Michael's Abbey Bible Study - Gospel of John Chapter 4

1 Therefore when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John The Lord, kurios in Greek, is referring specifically to Jesus. He was not told, but just knew from divine omniscience that the Pharisees had heard the news that His ministry had surpassed that of John the Baptist, particularly in baptizing. The disciples were more than just the twelve, but included the outer circle of disciples that numbered in the hundreds.
2 (although Jesus Himself was not baptizing, but His disciples were), Here the Apostle John explicitly states that Jesus was not personally baptizing anyone. The actions of subordinates are ascribed to the leader back then and still are today. Thus it is almost certain Jesus wasn't personally baptizing anyone in 3:22 either. While such a detail wasn't necessary to include, these add weight to the confirmation of the trustworthiness of the gospel.
3 He left Judea and went away again into Galilee. Judea is the territory that includes Jerusalem. Why Jesus chose to leave due to the Pharisees finding out about His making and baptizing so many disciples is not even hinted at. However, it is likely that out of His perfect foreknowledge He knew the result of a confrontation with the Pharisees at this time would have undesired results. Or these results were desired, but would be too early for God's plan.
4 And He had to pass through Samaria. Going around Samaria was what many Jews chose to do rather than go through it, even though it was a considerably longer trip. Why it was necessary for Jesus to go through is not specified. It could have been for many reasons, one of which was most likely the encounter He would have in Sychar. Samaritans were looked down on because they didn't properly follow the law, and they were half-breed Jews, which was taboo, (ignoring that Moses and others did it.) The center of Samaritan worship was not the temple in Jerusalem. And they took many other shortcuts or ignored parts of the law entirely. Perhaps the worst thing was they had rewritten scripture to support their own point of view.
5 So He *came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph; Sychar was near Shechem, the Samaritan capital. Jacob was renamed Israel by God, which is where the name of the country and "Israelites" come from. Jacob's 12 sons were the fathers of the 12 tribes of Israel. Jacob gave a double gift to Joseph compared to his brothers because Joseph was his favorite son, and was born to his favorite wife.
6 and Jacob's well was there. So Jesus, being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. Sychar's well was dug by Jacob before they ever moved to Egypt and were enslaved by Pharaoh about 2000 years earlier. This well was outside the city, which was not common as invaders could cut off the water supply. However, for a city whose economy at it's founding was based on livestock it was very common. Driving the animals in and out of the city for water was not ideal.
It was the 6th hour. By the Jewish way of keeping time meant 6 hours after sunrise, which means it was noon. Jesus sat by the well while His disciples were running an errand.
Some commentators take the use of the word pege, Greek for water spring, to say this was not just a well but a spring. However, it is actually using poetic language to say this was the source of water for the city. Verse 11 makes it clear that water could not be accessed without some means to pull it up from a considerable depth, which makes the presence of a stream impossible.
7 There *came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus *said to her, "Give Me a drink." So a Samaritan woman comes to draw water, and Jesus speaks to her asking for her to give him a drink of water from the well.
More pastors than I can count, and even some commentators, come to a false conclusion regarding her coming for water at noon. Traditionally, the women of a city or village would come to the well for water at dawn when it is coolest. This would allow them to be of assistance to each other, and would be a social gathering as well. The mistake is to assume that because she is coming for water at noon means she is being shunned for her lifestyle and choices and unable to come at dawn. This is a huge assumption that is contrary to logic and is totally contradicted by verse 39. Water is heavy, as are the vessels used to carry it. It is illogical to think a woman was capable of carrying enough water to meet the needs of her house for the entire day in a single trip to the well. Running out meant another trip to the well. And water is not just for drinking. Cooking and cleaning require a lot of water. Reading the passage as a whole we must conclude that far from being shunned, this woman was very influential in the community.
8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. The errand that took the disciples away was to buy food.
