Week IX John 4:31-54 Jesus Heals the Official's Son 8/21, Tues.

John 4:31-34
•Why does Jesus refuse to eat- is he not hungry and weary?
-Jn 4:31, 32 Jn 6:27
•What is Jesus’ “food”?
-Mt 4:4, CCC 606

John 4:35-38
•Who had sown the gospel for apostles to reap?
-LK 3:18
•How did apostles actually reap the Samaria harvest?
-Acts 8:4-40
•How do evangelism and participation in Gospel apply to laity?
-1 Pet 3:15, CCC 934
•Nowadays, who should do sowing and reaping?
-Ad Gentes, 28The Christian faithful, having different gifts (cf. Rom. 12:6), according to each one's opportunity, ability, charisms and ministry (cf. 1 Cor. 3:10) must all cooperate in the Gospel. Hence all alike, those who sow and those who reap (cf. John 4:37), those who plant and those who irrigate, must be one (cf. 1 Cor. 3:8), so that "in a free and orderly fashion cooperating toward the same end,"(1) they may spend their forces harmoniously for the building up of the Church.
Wherefore, the labors of the Gospel heralds and the help given by the rest of the Christian faithful must be so directed and intertwined that "all may be done in order" (1 Cor. 14:40) in all fields of missionary activity and cooperation.

John 4:39
•What cause them to come to Jesus? How do our words and enthusiasm (witness) bring other to Christ?
-CCC904, 905
•Have you lost the joy and excitement of our salvation? What does Jesus say about losing our 1st love?
-Rev 2:4-5
•What shall we do?
-CCC 1428-29,

John 4:41-42
•What cause them to believe?
•Why is it easier for them to believe than Nicodemus?

John 4:43-44
•What did Jesus mean by “a prophet has no honor in his native place”? Why?
-MK 6:4
•What can we learn from this?

John 4:46-53
-Distant between Capernaum and Cana is 20 miles
•Compare with Mat 8:5-13

Action of the requestor
Faith of the requestor
Reaction of Jesus
Result

•What can you draw from this comparison?

John 4:53-54
•Who else believed because of the official’s faith?
•What effect can parents’ faith and choices have on the family?
-CCC 2225-2226, Acts 16:34

Advanced questions
•What do you think the Samaritan woman as an evangelist?
•Review John 1-4, Three major characters Jesus taught, Nicodemus, Samaritan woman and the royal official. What did St John try to imply among the 3 persons in that order?
-Acts 1:8

•Please summarize John 4

Week VIII John 4:1-30 Jesus Talks With a Samaritan Woman, Tues, 8/7

Major topics

•Samaria/ Samaritan

•Living Water

•Love stories by the well

•Who’s thirty now?

John 4: 1-2
•Who was doing the work (baptism)? Who was making the disciples?
-John 3:20, CCC1548
-in persona Christi Capitis: In the person of Christ

Samaria/ Samaritan
•What do you know about Samaria/ Samaritan?
-2 kings 17
-Mix race:When Assyria overran the Northern Kingdom of Israel in 722 B.C. part of the population was deported, and other peoples from the Assyrian Empire were resettled in Israel.
-Syncretistic religion: national groups worshipped the Lord, but they also served their own gods in accordance with the customs of the nations from which they had been brought.
-Accepts the Torah, temple was at Mount Gerizim (Joshua 8), not Jerusalem
-“unclean”: Samaritans were considered unclean in Judaism. “To drink Samaritan water was worse than drink the blood of a pig.”
-In 2005 there were about 700 Samaritans, living almost exclusively in Kiryat Luza on the holy Mount Gerizim near the city of Nablus (Shechem)

John 4:5-6
•Why water is so important for travelers in Middle East?
-Ex 17:1
•On what other occasion does Jesus become thirsty?
-Jn 19:28
•How is thirst used symbolically in the Bible?
-PS 42:2, 63:1; IS 44:3, Mt 5:6; Jn 6:35

John 4:6-7
•What time was it? Why did the woman arrive at this odd hour instead of cool morning or evening?
•Why do you think Jesus chose her to ask for water? Why not do a miracle Himself?
-CCC 544

John 4:8-9
•Why was the woman so surprised?
-Mk 7:3-5
•How many did social taboos Jesus broke by asking water from that woman?

John 4:10-15
•How does the woman respond to Jesus? How does Jesus answer her?
•How does she misunderstand Him?
-“living” in Greek means both “living” and “flowing”, thirst

Living Water
•What does “Living Water” symbolize in OT?
-EX 17, Jer 2:13, Zech 14:8, Ezek 47:9; Prov 13:14
•What does Jesus mean by “living” water?
-Jn 7:37-39,Rev 22:1, 17, CCC 694, 1137

Love stories by the well
•Do you know any love story by the well in the Bible?
-Isaac (Gen 24), Jacob (Gen 29:9-11)
•Who did Jesus look for? Who’s Jesus’ bride?
-CCC796, Eph 5:25-27
•What do you think St John tried to imply?
-CCC 2560

John 4:17-19
•What 5 husbands may symbolize?
-5 books of the law
-Samaritans are descendents of 5 Gentile nations
•Leaving possible symbolism aside, explain why it seems the woman suddenly changes topic?

John 4:19,20
•Why it is profound for the woman to call Jesus “prophet”?
-Deut 18:15,18
•Not only Samaritan, all Jews in OT associate God with a location. How are Christians different?
-John 4:21

John 4:21-24
•What Jesus mean by “salvation is from the Jews”?
-Is 2:3, Rom 3:1-2, 9:4-5, CCC839
•Do you think the woman was surprised when Jesus called God Father?
-Rom 8:15, CCC 2782
•Let's unpack Jesus’ comparison between old way and his WAY:
-Location:
-People:
-Way to worship

John 4:25-26
•There is no “he” in Greek, simply “I am”. What does Jesus’ answer remind you?
-Ex 3:13-14590
•Do you think the women got it?

John 4:27-30
•what “leaving the jar” may imply?
-1 Tim 6:11, John 2, mk 1:20
•Why do you think people believed in her message? What does her attitude teach us about apostolate?
-CCC 905

Advanced questions
•How did Jesus “evangelized” compare with what he did with Nicodemus? What can we learn from Jesus?
•What does water symbolize so far in St. John’s Gospel?
•Nowadays, who’s thirst? How do we deal with it?
-CCC 2560
•How is the situation with Samaria similar with Protestantism today?