John 4 Commentary

From the Pulpit—Video & Full Transcript

John 4:1-26: The Samaritan Woman
John 4:27-42: Reap!
John 4:43-55: Jesus Heals an Official’s Son

Commentary

4 Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— 2 although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 

1. Note that the Bible explicitly clarifies that Jesus was not baptizing people.  Even though it was a part of his ministry, he didn’t personally do the baptizing.  He only oversaw the process.
2. Why didn’t Jesus baptize?
   1. Some suggest that Jesus was more concerned with inspiring faith over baptizing each individual person, so he left the follow-up to the disciples.
   2. Some suggest Jesus prioritized inspiring faith over personally baptizing, leaving the act to disciples, though there’s not textual support for this.
   3. A stronger reason for Jesus’s reluctance to personally baptism is that He is the one who is supposed to baptize with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5).  Since the Holy Spirit had not yet been given by Jesus, the fullness of Christ’s baptism was not available.  This was more akin to John’s baptism for repentance, which only involved water.
3. “The reason why He baptized not Himself, had been already declared by John, He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire. (Luke 3:16) Now He had not yet given the Holy Spirit: it was therefore fitting that He should not baptize.” -John Chrysostom, Hom. xxxi. 1

3 So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.

1. Jesus’s rising fame created tension with the Pharisees.  Rather than allowing his ministry to the “anti-Pharisee” ministry, Jesus moved on to continue focusing on the truth that he needed to share, rather than just arguing in an increasingly hostile environment.   HE wasn’t afraid of the Pharisees.  He would engage with them again later, but he refused to allow himself to be reduced to their opposition.
2. “He was showing an example to them who were to believe in Him (that any one servant of God sins not if he retire into another place, when he sees, it may be, the rage of his persecutors, or of them that seek to bring his soul into evil; but if a servant of God did this he might appear to commit sin, had not the Lord led the way in doing it), that good Master did this to teach us, not because He feared it.” -Augustine of Hippo, Tractate 15 on John

4 Now he had to go through Samaria. 

1. Jesus traveled from Judea to Galilee and “had to” go through Samaria. While the route made geographical sense (Samaria lies near Israel’s borders; Galilee is an outlying enclave), most Jews would have found a way around it.  There was severe tension between the Jews and the Samaritans.
2. Sources of Tension between Israelites and Samaritans
   1. Similarity can create friction; groups that live in the same area with competing claims and identities often clash more easily than groups that are obviously different.
   2. Competing Religious Claims:
      1. Both the Jews and the Samaritans claimed to be true worshipers of God and the true Israel, considering the other’s claim illegitimate.
      2. The Samaritans only accepted the Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy) as Scripture, denying later prophetic books, which increased conflict with the Jews who affirmed other books as divinely inspired.
   3. Competing Identity Claims
      1. Samaritans said they were the true Israelites because they stayed in the land during the Assyrian exile.  Others were forced to leave because of the Assyrian policies, but the Samaritans found a way to stay and shepherd the area.
      2. The Israelites that returned after the exile saw the Samaritans as people who had compromised themselves by intermarrying and adopting Assyrian culture to appeal to the dominant culture, losing their real identity while others suffered exile for their faith. 

5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph.

 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.

1. “Jacob’s well was there,”
   1. Jacob’s well is not particularly famous.  There is nothing mentioned in Scripture about it.  Its importance comes from its owner, not any event that happened at it.  
   2. A modern equivalent might be something like “George Washington’s cornfield.”  Assuming such a place exists somewhere, nothing noteworthy happened there, but it’s notable because of the owner.
   3. “And what more proper place than Jacob’s well, for exposing the unlawful husband, i. e. the perverse law? For the Samaritan woman is meant to figure to us a soul, that has subjected itself to a hind of law of its own, not the divine law. And our Saviour wishes to marry her to a lawful husband, i. e. Himself; the Word of truth which was to rise from the dead, and never again to die.” -Origen, tom. xiii. c. 8
2. “It was about noon.”
   1. In first century Israel, women typically drew water in the morning to avoid heat and to catch up with one another at the well.
   2. The Samaritan woman arriving at noon likely indicates that she’s avoiding others.  As Jesus unfolds her story in the coming verses, it becomes increasingly obvious that she may be a social outcast and subject of gossip.

7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.[a])

10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

1. “Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”
   1. Jesus spoke directly to her, which broke social norms on several levels.  Firstly, Jews didn’t associate with Samaritans.  Secondly, men didn’t tend to speak to women alone without a husband, father or brother present to witness the propriety of the interaction.
   2. He asks her for a drink—a deliberate request for a favor.  Sociologists say that this is a good way to build rapport in a new environment.  By asking for help, you show that you see value in the other person and are vulnerable, which prevents you from appearing as some sort of social threat.
2. “living water”
   1. Jesus offers “living water,” a phrase carrying dual meanings in Greek: flowing, fresh water (spring/river) and spiritually vivifying water pointing to eternal life.
   2. English translations prefer “living water” to preserve the spiritual resonance; the woman initially interprets it as literal fresh water, focusing on convenience (not having to return to draw water).

