Therefore when Jesus knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John 2 (although Jesus Himself was not baptizing, but His disciples were), 3 He left Judea and went away again into Galilee. 4 And He had to pass through Samaria. 5 So He *came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph; 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.
Jesus and the Samaritan Woman
7 A woman of Samaria *came to draw water. Jesus *said to her, “Give Me a drink.” 8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. 9 Therefore the Samaritan woman *said to Him, “How do You, being a Jew, ask for a drink from me, being a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 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.” 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? 12 Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?” 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 will never thirst—ever; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”
15 The woman *said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come back here to draw.” 16 He *said to her, “Go, call your husband and come back here.” 17 The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus *said to her, “You have correctly said, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly.” 19 The woman *said to Him, “Sir, I see that You are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” 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. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 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. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman *said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when He comes, He will declare all things to us.” 26 Jesus *said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”
27 And at this point His disciples came, and they were marveling that He was speaking with a woman, yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Why are You speaking with her?” 28 So the woman left her water jar, and went into the city and *said to the men, 29 “Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; is this not the Christ?” 30 They went out of the city, and were coming to Him. John 4: 1-30 LSB
John 4: 1-30 Woman at the Well
V. 2 Although Jesus Himself was not baptizing - This is an interesting note, imagine the superiority complex of someone who had been baptized directly by Jesus. I remember my wife's baptism out in the ocean, and there was a rainbow in the background so we never heard the end of the significance of that, but I remind her who the preacher was, and like JMac said, Judas was a disciple, so he was more than likely one of the people baptizing others, so it is not the act that God uses to qualify us, He is looking for the Spirit in a heart that has been born again. Our getting baptized is an outward expression of what we are saying happened inwardly by the work of the Holy Spirit applying Christ's perfect life and atoning work on the cross to us. In the early churches some argued that they follow Paul, while others Apollos, but look what Paul says:
…13Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul? 14I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15so no one can say that you were baptized into my name.… 1 Corinthians 1: 13-15
V. 7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, "give Me a drink." - Samaria was a place that Jews tried to avoid or pass through quickly. It is part of the northern kingdom that separated from Judah and Benjamin and then fell into apostasy. From there they never had a good, moral king, but rather the likes of Jeroboam and Ahab.
Ray Pritchard - As the woman looks at Jesus and He at her, four invisible walls stand between them. There is a religious wall, a gender wall, a racial wall, and a moral wall. Yet our Lord found a way through all of them. He found her … and then she found Him!… Nothing happens by chance in this story. Every detail is part of the outworking of God’s will. And that, I think, is a hugely important point. The woman isn’t looking for Jesus. All she wants is water. But Jesus is looking for her. You have to go to Samaria if you want to reach Samaritans. He doesn’t avoid Samaria and he doesn’t hurry through it. Though she does not know it, this woman has a “divine appointment” with the Son of God. From this we can take a very important principle for evangelism. Reaching people for Christ is not always comfortable and may at times be difficult. But you have to go where people are if you want to reach them at all. Comfort is not the issue. The firefighter goes into the burning house to rescue those inside. He can’t stand outside and say, “Come on out before the house burns down.” Jesus intended to save this woman so he went where she was… He is tired and thirsty and she has the water he needs. But he has the water she needs. He was thirsty and knew it. She was thirsty and didn’t know it. The woman did not come to the well seeking Christ, but he came to the well seeking her. In his approach we see the great heart of our Lord Jesus is without prejudice. It matters not to him that others would not go to Samaria and others would not speak to this woman. He welcomes all and shuns none. Luke 19:10 tells us that the Lord Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. This story tells us what that means. John 4 is all about sovereign grace. He found her. She didn’t find him. The same is true for all of us. You will never come to Christ until Christ first comes to you. What happens in this chapter looks like a chance encounter but it was nothing of the kind. The time and place and all the circumstances had been arranged by God before the world began. (The Woman at the Well) - Precept Austin
V. 8 For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans - The people in Samaria come from a long line of apostasy that started in Jeroboam's time, and then northern Israel was taken into captivity by Assyria. The Assyrians brought in people from other places to settle with the few remaining locals, and together they all further bastardized the religion of that area. Jeroboam, as noted in the link above, gave the people of the northern kingdom calves to worship, idols that he had made in the hopes of getting them not to return to Jerusalem for Passovers and the like. This was a political move on his part to make a religion, a way to worship God from their land without entering Judah, in hopes that they would stay separated and he would continue in power. Ah, but there is only one God though, and He has stated very clearly not to make idols. He has also prescribed for them a temple in Jerusalem, the city of the southern kings. Men err when we think we can make our own version of worshiping God, drawing upon the culture for input, much like the Roman Catholic Church and her goddess worship. The Jews from Judea should have viewed the Samaritans as lost and needing to be found. They did not have that same spirit as the Good Shepherd so they fell into their own apostasy of works and adding to the law, while forsaking the weightier matters. Instead of evangelizing the Samaritans they viewed them as half breeds and hated them collectively.