9 Therefore the Samaritan woman *said to Him, "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?" (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) The woman is surprised, and even incredulous, that Jesus would even speak to her, let alone ask her to get him some water. Being alone with and interacting with a women that was not a relative was not normally done by Jewish men. In a group setting it would be acceptable, but still uncommon. What is unsaid by the woman is that this was mutual. Samaritans also did not interact with Jews socially. Samaritan custom would have been for her to reject Jesus' request and ignore Him. Sharing the water vessel was just not done, and this was a view held by both Jews and Samaritans. Although Jews and Samaritans would deal with each other in business, it was never social.
10 Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water." Jesus turns her objection into a teaching moment. He hints that He is more than He appears, and introduces a new concept of living water.
11 She *said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water? The woman clearly gets Jesus' point that she doesn't know who she is dealing with because she then calls him kurios, which is Greek for lord. In the cultural context, it would be the equivalent of calling someone sir today, making that the best translation choice. But not knowing what living water could be, her reply is that Jesus can't even get regular water here because he has no means to draw it up from the depth below ground where the water level is. So how could He get this "living water"?
12 You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?" This is a Samaritan dig at a Jew. Jacob was renamed Israel, and was the father of the nation as well as all of the 12 tribes that were founded by and named after his sons. In saying this the woman was stating that the Samaritans are also descendants of Israel. And she is implying that they are closer to that heritage as they occupy the land and use the well that Jacob himself dug and used.
13 Jesus answered and said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life." Now Jesus begins to explain what he meant by "living water". Water is symbol of life even in pagan culture, and for good reason. We can only go a few days without water. A well is a source of life in the desert. Thus living water is the source of eternal life, which comes from God. It is more than just eternal but is a better life. Living water quenches our spiritual thirst that is our separation from God.
15 The woman *said to Him, "Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw." She does not understand what Jesus is talking about, still thinking in terms of physical water. This is understandable since Jesus hasn't revealed who He is yet.
16 He *said to her, "Go, call your husband and come here." To tell her who He is so that she will know it is true, Jesus asks her to do this knowing she can't.
17 The woman answered and said, "I have no husband." Jesus *said to her, "You have correctly said, 'I have no husband'; Her answer may have been her standard deflection when dealing with this area of her life. It's like divorced people today not saying they are divorced, but saying they are "unmarried". Saying they are single implies they were never married so they avoid using it.
Jesus' reply is almost like He is saying she is technically correct but not telling the whole truth.
18 for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly." Now Jesus reveals who He is by telling her he knows the truth about her. She has been married five times, and is currently shacking up with the current guy outside of marriage. Even among Samaritans, divorce reduced a woman's value. And despite the fact that five husbands bailed out, the current guy still wanted to live with her. For a woman of today that would be noteworthy. As no one could stay for long she must have been very self-centered and difficult to live with. It is almost certain that she was an extremely good looking woman, and charismatic as well. In telling her He knew about her past, Jesus was telling her He knew who she was.
The lame assumption that she was shunned is largely based on these facts of her life. However, the conclusion is based on a very sloppy reading of the scriptures. If the woman had lived in a part of a Jewish city that was dominated by the Pharisees, she would have very likely been shunned by them and any who were afraid of them. But the Pharisees were just one faction in Judaism, as evidenced by the desecration of the temple by merchants being allowed. They certainly were of no influence outside Israel. Assuming everyone everywhere was like the Pharisees is a foolish and/or lazy conclusion.
19 The woman *said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. She does not appear to take Jesus' words to be judgment of her life, but as the demonstration of supernatural knowledge by a prophet. However, she is not ready to concede the debate.
20 Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship." The "people" of "you people" is italicized because it is an addition that is not literally in the Greek. However, you is plural in Greek which is not something that can be conveyed in English making you people the best possible translation choice.
The proper place for worship of God was a matter of hostile debate between the Jews and Samaritans. At this time the Jewish temple on Mount Zion was standing, and the Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim had been destroyed. According to Josephus in Antiquities, Alexander the Great allowed the Samaritans to contruct a temple on Mount Gerizim. The Jewish ruler John Hyrcanus destroyed it around 128 B.C. While it was standard practice in Judaism to have local synagogues as a focus of worship and sacrifice, the center and primary focus was the Tent of Meeting before the first and second temples were constructed, and the temple in Jerusalem after they were built. The Samaritan temple was not a satellite synagogue, but a pagan and rival temple.
