speak unto thee am He.”—
The Desire of Ages, p. 194.

When Jesus sat down to rest at Jacob’s well, He had come from Judea, where His ministry
had produced little fruit. He had been rejected by the priests and rabbis, and even the
people who professed to be His disciples had failed of perceiving His divine character. He
was faint and weary; yet He did not neglect the opportunity of speaking to one woman,
though she was a stranger, an alien from Israel, and living in open sin.
The Saviour did not wait for congregations to assemble. Often He began His lessons with
only a few gathered about Him, but one by one the passers-by paused to listen, until a
multitude heard with wonder and awe the words of God through the heaven-sent Teacher.
The worker for Christ should not feel that he cannot speak with the same earnestness to a
few hearers as to a larger company. There may be only one to hear the message; but who
can tell how far-reaching will be its influence? It seemed a small matter, even to His
disciples, for the Saviour to spend His time upon a woman of Samaria. But He reasoned more
earnestly and eloquently with her than with kings, councilors, or high priests. The lessons He
gave to that woman have been repeated to the earth’s remotest bounds.—The Desire of
Ages, p. 194.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 01

Further Thought: Read Ellen G. White, “At Jacob’s Well,” pp. 183–195, in The Desire
of Ages.
“As soon as she had found the Saviour the Samaritan woman brought others to Him.
She proved herself a more effective missionary than His own disciples. The disciples
saw nothing in Samaria to indicate that it was an encouraging field. Their thoughts
were fixed upon a great work to be done in the future. They did not see that right
around them was a harvest to be gathered. But through the woman whom they
despised, a whole cityful were brought to hear the Saviour. She carried the light at
once to her countrymen.
“This woman represents the working of a practical faith in Christ. Every true disciple
is born into the kingdom of God as a missionary. He who drinks of the living water
becomes a fountain of life. The receiver becomes a giver. The grace of Christ in the
soul is like a spring in the desert, welling up to refresh all, and making those who are
ready to perish eager to drink of the water of life.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of
Ages, p. 195.

Discussion Questions:

In class, go over your answers to Sunday’s final question. Be brutally honest about it.
What are the taboos and prejudices found in your culture that could indeed hamper
your own witness to-others?

Why do you think Jesus got such a warm reception among the Samaritans in contrast
to the reception among His own people?

Put yourself in the place of that Samaritan woman. A total stranger comes and lets
her know that He is aware of her deepest secrets. How could anyone, much less a
stranger, have known these things? No wonder she was impressed by Jesus. What
should this story tell us about how the Lord knows everything about us, even the
deepest, darkest secrets that we would not want anyone to know? And yet, what
does the way He treated her say to us about how He wants to deal with us, even
when He knows our secrets? What comfort can we draw from this truth?

What themes in the Gospel of John that we have studied thus far are found in Jesus’
ministry to the Samaritan woman at the well?

Supplemental EGW Notes

My Life Today, “The Bible Begets New Life,” p. 24;

Christ Triumphant, “Christ Will Create a New Heart in His Followers,” p. 233.
Inside Story

Unsolicited Book in the Mail

By Andrew McChesney

For most of his life, Rob Schetky, a retired U.S. Navy officer, had struggled with the
Bible and its meaning.
Once an agnostic, Rob was seeking God’s will, but the Sabbath posed a problem. He
fumed when people skipped church and engaged in everyday activities on Sunday.
He asked, “Why are you playing golf on Sunday?” But inside he wondered, Where in
the Bible did God change the Sabbath?
Rob stopped going to church. He was looking for a new church in Fairbanks, in the
U.S. state of Alaska, when an unsolicited book arrived in his post office mailbox.
“That’s an interesting name,” he thought, examining the book. “I wonder what The
Great Controversy is.”
Leaving the post office, he passed a stack of Great Controversy books that other
people had discarded on a counter. It had been a mass mailing.
At home, Rob became engrossed in the book. He grew excited as he read how
humans, not God, had changed the Sabbath day of worship. Wow! he thought.
Someone is telling the history of the church in a very logical way.
Contacting a friend, he said, “I’ve found a great history of Christianity. It’s called The
Great Controversy.” Later, the friend called back. “You’ve got to get away,” he said.
“That’s the Seventh-day Adventist Church. They’re a cult!”
Rob was surprised. He hadn’t noticed the name of the book’s author, Ellen White,
and didn’t know that she had cofounded the Adventist Church. “No, they are not a
cult,” he said. “They just believe in the Word of God.”
After the conversation, Rob wondered if Adventists worshiped in Fairbanks. Looking
online, he found a church located only a 10-minute drive away. On Sabbath, he
grabbed his Bible and The Great Controversy and went to church. He had been
reading the book for less than a month.
The first person to greet him at church was a Sabbath School teacher, Helen. She
expressed surprise when she learned that he had come because of The Great
Controversy. “You just destroyed my complaints,” she said.
She had been worried that the small size of the book’s text made it impossible to
read. Yet Rob had already read three-fourths of the book—and he had come to
church to learn more.
Today, seven years later, Rob is 70 and a church deacon. He still reads the Bible and
the writings of Ellen White daily. “When I found the Seventh-day Adventist Church, I
found a home, and I found truth,” he said.
Join the Adventist world church in 2024 in the mass promotion and distribution of
The Great Controversy. Ask your pastor or visit greatcontroversyproject.com for
more details .
Teacher Comments