11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”

13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”

16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”

17 “I have no husband,” she replied.

Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”

1. Transition from physical thirst to spiritual thirst
   1. Jesus contrasts water that only provides for earthly needs (“whoever drinks this water will be thirsty again”) with the spiritual benefit of the water he gives, which becomes “a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
   2. He reveals awareness of her personal life: she has had five husbands and lives with a man who is not her husband. She’s been seeking fulfillment in relationships with men.  Not only has it not gone well, but it hasn’t quenched the thirst for meaning in her life.
   3. In the Jesus revolution of the 1970s, many young people that had sought their fulfillment in drugs or hippie counterculture found lasting fulfillment in Jesus.

19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”

21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

1. 1. “I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain…”
      1. The woman shifts the whole conversation towards “religious” questions, shifting the tone from an honest conversation about her life to theoretical doctrinal debates.
      2. “From the truth which was becoming inconveniently personal she flew to that natural resort of the carnal mind, namely, to religions discourse upon points of outward observance”. -Spurgeon, Verse Expositions of the Bible

• “true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth”

1. 1. Jesus reframes the issue away from ethnicity, tradition, and location: “A time is coming…when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.”
   2. He isn’t vague on doctrine.  He acknowledges “salvation is from the Jews” but moves towards that bigger picture that he’s inviting her to participate in where people “worship the Father in spirit and in truth,” because “God is spirit.”
   3. Ethnic lineage and traditional sites are not the path to God; the Holy Spirit’s indwelling and truth-seeking are essential. He invites her to abandon religious formalism and be honest about what she really needs.  He knows her thirst and how she longs for God in her life.

25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”

1. Conversion doesn’t come from superior religious theory being explained well or being so nice for so long that someone just goes with it.  Conversion comes from a person encountering Jesus and knowing his power and his person directly.
2. This encounter gives us some key principles for evangelism.
   1. Talk to someone, even if it’s uncomfortable or seemingly strange.
   2. Build and honest rapport by letting yourself be vulnerable and seeing their gifts.
   3. Connect things that people know to what they don’t know yet.
   4. Lovingly help people see what they’re looking for can be found in Jesus.
   5. Avoid getting trapped in debates over little things.  Emphasize the big picture of what God is doing.
   6. Introduce people to Jesus personally.  His power is sufficient.

27 Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”

1. The disciples return to find Jesus speaking with a Samaritan woman, which was socially unacceptable and potentially scandalous, but there’s no interrogation.  Instead, they trust that Jesus is up to something, and they can learn.
   1. We have to trust people that we hope to learn from.  A student learning algebra might be baffled at the sudden appearance of letters in a math equation, but if they accuse the teacher of making a mistake, they’ll miss an opportunity to learn.
   2. God knows everything and is the ultimate teacher, but how often do we really trust him when our life differs from what we expect?  If we accuse Him, we will miss what he’s doing. 

28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

1. Notice that she’s excited that he knew what she did, even though the knowledge he had was about how she had fallen short and failed to find what she wanted.  This potential messiah knew what she did, but still wanted to talk to her.  He was not only powerful, but he was merciful.
2. It’s likely the town knew her history well.  There’s no way she could have kept her messy marriages secret.  Drawing attention to herself in this way was a risk, but she’s willing to take it because of what Jesus means to her.
3. “The woman is almost turned into an Apostle. So forcible are His words, that she leaves her waterpot to go to the city, and tell her townsmen of them. The woman then left her waterpot, i. e. gave up low bodily cares, for the sake of benefitting others. Let us do the same. Let us leave off caring for things of the body, and impart to others of our own.” -Origen

31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”

32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”

33 Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”

34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 

1. We’ve seen this from Jesus earlier in this chapter.  For the woman who was new to God, he took the example of water, something physical that she knew, to talk about what she was really thirsty for: a relationship with God.  Now, he talks to the disciples in a similar way about food.
   1. Water was eternal life, but food is doing the will of God and joining in that mission in the day to day.
   2. Many people think that metaphorical water is enough for their journey with God.  They KNOW that Jesus died for them, but then they don’t apply that knowledge to their daily life.  Life seems meaningless, trapped in routines, waiting for Jesus to come.  God invites us to daily mission and purpose to fill our hunger for meaning in this world.
2. “What wonder that the woman did not understand about the water? Lo, the disciples do not understand about the food!” -Augustine

35 Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”

1. To a person who has done little farming, harvest might seem like the payoff at the end.  This is the chance to finally get the fruits of your labor!  But remember that the harvest season is one of the most labor-intensive parts of farming.  Farmers spend a lot of time rushing against the clock, working in the fields during harvest.
2. ‘One sows and another reaps’
   1. “This was a common proverb, by which he showed that many men frequently receive the fruit of the labor of others, though there was this difference, that he who has labored is displeased at seeing the fruit carried away by another, whereas the Apostles have the Prophets for the companions of their joy.” -John Calvin
3. This truth is not only true individually, but corporately.  Think about all the people at your local church that planted seeds so that you could harvest!  Decades of people worked hard so you can stand where you are.

39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers.

