John the Baptist continued
to preach and to baptise
followers after Jesus
had become widely known
throughout the country.
The more followers Jesus had
the less John had, but
he continued to preach
that Jesus was Christ.
John was a fearless preacher.
He condemned sins where
ever he found them.
He didn't care how
powerful the sinners were.
A sin was a sin to
John. He even preached
against King Herod. He
attacked the sins of King
Herod's wife Herodias
and she demanded that John
be killed. He feared
the truths that John
spoke and refused to kill
him. Herodias became more
and more demanding and
fearing her hatred,
Herod had John imprisoned.
Jesus had been teaching in
and around Jerusalem
when he heard that John
had been imprisoned in
Galilee. He set out
for that country.
The people of Galilee,
Judea and other places
where Christ preached were Jews.
There was other people
living in the area between
Judea and Galilee,
called Samaria, who were
known as Samaritans.
They were related to
the Jews, and they
worshipped the same God.
They had different forms
of worship and their Bible
had only the first five
books of the Old Testament.
They did not regard
the prophets as speaking
for God.
Because of these ways,
there was much differences
and bad feelings between
the Samaritans and the Jews.
Most of the Jews avoided
going anywhere near the
Samaritans. But, Jesus went
straight across the
mountains of Samaria.
One morning, during His trip,
Jesus stopped beside a
famous old well. The well
had been dug by Jacob,
the ancestor of all the
Israelites centuries before,
and it was called
Jacob's Well.
Jesus was thirsty, hungry,
and tired. He couldn't
get water from the well
without a jar and a rope to
pull it up. His disciples
had gone to the nearby
city of Sychar to buy food.
As Jesus waited, a Samaritan
woman came to the well
with her jar to draw water.
Jesus asked her for a drink.
She knew from the way
Jesus was dressed
that he was a Jew.
"How is it that you
a Jew ask a drink of
me, a woman of Samaria?
Jews have no dealings
with Samaritans." she said.
Jesus answered her and said,
"If you know the gift
of God and who it is
saying to you, 'Give me
a drink', you would have
asked Him and He would
have given you living water."
The woman said, "Sir, you
have nothing to draw with
and the well is deep.
Where do you get that
living water? Are you
greater than our father
Jacob, who gave us this
well, and who drank from
it himself, and his sons
and his cattle?"
Jesus said, "Everyone who
drinks of this water
will thirst again, but
whoever drinks of the water
that I shall give him,
will never thirst; the
water that I shall give
him will become in him a
well of water springing up
into everlasting life."
The woman said to Him,
"Sir, give me this water,
that I may not thirst,
nor come here to draw."
Then Jesus told her of
things that she had done
in her life that no one
would have known. She was
deeply impressed by the things
that Jesus told her.
Surely this man must
have powers known only
to God. She asked Jesus
if it was right for them
to go to the mountains
to worship God, as their
fathers had done, or whether
the Jews were right and that
Jerusalem was where
they were to go to worship.
Jesus replied, "Woman,
believe me, the hour is
coming when ye
shall neither on this
mountain, nor in Jerusalem
to worship the Father.
The hour is coming,
and is now here, when
true worshippers will worship
the Father in spirit
and truth. God is spirit
and those who worship
Him must worship Him
in spirit and truth."
The woman understood that
Jesus was saying that a
temple was not necessary
to worship God, and that
He could be worshipped
anywhere by those who love
His spirit and understand
His truth.
The woman then said,
"I know that a Messiah
is coming. He who
is called Christ, and
when He comes He will
show us all things."
Jesus said, "I that speak
to you am he."
The Disciples returned with
food and the woman left
her jar at the well and went
into the town. She told
the people to, "Come
see a man who told me
all that I ever did. Can
this be the Christ?"
The people left to go
see Jesus at the well.
In the meantime, the
Disciples had offered Jesus
food. Jesus said, "My food is
to do the will of Him
who sent me, and to finish
His work."
at the well. They asked
Him to stay and teach
them about God. Jesus stayed
for two days, and many
more believed in Him when
they heard His words.
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