Part I: Overview
Study Focus: John 4:1–15, John 4:16–26, and John 4:27–42

The Samaritans were despised by their Jewish neighbors. The Jews despised the
Samaritans even more than they despised their Roman oppressors. The Samaritans
were viewed as corrupt, insincere, and to be avoided at any cost. That is why
travelers from the regions of Galilee avoided the shorter route to Jerusalem via
Samaria and instead detoured through Perea, taking the longer route to the city.

The Samaritan problem started when Tiglath-Pileser III (745–727 b.c.) took most of
the population of Israel as captives to Assyria to settle there. These Israelites
comprised what are known as the ten lost tribes of Israel. To complete this work of
depopulation, the new Assyrian emperor, Sargon II (722–705 b.c.), exiled even more
of the inhabitants of the Northern Kingdom.

To unify the Assyrian Empire, people from Assyria and the Mesopotamian regions
were brought into Israel to repopulate it. Thus, these newcomers mixed with the
remnant of Israel, both religiously and racially. The outline here is but a brief
overview of the events that transpired. Other negative incidents that occurred later
on, such as the Samaritan attempt to sabotage the rebuilding efforts of the Jewish
exiles when they returned to their country, only served to compound the problem
and intensify racial tensions between the Samaritans and Jews.

Part II: Commentary

The Woman at the Well (John 4:1–15)

In His encounter with this Samaritan woman, Jesus went against accepted protocol
and the strictly practiced traditions of the Jews, all in order to reach her for His
kingdom. For example, Jesus permitted her a private audience even though she was
a woman from Samaria. He asked her for a favor, which was not socially acceptable,
for the Jews had no dealings with such despised and so-called “impure” people,
particularly a woman.

In the culture of that time, asking for and receiving a favor from someone opened
the door to friendship and obligated the receiver to return the favor. The woman
seemed shocked that Jesus, a Jew, asked her, a despised Samaritan woman, to do
something for Him, thus initiating a relationship. Let us consider her response: “
‘How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?’ ” (John
4:9, NKJV).
It is interesting to note that the tasks that she intended to accomplish were left
undone. She was supposed to take a jar of water to her village of Sychar, but in her
excitement about her amazing discovery of the Water of Life, she left the filled water
jar behind. She meant to give Jesus the drink of water to alleviate His thirst, but she
failed because she left in such a hurry. When Jesus’ disciples came back with food to
alleviate His hunger, they were utterly surprised that He was not hungry anymore.

“Leaving her waterpot spoke unmistakably as to the effect of His words. It was the
earnest desire of her soul to obtain the living water; and she forgot her errand to the
well, she forgot the Saviour’s thirst, which she had purposed to supply.”—Ellen G.
White, The Desire of Ages, p. 191. Jesus was deeply moved that such a despised
woman opened her heart to Him as the long-awaited Messiah—a much better
response than from many of His own people, who closed their minds to Him. So
moved was Jesus in doing His Father’s work in reclaiming lost souls for the kingdom
of heaven that He lost His bodily thirst and hunger, sated as He was in His soul by
heavenly water and nourishment.

Sometimes witnessing to others is done out of duty and viewed as drudgery. But
witnessing should be a delight if Christ’s spirit flows out of the heart. Then it is heart
work rather than hard work. For those who experience this Christ-centered outreach,
it is truly an overflow of the Spirit that pours forth from the human heart
spontaneously. That is why Jesus said to His surprised disciples: “ ‘My food is to do
the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work’ ” (John 4:34, NKJV).

The Revelation of Jesus (John 4:16–26)

We can see a similarity between the Samaritan woman’s response and Nicodemus’s
upon hearing the profound truth that proceeded from Christ’s mouth. This illustrious
member of the Sanhedrin tried to sidestep the crucial subject of his desperate need
for spiritual conversion. Instead, Nicodemus feigned ignorance of the meaning of
Christ’s words and tried to equate the new-birth experience with going again,
literally, into a mother’s womb. Similarly, the despised woman of Sychar changed
the subject in an attempt to stifle her conviction that Jesus was the Messiah. She
diverted the conversation with Jesus to a current debate as to the proper place of
worship.

