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 stated 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 details add weight to 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. The most likely was so He would have the encounter 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 undesirable for a large walled city as invaders could cut off the water supply. However, for a city whose economy when it was founded 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 this meant 6 hours after sunrise, which makes it 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. Thus this was a well and not a stream.
7 There *came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus *said to her, "Give Me a drink." So a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus spoke 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. Here we find out what the errand was that took the disciples away. Verse 6 says Jesus was waiting there because he was tired from the journey. But it is likely His staying was also due to foreknowledge of this encounter.
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 was 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 was 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 turned her objection into a teaching moment. He hinted that He was more than He appeared to be, and introduced 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 got Jesus' point that she didn't know who she was dealing with because she then called 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 was that Jesus couldn't even get regular water here because he had no means to draw it up from the depth below ground where the water level was. 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 was 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 were also descendants of Israel. And she was implying that they were closer to that heritage as they occupied the land and used 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." At this point Jesus began 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 did not understand what Jesus was talking about, still thinking in terms of physical water. This is understandable since Jesus hadn't revealed who He was yet.
16 He *said to her, "Go, call your husband and come here." To tell her who He was so that she would know it is true, Jesus asked her to do this knowing she couldn'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 was almost like He was saying she was 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." Here Jesus revealed who He was by telling her he knew the truth about her. She had been married five times, and was at that time 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 probably was 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 by some pastors that she was shunned is largely based on the fact that she had divorced five times. However, that 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 did not appear to take Jesus' words to be judgment of her life, but as the demonstration of supernatural knowledge by a prophet. However, she was 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 until it was replaced by the completion of the first temple in Jerusalem. The first temple was destroyed in the Babylonian siege of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. And the second temple was completed about 516 B.C. The Samaritan temple was not a satellite synagogue, but a pagan and rival temple to the one in Jerusalem.
She turned 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 skipped past the question of proper place now, and instead prophesied about a near future when the question would be irrelevant.
This is the first time Jesus referred to His Father with the definite article instead of the possessive pronoun. This was 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 set the record straight. It was the Jews that had 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 was not for the Jews, but was 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 the true God, so they were 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 related that a change was at hand, reinforcing what he said in verse 21.
The beginning of this verse means that this future hadn't happened yet, but they were right on the edge of it happening. What this entailed was that locations would 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 and what the Father wanted all along.
Jesus was 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 that 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 a 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 was 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. The difference between her and most of the Jewish religious leaders was her humility. Because she did not insist she had everything right she was able to see the truth.
Most people who claim to be Christians in the west including most pastors and leaders are nothing like this woman. But they are exactly like the scribes, Pharisees and priests that were the religious leaders of that time. They are so arrogant and convinced they have it all figured out that scripture read directly to them just bounces off like a Nerf dart. When Jesus was a toddler and the Magi came looking for him these religious leaders knew the scriptures said He would be in Bethlehem. But none of them went with the Magi to worship Him.
26 Jesus *said to her, "I who speak to you am He." Jesus identified Himself as the Messiah. But it was 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 He said 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 many if not most.
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 returned 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 went into the city and spoke 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 asked them to come see Jesus. As to why they should see Him, she couched 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 it was possible she was correct in her assessment that the Messiah had come.
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 then and after He returned to heaven. This was not just for the apostles, but is 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 didn'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 whispered questions or not, He was God incarnate who knows our hearts. His food was doing the will of the Father. In other words, the Father's work sustained 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 often used natural processes to explain spiritual truths. The majority of crops require six months from planting to harvest. And it is the harvest that produces food. In the quote saying there are yet four months, Jesus was 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 were already full and ready for harvest, but people didn't see it and still don't.
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.' These verses continue the farming metaphor to teach about being a disciple of Jesus. In this case, Jesus was talking about making disciples of others. Then those newer disciples once trained up would join in the same work.
There are a couple of key points. There are two different jobs here, sower and reaper. A sower plants seeds, which represents those that plants seeds among unbelievers that they hope will grow into faith in Jesus. A reaper is the person who harvests when the crop is ready, which is the one who brings the person into relationship with Jesus. Without the sowers there would be nothing to reap. The sowers speak into the lives of unbelievers. Without the reapers there would be no harvest. These are different people with different talents and duties. It takes both.
The wages is the reward for their work, which in this case is a heavenly reward. The sower and reaper rejoice together because the work they have both done has earned them reward in heaven. The fruit for eternal life is the people who they have led to be disciples of Jesus, and therefore will enter Heaven.
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 were given the duty to reap. And Jesus made it clear that a lot of labor went in to make the crop ready. Others sowed. It is implied that spiritual sowing is not a one time thing, but a continuous planting of seeds over time. This also implies 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.
41 Many more believed because of His word; This means Jesus taught them during His stay, and even more 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.
They openly declared Jesus to be the Messiah, (Savior of the world,) while the Jewish leaders rejected Him, foreshadowing the gospel ripping through the Gentile world like a fire through a dry field while being rejected and persecuted by the majority of Jews. This is the exact same situation that is occurring today. People who claim to be Christians but have made up a fake Jesus utterly reject scripture and any correction. While those who have never been Christian are welcoming the good news in vast numbers.
43 After the two days He went forth from there into Galilee. So they continued their journey after 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 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. Jesus returned to the Galilean city of Cana, where he performed his first public miracle. Cana was about 12 miles 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 be someone who represented the Roman emperor. He could have been under King Herod who ruled Galilee and Perea under the authority of the Roman Empire. 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 was a rebuke more for the others who were there than for the official himself. They were like the neighbor boy in the movie "The Incredibles" where he was waiting in front of the house 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 told that his motivation was not to see something, but was for the dying son he loved. 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 accepted that the official's heart was in the right place. But instead of going with the official as requested, He healed 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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