JOHN
CHAPTER 4

Jesus Talks With a Samaritan Woman

¹The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John, ²although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. ³When the Lord learned of this, he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.
⁴Now he had to go through Samaria. ⁵So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. ⁶Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
⁷When 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.)
⁹The 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.^[1] )
¹⁰Jesus 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."
¹¹"Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? ¹²Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?"
¹³Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
¹⁵The 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."
¹⁶He told her, "Go, call your husband and come back."
¹⁷"I have no husband," she replied.
¹⁸Jesus said to her, "You are right when you say you have no husband. 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."
¹⁹"Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet. ²⁰Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem."
²¹Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. ²²You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. ²³Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. ²⁴God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."
²⁵The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us."
²⁶Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he."

An overarching theme of John's gospel is that Jesus is fulfilling the Old Testament types and shadows. The old is passing away, and the new is being ushered in. That continues in this passage as the Kingdom of God is revealed to a woman who wondered where it was best to worship. Jesus tells her that locale is unimportant; what matters is that worship be done in spirit and in truth. Remember we spoke of doing the truth in John 3:21. In our tour of the tabernacle, we’re still passing by the laver, the place of ceremonial washing and cleansing with water, which both cleanses from impurity and sustains us on our journey.

1. V1-3 – Jesus’ reason for leaving Judea and heading back to Galilee. The apostle John has explained the Pharisees’ interest in John the Baptist’s ministry, but now we learn that Jesus’ ministry is overshadowing John’s as it grows larger than John’s. And as you might expect, the Pharisees notice. Precisely because they notice, Jesus leaves the region. Why? It’s not yet time to aggravate them to the point of seeking His death. Jesus knows His time is short; He’s got a schedule to keep. He’s introduced Himself to Judea and now it’s time for Him to continue working elsewhere (namely in Galilee again). Whatever His reason for leaving, the cue was the Pharisees hearing of His ministry’s success. What do you make of the importance of the fact that Jesus is not the One who baptizes? John seems to go out of his way to point this out. Does it matter? Why or why not? Calvin suggests that the point is that the minister of the sacrament is unimportant. Christ is the author and the Spirit does the baptism internally. That’s what matters. Any thoughts? Notice Jesus is “the Lord” in v3.

2. V4-6 – Jesus had to go through Samaria. John uses intentional language in v4 when he writes that Jesus “had to go through Samaria.” The reality is that He did not have to go through Samaria to get to Galilee. The most common Jewish route was along the Jordan River away from Samaria. The Jews despised Samaritans, and rightly so. Samaritans had corrupted the worship of God by mixing in pagan rituals. But of course we know that the pious Jews were only using their supposed zeal for the law to justify their hatred. In reality, the Jews were envious of them, because the Samaritans were dwelling in the land allotted to the Jews. There was just ground for the separation, provided that their feelings had been pure and well regulated. For this reason Christ, when He first sends the apostles to proclaim the Gospel, forbids them to turn aside to the Samaritans (Matthew 10:5). But Jesus had to go through Samaria. He had a divine appointment, and there’s no escaping divine appointment. Have you ever “had” to go a certain direction in your life? Can you look back and see how God purposed it for your good (Romans 8:28)? Others’ good (Philippians 1:21-26)?

   We read that Jesus came to Sychar, a town of historic significance – the land Jacob gave to Joseph. Jesus rested by Jacob’s well, because He was tired. His humanity is made clear here, as He is actually fatigued and not just pretending – as some who denied His humanity have said. It was noon – the sixth hour, a time of day when the well would not be used much. People came in the morning and/or in the evening, but not often in the middle of the day. Nevertheless, this divine appointment is obvious. Jesus sat by the well and met a woman. Think about the Old Testament well scenes (Genesis 24 – Abraham’s servant (for Isaac) and Rebekah; Genesis 29 – Jacob and Rachel; Exodus 2 – Moses and Zipporah). Well-scenes in the Bible are scenes of betrothal and marriage – highly significant moments. John parallels them with this account. He might have Moses’ well scene and the subsequent Exodus from slavery and Jesus’ well scene and the subsequent exodus from sin both in mind as he records this episode.

   In one commentary that I read on the conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman, it was said that the woman’s language is filled with imagery of temptation, that she is a sort of a seductress, someone who preys on men – after all, she had 5 husbands and was living with a sixth man who was not her husband. The commentator suggested that we might miss that, as I did due to the lack of tone from reading without hearing the words, but we need to remember that Jesus is tired, exhausted, and He was tempted in every way that we were yet was without sin. As the commentator said, “Whereas this woman is tempting Jesus; Jesus is wooing her also in an altogether different sense. It’s not so much this woman that is advancing toward Jesus, but Jesus who is advancing towards her. He’s come for His bride, you might say. There’s a strategy at work here.” Note that Jesus is breaking down the walls of ethnicity and gender when it comes to a relationship with God. The old is passing away – or is already gone. The new is coming – and is now even here. Let’s look at the conversation:

3. V7-9 – Jesus is thirsty; the woman is surprised, even offended. I love Calvin’s comments on v7: “When [Jesus] asks water from the woman, He does it not merely with the intention of obtaining an opportunity to teach her; for thirst prompted Him to desire to drink. But this cannot hinder Him from availing Himself of the opportunity of instruction which He has obtained, for He prefers the salvation of the woman to His own wants. Thus, forgetting His own thirst…that He might instruct her in true godliness, He draws a comparison between the visible water and the spiritual, and waters with heavenly doctrine the mind of her who had refused Him water to drink.”