42 They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”

1. The least likely people in the least likely place provide the first real example of people being excited and hungry for what Jesus is doing.
2. When we feel discouraged, we sometimes assume that Christ has done his best work in the past and there is nothing left to look forward to.  If Jesus can cause such a stir in Samaria through a woman with little social capital, what can he do in our lives?

43 After the two days he left for Galilee. 44 (Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.) 

45 When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, for they also had been there.

1. “no honor in his own country.” 
   1. Jesus grew up in Galilee.   The people who live there are excited to see him again!  They’ve heard about his miracles and teachings!  They’ve seen the impact he’s making on the world!  They want to talk to him, but not to know him.  They think they already know him.  He’s Joseph’s boy!  What’s left to know?  They’re interested in what he does and what he offers, but they aren’t interested in him. 
2. A lot of people approach God with imperfect motives.  They often want good things (community, relationships, moral guidance, structure) that aren’t the best thing.  These searches for little goods can lead to the greatest good: God himself and eternal life with Him.
3. Cyril of Jerusalem, a great teacher of the Church, told a group of people that were hoping to join the Church: “[You may have] come on another pretext. It is possible that a man is wishing to pay court to a woman, and came hither on that account. The remark applies in like manner to women also in their turn. A slave also perhaps wishes to please his master, and a friend his friend. I accept this bait for the hook, and welcome you, though you came with an evil purpose, yet as one to be saved by a good hope. Perhaps you knew not whither you were coming, nor in what kind of net you are taken. You have come within the Church’s nets : be taken alive, flee not: for Jesus is angling for you.”  -Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures, Prologue

46 Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. 47 When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.

1. This is an official that is a part of Herod’s royal court.  He would have been powerful and very wealthy.  He would certainly have had ample opportunity to see any doctors and miracle workers that he could have wanted.  He likely had seen others already!  In spite of all that the world has given him, here he begs at the feet of Jesus.

48 “Unless you people see signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.”

1. The official’s motivation is good (he is a good father that wants to save his son) but just like the others, he’s more interested in Jesus’s power than on Jesus himself.
2. Jesus first replies with a seeming rebuke: “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will never believe.” This targets the crowd’s (and the official’s) desire for miracles over genuine relationship.
3. Jesus also does not act with the urgency the man expects. Is it any surprise that the one who created life is not going to be bothered over something little like death? Is it any surprise that the Lord over all of eternity is not bothered by something like time? Jesus isn’t concerned because he’s in control. 
4. In our lives as well, God works on His own schedule. God’s goal is to make us holy, though not necessarily happy.  Things can be long and uncomfortable, even if we’d prefer otherwise.  Sometimes we need to be melted down to be forged into something beautiful.

49 The royal official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.”

1. In spite of his power, the official offers real sincerity here.  There’s no threat or bribe.  He sets himself aside and gives an honest, sincere, heartbreaking plea to help his child.  
2. “He thought it possible that his son could be freed from sickness and disease, but not that he could be raised up after he was dead; and therefore he urges Christ to make haste, that his son’s recovery may not be prevented by his death. Accordingly, when Christ pardons both, we may conclude from it how highly he values even a small measure of faith.”  -Calvin’s Commentary, John 4

50 “Go,” Jesus replied, “your son will live.”

The man took Jesus at his word and departed.

1. Jesus tests the man’s faith by telling him, “Go. Your son will live,” rather than accompanying him to his house to do the healing.
2. By healing in this way, the man has to trust that Jesus is who he says he is over the pure spectacle of a live miracle.  He has to give up his control and give total control over to Jesus.
3. This man came for a miracle, but stumbles onto something (shockingly) even better. 
   1. He came with nothing but hope, but he leaves with faith in Christ. 
   2. He came wanting the life of someone else, but he is going to stumble into his own eternal life. 
   3. He came to protect a relationship with someone that he helped create, and he is about to gain a relationship with the One who created him.

51 While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. 52 When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, “Yesterday, at one in the afternoon, the fever left him.”

53 Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he and his whole household believed.

1. The journey from Cana to Capernaum is about 25 miles, roughly an 8-hour walk.   He could have arrived home in the evening the same day he spoke to Jesus, but instead, he finds the servant on the road the next day!  He believed so strongly that Jesus was who He said He was that he chose to sleep at an inn along the way. 
2. As a result, the official and his “whole household believed.” This took courage for someone who worked for King Herod, who was instrumental in Jesus’s crucifixion.  It likely cost him socially and professionally. He arrived with faith in one king (Herod) and departed with faith in a new King (Jesus).

54 This was the second sign Jesus performed after coming from Judea to Galilee.

1. “The second miracle, he says markedly. The Jews had not come to the more perfect faith of the Samaritans, who saw no miracle.” – John Chrysostom, Homily 36, 1.
2. “His teachings were the explanation of his doings his doings confirmations of his teachings. Jesus Christ had never occasion to any, ‘Do as I say, but not as I do.’ His words and his actions were in perfect harmony with one another. You might be sure that he was honest in what he said, because what he did forced that conviction upon your mind.” -Charles Spurgeon, “Characteristics of Faith,” May 27th, 1860.