…22And he who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the One who sits on it. 23Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You pay tithes of mint, dill, and cumin. But you have disregarded the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.… Matthew 23: 22-24
V. 10 If you knew the gift of God - Remember John 3:16, here it is, God has sent His Son to this very place. The gift stands before her, it is God's way of salvation, His Son, Jesus Christ. For God so loved the world is seen beautifully here, she is outside of the club in every way, a Samaritan and a woman, Rabbis do not talk to women, especially not this one.
…11When the Pharisees saw this, they asked His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”… Matthew 9: 11-13
V. 10b He would have given you living water - The Spirit gives life, to have the Spirit is to have life, to be born from above. There is such a beautiful play on words here, and it is so amazing that both types of water come from Him, He is the source of life and He made water, also turning it to wine to display where He sits above all this.
…16‘Never again will they hunger, and never will they thirst; nor will the sun beat down upon them, nor any scorching heat.’ 17For the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd. ‘ He will lead them to springs of living water,’ and ‘God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’” Revelation 7: 16-17
…34“Sir,” they said, “give us this bread at all times.” 35 Jesus answered, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never hunger, and whoever believes in Me will never thirst. 36But as I stated, you have seen Me and still you do not believe.… John 6: 34-36
Living water - Jesus uses this phrase again in John 7:38 to refer to the Holy Spirit flowing into, through and out from (so to speak) the believer. In the context of the arid water starved nation of Israel (and Samaria) the expression "living water" conveys the highly desirable water flowing fresh from springs (as it "bubbled" from the ground it seemed alive!), in contrast to the still, stagnant water in cisterns (cp this sense in Ge 26:19 = "flowing water" where Hebrew for "flowing" = chay = alive, life, live and Lxx = zao = living; Lev 14:6 = "running water" - also chay and zao.) In the Wilderness Wanderings, God (Jesus) had provided living water from a rock (which Paul says was a "spiritual rock" = Christ - 1Cor 10:3) as in Nu 20:8-11.
A Jew familiar with the OT Scriptures would have (or should have) understood that the Lord Himself was the spiritual fountain or source for in Jeremiah, Jehovah lamented the poor "water" choices of His people declaring “My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain (Lxx = pege = same word for "well" Jesus used in Jn 4:14) of living waters, to hew for themselves cisterns, Broken cisterns That can hold no water." (Jer 2:13)
Spurgeon - The Samaritan woman "had caught the Lord’s meaning so far as the perpetuity of the water was concerned, but still she did not know what the living water was. It was all a riddle to her, as I am afraid it is to some of you. There is many a Doctor of Divinity who cannot explain what the living water is."… Oh, that I might be like a well of living waters in my speech at all times; and that you, my beloved brethren and sisters in Christ, whenever you are dealing with others, might be a well of living waters to every thirsty soul! Speak of Jesus wherever you go; talk of Jesus whenever you can. You have been shut up, and Christ has been in you; now be opened to give forth to others what he has given you… Hence he will always be contented. He who has grace in his heart is a happy man; he grows more and more satisfied with the grace as it wells up increasingly in living power in his character and life. Oh, if you have never received that living water, may God give it to you just now! You shall never regret receiving it; but you shall rejoice over it evermore. - Precept Austin
V. 14 Will never thirst - ever - This is without duration, a bottomless well. The woman starts out not knowing Who He is, so doesn't know to ask for this living water which comes by believing in Him. It is all plainly a gift from God to believe, for it has to be revealed, she is otherwise a woman going to draw the same water from the same well that she probably visits every day. Faith is a remarkable gift. The Shepherd comes to seek and to save the lost.
