At Jacob’s well at noon, the Savior offered a thirsty, overlooked woman water that never runs dry
Everything the world offers leaves us thirsty again. Jesus Christ offers living water that becomes a well springing up inside us, and He offers it knowingly and freely to people others overlook, including us.
I can come to the Savior for living water honestly and often, and invite someone else to “come, see” Him.
John 2–4 moves quickly. At a wedding in Cana, Mary tells the servants, “Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.” Jesus turns the water in six stone waterpots into wine. In John 2:11 it’s “this beginning of miracles.” In 2:13–17, at Passover, He drives the merchants and money changers out of the temple. Nicodemus is a Pharisee and “a ruler of the Jews.” In 3:1–5 he comes by night. He hears that he must be born of water and of the Spirit. John 3:16 follows. John the Baptist hears the crowds are going to Jesus. In 3:30 he answers, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” Then comes the woman at the well. The chapter closes in 4:46–53 with a nobleman’s son healed from a distance by a word.
The setting of John 4 matters. Jews and Samaritans had centuries of hostility between them. Samaritans descended partly from peoples the Assyrians settled in the north after it fell. That’s 2 Kings 17:24. They worshipped on their own mountain, Gerizim, not at Jerusalem. In 4:9 John says plainly, “the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.” Yet in 4:4 Jesus “must needs go through Samaria.” He sits down, tired, at Jacob’s well near Sychar. It’s about the sixth hour, around noon. A woman comes alone to draw water. In one conversation He crosses lines of nation, religion, gender and reputation.
Watch how the conversation unfolds. Jesus starts by asking for her help: “Give me to drink.” He offers “living water.” In her world that could just mean running spring water instead of still cistern water. So she takes Him literally at first. He names her past plainly, without condemning her. In 4:23 He teaches that true worshippers will worship the Father “in spirit and in truth.” She mentions the coming Messiah. In 4:26 He says, “I that speak unto thee am he.” It’s one of His clearest early declarations in John. She leaves her waterpot and runs into town. In 4:29 she says, “Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?” Before long, in 4:42, many Samaritans testify He’s “the Saviour of the world.”
Twenty-five minutes is enough to walk through John 4 in five short readings. Use verses 5–9, 10–14, 15–19, 23–26 and 28–30. Bridge the gaps in a sentence, with one question at each stop. Nicodemus is ready as a bonus step. Handle the woman’s history with care. The text doesn’t say why she had five husbands, and it isn’t our place to guess. Some in your room carry divorces, remarriages or painful histories. What the text does show is this. Jesus knew everything about her and still chose her as one of His first witnesses.
Walk through John 4 in five short readings: 4:5–9, 10–14, 15–19, 23–26 and 28–30. Bridge the gaps, and ask one question after each. Open by asking what people are thirsty for besides water. Study John 4:13–14 closely. Spend the discussion on wells that leave us thirsty and on sharing what we’ve found. Close with John 4:42 and one “come, see” this week.
Tick what you have. Forgot something? Every step that needs a supply has a no-supplies version in the plan below.
Before class
Bonus steps are for when you have extra time. Each “On the screen” line is what the class sees on a shared screen in Teach Mode in the Gospel Sparks app; on paper, read it aloud or write it on the board.
Opens with a real-life question about deeper kinds of thirst before anyone opens John 4.
On the screen: 🥛 Besides water, what are we thirsty for?
Walks through John 4 a few verses at a time as one real conversation, so the Savior’s patience and the woman’s change come through.
On the screen: 🏺 A tired traveler, a woman with an empty jar, and water that never runs dry · Five short readings: John 4:5–9 · 10–14 · 15–19 · 23–26 · 28–30
Instead of: The shared screen (TV or device) with Teach Mode open
Studies John 4:13–14 closely so class members discover what makes the Savior’s living water different.
On the screen: 💧 The water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up. · John 4:13–14 · What makes this water different?
Helps adults see how the Savior meets our real thirst, knows us fully, and sends us to invite others.
On the screen: 🪣 “Sir, give me this water.” How does the Savior meet our deepest thirst? · John 4:15
Ends with testimony of Jesus Christ as the source of living water, and one concrete invitation for the week.
On the screen: 🌊 This is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world. · John 4:42 · This week: bring Him your thirst; invite one person to “come, see.”
A bonus look at John 3 and what it means to be born again.
On the screen: 🌙 “Ye must be born again.” Nicodemus comes to Jesus by night. · John 3:1–5, 16–17
Scenes
🏺 Noon at Jacob’s well
In John 4, verses 1 to 4, Jesus “must needs go through Samaria.” Many Jews avoided that road. Now read verses 5 to 9. He’s tired. It’s noon. And He asks a Samaritan woman, alone at the well, for a drink.
💬 Ask: With one simple request, He crossed lines of nation, religion and reputation. What lines do we hesitate to cross to reach someone?
💧 Water that never runs dry
I’ll read verses 10 to 14, since Jesus speaks. She sees a deep well, and no bucket. He offers water that becomes “a well of water springing up” inside.
💬 Ask: She took Him literally at first. When have you misunderstood what the Lord was really offering you?
🪞 Known completely, and not turned away
I’ll read verses 15 to 19. She asks for the water. He names her past, plainly and without contempt. Her answer: “Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.”
💬 Ask: He knew everything about her. It drew her closer instead of driving her away. Why do you think that happened?
⛰️ “I that speak unto thee am he”
In verses 20 to 22, she raises an old argument. Which mountain is the right place to worship? I’ll read verses 23 to 26. He lifts the question higher. Then He tells her plainly who He is.
💬 Ask: He declared Himself to a Samaritan woman before almost anyone else. What does that tell you about who He seeks out?
🏃♀️ She left her waterpot
In verse 27, His disciples return. They marvel that He’s talking with a woman. Now read verses 28 to 30. She leaves the jar she came for. She runs to town with a question, not a sermon.
💬 Ask: What might we need to set down in order to share what we’ve found in Christ?
“But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”
More verses
“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 him, and he would have given thee living water.”
“Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?”
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
“He must increase, but I must decrease.”
“Her past and present circumstances did not determine her future.”
— Sister Susan H. Porter, “Lessons at the Well,” April 2022
Share in the story walk-through, right after the third reading (John 4:15–19), when Jesus names her past.
Read the talk ↗Each day this week, bring your honest thirst to the Savior in prayer. Read a few verses before you reach for anything else. Then invite one person to “come, see.” Invite them to church, to a favorite scripture or to a talk about Him.
In Sunday School we read John 4. At Jacob’s well, Jesus offered a Samaritan woman living water. In John 4:14 it becomes “a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” Then she ran to tell her town, “Come, see.” At dinner, pour a glass of water and read John 4:13–14 together. Ask, “What makes us thirsty for Jesus?”
📝 After class
What worked? Who needs a check-in this week? Jot it here on a printed copy, or in the app’s private class notes.
Scripture quotations are from the King James Version, the Bible used by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Tap or click a reference to open it in Gospel Library. Start with the official Come, Follow Me manual; these ideas are here to help it come alive.
