John 4

Jesus and the Woman of Samaria

1-6 When the Pharisees hear the rumor that Jesus is baptizing more than John (though only his disciples baptize), he leaves for Galilee, traveling through Samaria, through Sychar, where at noon, he rests at Jacob’s Well as his disciples go into town for food.

7-10 He asks for a drink from a Samaritan woman, who has come to draw water, and she is surprised, because he is Jewish. Jesus replies that if she had asked, he would have given her living water.

11-15 She doesn’t understand how he could do this, for he has no bucket, the well is deep, and he would have to be more powerful than Jacob, even. Jesus explains that living water provides eternal life. Still thinking of it as physical water, she asks him for it so she won’t have to keep coming to the well.

16-18 When he asks her to bring her husband, and she admits she has none, he tells her he knows about her five husbands and that she is living with a man who is not her husband.

19-24 Perceiving he is a prophet, she asks him where they should worship: the mountain in Samaria, or Jerusalem, to which he replies that the place doesn’t matter, but that we should worship “in spirit and in truth.” Is she changing the subject to avoid talking about her sin?

25-26 She expresses belief in the Messiah, and he reveals himself to her. Jesus reveals this only to those who are receptive to His word (those who have ears to hear, Luke 8:8-10). The woman can’t know how unique their encounter is.

27-30 When his disciples come, though they are surprised he is talking to a woman, they say nothing. She leaves her water jar there and returns to the city, telling people she has met a man who knows everything about her. They follow her back to the well.

31-34 The disciples urge Jesus to eat, but he tells them he has food that they don’t know about: to do the Father’s will.

35-38 He tells them to look around and see the fields ripe for harvest, and that they will reap what others have sown. In this context, Jesus must be talking about the Samaritans, those who had been rejected by the Jews. You can see how receptive they were by their response to the woman’s story.

39-42 Many Samaritans believe, and Jesus stays with them two days, and many more believe – not just because of the woman’s word but because they had “heard for themselves.”

Note: So many lessons come from Jesus’ encounter with the woman. The two I would emphasize here have to do with evangelism:

1) Jesus introduced himself to the Samaritan woman by asking for her help. That approach is as good as or even better than going out to help people. People on the receiving end of help may be embarrassed by their need; people giving help feel useful – necessary – and may reach a trust level sooner that those receiving help.

2) All the woman had to do was speak of her experience with the Master. The others sought him out of curiosity, and Jesus did the rest. Likewise, we don’t have to have all the answers before we tell someone about our Christian experience. If it appeals to them, they will seek the answers themselves.

Jesus Returns to Galilee

43-45 After two days, Jesus goes to Galilee, where he is well received, because they saw all he did at the festival in Jerusalem. (See 2;23.) He doesn’t go back to Judea because “a prophet has no honor in his own country.”

Jesus Heals an Official’s Son

46-50 In Cana, a royal official, whose son lay ill in Capernaum, asks Jesus to come heal his son. Jesus accuses him of just wanting to see a miracle, but all the man wants is for his son to be healed. Jesus tells him his son will live. He believes, and starts back home. In verse 48, where Jesus says, "Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe," both "you's" are plural in the Greek, indicates that Jesus is talking generally of Jewish noblemen.

51-54 On his way, his slaves meet him and tell him the fever left his son at 1:00 the day before, the same time Jesus pronounced him well. He and his whole household believe. This was the second sign Jesus did in Galilee. Though the man had faith before, it increased when he realized the miracle was real.