…22But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the fruit you reap leads to holiness, and the outcome is eternal life. 23For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6: 22-23
But - A strategic, even dramatic term of contrast, which radically and plainly brings out the difference between physical water and living, spiritual water. Whenever you encounter a term of contrast, it is a good practice to pause and ponder, asking what is being contrasted? What is the writer's "change of direction?"
Observe three facts that set Jesus' water apart from all other water - (1) Will never thirst again, (2) the one drinking this water has a veritable spring within (cf Jn 7:38+) and (3) it gives eternal life.
V. 15 Sir, give me this water - Still doesn't understand but now she is asking for this other kind of water, and this is beautiful, she has come to draw but she is being drawn.
…6Therefore My people will know My name; therefore they will know on that day that I am He who speaks. Here I am!” 7How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!” 8Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices, together they shout for joy. For every eye will see when the LORD returns to Zion.… Isaiah 52: 6-8
Vs. 16-19 Sir, I see you are a prophet - He is different, He speaks differently then other men, and He knows her though she does not know Him. This becomes key, you have to know Jesus, not just a name, but Him, and she knows this much now, You are a prophet because you can see things that other strangers would not know, and you are also a Jew who is willing to talk to me which is remarkable.
Jesus said to her, “You have correctly said (Gk = "Well [kalos] have you said"), ‘I have no husband - To reiterate his declaration reflects Jesus' omniscience. "Jesus saw through the double sense of her language and read her heart as he only can do, a supernatural gift of which John often speaks (Jn 1:48; 2:24f.; 5:20)." (Robertson)
J C Ryle - Our Lord’s commendation of the woman’s honest confession deserves notice. It teaches us that we should make the best of an ignorant sinner’s words. An unskilful physician of souls would probably have rebuked the woman sharply for her wickedness, if her words led him to suspect it. Our Lord on the contrary says, “Thou hast well said.”
NET Note - The word order in Jesus’ reply is reversed from the woman’s original statement. The word “husband” in Jesus’ reply is placed in an emphatic position.
Warren Wiersbe - We might note the example Christ sets as a soul-winner. He did not allow personal prejudices or physical needs to hinder Him. He met this woman in a friendly way and did not force her into a decision. Wisely, He guided the conversation and allowed the Word to take effect in her heart. He dealt with her privately and lovingly presented the way of salvation. He captured her attention by speaking about something common and at hand—water—and used this as an illustration of eternal life. (Likewise, at the cool midnight hour, He spoke to Nicodemus about wind.) He did not avoid speaking of sin, but brought her face-to-face with her need. (Wiersbe's Expository Outlines) - Precept Austin
V. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain - An appeal to a long standing tradition, but regardless of how old or familiar a thing or custom is, apostasy is still apostasy no matter how long it has stood.
Brian Bell Christ’s sharp perception pricks her conscience...squirming, she shifts to more comfortable conversation. [Let’s argue religion technique] 1. What about the heathen in Africa? What about them Pygmy’s in Pygmy-land? How can a good God, allow suffering & evil? What about creation & evolution? Sprinkling or immersion? Wine or grape-juice? King James or Living Bible? This is her Red Herring that she hopes will hide her blemished soul, from His penetrating gaze. So she drags a smoked herring across her trail to cover up her scent, as they use to in England to throw off tracking dogs from the fox. However, this Vixen wont get away from this Terrific Tracker though!