   Jesus simply asks her for a drink. But this is a culturally absurd thing to do. I don’t know that we can compare it to anything in our culture. Maybe if the President was to tour Mexico and ask a homeless woman for something to eat? The woman’s response sarcastically notes the cultural oddity. She says she is a Samaritan woman – as if He didn’t know. And she tells Him that He is a Jew. He should not be asking her for a drink. Picture her saying, “What? Is it lawful for You to ask drink from me, when You hold us to be so profane?” It appears that she’s mocking Jesus, as she has felt like He has mocked her. Despite her confusion, Jesus – as He was with Nicodemus – is completely serious and patient. And John helps out any of his audience who may not grasp the cultural significance of this encounter with a parenthesis – “Jews do not associate with Samaritans.”

4. V10-12 – Jesus makes it a teachable moment; the woman is sarcastic, yet curious. It may appear that Jesus only now decides to take advantage of the woman’s culture shock for an occasion to teach her, but we know better. Recall John 2:23-25. Jesus knows all men, and He knows what is in a man. Thus, forgetting His physical thirst and making her spiritual needs the priority, He says to 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.” Let’s first acknowledge that the woman does not deserve Jesus’ teaching. She has effectively insulted Him and sinned against the Lord. Yet Jesus came to seek and save the lost, and we cannot fail to see grace in the fact that Jesus will bring this woman from death to life. Jesus does the same with us. Isaiah 65:1 “I revealed Myself to those who did not ask for Me; I was found by those who did not seek Me. To a nation that did not call on My name, I said, ‘Here am I, here am I.’” Praise God for that!

   Jesus begins teaching the woman with two clauses: “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink…” Some commentators suggest that the second clause is the interpretation of the first, so it could read, “If you knew the gift of God, namely who it is…” In other words, Jesus is the gift of God. And that’s true, but is that what Jesus is saying? Or is He saying that the gift of God is eternal life, and the One who can give that gift is speaking to you? Both? Regardless of His meaning here, we can say that such a set of clauses begins to instill this feeling of an unmet need within the woman. Has anyone ever said to you, “If you only knew…”? It makes you think you’re missing something important. So Jesus plants a desire in the woman with these clauses. And Jesus continues, saying that if the woman only knew, then she would have asked for a drink and He would have given her living water. If she had only known, then she would have asked. That’s our predicament prior to being saved. If we only knew the wrath of God resting on us, if we only knew that we were sinners in the hand of an angry God, if we only knew the eternal punishment that was temporarily being withheld by the forbearance of the Creator, then we would have asked, we would have sought, we would have come. But we don’t grasp the sinfulness of sin or the holiness of God. We don’t know the reality of our condition apart from Christ until we are in Christ, until He has come to us and made Himself known to us and quickened us to spiritual life. We are blessed to see this woman’s transition from death to life in just a short conversation with the Lord Jesus – it likely resembles our own conversion in many ways.

   Lastly in v10, when Jesus says that He would have given her living water, He is speaking of the Holy Spirit. Remember the conversation with Nicodemus. We’re right there. We need to be born of water and the Spirit – the living water. The water Jesus gives is not only life-giving and life-sustaining; it flows from a living source, the Holy Spirit.

   Now the woman’s response in v11 can be taken one of two ways. Remember we lack the tone with which the words were expressed. Some commentators suggest that she is mocking Jesus, that she is saying He cannot do what He implied that He can do – that is give her living water. In other words, she fully realizes He is speaking figuratively, yet insults Him anyway. Others suggest that she didn’t catch the figurative or spiritual intent. In other words she was baffled by His language and in confusion and curiosity tried to continue the conversation. Either way, we are certain that the woman knows that the water from Jacob’s well is important for is life-sustaining qualities. She is grateful to the patriarch for that. But she, like Nicodemus, is thinking only in physical categories. Thus she insults Jesus by asking rhetorically in v12, “Are you greater than Jacob?” (Of note, the Samaritans had ancestral ties to Jacob, yet that had been corrupted both in blood and faith lineage.) Again, perhaps we can sense the sarcasm in her assertion – “You think you’re more important than our ancestor!” She charges Jesus with arrogance. She compares the servant with the Master, a dead man with the living God. How often unbelievers – and believers alike – make this error! “They exchanged the glory of God for an image…” The woman doesn’t yet know that He created Jacob, that He is the Messiah; and she has no idea that Jesus’ water is greater than that in the well – like the water in the well, Jesus’ water also has life-sustaining qualities, but for spiritual life, not only for physical life.

