Worship that Satisfies the Longing Heart (John 4:1-42)
28th February, 2022
By way of introduction: What do human hearts thirst for in life?
Read John 4:1-42
As Jesus heads north to Galilee in this episode, where does he travel through? (look at your Bible map)
Why is this so noteworthy (verses 1-4)?
Have a look at 2 Kings 17 (particularly at verses like 1-5, verse 24, verse 34, and verses 37-41); how does this historical context help us understand the Samaritans?
Look carefully at the details of verses 5-9, and list the things you think are significant about the circumstances of this whole conversation here.
Read closely again verses 10-15, and think through;
what is the subject of the conversation from the Samaritan woman’s perspective?
what is Jesus talking about?
Jesus is never content with superficial stuff, he wants to speak into the things of our hearts. How does Jesus do this with love and grace in speaking with this woman (verses 16-18)?
Things are getting personal for the Samaritan woman, and so knowing she is speaking to a Jew she brings up what she sees is “the elephant in the room” - what is that? (verses 19-20)
As Jesus speaks about worship in verses 21-24, how does this relate to everything that Jesus has been talking about with this Samaritan woman up until now?
The Samaritan woman is trying to make sense of what “living water” is, as well as understand what true worship is, and reflect upon her own search for satisfaction. What does she know will make sense of all this? (verse 25)?
As we read from verses 27-42, how does the Christ do this?
What difference will receiving the “gift of God” (John 4:10) make for our lives of worship?
It has been said before, whilst people call themselves a-theists (“a” = without, “theos” = God), there is no such thing an a-worshipper.
Could we as Christians be honest about the kinds of things we thirst for, what we are tempted to find worthy-to-live-for, that is “to worship”?
As we identify those things, how is Christ more worthy of our worship - even more satisfying for our searching hearts?
As we look to our neighbours and love them like Jesus does, how could we “share a drink” like Jesus does and speak into hearts of others who are searching for satisfaction?
Pray by asking the Lord to help us love our neighbours through speaking about the things of our hearts, our worship, and how Christ comes to give us satisfaction in life with eternal life.