Robertson has a lengthy note on this mountain - Jacob's Well is at the foot of Mount Gerizim toward which she pointed. Sanballat erected a temple on this mountain which was destroyed by John Hyrcanus B.C. 129. Abraham (Genesis 12:7) and Jacob (Genesis 33:20) set up altars at Shechem. On Gerizim were proclaimed the blessings recorded in Deut. 28. The Samaritan Pentateuch records an altar set up on Gerizim that is on Ebal (over 200 feet higher than Gerizim) in the Hebrew (Deut. 27:4). The Samaritans held that Abraham offered up Isaac on Gerizim. The Samaritans kept up this worship on this mountain and a handful do it still. (Word Pictures in the New Testament.) - Precept Austin
V. 21 An hour is coming - The temple in Jerusalem will be destroyed in 70 A.D.
5“Lord,” said Thomas, “we do not know where You are going, so how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. 7If you had known Me, you would know My Father as well. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him.”… John 14: 5-7
V. 22 You worship what you do not know - Your religion is so diluted and polluted that you say God, you say Abraham, Jacob, but you don't know the same God that they worshiped.
V. 22b We worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews - The ten commandments given to Moses, one of which said not to worship any graven images and also thou shalt not commit adultery. She is in a lost religion, worshiping a god that is not bothered by her sin. She is walking blindly toward the judgment of the true God. Through the Jews came the temple and it's sacrifices that pointed to Christ. Christ was born in the lineage of David, fulfilling the prophecies that came by way of the Jewish prophets.
…4the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory and the covenants; theirs the giving of the law, the temple worship, and the promises. 5Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them proceeds the human descent of Christ, who is God over all, forever worthy of praise! Amen. 6It is not as though God’s word has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.…
…7Nor because they are Abraham’s descendants are they all his children. On the contrary, “Through Isaac your offspring will be reckoned.” 8So it is not the children of the flesh who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as offspring. 9For this is what the promise stated: “At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.”… Romans 9: 4-9
V. 23 But an hour is coming - The atoning sacrifice of Christ, He will be lifted up allowing all who believe, those who have been born again, born of the Spirit to worship God through the Son. Your body becomes the temple, the place of worshiping Christ, Who is the sacrifice represented in the temple worship. He is why the curtain to the Holy of Holies in torn in two, our access is granted in Him. It's no longer a place, but in Spirit and truth, the object is Christ, it can only be understood in Him.
Morris - “A time is coming and has now come” is a reference to a crisis, to something new. In the person of Jesus we see not only a repetition of old truths (be they held by the Jews or the Samaritans), but the appearing of God’s definitive revelation. In due course he would die that atoning death which would bring salvation to the world.(Ibid)
When the true worshipers (proskunetes = one who bows down to deity, only here) will worship (proskuneo) the Father in spirit and truth - True worshipers implies not all who claim to worship God are truly born again (cf Mt 7:21-23+). Regarding the meaning of in spirit and truth, see the comments on Jn 4:24.
Robertson has a good word here - This is what matters, not where, but how (in reality, in the spirit of man, the highest part of man, and so in truth). All this is according to the Holy Spirit (Ro 8:5+) who is the Spirit of truth (John 16:13). Here Jesus has said the final word on worship, one needed today. - Precept Austin
18Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a man can commit is outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. 19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body.… 1 Corinthians 6: 18-20
V. 24 God is Spirit and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and in Truth - A very similar presentation of the gospel to that which He gave to Nicodemus. Where is the music, the emotions, the repeat after me prayer? This is so matter of fact and a command. You must know the truth to be set free, and she has believed and lived outside of that her whole life. You must have the Holy Spirit, Who is the Spirit of truth, there are no carnal Christians, you must be born again.
V. 25 I know that Messiah is coming - This much I know, but do you know Him? Jesus was promised as the Seed in Genesis 3, long before the falling away of the Northern tribes. Even in this apostate religion there was an understanding that Messiah would come. The problem with her and all of us fallen humans is that we would design a Christ in our own fancy, our own image, and pass over the true Christ.