She turns the debate back to Jesus by asking Him about this controversy. This was both a debate tactic and a test. If Jesus responded with typical Jewish prejudice then she could discount everything he had to say. If he responded like a thoughtful and honest prophet, then she would listen to him.
21 Jesus *said to her, "Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. "Believe Me" is the equivalent of saying "truly, truly", which is amen, amen in Greek. It is to formally attest that what is next is the absolute truth. Then Jesus skips past the question of proper place now, and instead prophesies about a near future when the question will be irrelevant.
This is the first time Jesus refers to His Father with the definite article instead of the possessive pronoun. This is a profound statement. Judaism was an exclusive relationship with God. To be part of it required conversion to Judaism. By saying that "you" will worship "the Father" Jesus was including the Samaritans in worship of the one true God.
22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. After saying that all will worship the Father, Jesus sets the record straight. It is the Jews that have known God, and the Samaritans that didn't. In other words, the Hebrew scriptures were right, and the Samaritan "scriptures" were a perversion of the truth. The last part of this verse was also very profound. Salvation is not for the Jews, but from the Jews. This means salvation is for the whole world, including the Samaritans. Judaism as practiced up to this point was an exclusive club with limited access. But the reality was that the Jews had the truth, the true way to God, so they are the source of salvation which is for the world, not just Israel.
23 But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. After delineating who was right and who was wrong, (although the Jews were far from perfect, they at least had the truth,) Jesus relates that a change is at hand, reinforcing what he said in verse 21.
The beginning of this verse means that this future hasn't happened yet, but they are right on the edge of it happening. What this entails is that locations will no longer matter. True worshippers will be the focus, not a physical location. Worshipping in spirit and truth is almost a repetition. If one is not in truth then one is in the flesh, not the spirit. It is this direct worship by anyone who truly seeks Him that the Father wanted all along.
Jesus is clear. There will be no central location. There will be no special holy place to seek God. That people gather to worship God will be what matters, not where. Whether that be a structure for that purpose, a home, a mall, a park, or whatever, the location is not the focus. It is the people being true worshippers that matter. Anyone who tries to assert than some spot or structure is special today is a deceiver.
24 God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." That God is spirit was not explicitly stated in the Hebrew texts. But it was clearly taught. God is invisible, not an idol or image, and does not live in temple made by humans.
To be clear, worshiping in spirit and truth does not exclude worship in a church or in a formal service. And it is absolutely not excluding the study of scripture as a part of worship. This is not addressing the form, style, or location of worship. It is addressing the nature of worship. Put simply, it must be real. It cannot be a physical rote, (by habit,) action with no meaning to the person. A person can fall into a plastic worship walking among trees just as easily as in an organized worship service. True worship is intentional regardless of form, style, or location.
25 The woman *said to Him, "I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us." This woman was very smart, and more than that, was able to connect the dots. Lots of smart people at the time were clueless. She followed Jesus' arguments and put it together with the coming Messiah. What is even more remarkable is that she is saying she knows that she hasn't got it all correct, and when the Messiah comes she will listen and change to match the truth revealed.
26 Jesus *said to her, "I who speak to you am He." Jesus identifies Himself as the Messiah. But it's more than just that. He said ego eimi, which translated from Greek is "I Am". In Exodus 3:14 when God sent Moses to Israel in Egyptian slavery to tell them that "I Am" sent him. Jesus was clearly and directly saying not only that he was the Messiah, but that he was God. The connection of the Messiah being God in prophecy was missed by almost everyone.
27 At this point His disciples came, and they were amazed that He had been speaking with a woman, yet no one said, "What do You seek?" or, "Why do You speak with her?" The disciples return from buying food. They were surprised that Jesus would speak to a woman in this inappropriate context, much like the Samaritan woman was in verse 9. They wanted to ask questions about it, but didn't. They were probably quietly asking each other like they were in verse 33.
28 So the woman left her waterpot, and went into the city and *said to the men, She goes into the city and speaks to the men of the city. This most likely means the leaders. Either way, this was the action of an influential woman. That she left her waterpot behind implies she was in a hurry.