5. V13-15 – Jesus talks spiritual water; the woman is thinking physical. Jesus patiently and mercifully proceeds to explain more clearly what He had said. He distinguishes between the use of the two kinds of water; that the one serves the body, and only for a time, while the power of the other gives permanent life to the soul. That which quickens the soul cannot but be eternal; the Holy Spirit is an ever-flowing fountain. Jeremiah 2:13

   Once again, lacking the tone of the words, commentators suggest two views of the woman’s response. In the first, it is said that she knows full well that Jesus is speaking of spiritual things, yet because she despises Him, she will not allow His authority over all to be her authority. She still sees no need to accept His offer of spiritual blessing (and she doubts that He could provide it anyway) – but she’ll gladly (and sarcastically) take His physical blessing (as if He could really provide living water that would prevent her from thirsting or making a daily trip to the well).

   The other view suggests that the woman no longer mocks Jesus – as she perceives that He is serious. Nevertheless, she (like Nicodemus was) is still stuck on physical water – and notes the benefits of His offer, as it would save her both thirst and a daily trip to the well – but does not grasp that He is speaking of spiritual water, despite His language of eternal life. She is genuinely confused about the light, given that she is in darkness. She doesn’t understand the water, because she is parched. Yet in her dry darkness, the Light blinds her with living water. You may have heard, “God is a gentlemen. He won’t make you come if you don’t want to.” And that’s true. Instead, He makes you want to come. And that is so much better, so much more gentlemanly, than leaving us in the gutter where we are, hoping we’ll want to come out on our own. We see this in action in the next series of verses.

6. V16-18 – Jesus gets personal; the woman is confronted with her sin; Jesus drives the dagger deeper. Jesus, upon hearing her continued scoffs or misunderstandings (however you want to view them), applied an appropriate remedy to her disease. He struck the woman’s conscience with a conviction of her sin. His command to “go call your husband” has absolutely no continuity with their conversation. If we were talking college basketball and you asked me if I thought UCLA would win it all and I replied, “You have stinky breath,” that might be akin to what took place here. It’s not the way that a conversation takes place, yet it is a remarkable proof of Jesus’ compassion. When the woman was unwilling of her own accord to come to Him, He draws her. His drawing her is not against her will, however. Rather, He is performing surgery on her will. He is changing her will, making her willing. He is step-by-step operating on this woman to bring her to Himself. It’s a process. The woman is in her natural state and cannot perceive spiritual things (1 Corinthians 2:14), yet Jesus opens her eyes and makes her see. We experienced the same operation. We were unwilling and unable to come to Him until He brought us to Himself. And for many of us, it was a painful procedure. But we give Him all the glory for it, because we recognize that we did not come to Him until He came to us. John Newton wrote in Amazing Grace, “I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see.” He didn’t cooperate in his transformation, and that’s why he can sing that song.

   Jesus says, “Go call your husband.” And the woman says, “I have no husband.” So Jesus presses His point. Calvin sums it up well: “We are so intoxicated, or rather stupified, by our self-love, that we are not at all moved by the first wounds that are inflicted. But Christ applies an appropriate cure for this sluggishness, by pressing the ulcer more sharply, for He openly reproaches her with her wickedness when He says that she has had five husbands…She had prostituted herself to fornication.” Her stony heart wasn’t penetrated by His command to call her husband. She thought little about her sin when she responded, “I have no husband.” But when Jesus is done with His response, you can bet that she is thinking about her sin. What would it be like to hear Jesus tell you the sins in which you are currently living? That’s why we need to live a life of repentance.

7. V19-24 – The woman is defensive and perhaps tries to change the subject – or maybe she genuinely wants to learn as a fruit of conviction and repentance; Jesus speaks the truth in love. Calvin explains v19: “Not only does the woman modestly acknowledge her fault, but, being ready and prepared to listen to the doctrine of Christ, which she had formerly disdained, she now desires and requests it of her own accord. Repentance, therefore, is the commencement of true docility…and opens the gate for entering into the school of Christ. Again, the woman teaches us by her example, that when we meet with any teacher, we ought to avail ourselves of this opportunity, that we may not be ungrateful to God… [as He gives us teachers from whom we have opportunity to learn].”

   Some have suggested that the woman is trying to change the subject after Jesus makes her uncomfortable about her promiscuity. Others suggest that she is displaying the fruit of conviction and repentance, passing from what is particular to what is general. Perhaps she wishes to be generally instructed concerning the pure worship of God. She does the right thing when she consults Jesus, whom she perceives to be a Prophet, that she may not fall into a mistake in the worship of God. It is as if she inquired at God Himself in what manner He chooses to be worshipped; for nothing is more wicked – according to Calvin – than to contrive various modes of worship without the authority of the Word of God.

