SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS by Editor

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Jan 25, 1905

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS

By Editor

The Sabbath-school lessons have been discontinued. The Lesson Quarterly may be obtained, containing three months' lessons and notes, for five cents. Address, Pacific Press, Mountain View, Cal. The Sunday-school lessons will continue.

LESSON 6.—FEBRUARY 5.—JESUS AT JACOB'S WELL. Lesson Scripture, John 4 : 5–14, A. R. V.

(5) "So He cometh to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph; (6) and Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. (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 into the city to buy food. (9) The Samaritan woman therefore saith unto Him, How is it that Thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, who am a Samaritan woman? (For the Jews have no dealings with 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; whence then hast Thou that living water? (12) Art Thou greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his sons, and his cattle? (13) Jesus answered and said unto her, Every one that 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 become in him a well of water springing up unto eternal life."

Golden Text.—"Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." Rev. 22:17.

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS.

(1) In going from Judea to Galilee, on a certain occasion, to what city did Jesus come? Near what historic place was it? Verse 5. Note 1. (2) What noted landmark was there? On arriving at the well what did Jesus do? Why? What time of day was it? Verse 6. Note 2. (3) As Jesus sat by the well, who came to draw water? What did Jesus say to her? Verse 7. Note 3. (4) Where were the disciples at this time? Verse 8. (5) How did the woman reply to Jesus' request? Why was His request a surprise to the woman? Verse 9. Note 4. (6) How did Jesus answer the woman's question? Verse 10. Note 5. (7) By what reasoning did the woman show that she did not discern His meaning? Verse 11. (8) How did she show that she simply regarded Jesus as an ordinary Jewish traveler? Verse 12. Note 6. (9) What did Jesus say should come to every one who should drink of the water of that well? Verse 13. (10) How did He contrast that water with the water that He should give? Verse 14. Note 7.

NOTES.

1. Jesus was on His way from Judea to Galilee, because there was a growing impression that His work was in rivalry of that of John the Baptist. Jacob's purchase of this ground is recorded in Gen. 33:18-20; and the gift to Joseph is noted in chapter 48:22.

2. "The sixth hour" was at noon. The custom of oriental travelers was to start very early in the morning, so that by noon one walking would naturally be weary. This would especially be the case with one who bore such a weighty burden of spirit as Jesus did, and who habitually spent much of the night in prayer, besides laboring incessantly through the day.

3. Jesus asked a favor. He was in need of the water, and it was also a tactful way of getting the woman's attention; for most people are pleased to have others laid under obligation to them. And in the East there was much significance attached to giving and receiving a drink of water. It implied a covenant of hospitality, was like the covenant of bread-sharing, which constituted a truce, for the time being, between even deadly enemies.

4. Verse 9 shows that already the woman was prepared to enter into conversation.

5. By the "living water" Jesus referred to the divine grace which He alone could bestow, and which is as living water, purifying, refreshing, and invigorating the soul. By this direct reference to spiritual things we learn that Jesus did not waste any time or words in idle, common-place conversation. As in the interview with the autocratic ruler, Nicodemus, He ignored all compliments and flatteries, so with the lowly Samaritan woman, after she had supplied His immediate need, He began to impart to her that which would supply her greatest necessity.

6. The Samaritans, altho at variance with the Jews in many things, claimed descent from Jacob, and by their possession of land that he owned by purchase, claimed even a paramount relationship. Hence the significance of the woman's implied thrust at Jesus, who was a Jew, by asking Him if He were greater than "our father Jacob, who gave us the well."

7. "Jesus did not mean that one draught of the water of life would satisfy the receiver, but that whosoever would unite with Him would have within him a living fountain from which to draw strength and grace sufficient for all emergencies. Words and deeds of righteousness flow from it, and refresh the hearts of others, as well as the soul from which it springs. Jesus Christ, the never-failing Source of this fountain, cheers the life and brightens the path of all who come to Him for aid. Love to God, the satisfying hope of heaven, springs up in good works unto eternal life."—"Great Controversy," Vol. 2. And "love to God" consists in keeping His commandments. See John 14:15-17.