Therefore when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus himself didn’t baptize, but his disciples), he left Judea and departed into Galilee. He needed to pass through Samaria. So he came to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son, Joseph. Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being tired from his journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.
The Samaritan woman therefore said to him, “How is it that you, being a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)
Jesus answered 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.”
The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. So where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father, Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his children and his livestock?”
Jesus answered her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst again; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”
The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I don’t get thirsty, neither come all the way here to draw.”
Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”
The woman answered, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You said well, ‘I have no husband,’
for you have had five husbands; and he whom you now have is not your husband. This you have said truly.”
The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.”
Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour comes, when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, will you worship the Father. You worship that which you don’t know. We worship that which we know; for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such to be his worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah comes, he who is called Christ. When he has come, he will declare to us all things.”
Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who speaks to you.” At this, his disciples came. They marveled that he was speaking with a woman; yet no one said, “What are you looking for?” or, “Why do you speak with her?” So the woman left her water pot, went away into the city, and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything that I did. Can this be the Christ?”
They went out of the city, and were coming to him. In the meanwhile, the disciples urged him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.”
But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you don’t know about.”
The disciples therefore said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?”
Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Don’t you say, ‘There are yet four months until the harvest?’ Behold, I tell you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, that they are white for harvest already. He who reaps receives wages and gathers fruit to eternal life; that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this the saying is true, ‘One sows, and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you haven’t labored. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”
From that city many of the Samaritans believed in him because of the word of the woman, who testified, “He told me everything that I did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they begged him to stay with them. He stayed there two days. Many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of your speaking; for we have heard for ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.”
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 32, 34, 35, 36, 37, 39, 41, 42 1. When, therefore, the Lord knew. The Evangelist, intending…
1. When, therefore, the Lord knew. The Evangelist, intending now to give an account of the conversation which Christ had with a Samaritan woman, begins with explaining the cause of his journey. Knowing that the Pharisees were ill-disposed towards him, he did not wish to expose himself to their anger before the proper time. This was his motive for setting out from Judea. The Evangelist thus informs us that Christ did not come into Samaria with the intention of dwelling there, but because he had to pass through it on his way from Judea to Galilee; for until, by his resurrection, he should open up the way for the gospel, it was necessary that he should be employed in gathering the sheep of Israel to which he had been sent. That he now favored the Samaritans with his instruction was an extraordinary and almost accidental occurrence, if we may be allowed the expression.
But why does he seek the retirement and lurking-places of Galilee, as if he were unwilling to be known, which was highly to be desired? I reply, he knew well the proper way to act, and made such use of the opportunities of usefulness that he did not allow a moment to be lost. He wished, therefore, to pursue his course with regularity, and in such a manner as he judged to be proper. Hence too we hear that our minds ought to be regulated in such a manner that, on the one hand, we may not be deterred by any fear from going forward in duty; and that, on the other hand, we may not too rashly throw ourselves into dangers. All who are earnestly desirous to pursue their calling will be careful to maintain this moderation, for which they will steadily follow the Lord even through the midst of deaths; they will not rush into them heedlessly, but will walk in their ways. Let us, therefore, remember that we must not advance farther than our calling demands.
