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John 4:7-15

King James Version (KJV)

“In our prayers we talk to God, in our Bible study God talks to us, and we had better let God do most of the talking.”
— D.L. Moody

Scripture focus

7. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. 8. (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) 9. Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. 10. Jesus answered and said unto her, 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. 11. The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? 12. Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? 13. Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: 14. 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. 15. The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.

John 4:7-15 — KJV

Commentary

Commentary on John 4:7

Theological / Devotional

A woman of Samaria. That is, a woman of the Samaritan stock (see on v. 4), not a woman from the city of Samaria, which was more than two hours distant.

Give me to drink. It is comforting to know that Jesus experienced such things as thirst, hunger, weariness, and pain, even as we do (see on v. 6). He became one with us in order to succor us in whatever circumstance may arise (see on ch. 1:14).

The process of winning the woman of Samaria deserves the most careful study on the part of all who set out to win others to Christ. There were four main stages in this process: (1) The awakening of a desire for something better, vs. 7-15. (2) The awakening of a conviction of personal need, vs. 16-20. (3) The call for a decision to acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah, vs. 21-26. (4) The stimulus to action appropriate to the decision, vs. 28-30, 39-42. For comment on the detailed steps in each of these four stages of the process see on vs. 7, 16, 21, 28.

Jesus gained the woman’s attention with the request, “Give me to drink.” Her response is evident in the question of v. 9, “How is it . . .?” Having thus secured her undivided attention, Jesus aroused her interest by the offer of “living water” (v. 10). Her reaction appears in the question as to “whence” He obtained such water (v. 11) and whether He professed to be “greater” than Jacob, who had dug the well (v. 12). From attention and interest, Jesus led her on to desire the “living water,” declaring that those who drink it will “never thirst” (v. 14). She responded with the request, “Sir, give me this water” (v. 15), even though she had little conception, as yet, of what she was asking for.

By SdaBc