   The historian Josephus records historical details about the beginnings of the Jewish / Samaritan disagreements and confusion over particular worship detail (see Antiquities 11:7-2 and 8-2 and 2 Kings 17:27). We won’t go into those details, but the important thing to note is that the Samaritans and the Jews were both zealous to worship rightly and both were relying on their interpretations of what their Fathers or ancestors had prescribed and set forward as examples. Thus, the argument was genuine – though both groups were failing to worship as God had prescribed in His Word – in Spirit and in truth.

   Jesus explains that the worship of God as a result of the work He was doing is not confined to a particular location. Remember – out with the old and in with the new. Calvin adds, “By calling God Father, [Jesus] seems indirectly to contrast Him with the Fathers whom the woman had mentioned, and to convey this instruction, that God will be a common Father to all, so that He will be generally worshipped without distinction of places or nations.”

   Jesus then goes on, in v22-24, to explain that reality more fully. First He says that the Samaritans were worshipping what they do not know and that the Jews were worshipping what they do know. Picture Paul in Athens pointing out the altar with a sign, “To an unknown god.” People will worship; that’s a fact. And Jesus says that the Samaritans were trying to worship God, but they didn’t know God. On the other hand, the Jews (Jesus gives them credit here) were not worshipping some unknown deity. They knew God, and they were worshipping Him. To their discredit, their worship was merely exterior ritual (as a whole). They lacked the interior reality – as Jesus later points out to the Pharisees in all four Gospel accounts. “He who does not have the Son does not have the Father” (John 5:23; 2 John 1:9). The point is that the Jews have a truer worship as they had the law (just as we have His Word), while the Samaritans were not given the law and relied only on what “the Fathers” passed down (similar to Catholics who know not the Bible). Their worship was not based on truth. The evidence for that, Jesus says, is that salvation is from the Jews. We talked about the benefits of being a Jew in our Romans study, and the benefits were given so they might be lights to the Gentiles (Jonah). And of course, Jesus is salvation, and as a Jew, He came from the Jews. But Jesus points out that even the Jews’ worship was inadequate – only a type or symbol of the worship that Jesus was inaugurating. Now that Jesus was bringing in the new, the argument between the Samaritans and Jews would be insignificant.

   There are many questions that can be asked regarding true worship in spirit and in truth and spiritual worship versus physical worship and all of that. Plainly, worship must be Christ-centered, because it is Christ-commanded. And worship should be Word-driven. We pray the Bible back to God; we sing the Bible back to God; and we preach the Bible back to God. It’s that simple – though needless to say, much more complex.

   Finally, Jesus says that God is spirit. Calvin comments, “This single consideration, when the inquiry relates to the worship of God, ought to be sufficient for restraining the wantonness of our mind, that God is so far from being like us, that those things which please us most are the objects of his loathing and abhorrence. And if hypocrites are so blinded by their own pride, that they are not afraid to subject God to their opinion, or rather to their unlawful desires, let us know that this modesty does not hold the lowest place in the true worship of God, to regard with suspicion whatever is gratifying according to the flesh. Besides, as we cannot ascend to the height of God, let us remember that we ought to seek from His word the rule by which we are governed.”

8. V25-26 – The woman reveals her knowledge of Messiah; Jesus says, “That’s Me!” The woman reveals that she knows Messiah is coming, and that He will explain everything to her (the people). His discourse regarding the extraordinary change in the Church of God probably kindled in her mind everything she had learned of Messiah as a little girl. Her language indicates a soon coming Messiah, and that should be expected, as many people in the region were wondering about and even expecting the arrival of the mysterious figure known as Messiah, or Christ. Furthermore, it is clear from her language that the woman prefers Jesus to Moses and to all the Prophets in the office of teaching; for she comprehends in a few words that the Law was not absolutely perfect or adequate for salvation, that nothing more than first principles was delivered in it, and that it pointed to Messiah. If she hadn’t recognized these things, she would not have said that the Messiah “will explain everything to us.” There is an implied contrast between Him and the Prophets. She seems to realize that Messiah’s role will be to lead His disciples to the goal, whereas the Prophets were merely pointing in the direction of Messiah.

   Jesus’ answer to her essentially unasked question (Who is Messiah?) is that He is Messiah. He is the fulfillment of the Old Testament Temple worship. He is the Temple. When He acknowledges to the woman that He is the Messiah, He presents Himself as her Teacher, in compliance with the expectation which she had formed. By using these words, ‘I who speak to you am He,’ Jesus employs the name Messiah as a seal to ratify the truth of His Gospel; for we must remember that He was anointed by the Father, and that the Spirit of God rested on Him, that He might bring to us the message of salvation, as Isaiah 61:1 declares: “The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.”