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That the Pharisees had heard. The Pharisees alone are mentioned by the Evangelist as having been hostile to Christ; not that the other scribes were friendly, but because this sect was at that time in the ascendant, and because they were filled with rage under the pretense of godly zeal. It may be asked, Did they envy Christ that he had more disciples, because their stronger attachment to John led them to promote his honor and reputation? The meaning of the words is different; for though they were formerly dissatisfied at finding that John collected disciples, their minds were still more exasperated, when they saw that a still greater number of disciples came to Christ. From the time that John avowed himself to be nothing more than the herald of the Son of God, they began to flock to Christ in greater crowds, and already he had almost completed his ministry. Thus he gradually resigned to Christ the office of teaching and baptizing.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv1, 5, 6, 9, 10, 20, 23, 24, 32, 35, 36, 37, 39 This measure is to be kept in doing of…
This measure is to be kept in doing of our duty, that neither by fear we be terrified from going forward, neither by rashness procure or pluck dangers upon our heads.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv1–42 1 When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees…
1 When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John,
Ver. 1. Baptized more disciples] Baptizing was used by the Jews before John or Christ took it up, from which custom, though brought in without commandment, our Saviour authorizeth a seal of entering into his rest; using the Jews’ weakness as an allurement thither.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv1–42 Our Saviour knew as God, from that omniscience which…
Our Saviour knew as God, from that omniscience which is inseparable from the Divine nature, or as man, by the relation of others, that the Pharisees, (who had the greatest stroke in the sanhedrim), and the government of the church of the Jews, had received an information concerning him, that he had, by his doctrine which he preached, and confirmed by miraculous operations,
made and (by his disciples) baptized more disciples than John, thereby initiating them into a new church.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On vv1, 4, 7, 10, 11, 15, 19, 21, 24, 25, 27, 31, 35, 39 The former part of this chapter accquaints us with…
The former part of this chapter accquaints us with our Saviour’s removal from Judea into Galilee. The occasion of it was this: Christ hearing that John was cast into prison, and understanding how the Pharisees were enraged at the increasing of the number of disciples; to decline their fury, and prevent danger to himself, he leaves Judea, and departs into Galilee for his own preservation.
Hence learn, That when the faithful ministers of Christ do meet with eminent success in their Masters service, they must expect to meet with a mighty shock of malice and envy from Satan and his wicked instruments. Christ himself experienced it, and prepare for it.
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That it is neither unlawful nor unbecoming for the ministers of Christ to flee when prosecution threatens them; their Lord and Master having fled before them: commanded also, When they prosecute you in one city, to flee another.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On vv1, 4, 27 We read of Christ's coming into Judea (Joh 3:22),…
We read of Christ's coming into Judea (Joh 3:22), after he had kept the feast at Jerusalem; and now he left Judea four months before harvest, as is said here (Joh 4:35); so that it is computed that he staid in Judea about six months, to build upon the foundation John had laid there. We have no particular account of his sermons and miracles there, only in general, Joh 4:1.
I. That he made disciples; he prevailed with many to embrace his doctrine, and to follow him as a teacher come from God. His ministry was successful, notwithstanding the opposition it met with (Psa 110:2, Psa 110:3); mathētas poiei - it signifies the same with mathēteuō - to disciples. Compare Gen 12:5. The souls which they had gotten, which they had made (so the word is), which they had made proselytes. Note, It is Christ's prerogative to make disciples, first to bring them to his foot, and then to form and fashion them to his will. Fit, non nascitur, Christianus - The Christian is made such, not born such. Tertullian.
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II. That he baptized those whom he made disciples, admitted them by washing them with water; not himself, but by the ministry of his disciples, Joh 4:2. 1. Because he would put a difference between his baptism and that of John, who baptized all himself; for he baptized as a servant, Christ as a master. 2. He would apply himself more to preaching work, which was the more excellent, Co1 1:17. 3. He would put honour upon his disciples, by empowering and employing them to do it; and so train them up to further services. 4. If he had baptized some himself, they would have been apt to value themselves upon that, and despise others, which he would prevent, as Paul, Co1 1:13, Co1 1:14. 5. He would reserve himself for the honour of baptizing with the Holy Ghost, Act 1:5. 6. He would teach us that the efficacy of the sacraments depends not on any virtue in the hand that administers them, as also that what is done by his ministers, according to his direction, he owns as done by himself.
III. That he made and baptized more disciples than John; not only more than John did at this time, but more than he had done at any time. Christ's converse was more winning than John's. His miracles were convincing, and the cures he wrought gratis very inviting.
IV. That the Pharisees were informed of this; they heard what multitudes he baptized, for they had, from his first appearing, a jealous eye upon him, and wanted not spies to give them notice concerning him. Observe, 1. When the Pharisees thought they had got rid of John (for he was by this time imprisoned), and were pleasing themselves with that, Jesus appears, who was a greater vexation to them than ever John had been. The witnesses will rise again. 2. That which grieved them was that Christ made so many disciples. The success of the gospel exasperates its enemies, and it is a good sign that it is getting ground when the powers of darkness are enraged against it.
