In considering John 4
● remember that one name for the first half or so of John’s gospel (1:19-12:50) is “The Book of Signs” and that another sign occurs in this chapter (54),
● notice that this chapter, like chapter 3, includes Jesus’ encounter with an individual,
● contrast this “woman of Samaria” (9), a foreigner who herself recognizes the oddity of Jesus speaking to her (9), with Jesus’ previous partner in conversation, Nicodemus, “man of the Pharisees” (3:1), “ruler of the Jews” (3:1), and “teacher of Israel” (3:10),
● understand the similarity in Jesus’ approach: with each Jesus invites his hearer to acknowledge the physical (birth for Nicodemus and water from the well for the nameless Samaritan woman) and then move to a second level of meaning [“born again” (3:3) and “living water” (4:10), respectively],
● notice how the water-drawing woman, like Nicodemus, resists Jesus’ challenging invitation because she is caught up in the prospect of getting a good deal on drinking water,
● see how Jesus persists, extending the prospect of living water to “a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (14),
● notice how Jesus changes his approach, switching from water to the woman’s marital history, thereby persuading her to see him as “a prophet” (19) and to turn to a rather technical question about place of worship that misses the grandeur of considerations of eternal life,
● register the conclusion of the exchange: The woman declares a generalized truth about “Messiah” (25) and Jesus astonishingly declares, “I who speak to you am he” (26),
● notice also that the woman feels compelled to act as she “left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people” (28),
● hear the echo of John 1:46 in what was said to the townspeople: “Come, see” (29), ● see the results of the woman’s “testimony” (39) as John’s thematic concern about believing appears again and is extended with the declaration that Jesus’ “word” (41) had directly prompted belief and the affirmation that “we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world” (42),
● consider how the meetings in chapters 3 and 4 offer tutorials in connecting the physical and the spiritual, and 
● notice the inclusion of a sign, this time a healing, and corresponding belief (50, 53).
Thank you,

Randy Tumlinson