…24Seventy weeks are decreed for your people and your holy city to stop their transgression, to put an end to sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy Place. 25Know and understand this: From the issuance of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem, until the Messiah, the Prince, there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of distress. 26Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and will have nothing. Then the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood, and until the end there will be war; desolations have been decreed.… Daniel 9: 24-26
V. 26 I, who speak to you, am He - The weight of that statement, you can read through this or past this so many times, but it is like Lewis said, "Lunatic, Liar or Lord", Christ is the One Who fulfills all the OT prophecies about Himself, or I would say, a liar, for what consolation is there in Lunatic, its still a lie if it is not the truth, regardless of malice or mental state. He has given her reasons to believe, supporting evidence in His omniscience, she has perceived that He is at least a prophet, but He will perform many miracles after this that will be witnessed by people who are not born again. This is a great fork in the road, the most important question to have answered in one's life, a most undeserved encounter regardless of who you think you are. Does she believe Him?
…25Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies. 26And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27“Yes, Lord,” she answered, “I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.”… John 11: 25-27
Swindoll - The woman fell back to her last line of defense, one commonly used today: delay. She tried to backpedal out of the conversation, claiming that all matters of theology are moot until the Messiah comes to resolve them. The Samaritans expected a Messiah to be like Moses, more teacher and prophet, less ruler and priest (Deut. 18:15–18). According to this line of reasoning, “No one can really say what is truth and what isn’t until this great Teacher comes to reveal all things.” The woman’s attempt to back out of the conversation played perfectly into Jesus’ hands. John’s description of the encounter builds toward a climax. The Lord successfully bypassed all of her defenses in order to lay the ultimate truth before her. He said, in effect, “Good! You don’t have to wait any longer. I am the Messiah, and I am here just as promised.” (NTI-Jn)
Grant Osborne explains that "Jesus’ deep explanation of worship triggered a thought, so she explored the possibility of the coming “Messiah,” who will “explain everything”. This fits the Samaritan messianic beliefs. They normally did not use the term “Messiah” but spoke of a taheb or “restorer” who would be the new Moses (Deut 18:15–18) and restore true worship by teaching and revealing the final truths of God. She had not yet identified this one with Jesus but had a dim awareness that something extraordinary was happening. Jesus confirmed this when he replied, “I AM the Messiah.” There is tremendous emphasis in John on the “I am” sayings, for the Greek phrase found in John (egō eimi], “I am”) reflects Exodus 3:14, where God reveals that the meaning of the new covenant name he has revealed to Moses, Yahweh, is, “I AM WHO I AM” (cf. also Isa 41:4; 43:10–13, 25; 45:18–19; 48:12; 52:6; and the discussion on 8:58). Thus, the “I am” sayings (such as this one) in effect mean, “I, Yahweh, am the Messiah” (cf. Ridderbos, Keener, Whitacre). Jesus is the true and only taheb, Who alone can “explain everything” and provide the living water.(Ibid) - Precept Austin
V. 27 Marveling that He was speaking to a woman - Sad how strange this was, but this goes on today in a lot of near east cultures. There was a racial (which is actually ethnic) tone, but we all come from Adam and Eve, one blood, one race, the Human race. It was considered goodness on the part of those who hated Samaritans. There is the wrong view of relationship between the sexes as well. Women were second class citizens with rules and standards placed upon them that men would never bare. This goes on in the Middle East today. In the west, we don't know what a woman is anymore, and we think it feminist and empowering to have them sacrifice the fruit of their wombs.
Steven Cole - Their amazement stemmed from two sources: cultural conditioning and they didn’t understand Jesus’ mission (ED: WHICH HE GOES ON TO EXPLAIN IN Jn 4:31-38)..... the fact that they did not question Jesus should teach us that if anything in God’s Word is disagreeable or puzzling to us, we should not murmur against God, but rather wait in silence until He reveals the matter to us more clearly.
MacArthur - In Judaism it was believed that for a rabbi to speak with a woman was at best a waste of time, and at worst a distraction from studying the Torah—which could lead to eternal damnation. That she was a Samaritan made the Lord’s action even more astonishing. And had they known the woman’s immoral background, the disciples would have been completely stunned.
There were sayings of the rabbis like "Let no one talk with a woman in the street, no, not with his own wife” or “A man shall not be alone with a woman in an inn, not even with his sister or his daughter, on account of what men may think. A man shall not talk with a woman in the street, not even with his own wife, and especially not with another woman, on account of what men may say."
V. 29 Is this not the Christ - I think I will see this woman one day; I think we are siblings of the same Spirit in Christ.
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