   In conclusion, there’s a seven-fold stage through which this woman seems to pass. (1) Total alienation. As the story begins, she is casually proud, standing above Jesus. She thinks she’s in control; she knows things that He doesn’t. Yet she’s blind and cannot see at all. Her intentions are hostile through arrogance or sarcastic apathy. (2) Curiosity, or fascination. When she hears Jesus speak about waters of life – if she drinks them, she would never thirst again – her heart and mind begin to race. And all this drudgery of coming out to the well to draw water would go away – in her confusion, she asks if she might experience this water. (3) Conviction. The woman sees Jesus merely as a man. But Jesus is the Great Physician; He knows where to touch – it will hurt – and He says to her, “Go, call your husband.” (4) Self-protection. “I have no husband,” she said. And she has had five husbands. And the man she is now with is not her husband, and it suddenly dawns on this woman that Jesus knows things about her that she thought He didn’t know. (5) Careful investigation. She realizes that here was One standing before her who knew the deepest secrets of her heart and exposed the sinfulness and the waywardness of her lifestyle. And she begins to grope near the truth, saying in v19, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.” (6) Spiritual awakening. She finds a fulfillment in Jesus in the words in v26. “I who speak to you am He.” That is, the Christ, the Messiah, the One she had vaguely heard about, the One the Jews were looking and longing for, the One the Old Testament Scriptures speak of. (7) Taste of grace. We’ll pick up the story next time as she leaves her water pots and goes into the city and says to everyone she can find in v29, “Come, see a Man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?”

   So we have glimpsed a little more of the nature of Christ’s promised Kingdom. It provides eternal joy to those who enter into it, as Christ demonstrated with the miracle at the wedding in Cana; yet for those who rejected its spiritual nature, in favor of the physical signs that pointed to it, it brings judgment. This long-awaited Kingdom is substantial (it possesses the substance, or reality, that the physical nation of Israel only typified physically) and universal (its bounds are worldwide and multi-ethnic). Christ fulfills, with true spiritual life and blessings, the things that were present in physical symbols, under the patriarchs. Jacob’s well gave physical water – but Christ would give spiritual water (eternal life by the Spirit). Later, we’ll see that Israel (and the twelve disciples) ate physical bread (Moses) – but Christ provides bread of eternal substance. Thy Kingdom come…

The Disciples Rejoin Jesus

²⁷Just 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?"
²⁸Then, 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 Christ^[2] ?" ³⁰They came out of the town and made their way toward him.
³¹Meanwhile his disciples urged him, "Rabbi, eat something."
³²But he said to them, "I have food to eat that you know nothing about."
³³Then 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. ³⁵Do you not say, 'Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. ³⁶Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. ³⁷Thus the saying 'One sows and another reaps' is true. ³⁸I 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."

Many Samaritans Believe

³⁹Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me everything I ever did." ⁴⁰So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. ⁴¹And because of his words many more became believers.
⁴²They 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."

Jesus Heals the Official's Son

⁴³After the two days he left for Galilee. ⁴⁴(Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.) ⁴⁵When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, for they also had been there.
⁴⁶Once 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. ⁴⁷When 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.
⁴⁸"Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders," Jesus told him, "you will never believe."
⁴⁹The royal official said, "Sir, come down before my child dies."
⁵⁰Jesus replied, "You may go. Your son will live."
The man took Jesus at his word and departed. ⁵¹While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. ⁵²When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, "The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour."
⁵³Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live." So he and all his household believed.
⁵⁴This was the second miraculous sign that Jesus performed, having come from Judea to Galilee.

1. V27 – Jesus’ disciples were speechless. At this point, we see the firstfruits of Jesus’ salvation, which spreads to the whole world (John 3:16). Here in Samaria, the good news of Jesus the Messiah was received with joy, whereas in Israel Jesus met only opposition and rejection. God’s marvelous plan that, by the Jews’ rejection of Christ, salvation would spread to the Gentiles, and eventually men and women from the whole world, Jew and Gentile alike, would be brought into Christ’s Kingdom (Romans 11:11-12) was clearly underway. The truth that all of history has been designed in preparation for the coming of the Kingdom of Christ seems to be the lesson that Jesus begins to teach His disciples throughout this split-screen view of His interaction with them and the Samaritan woman’s interaction with the inhabitants of Sychar, and then even the Samaritans interaction with Jesus.

   Jesus was preparing the disciples for sharing the Gospel. Like us, they are sent out among the nations, reaping the harvest of souls of men who were lost, but have come by the Gospel to believe in Jesus and find life (John 20:31). But before Christ gives this instruction to His disciples, He teaches them another lesson, reinforcing the basic change that He was bringing – true food and water consists not of physical meat and drink, but that which gives eternal life.

   Here in v27, they are caught off-guard to walk-in on Jesus and the woman in conversation. Why the surprise? Are they astonished that He would speak to her? That she would speak to Him? Maybe they knew their thoughts were out of line, so they said nothing. Maybe they remained modestly silent out of fear of or reverence for their Master. Perhaps they failed to see their own filth; perhaps they failed to wonder why He would spend time with them. But they were no less a mess than she – and Jesus had given them much more attention. Let’s be cautious to avoid this mentality. We are NOT worthy. Be constantly humbled in thought, as well as in word and deed, before the Lord.