V. That our Lord Jesus knew very well what informations were given in against him to the Pharisees. It is probable the informers were willing to have their names concealed, and the Pharisees loth to have their designs known; but none can dig so keep as to hide their counsels from the Lord (Isa 29:15), and Christ is here called the Lord. He knew what was told the Pharisees, and how much, it is likely, it exceeded the truth; for it is not likely that Jesus had yet baptized more than John; but so the thing was represented, to make him appear the more formidable; see Kg2 6:12.
VI. That hereupon our Lord Jesus left Judea and departed again to go to Galilee.
1. He left Judea, because he was likely to be persecuted there even to the death; such was the rage of the Pharisees against him, and such their impious policy to devour the man-child in his infancy. To escape their designs, Christ quitted the country, and went where what he did would be less provoking than just under their eye. For, (1.) His hour was not yet come (Joh 7:30), the time fixed in the counsels of God, and the Old Testament prophecies, for Messiah's being cut off. He had not finished his testimony, and therefore would not surrender or expose himself. (2.) The disciples he had gathered in Judea were not able to bear hardships, and therefore he would not expose them. (3.) Hereby he gave an example to his own rule: When they persecute you in one city, flee to another. We are not called to suffer, while we may avoid it without sin; and therefore, though we may not, for our own preservation, change our religion, yet we may change our place. Christ secured himself, not by a miracle, but in a way common to men, for the direction and encouragement of his suffering people.
2. He departed into Galilee, because he had work to do there, and many friends and fewer enemies. He went to Galilee now, (1.) Because John's ministry had now made way for him there; for Galilee, which was under Herod's jurisdiction, was the last scene of John's baptism. (2.) Because John's imprisonment had now made room for him there. That light being now put under a bushel, the minds of people would not be divided between him and Christ. Thus both the liberties and restraints of good ministers are for the furtherance of the gospel, Phi 1:12. But to what purpose does he go into Galilee for safety? Herod, the persecutor of John, will never be the protector of Jesus. Chemnitius here notes, Pii in hc vit quos fugiant habent; ad quos vero fugiant ut in tuto sint non habent, nisi ad te, Deus, qui solus regugium nostrum es - The pious have those, in this life, to whom they can fly; but they have none to fly to, who can afford them refuge, except thee, O God.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv2–42 Though Jesus himself baptized not,.... And therefore as Nonnus…
Though Jesus himself baptized not,.... And therefore as Nonnus observes, it was a false report that was made to the Pharisees; at least in part, so far as concerns the act of baptizing: though it may be this is observed, not so much to show the falsehood of that report, as to correct what is said of Christ's baptizing; lest it should be understood, as if he baptized in his own person; whereas he did not, that not so, well comporting with his greatness and majesty: wherefore "the king did not baptize in water", as Nonnus expresses it, but left that for his disciples and servants to do; he had other and greater work to perform, as to preach the Gospel, and work miracles, heal diseases, cast out devils, &c. And besides, had another sort of baptism, of a more excellent nature to administer, namely, the baptism of the Spirit; and since water baptism is administered in his name, as well as in the name of the Father and of the Spirit, it does not seem that it would have been administered with that propriety by himself, in his own name; add to which, as is also observed by others, it might have occasioned contentions and disputes among the baptized, had some, been baptized by Christ, and others by his disciples; the one valuing themselves on that account, above the others. The Persic version indeed suggests, as if both Christ and his disciples baptized, rendering the words thus, "Jesus was not alone who baptized, but the disciples also baptized": whereas the truth of the matter is, that Christ did not baptize in water at all:
but his disciples; they baptized in his name, and by his orders, such who were first made disciples by him.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 31, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 42 The Lord knew - Though none informed him of…
The Lord knew - Though none informed him of it.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 39, 40, 42 Jesus, finding that the Pharisees took offence at his…
CHAPTER IV.
Jesus, finding that the Pharisees took offence at his making
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many disciples, leaves Judea to pass into Galilee, 1-3.
And passing through Samaria comes to Sychar, and rests at
Jacob's well, 4-6.
While his disciples were gone to the city to buy meat, a woman
of Samaria comes to draw water, with whom our Lord discourses
at large on the spiritual nature of his religion, the perfection
of the Divine nature, and the purity of his worship, 7-24.