Jesus kindly but pointedly brought her back to the crucial issue of recognizing that He
was the Messiah standing before her. He also tactfully reminded her that her
amalgamated religion of heathenism and Judaism did not lead to the true worship of
God, for He is the Spirit and the fountain of truth. Christ said to her that “ ‘God is
Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth’ ” (John 4:24,
NKJV). In other words, true worship that leads to salvation is not so much about a
place; rather, it is about the Person of Christ.
This simple woman, a sinner with a dubious character, was entrusted with the
weighty truth that Jesus was the long-awaited Messiah. The Savior gradually led the
Samaritan woman to the truth, culminating in His honoring her—more than anyone
else before His resurrection—with the specific truth about His Messiahship. “ ‘I who
speak to you am He’ ” (John 4:26, NKJV). Likewise, we must not show favoritism in
reaching people, be they wealthy or poor, of “higher” or “lower” social status. Such
distinction should not matter to us because it did not matter to Christ. All with whom
we come in contact have one common denominator: their need of forgiveness and
redemption.

The Testimony of the Samaritans (John 4:27–42)

In the culture of the Jews in Jesus’ day, there was an obligation to reciprocate
hospitality, which was acceptable when the reciprocator was a fellow Jew but not
when he or she was a Samaritan. Receiving a favor and reciprocating it tended to
draw people closer to one another. For this reason, the Jews were totally against this
practice with foreigners. But Jesus transcended the national prejudice of the Jews,
for He came to minister and to save the high and the low, both within and without
Jewish society. Furthermore, why would such a societal obligation bother Him when
His mission was to go to the extreme extent of dying for humanity?

Jesus practiced reciprocity in His ministry, for He was willing to give and receive help.
Such an approach is an effective way to validate others and help them to feel
worthwhile and needed. Contemplate how effective this approach proved to be with
the Samaritan woman. Jesus asked her for a simple drink of water, which she could
provide, and He reciprocated with the gift of the Water of Life, which He alone could
give. Then the woman, in turn, shared this good news with her people, and the
entire town came to meet Jesus and to believe in Him.

Similarly, our witness should spread from one person to many in ever-widening
spheres of influence. Also, Jesus opened Himself to others and permitted Himself to
be vulnerable with them as well. Jesus invited intimacy and yearned for people to be
caring and compas­sionate toward Him. Ellen G. White tells us that “at the home of
Lazarus, Jesus had often found rest. The Saviour had no home of His own; He was
dependent on the hospitality of His friends and disciples. . . . He longed for human
tenderness, courtesy, and affection.”—The Desire of Ages, p. 524.
In closing, let us consider this quote that touches on the reciprocity that Jesus
experienced with the Samaritans of Sychar. Even though He was a Jewish rabbi, “He
accepted the hospitality of this despised people. He slept with them under their
roofs, ate with them at their tables.”—Ellen G. White, The Ministry of Healing, p. 26.
We often find it a challenge to practice reciprocity in our witness to others. Perhaps
because we feel so greatly blessed by the wonderful truths that God gave us, we
tend to be helpers but often do not permit ourselves to be the recipients of help.
However, we become more effective if we humble ourselves and practice Christ’s
example of giving and receiving.

Part III: Life Application

Answer the following questions:

What hindrances to our witness do we encounter in our interpersonal contacts with

others, such as neighbors, colleagues, and friends? What roles, if any, do different
languages, racial backgrounds, cultural customs, and economic status have in
impacting our witness? How can God help us to overcome such obstacles? How can
the example of Jesus greatly help us in this regard? Remember that Jesus left a
perfect existence in heaven to face every problem and sinful practice that has beset
humanity.

Consider the following situation: church members do not want to do any evangelism
or witnessing because they are afraid newcomers to the church may possibly alter
the worship practices to which they are accustomed. How would you react to this
challenge?

Think of your favorite hobby. To what extent do you become so absorbed in the
sheer delight of doing it that you forget to eat? Similarly, how can Christ’s example
of witnessing to the Samaritan woman move us from the realm of duty to the
domain of delight?

How do we react when the Holy Spirit convicts us of truth, righteousness, and sin,
especially concerning things that we want to ignore? Are we as patient as the
Samaritan woman was in listening to Jesus tell the “rest of the story” so that,
consequently, we may become healed and restored to Him?

Recall an incident or a providential leading in which God used you to influence one
individual to accept and live for Him. How did that contact impact other persons or
even larger groups of people? Take time to share your experience with one or more
people this week.
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