porque Ele vive
Home › Family
Open the full experience →listen, take notes and keep track on the site
Story to tell

Water that truly quenches thirst · Jesus and the woman at the well

A Bible story to tell as a family · John 4:5–30 · ages 5–12 · 12 min

The story

Jesus and his disciples were traveling from Judea to Galilee, and the way passed through Samaria. That alone was a surprise: Jews and Samaritans did not get along; they were like neighbors who had been feuding for centuries. Around noon, under a strong sun, they came near a town called Sychar. There was a very old well there, Jacob’s well. Jesus, tired from the journey, sat down by the well.

The disciples went into town to buy food, and Jesus was left alone. Then a Samaritan woman came to draw water, carrying a water jar, a big clay jug. Jesus said: “Give Me a drink.” The woman was startled: how could a Jew ask a Samaritan woman for water? In those days, a Jewish teacher did not usually talk like that with a woman, much less a Samaritan.

Jesus answered with a mystery: if she knew the gift of God and who was talking to her, she would have asked him, and he would have given her living water. The woman looked at Jesus, looked at the deep well and said: sir, you don’t even have a bucket! Where will you get this water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? What a question! The answer was: yes, much greater.

Jesus explained: “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again.” But the water he gives becomes, inside a person, a spring welling up to eternal life. Imagine: a spring inside your heart that never runs dry! The woman wanted it right away: sir, give me this water, so I won’t be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.

Then Jesus touched a painful spot. He asked her to call her husband. She answered: “I have no husband.” And Jesus showed that he knew her story: she had had five husbands, and the man she was with now was not her husband. Jesus did not say this to humiliate her. He knew her whole life, with its hurts and mistakes, and even so he kept talking with her and offering her living water.

The woman realized she was standing before a prophet and brought up a religious topic: where is the right place to worship God? Jesus answered that the Father is seeking people who worship him in spirit and in truth. She said she knew the Messiah was coming and would explain everything. And Jesus said the words that changed her day: “I who speak to you am He.”

At that moment, the disciples came back, amazed. And the woman did something curious: she left her water jar right there and ran into town. She had come to get water and went back without any, but full of news: “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” The people went out to meet Jesus, he stayed with them two days, and many believed. And they said he was truly the Savior of the world.

5So He came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6Since Jacob’s well was there, Jesus, weary from His journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. 7When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” 8(His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) 9“You are a Jew,” said the woman. “How can You ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) 10Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God and who is asking you for a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” 11“Sir,” the woman replied, “You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where then will You get this living water? 12Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock?” 13Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again. 14But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a fount of water springing up to eternal life.” 15The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water so that I will not get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” 16Jesus told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” 17“I have no husband,” the woman replied. Jesus said to her, “You are correct to say that you have no husband. 18In fact, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. You have spoken truthfully.” 19“Sir,” the woman said, “I see that You are a prophet. 20Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews say that the place where one must worship is in Jerusalem.” 21“Believe Me, woman,” Jesus replied, “a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22You worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23But a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such as these to worship Him. 24God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” 25The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When He comes, He will explain everything to us.” 26Jesus answered, “I who speak to you am He.” 27Just then His disciples returned and were surprised that He was speaking with a woman. But no one asked Him, “What do You want from her?” or “Why are You talking with her?” 28Then the woman left her water jar, went back into the town, and said to the people, 29“Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” 30So they left the town and made their way toward Jesus.
John 4:5–30 · BSB

What the Bible says

What we learn

Jesus crossed barriers everyone respected: of nation, of religion and of reputation. He knew the woman’s whole story and still did not pull away; he offered her living water, the life only he gives. It was to a Samaritan woman, someone others kept their distance from, that Jesus said plainly that he is the Messiah. And whoever is found by Jesus cannot keep the news to themselves: they leave the water jar and call others to come and see. No one is too far away for him.

Questions to talk about

For little ones

For kids

For teens

For adults

Activity

Backyard well: outside or in the bathroom, fill a pot or bucket with water and tie a mug to a piece of string. Each person tries to draw water from the well without spilling and takes a sip. Then ask: will we be thirsty again soon? Read John 4:13–14. To finish, like the woman who left her water jar, everyone runs to someone in the house and says: come and see! Jesus knows me and loves me.

To memorize: John 4:14

Prayer

Lord Jesus, you know our whole story and still you come close to us. Give us your living water, so that our thirst for love and meaning is satisfied in you. And make us people who tell others: come and see. In Jesus’ name, amen.

ShareWhatsApp

Continue on the site →