29 "Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not the Christ, is it?" She asks them to come see Jesus. As to why they should see Him, she couches it in the form of a rhetorical question. In other words, she was saying come see for yourself if this is the promised Messiah. This was not the action of one who was shunned, but the wording of a very clever person who knows how to motivate people. A shunned woman wouldn't even speak to them knowing she wouldn't be heard.
30 They went out of the city, and were coming to Him. That they did as she told them shows she was an influential person in the city, and that they thought she was correct in her assessment that the Messiah was here.
31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging Him, saying, "Rabbi, eat." While the Samaritan woman was back in the city getting people to come see Jesus, the disciples tried to get Jesus to eat.
32 But He said to them, "I have food to eat that you do not know about." Jesus began a teaching similar to the one He taught the woman using food instead of water. But this one also concerned their duties as His disciples, both now and after He is gone. This is not just for the apostles, but for all who are disciples of Jesus.
33 So the disciples were saying to one another, "No one brought Him anything to eat, did he?" The disciples didn't get it. They were focused on the physical here and now and don't understand Jesus was speaking in spiritual terms using a metaphor.
34 Jesus *said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work. Then Jesus made it clear for them. Whether He heard their questions aside or not, He was God incarnate and knows our hearts. His food is doing the will of the Father. In other words, the Father's work sustains Him.
35 Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest'? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest. Jesus starts from the natural. The majority of crops require six months from planting to harvest. And it is the harvest that produces food. In referring to saying there are yet four months, Jesus is referring the patience of the farmer when only a third of the time has passed. But that is in the natural. In the spiritual, the fields are already full and ready for harvest, but people don't see it.
36 Already he who reaps is receiving wages and is gathering fruit for life eternal; so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. 37 For in this case the saying is true, 'One sows and another reaps.' There already was one harvesting the crop, having been paid to do the work. What he is harvesting is fruit for eternal life. Since the reaper is being paid a wage, it seems unlikely that this is speaking of a heavenly reward for the worker. What fits best is that Jesus is talking about souls getting eternal life. Where there is a crop to reap a sower worked before. Therefore both the reaper and sower can rejoice over the crop seeing a job well done.
By implication, the disciples were waiting for a harvest to come when it was already here.
38 I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored and you have entered into their labor." Jesus then made it clear he was talking about His disciples. They are given the duty to reap. And Jesus made it clear that a lot of labor went in to make the crop ready. Others sowed. And implied is that others tended the crop, watering it and such. This emphasis tells us that the reaping is the easiest part of the labor, and the part that is easiest to take too much credit for. And like the metaphor, bringing in people can feel like a great accomplishment. But that one is only the end result of the great labor planting seeds and watering them over time. A reaper of souls stands on the shoulders of the workers who did the heavy labor making it possible.
39 From that city many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, "He told me all the things that I have done." This verse makes it absolutely clear that many Samaritans of the city believed in Jesus as the Messiah solely because of her testimony that He knew all about her. This shows us clearly that she was a woman of great influence and trust. Far from being shunned, it is clear that she was at the heart of city life.
40 So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they were asking Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. The Samaritans came out already believing. This was at the testimony of one woman. Clearly, she was a very, very influential woman. And she was known to be intelligent and shrewd. This was also shown by the clever way she debated Jesus.
They asked Jesus to stay, and He and His disciples stayed for two days.
41 Many more believed because of His word; This means Jesus taught them during His stay, and they believed because of what He said.
42 and they were saying to the woman, "It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed the Savior of the world." This was a complement and confirmation of the woman's testimony. It is clear that they believed because of her testimony alone. This means she was trusted and believed because of her position and reputation in the city. They were confirming that what she said was once again shown to be true and wise as it had been in the past. That they openly declare Jesus to be the Messiah, (Savior of the world,) so quickly is amazing considering the skepticism of the Jews who are supposed to be His chosen people. The is a foreshadowing of the gospel ripping through the Gentile world like a fire through a dry field while being persecuted by the Jews.