2. V28-30 – The woman’s response to Jesus’ teaching and impact on a whole town. John tells us that the woman left her water jar. This water jar had been a symbol of her life – constantly filling and emptying and refilling and re-emptying – and now that she has found Jesus, she no longer needs that leaky, empty water jar that could never yield lasting satisfaction. She found a living Savior and what does she do? She cannot prevent herself from telling others of what Jesus has done for her. Psalm 116:10 She believed and had to speak. What technique did she use? She had no technique! She did three simple things, looking backwards at v29. (1) She pointed them to who Jesus is, and she did it with a question. “Could this be Messiah?” (2) She told them what Jesus had done for her. “He told me everything I ever did.” Now He didn’t tell her everything, but in just a few words, He reminded her of her entire past and her present. All her junk was exposed in only a brief conversation with Jesus. And she was not ashamed. Can you say the same thing? (3) She invited them to come to Jesus, where they would find the same thing. “Come and see” (John 1:39). Look at v30. They came! We don’t know if all or many or some came, but they came!

   She didn’t try to teach anything. She just acted like a bell or whistle. Passion for Christ goes a long way – a transformed life is good too. This woman clearly had both. We cringe at doing what the woman did. Instruction in evangelism is useful, but we don’t have to have it to testify for Jesus. Just speak, telling people how much you love Him, and how much He has done for you. And invite them to come and see. God uses leaky vessels, jars of clay, in order to promote His sovereignty in salvation (2 Corinthians 4:7). It’s a privilege to participate. This account of spiritual awakening in Samaria is actually the first account of a “revival” in the New Testament. It’s a sovereign work of God where He quickens many people all at once and brings them into an intimate relationship with Himself and stirs their hearts to zealously love Him.

3. V31-33 – Jesus teaches His disciples, but they are baffled. John reverts to the disciples saying, “Meanwhile…” They must have watched the Samaritan woman run off in surprise. Picture them turning to Jesus with wide eyes, trying to forget what they saw and reluctant to ask questions. Finally they speak to interrupt an awkward silence (for them). “Eat something.” Perhaps, they think, His hunger and weariness has left Him subject to poor decision making, after all, that was a Samaritan woman He was speaking to. But Jesus is on such a high that food is far from His mind. He has just seen the fruits of His labor – the travail of His soul, as Isaiah 53:11 says in the KJV: “He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied: by His knowledge shall My righteous servant justify many; for He shall bear their iniquities.” He knew that this woman was His child and bride (well). The everlasting Father, as Jesus is called in Isaiah has won the firstfruits of a nation of His people. The disciples ask, “Are you hungry, Jesus?” He replies, “Not for your food. I just ate a great meal, doing the work of God.” Think of Peter at the transfiguration. “Shall I prepare a couple tents?” Forget it! There’s much more going on than you could possibly know. This humbles me; remember that we are just babes. He’s our Daddy. The disciples don’t get it. So often, neither do we. And consider that food – even for us – is a gracious blessing that allows us to keep our bodies running so that we can go to work for God.

4. V34-38 – Jesus persists in explaining spiritual truth to His disciples. John reveals that though Jesus has just accomplished a major feat in His ministry (leading to the salvation of practically an entire town and onward), He is still focused on His disciples and will not let this teachable moment escape. The disciples wondered if someone brought Him food (physical), and He elaborates, explaining the spiritual food with which He is fed – to do the will of the Father and to complete the task for which He was sent. Jesus tells us about true nourishment (bread / meat) and true thirst quencher (water), which only Jesus can provide though the fulfillment of His appointed task. It’s as if this is only an introduction to this idea, though, as He will elaborate significantly in chapter 6 (true life came only from eating the body and drinking the blood of Christ. Note that if ever a man was motivated for a giant task, it was the Lord Jesus! He wanted nothing more than to seek and save the lost. And He did it perfectly and completely!

   Jesus then offers a farming illustration as explanation. He begins with a question, pointing the disciples to their urgency in earthly harvest. Preparation for harvest was a serious time, because if the time escaped, the crop could be lost. And the disciples were well aware of this. But Jesus turns it into a spiritual harvest, and makes it just as urgent. The time for spiritual harvest is now. When He says, “Open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest,” note that the KJV reads that the fields are “white already to harvest.” Some commentators remind us that Samaritans traditionally wore all white clothing – even to this day many in this particular region still do – and they suggest that Jesus pointed to the multitude of approaching white-vested Samaritans as he taught the disciples. Can you picture that? “Open your eyes and look at the fields. They are white already to harvest.”

   Next Jesus talks about the sower and reaper working and being glad together. Interpreting this portion of Jesus’ illustration is challenging (3 views). Some say that He is referring to the conversation He just had with the woman, and He is speaking of His own wages and gladness, as He sowed and reaped all at once. Of course, the sowing and reaping don’t often occur simultaneously. Others think that John the Baptist sowed by baptizing in this area and Jesus is reaping; they are both seeing the fruits of their labor and rejoicing together. Still others think He’s generalizing, saying, “The Old Testament has been a period of sowing and now is the period of reaping. Now the Spirit is being poured out. Now the end of the ages has dawned and is already breaking forth into this world so that even now we’re seeing a little glimpse of what’s to come.” Regardless which is correct, eternal fruit is produced.

