Day 4: The Good News for Foreigners? (John 4)
Hey everyone, good morning! It’s Day 4, and I’m thrilled to see all the engagement and comments pouring in. It’s a blessing to share this journey with each one of you.
Sometimes we assume that everyone’s got it all together — they’re just fine — and they aren’t interested in hearing about Jesus. But that’s not true. In fact, it’s the complete opposite. Many people are silently battling deep pain, frustration, and hopelessness. They’re craving meaningful conversations about Jesus, ones filled with respect and compassion.
Just take a look around at our culture—it’s evident everywhere. From addictions and busyness to materialism and immorality, it’s clear we’re a society in pain.
Our challenge is to see people through God’s eyes, not through the lens of division portrayed in the media. Beyond the surface, we’re all just seeking love, happiness, and purpose. When we strip away those divides, we realize we’re all in this together—we’re a people in pain.
As Christians, we carry the message of hope that the world desperately needs. Let’s bring that hope into the darkness, meeting people right where they are and letting them know there’s light at the end of the tunnel. Just like Jesus did in John 4, showing love and compassion to the woman at the well.
PRAYER
Father, as we reflect on Jesus’ conversation with the woman at the well, remind us of those in our lives who haven’t yet met Jesus. Give us opportunities to share the Good News with our friends and family. Open our eyes to the hurts and pains hidden beneath the surface, and give us the words to share your message of hope with the world around us. Amen.
John 4 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Jesus and the Woman of Samaria
4 Now when Jesus[a] learned that the Pharisees had heard, “Jesus is making and baptizing more disciples than John” 2 (although it was not Jesus himself but his disciples who baptized), 3 he left Judea and started back to Galilee. 4 But he had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.
7 A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8 (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.)[b] 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 11 The woman said to him, “Sir,[c] you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir,[d] give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband,’ 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!” 19 The woman said to him, “Sir,[e] I see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you[f] say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you[g] will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You[h] worship what you[i] do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming and is now here when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I am he,[j] the one who is speaking to you.”
27 Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you want?” or, “Why are you speaking with her?” 28 Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, 29 “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah,[k] can he?” 30 They left the city and were on their way to him.
31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33 So the disciples said to one another, “Surely no one has brought him something to eat?” 34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. 35 Do you not say, ‘Four months more, then comes the harvest’? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. 36 The reaper is already receiving[l] wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. 37 For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”
39 Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I have ever done.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of his word. 42 They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world.”
Jesus Returns to Galilee
43 When the two days were over, he went from that place to Galilee 44 (for Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in the prophet’s own country). 45 When he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, since they had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the festival, for they, too, had gone to the festival.
Jesus Heals an Official’s Son
46 Then he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had changed the water into wine. Now there was a royal official whose son lay ill in Capernaum. 47 When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. 48 Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you[m] see signs and wonders you will not believe.” 49 The official said to him, “Sir,[n] come down before my little boy dies.” 50 Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.”[o] The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started on his way. 51 As he was going down, his slaves met him and told him that his child was alive. 52 So he asked them the hour when he began to recover, and they said to him, “Yesterday at one in the afternoon the fever left him.” 53 The father realized that this was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.”[p] So he himself believed, along with his whole household. 54 Now this was the second sign that Jesus did after coming from Judea to Galilee.
REFLECTION & APPLICATION
In the last chapter, we talked about starting a new spiritual life by believing in Jesus. Now, Jesus talks about how our spirits need nourishment, just like our bodies do. He explains this by talking about spiritual thirst and hunger.
Remember the woman at the well? Our story tells us she had been in many relationships, but because of what we know about how little power women had in that time period, this means she had probably been divorced and discarded by her previous husbands. She met Jesus as the well, but was still spiritually thirsty. Jesus wants to satisfy that deep longing for a meaningful connection.
Later, Jesus tells His followers that doing God’s will satisfies our spiritual hunger.
There are still many people who haven’t heard about God. Are you getting the spiritual nourishment you need today?
Apprenticeship Questions
What is God saying to me from this passage? What is standing out?
What is God inviting me to do in response? How can I take a small step in following Jesus in this way this week?
Who am I prompted to share this challenge with? Sharing is part of how we apprentice to Jesus. Invite a friend to join you each day for a morning coffee and conversation about God.