43 After the two days He went forth from there into Galilee. So they continue their journey from this short stop teaching the Samaritans of the city of Sychar.
44 For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. By the wording of this verse, this is something Jesus taught but not at this particular time. It is likely that this was something He said at a later time. It is quoted here to contrast the Jewish and Samaritan responses in general. This may have been included here to provide context as to why Jesus' two miracles at Cana were so significant.
45 So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things that He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they themselves also went to the feast. That the Galileans received Jesus in this context refers to hospitality more than acceptance. It was not all Galilee that received Him as the group is narrowed to those who were in Jerusalem for the Passover feast as well and saw what he did then. What they thought about it is not specified. It may just have been curiosity about who this was. However, they almost certainly were aware that Jesus drove the moneychangers and animal sellers out of the temple and there was no response from the temple officials at the time. Nor did they try to stop Him or arrest Him afterward. These Galileans must have realized that Jesus was doing what they temple officials should have done themselves, and shamed them in the process.
46 Therefore He came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine. And there was a royal official whose son was sick at Capernaum. And Jesus returned to the Galilean city of Cana, where he performed his first public miracle. Cana was about 12 west of the Sea of Galilee, up in the hills, probably on the edge of an elevated plain between hills. While Capernaum was on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee, west of the Jordan river. They were about 16 miles apart.
A royal official would be someone who represented the Roman emperor. He could be civilian or military, gentile or Jew. We aren't told and it isn't important. Only that his son was sick back home matters here.
47 When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and was imploring Him to come down and heal his son; for he was at the point of death. This royal official lived about a day's journey away. So it was two days and probably more that Jesus was in Cana before the official arrived. That he traveled so far shows how motivated he was, and how much he believed. That he went seeking Jesus meant that Jesus' miracles were common enough to be credible and spoken of far beyond where He had been in person.
48 So Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe." This is a rebuke more for the others who were there than for the official himself. They were like in the movie "The Incredibles" where the neighbor boy in front of the house was just waiting hoping to see something amazing. Many there were looking for entertainment rather than looking for God.
49 The royal official *said to Him, "Sir, come down before my child dies." Here the official gives that his motivation is not to see something, but for the dying son he loves. Jesus knew this already. But this dialog informed the others present that the motivation was a good one.
50 Jesus *said to him, "Go; your son lives." The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started off. Jesus accepts that the official's heart is in the right place. But instead of going with the official as requested, He heals the boy right then from where He was. The man believed Jesus and started for home. By this we can see that Jesus already had a reputation for performing miracles. His word was enough for the official to believe.
51 As he was now going down, his slaves met him, saying that his son was living. Going down refers to the fact that Cana was at a notably higher elevation than the Sea of Galilee where Capernaum is located. The official's slaves met him on the way home and told him that his son was well and was no longer going to die. That his son was living was an idiom that meant he was healed and would live.
52 So he inquired of them the hour when he began to get better. Then they said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him." This speaks to the faith of the official. That he asked for the time his boy was healed means he was thinking that it would match when Jesus spoke.
In the Jewish time system, which is what the Apostle John uses in his gospel, the seventh hour puts the time at one in the afternoon. The official couldn't have made it home the same day. It is likely he stayed somewhere en route. The slaves probably didn't depart until the day after the boy was healed, making sure their good news wasn't premature. Thus they probably met closer to Capernaum than Cana.
53 So the father knew that it was at that hour in which Jesus said to him, "Your son lives"; and he himself believed and his whole household. It was the very time that Jesus said that his son lives. Whatever the boy had was not something he was expected to survive. That he did and at the time Jesus said was confirmation of Jesus was the Messiah. Although the official believed before this, now his whole household believed.
54 This is again a second sign that Jesus performed when He had come out of Judea into Galilee. There is some debate as to the significance of this verse. It could merely be a tying up of the narrative from Jesus' first public miracle to his most significant one from the same location. Or it could be a comment on Jesus not performing many miracles in his home district because of the lack of honor mentioned in verse 44 and their lack of faith as mentioned in Matthew 13 and Mark 6. Regardless, it ends this portion of the story.

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB © The Lockman Foundation.

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