p. 10 | THE SABBATH SCHOOL

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Mar 8, 1899

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 25, No. 10.

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THE SABBATH SCHOOL

International Series.

LESSON XII.—SABBATH, MARCH 25, 1899.

CONVERSATION WITH THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA.

Shechem, A.D. 28.

(John 4:7-42.)

7 "THERE cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water; Jesus 8 saith unto her, Give Me to drink. For His disciples were 9 gone away into the city to buy food. The Samaritan woman therefore saith unto Him, How is it that Thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a Samaritan woman? (For Jews 10 have no dealings with Samaritans.) 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 11 Him, and He would have given thee living water. 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 sons, and his cattle? 13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Every one that drinketh of 14 this water shall thirst again; 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 15 springing up unto eternal life. The woman saith unto Him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come all the 16 way hither to draw. Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, 17 and come hither. The woman answered and said unto Him, I have no husband. Jesus saith unto her, Thou saidest well, 18 I have no husband; for thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband; this hast thou said 19 truly. The woman saith unto Him, Sir, I perceive that 20 Thou art a prophet. Our fathers worshiped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought 21 to worship. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe Me, the hour cometh, when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, shall 22 ye worship the Father. Ye worship that which ye know not; we worship that which we know; for salvation is from the 23 Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true

worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth: for 24 such doth the Father seek to be His worshipers. God is a 25 Spirit; and they that worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. The woman saith unto Him, I know that Messiah 26 cometh (which is called Christ); when He is come, He will declare unto us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am He.

27 "And upon this came His disciples; and they marveled that 28 He was speaking with a woman; yet no man said, What seekest Thou? or, Why speakest Thou with her? So the woman 29 left her water-pot, and went away into the city, and saith to the 30 men, Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I 31 did; can this be the Christ? They went out of the city, and 32 were coming to Him. In the meanwhile the disciples prayed 33 Him, saying, Rabbi, eat. But He said unto them, I have meat 34 to eat that ye know not. The disciples therefore said one to 35 another, Hath any man brought Him aught to eat? Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of Him that sent 36 Me, and to accomplish His work. Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh the harvest? behold, I say unto 37 you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, that they are 38 white already unto harvest. He that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal; that he that soweth and 39 he that reapeth may rejoice together. For herein is the saying 40 true, One soweth, and another reapeth. I sent you to reap 41 that whereon ye have not labored; others have labored, and 42 ye are entered into their labor.

"And from that city many of the Samaritans believed on Him because of the word of the woman, who testified, He told me all things that ever I did. So when the Samaritans came unto Him, they besought Him to abide with them; and He abode there two days. And many more believed because of His word; and they said to the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy speaking; for we have heard for ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Saviour of the world."

NOTE.—The texts inclosed in marks of parentheses, while not essential to the lesson study, will be found to throw much light upon the lesson, and are suggested for those who wish to study further.

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS.

What favor did the Saviour ask of the woman of Samaria, at Sychar's well? John 4:7.
With what words did the woman apparently resent Jesus' request? Verse 9. Note 1. (Acts 10:28; Gal. 2:12.)
What answer did the Saviour make in order to avoid the national contention? Verse 10. (Isa. 12:3; John 7:37, 38; Rev. 22:17.)
Not knowing the gift of God, how did the woman reply? Verses 11, 12. (Jer. 2:13; 17:13.)
How did the Saviour meet this objection? Verses 13, 14. (John 6:35.)
Did the woman comprehend Christ's meaning in the use of this similitude? Verse 15.
Without condemning the woman for her loose life, but rather desiring to lead her to make voluntary confession, what did Jesus ask her to do? Verse 16.
What did she say to this request? Verse 17.
How did the Saviour then begin to reveal Himself to her? Verses 17, 18.
By these words what did the woman dimly see in Christ? and what question did she ask Him in consequence? Verses 19, 20. (Deut. 12:5, 11.)
How did the Lord then reveal to her the result of His coming to earth? Verses 21-24. Note 2.
Hearing this, what did the woman tell about what she knew of the anticipated Messiah? Verse 25.
What plain words did the Lord then speak to her? V. 26.
When the disciples returned from the city with food, how were they affected at finding Jesus talking with the woman? Verse 27. Note 3. (John 10:16; Gal. 3:28.)
What did the woman then do and say? and with what result? Verses 28-30.
While she was gone, what did the disciples desire Jesus to do? Verse 31.
What was His answer? Verse 32.
In reply to their private questioning regarding the situation, what did He say to them? Verses 34-38.
What effect did the woman's words have on the Samaritans? Verses 39, 40.
To what happy conclusion did many of those come who went out to hear Christ? Verses 41, 42.
Give the principal circumstances connected with the birth of Christ.
State what you have learned of His childhood.
Tell briefly the story of His baptism and temptation in the wilderness.
Recite the leading events in His ministry as far as studied.

Side Lights.—"Desire of Ages," pp. 183-195; "Spirit of Prophecy," vol. 2, pp. 140-151.

NOTES.

1. How is it that Thou, etc.?—The hot climate of that country made a drink of water of so much value that under ordinary circumstances no one would think of refusing it. But continued strife for centuries between the Jews and Samaritans had created a most bitter and permanent hatred between the two sections. In the first place, the Samaritans were made up of people from Babylon, Cuthah, Ava, Hamath, and Sepharvaim, taken there by the king of Assyria when he carried the ten tribes of Israel into captivity. A few stragglers, also, from the ten tribes found their way back again to their native land. For certain reasons, the king of Assyria returned one of the exiled priests to that land, who taught the people the worship of Jehovah, which they added to their own worship of idols. 2 Kings 17:24-33. When the tribe of Judah returned from its captivity, these people desired to join with them in building the temple at Jerusalem, which was refused. The Samaritans in consequence built a rival temple at Mount Gerizim. Eternal enmity sprang up; greater holiness was claimed for Mount Gerizim than for Jerusalem; the Samaritans accused the Jews of corrupting God's Word. On the other hand, the Jews called the Samaritans Cuthites, and forbade all intercourse with them; to receive one into the house was to bring down the curse of God.

2. Woman, believe Me.—Note how carefully the Saviour led the mind of the woman, not only to voluntarily confess her sinfulness, but to ask questions for the enlightenment of her darkened mind. He precipitated nothing, but let her open the way for the line of truth she sought to receive. A worthy lesson for many now who would make assertions people are not prepared to receive.

3. They marveled that He was speaking with a woman.—The relations of the sexes in that day, even in common life, were very narrow and suspicious among the Jews. An unvailed woman in public was counted immodest. For a rabbi to speak to a woman publicly was highly indecent. The Talmud forbade it, even tho the woman was the rabbi's own wife. He could not even treat her courteously. The disciples, however, dared not question the act of their Master, even tho the woman with whom He talked was a hated Samaritan sinner. He went so far over the bounds of prescribed custom as to conclusively show that true religion recognized no social difference between the sexes. In Christ all are one.

The Sabbath School International Series.