   Lastly here, Jesus says, “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.” Remain humble regardless of your task. Are you a reaper or a sower or a waterer? Do you engage in a little of each of those activities? God calls us to them, but we must remember that God gives the growth (1 Corinthians 3:5-9). And if we think that what happened in this little town of Sychar in Samaria could never happen in J’town or the Highlands or St. Matthews, then we are calling God impotent. We just need to sow, reap, and water. The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send laborers (Matthew 9:37-38; Luke 10:2) – and support those laborers and follow those laborers and labor along their side in prayer. God will bring His people home.

5. V39-42 – Jesus stays with the Samaritans, and many believe in Him. John wraps up the Samaritan account with the results of a conversation with Jesus. Remember the woman’s steps. She told them who Jesus is, what He did for her, and invited them to come and see. We learn in v39 that “many of the Samaritans from that town believed in Him because of the woman’s testimony.” So they came to see, and they believed (this is not saving faith but rather the kind of faith that looks to self-benefit – the royal official will exhibit this kind of faith in a moment) based solely on the “talkativeness” of a promiscuous, disrespected woman. They urged Jesus to stay with them. Why? They hoped to benefit from Him. But whatever happened over those next two days, “Because of His words many more became believers.” Now their faith is a saving faith. “This Man really is the Savior of the world.” He really is! Now they aren’t self-seeking; rather, they are Christ-worshipping. And this is how it should be for us. We ought to be able to say that Jesus is the Lord, that He saved us from our sins, and we ought to invite others to investigate His grace. They might believe us in a self-centered sort of way. But once they experience Christ, their belief will be genuine. Think of the excitement you would feel when those you invited say to you, as the Samaritans 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.” It’s not because you did it. You understand that God did it. You’re excited, because they know Christ. Because you understand that glorious comprehension, you’re excited that others have received it.

6. V43-46a – Jesus returns to Galilee and is welcomed – though not in His hometown. John has been dealing in this section of Scripture – from chapter 2 through then end of chapter 4 – with how person is rid of their old life and receives new life. He’s given many illustrations, beginning with the first sign or miracle at the wedding feast of Cana and ending back in Cana with a second miracle or sign – the healing of the royal official’s son. The miracles in Cana represent two bookends on this section. And in every instance the answer to the question is through a certain kind of faith – saving faith and not mere intellectual assent. John revealed the insufficiency of a faith that looks just to the sign-miracles themselves, without embracing the Person of Christ, at the end of the wedding account (John 2:23-25); so here, he is going to make the same point, but even more forcibly. Of course, this is in accordance with John’s purpose – to establish the truth about Jesus, through His miracles, so that people might believe or continue to believe in Him and obtain eternal life (John 20:31). The signs are for us; they fulfill Old Testament prophecy about the Messiah, but the sad truth for the Jewish people as a whole is that faith in signs did not progress to a living faith in the Son of God. They had appreciation for Jesus on account of His miracles but not saving faith. We saw that at the end of chapter 2, and we see it again very clearly here.

   V44-45 pose an interesting question. John points out Jesus’ remarks about a prophet having no honor in his own hometown. But then John says that in Galilee, where Jesus grew up – His “hometown” region – the Galileans welcomed Him. If a prophet were not honored in his hometown, wouldn’t the people there have rejected Jesus? Two explanations are given. One says that when the next phrase is read – “They had seen all that He had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, for they also had been there” – it makes sense. They received Jesus in a superficial sense as in John 2:23-25, having appreciated the miracles they witnessed, but they did not honor Him as the Son of God, with saving faith. The other view says that Jesus must have come to Nazareth in Galilee and been rejected and thus retreated to Cana. We don’t know, but we can say that even the Galileans who received Him still lacked the sort of faith that received eternal life; they received Him because of His miraculous works. To illustrate this point, John will detail the very telling account of Christ’s second miracle in Cana. This encounter shows how saving faith develops.

7. V46b-50 – The royal official comes to Jesus, and they chat. Although this account has some similarities with Jesus’ healing a centurion’s servant in the synoptic gospels, the two are different miracles. For one thing, the centurion was a Gentile (Matthew 8:5-13), but this royal official – or “little king” – as an unspecified resident of Galilee, must be assumed to be Jewish. Second, the centurion had a sick servant, whom Jesus healed (Luke 7:2); but this nobleman had a sick son (v46). And finally, Jesus emphatically praised the faith of the centurion (Luke 7:9), but He used the request of the official to rebuke the Jews’ shallow faith (v48). Although the two miracles are very similar in circumstances, they are different in intent, and we’ll point some differences as we go through the story.

