John 4:27-38

27 Just then his disciples arrived. They were astonished to find him talking to a woman, but none of them asked him why he was doing it or what they had been discussing.

28 The woman left her water jar beside the well and went back to the village and told everyone,

29 "Come and meet a man who told me everything I ever did! Can this be the Messiah?"

30 So the people came streaming from the village to see him.

31 Meanwhile, the disciples were urging Jesus to eat.

32 "No," he said, "I have food you don't know about."

33 "Who brought it to him?" the disciples asked each other.

34 Then Jesus explained: "My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work.

35 Do you think the work of harvesting will not begin until the summer ends four months from now? Look around you! Vast fields are ripening all around us and are ready now for the harvest.

36 The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike!

37 You know the saying, `One person plants and someone else harvests.' And it's true.

38 I sent you to harvest where you didn't plant; others had already done the work, and you will gather the harvest."


The woman left her jar! She had come there for water. But she left her jar; she must have been in a hurry to tell others about the Messiah. Excited about the living water he offered her.

The woman saw the light of Jesus. She wanted to share this. She went to her village to share this. And they came streaming back to discover Jesus for themselves.

The light of Jesus was obvious to this woman. She took her mind off earthly things to tell others about Christ.

At this point, the Disciples are concerned about getting Jesus to eat. He must have been tired and hungry. But, doing the will of God was as essential to Jesus as eating.

We need to take our minds off earthly things. We need to get our heart and soul busy doing the will of God. Planting the seeds. Reaping the harvest.

John 4:15-26

15 "Please, sir," the woman said, "give me some of that water! Then I'll never be thirsty again, and I won't have to come here to haul water."

16 "Go and get your husband," Jesus told her.

17 "I don't have a husband," the woman replied. Jesus said, "You're right! You don't have a husband-

18 for you have had five husbands, and you aren't even married to the man you're living with now."

19 "Sir," the woman said, "you must be a prophet.

20 So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim, where our ancestors worshiped?"

21 Jesus replied, "Believe me, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father here or in Jerusalem.

22 You Samaritans know so little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews.

23 But the time is coming and is already here when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for anyone who will worship him that way.

24 For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth."

25 The woman said, "I know the Messiah will come-the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us."

26 Then Jesus told her, "I am the Messiah!"



The woman comes to the well to get water. She finds a totally different kind of water than she was seeking. She finds Jesus. She is intrigued by what he says. She wants some of the water he offers, but does she know what she is asking for?


Jesus knows the woman is really not ready for the water Jesus offers. He needs to prepare her to be ready, so he asks where her husband is. How amazed she must have been at his knowledge of her life. She is convinced that he is a prophet. She does not see Him as Messiah.

She asks another question. Jesus answers her. He has been preparing her mind and heart for what she needs to know -- I am the Messiah.

Jesus knows our hearts and lives as well. He prepares us for what we need to know, that He is Messiah. He opens our hearts and minds to the need we have for him, prepares us for becoming Christians.