The Vine: May 26, 2025

“Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the Vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing”

— John 15:4-5

This is a weekly reflection on the previous week’s sermon text. Each week there will be a devotional related to the scripture for the week, along with questions for reflection/discussion, as well as prayer. Feel free to make this a part of your individual spiritual growth throughout the week or utilize in small group settings (growth groups, Sunday school, etc.)

“So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.
Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) 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.) 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.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 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.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”
Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!” The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 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. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 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.” Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.”
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?” Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?” They left the city and were on their way to him.
Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So the disciples said to one another, “Surely no one has brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. 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. The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”
Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I have ever done.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. 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.”

— John 4:5-42

Our text for this week is a great story about Jesus’ interaction with a Samaritan woman at a well. Jesus was on his way from Judea to Galilee. Samaria was between Judea and Galilee and John tells us that Jesus “had to go through Samaria”. Jesus did not “have to go through Samaria”, as he could have taken a longer route to avoid Samaria. He went through Samaria for a reason – to intentionally interact with the Samaritan community. This was significant due to the deep-seated ethnic and religious animosity between the Jews and Samaritans.

It was about noon when Jesus, tired from his journey, met the Samaritan woman at the well (Jacob’s well). He asked her for a drink of water. That does not seem like a big deal to us, but it was a radical act on Jesus’ part. Rabbis did not speak to women in public, but Jesus was different. Jesus treated women with love and respect and did not mistreat them. Thus began a great conversation between Jesus and the woman in which five themes emerge:

Breaking barriers (Jew and Samaritan, Man and Woman, Religious and Social Outcast)

Living water – John utilizes this metaphor to represent eternal life, the Holy Spirit, and spiritual nourishment that only Jesus can provide.

Worship – Jesus defined worship not so much as a place and ritual, but as a relationship with God based in spirit and truth.

Jesus as Savior of the world – The Samaritans come to believe Jesus is the Messiah through the testimony of the Samaritan woman and by experiencing Jesus themselves for two days.

Evangelism and Witnessing – The Samaritan woman went back to the city and in reference to her encounter with Jesus, said, “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannon be the Messiah, can he?”

There are so many lessons in this story, and I pray that you hear what God wants to say to you through your reading and reflection. Have a great week!

Prayer:

Loving God, thank you for meeting us at the well today. For some of us our spiritual wells are full of water. For others they are half-full. Then there are those of us for whom the well is empty and dry. We thank you for meeting us wherever we are with the reminder that all of us matter to you and are loved by you. Amen.

Questions for Reflection:

Jesus broke down many barriers. What barriers do you see in our world today?

What prejudices or assumptions do you hold that might prevent you from connecting with others as Jesus did?

Jesus and the woman at the well discussed worship. What does it mean to you to worship God in “spirit and truth”? How has your participation in worship helped shape your life of discipleship?

The Samaritans claimed that Jesus was the “Savior of the world”. How do you understand Jesus as your Savior? What difference does it make in your daily life?

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