John 4:1-26 (Part 2 WITNESS)
Judaism did not have much regard for the witness of a woman, and the witness of an adulteress would be worthless; the situation was probably the same among the Samaritans. Nevertheless, she witnesses the way Philip had (1:46). That she is distracted from her original purpose for coming to the well (4:28) and leaves behind her water pot suggests that Jesus’ water has replaced the water of Jacob’s well for her.
This second interview is another illustration of the fact that “He knew what was in a man” (2:25). The Samaritan woman contrasts sharply with Nicodemus. He was seeking; she was indifferent. He was a respected ruler; she was an outcast. He was serious; she was flippant. He was a Jew; she was a despised Samaritan. He was (presumably) moral; she was immoral. He was orthodox; she was heterodox. He was learned in religious matters; she was ignorant. Yet in spite of all the differences between this “churchman” and this woman of the world, they both needed to be born again. Both had needs only Christ could meet.
The woman, excited by Jesus’ statement about Himself and because of the arrival of the disciples, left and went to the village. In her joy of discovery she forgot her water jar. It was more important to her now to share her new faith. Her words A Man who told me everything I ever did, were bound to stir interest. Perhaps in that village some who heard her had been partners in her past life. Perhaps they wondered, Could this One also know about us?
Could this be the Christ? she asked them. More literally, her question was, “This couldn’t be the Messiah, could it?” The question expected a tentative negative answer. She framed the question this way, in all probability, because she knew the people would not respond favorably to a dogmatic assertion from a woman, especially one of her reputation. Just as Jesus had captured her attention by curiosity, so she raised the people’s curiosity. They decided to investigate this matter.
Jesus’ excursion into Samaria resulted in one of the most fascinating dialogues recorded in Scripture. Resting by a well, Jesus encountered a Samaritan woman who had been living a life of habitual immorality. Their conversation proceeded upon two levels, the spiritual and the temporal, with the woman constantly finding excuses for Jesus’ probing of her inner world. Her first shock was that Jesus would even speak to her, an act unheard of for that day between a Jewish man and a Samaritan woman. Jesus continually responded not to her questions but to her needs, offering her the opportunity of receiving “living water” (4:10).
Testament expression, although it became rarer in later Hebrew; it often simply meant looking. The main wheat harvest ran from mid-April through the end of May; the barley harvest, which made fields “white” (literally, as in KJV, NASB; cf. “ripe”—NIV, NRSV) was in March. Some scholars think that Jesus here cites a Jewish proverb that refers to four months between planting and harvesting.
4:36–38. In this context, Jesus and the Samaritan woman sow, and the disciples see the harvest (v. 39). Verse 37 seems to adapt a popular proverb based on ideas such as Ecclesiastes 2:18—changing an image of sorrow to one of joy.
For Jesus to lodge there, eating Samaritan food and teaching Samaritans (v. 40) would be roughly equivalent to defying segregation in the United States during the 1950s or apartheid in South Africa in the 1980s—shocking, extremely difficult, somewhat dangerous. The Jesus of the Gospels is more concerned with people than with custom.
The location of worship is not important, but the Object is! The English word “worship” is from the Anglo-Saxon weorthscipe, literally reading “worthship.” Worship is attributing worth and honor to the living God.
She had been a poor steward of her thirst—a thirst only Jesus can satisfy. She had spent most of her life running to broken cisterns that hold no water (Jer. 2:13), now she is offered the only water that will satisfy her, and us—the grace of the gospel.
By nature, we are allergic to grace. We resist it. Like this woman, we look for ways to avoid Jesus. She turned Jesus’ pursuit of her heart into an evasive conversation about different perspectives on worship. In his mercy Jesus met her right there, for ultimately, all of life is about worship. To what or whom do we give the attention, affection, and adoration which rightfully belong to God? We can make idols (substitute gods) out of anything—relationships, religion, anything. But even changing the subject to worship puts Jesus once more in the spotlight, for he himself is the only one worthy of our worship.
4:10 living water. The OT is the background for this term, which has important metaphorical significance. In Jer. 2:13, Yahweh decries the disobedient Jews for rejecting Him, the “fountain of living waters.” The OT prophets looked forward to a time when “living waters shall flow from Jerusalem” (Zech. 14:8; Ezek. 47:9). The OT metaphor spoke of the knowledge of God and His grace which provides cleansing, spiritual life, and the transforming power of the Holy Spirit (cf. Is. 1:16–18; 12:3; 44:3; Ezek. 36:25–27). John applies these themes to Jesus Christ as the living water which is symbolic of eternal life mediated by the Holy Spirit from Him (cf. v. 14; 6:35; 7:37–39). Jesus used the woman’s need for physical water to sustain life in this arid region in order to serve as an object lesson for her need for spiritual transformation.
(1) Who is He? (2) What is the gift of God? (3) What is living water? “Living water” in one sense is running water, but in another sense it is the Holy Spirit (Jer. 2:13; Zech. 14:8; John 7:38–39).
His living water will have within him a spring of life-giving water (cf. 7:38–39). This inner spring contrasts with the water from the well, which required hard work to acquire. Jesus was speaking of the Holy Spirit who brings salvation to a person who believes and through Him offers salvation to others.
Important also is the fact that this chapter demonstrates Jesus’ love and understanding of people. His love for mankind involved no boundaries, for He lovingly and compassionately reached out to a woman who was a social outcast. In contrast to the limitations of human love, Christ exhibits the character of divine love that is indiscriminate and all-encompassing (3:16).
4:27–38 Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman were both part of the prepared harvest for which Jesus came. As disciples of Jesus, we follow him into a great grace story that has secured the salvation of men and women “from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages” (Rev. 7:9). All of history is bound up with God’s commitment to redeem his covenant family through the work of Jesus.
4:39–43 The gospel comes to us in order that it might run through us. Having believed on Jesus, the Samaritan woman went back to her community to share the good news with her family and friends. In doing so, she gives us the paradigm of a good testimony. Jesus is the hero of her story. She drew attention to the One who exposed her sin and gave her life; and in doing so, she invited her friends to do the same. The gospel is personal, but it is not private.
4:34 My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me. Most likely Jesus echoed Deut. 8:3 where Moses stated, “man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD” (cf. Matt. 4:4; Luke 4:4). When He talked with the Samaritan woman, Jesus was performing the will of the Father and thereby received greater sustenance and satisfaction than any mere physical food could offer Him (5:23, 24; 8:29; 17:4). Obedience to and dependence upon God’s will summed up Jesus’ whole life (Eph. 5:17). God’s will for Him to finish is explained in 6:38–40 (see notes there).
4:36–38 The Lord’s call to His disciples to do the work of evangelism contains promises of reward (“wages”), fruit that brings eternal joy (v. 36), and the mutual partnership of shared privilege (vv. 37, 38).
Harvesttime in the ancient world was a time of joy (Ruth 3:2, 7; Isa. 9:3). There is also great joy at the time of salvation (cf. Luke 15:7, 10, 32). The disciples had the greater joy of seeing the completion of the process (John 4:38). A sower has a harder time because he sees no immediate fulfillment. John the Baptist stirred a nation to repent but he died before the day of Pentecost, when the disciples in great joy saw thousands come to faith in Jesus.