John 4:1-15 (NIV)
In the time of Jesus it would have been socially risky for a man to be alone with a woman other than his wife. If it was unavoidable, it would be all the more scandalous to actually talk to her. In today's passage Jesus obliterates those boundaries.
And what’s more, he does so with a Samaritan. Jewish exiles returned from Babylon to find a group of people occupying the central section of their territory. These were the Samaritans, who, claiming to be the true descendants of Abraham, wanted nothing to do with Jews. Likewise, Jews avoided the Samaritans at all costs, traveling way out of the way so as to not have to travel through that part of Judea.
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1. Jesus gladly risks his reputation to associate with a Samaritan woman. How has Jesus risked his reputation to associate with you?
2. How might following Jesus require you to risk your reputation for today?
3. As we’ll see in the next half of this story, this woman was ashamed to come to this well each day. In what area of your life do you long to drink of living water so that you’ll never be thirsty again?
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