   Notice first that the royal official comes from Capernaum to Cana – a 20-mile one way trip – because (1) he believes that Jesus can heal his son. There is an element of faith revealed there. Being a royal official, he was likely wealthy and had likely tried every remedy for his son, but none had helped. Thus the man of earthly nobility is reduced to a beggar. And the application for us is that we are reduced to beggars when we pray, when we turn to Christ alone for salvation. We’ve tried other things. We may have tried everything else. We’ve come to the end of our rope and only God is there to cling to, so we cling to Him as a beggar grabs for the tails of passing coats. Notice Jesus’ response. Jesus doesn’t take the man to His chest and embrace him with compassion; rather, He holds him at arm’s length saying, “Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders, you will never believe.” It’s a test. It’s not this simple. There’s more required in saving faith than mere acknowledgement that Jesus can help. But it’s a step in the right direction.

   In comparison with the similar episode from the synoptics, this official asked Jesus to come into his house and heal his son, because he knew of Him as a miracle-worker, whereas the Gentile centurion, knowing that Jesus’ Word would be adequate in divine power, counted himself unworthy for Jesus to come under his roof. The centurion worshiped Christ as Lord and God; but the official just wanted to get physical benefits out of Him. Jesus praised the faith of the Gentile centurion, exclaiming that He had not found its like in all of Israel, whereas He condemned the sort of faith that the official had. And not only did Jesus condemn the official’s faith, He used the occasion to condemn the faith of all Israel. In v48, Jesus switches to the plural, “Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders, you” – still plural – “will not believe.” Jesus has judged the official’s faith, and He is passing the same judgment upon the Jewish nation as a whole.

   But the story does not end there. (2) The royal official stubbornly persisted, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Saving faith is desperate, willing to suffer embarrassment or ridicule. Remember Jesus’ parable of the persistent widow before the judge in Luke 18:1-8. She is desperate and has nothing to lose by persisting. Same goes for this official, and it ought to be the same for us as well. Like this official, we should want nothing less than Jesus to “come down before our children die.” John says in one of his epistles, “I have no greater joy than to know that my children are walking in the truth.” Though this man is not to that spiritual point yet, he was there physically, and so Jesus blessed his persistent desire for physical healing with spiritual healing as well. Jesus brought him to saving faith along this path – and John is using it in his gospel to teach his audience how saving faith develops. Exercising the same authority to heal by His Word as He had employed with the Gentile centurion, Jesus demonstrates His true nature and miraculously heals the official’s son. Jesus gives the man much more than he had requested, though in an unexpected manner. We read that Jesus said, “Your son will live,” but the Greek here includes an exclamation; so it’s more like, “Your son lives!” And (3) the man took Jesus at His word and departed. It wasn’t what he asked for, but he had no other choice. And that’s another element in the development of saving faith. It’s responding with trust to Jesus’ words, not His actions. Remember in v44 we read that a prophet is not received in his hometown, and then in v45 Jesus is welcomed because of the deeds He was doing. That’s not saving faith. Saving faith is receiving and welcoming Jesus because of what He says, not merely because of what He does.

8. V51-54 – Reflecting on Jesus’ work leads to genuine faith. Picture the man making the 20 mile trip back to Capernaum wondering if his son would be dead, wondering if this desperate, last-minute effort to find healing was worth anything at all. He didn’t know. He wasn’t confident. A night had never passed more slowly. Have you had a night like that? Alone and wondering what news would come the next day? He’s still hoping, but he doesn’t know. And so saving faith hasn’t quite hit him yet. And he walks on, uncertain, doubting, but hoping. And there, just a couple miles from home, the servants come running to meet him. What is their news? Could his son still be alive? Is there a chance that the Miracle Healer worked magic? But then the servants shout, “He’s alive!” The official can hardly believe it. Really? Is it true? When did his condition improve? Could it be coincidence? No. This Miracle Healer is for real! At the exact time Jesus said, “He lives!”, the son was healed. Now there’s no doubt. There’s assurance. The hope is realized. And the royal official comes finally to saving faith.

   That’s our journey too. What a patient and merciful Creator we have to put up with our faults and failure to trust completely in Him, failure to take Him at His word without doubting. Will we have eternal life? Saving faith knows it’s true. There’s no doubt. And it’s a gift of grace. Don’t miss that. We come down this path by the sovereign will of God, and He directs every step we take (Proverbs 16:1,4,9, 33). And as His children, He works everything for our good (Romans 8:28). What a treat is saving faith in the midst of trial. Praise Him!

   To conclude, we have here a beautiful and touching example of how Jesus comes into the life of a family, how Jesus brings His saving presence, how Jesus causes faith to emerge and grow and become visible and become strong and become persistent in one family. This is the sort of faith that the first two signs of Jesus, both performed in Cana, were intended to produce – a faith that looks beyond the mere physical benefits of a kind, healing hand, and comes to worship and delight in Jesus as the Creator and Sustainer God and as the authoritative Christ.

Footnotes

1. 4:9 Or do not use dishes Samaritans have used
2. 4:29 Or Messiah

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Bible text from Gospelcom.net.  Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.

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