On his informing her that he was the Messiah, she leaves her
pitcher, and goes to inform her townsmen, 25-30.
His discourse with his disciples in her absence, 31-38.
Many of the Samaritans believe on him, 39-42;
He stays two days with them, and goes into Galilee, 43-45.
He comes to Cana, and heals the son of a nobleman, in consequence
of which he believes on him, with his whole family, 46-54.
NOTES ON CHAP. IV.
Verse 1. Jesus made and baptized, c.] These seem to be quoted as the very words which were brought to the Pharisees and, from our Lord's conduct after this information, we may take it for granted that they were so irritated that they were determined to seek an occasion to take away his life; in consequence of which, leaving Judea, he withdrew into Galilee.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv1, 4, 7, 9, 10, 13, 16, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28, 31, 35, 37, 39, 41 Joh 4:1-3. When the Lord knew — Without receiving…
Joh 4:1-3. When the Lord knew — Without receiving information from any one; how the Pharisees — Whose interest in the sanhedrim was very great; had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John — To shun the effects of their envy and malice, which were hereby excited; he left Judea — After having continued there, it seems, about eight months; and departed again into Galilee — His former place of abode, where the influence and power of the council were not so great, and where his presence was necessary, as the ministry of his forerunner in that country was now brought to a period. It seems the testimony which the Baptist had given to Christ, together with the miracles which he himself had wrought at Jerusalem during the passover, had greatly impressed the minds of the people; so that vast numbers, during his abode in those parts, were continually flocking around him, and many attached themselves to him as his followers; a circumstance which gave great umbrage to the Pharisees. For these men claimed it as the privilege of their sect to direct the consciences of the people, and were therefore enraged to find such numbers of them acknowledging, as the Messiah, one whose birth and fortune so little suited the notions which they had taught concerning the great deliverer of the nation. The evangelist informs us, that Jesus himself baptized not — Perhaps because it was not proper to baptize in his own name, and because it was of more importance to preach than to baptize, 1Co 1:17. Besides, it might have given those who were baptized by him occasion to value themselves above others, as happened in the church of Corinth, where the brethren valued themselves upon the character of the persons who had baptized them. Indeed the baptism properly Christ’s was that of the Holy Ghost, with which Spirit John had foretold he should baptize his followers. See Macknight.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv1–39 The Lord knew - When Jesus knew. how he…
The Lord knew - When Jesus knew. how he knew this we are not informed; whether by that power of omniscience by which he knew all things, or whether some person had informed him of it.
How the Pharisees had heard - The Pharisees, here, seem to denote either the members of the Sanhedrin or those who were in authority. They claimed the authority to regulate the rites and ceremonies of religion, and hence they supposed they had a right to inquire into the conduct of both John and our Lord. They had on a former occasion sent to inquire of John to know by what authority he had introduced such a rite into the religion of the Jewish people. See the notes at Joh 1:25.
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More disciples than John - Though many of the Pharisees came to his baptism Matt. 3, yet those who were in authority were displeased with the success of John, Joh 1:25. The reasons of this were, probably, the severity and justness of his reproofs Mat 3:7, and the fact that by drawing many after him he weakened their authority and influence. As they were displeased with John, so they were with Jesus, who was doing the same thing on a larger scale - not only making disciples, but baptizing also without their authority, and drawing away the people after him.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv2, 5, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16, 20, 22, 23, 25, 27, 29, 31, 34, 35, 38, 42 St. John Chrysostom thinks that this baptism, given by…
St. John Chrysostom thinks that this baptism, given by the disciples of Christ, did not at all differ from the baptism of St. John the Baptist; both, in his opinion, being used to prepare the people for Christ; but Alcuin interprets it otherwise. Some will ask, says he, whether the Holy Ghost was given by this baptism, since it is said the Holy Ghost was not yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified? To this we answer: that the Holy Ghost was given, though not in that manifest manner as after the ascension; for as Christ, as man, had always the Holy Ghost residing within him, and yet after his baptism received the Holy Ghost, coming upon him in a visible manner, in the shape of a dove; so before the manifest and public descent of the Holy Ghost, all the saints were his hidden temples. (St. Thomas Aquinas)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
John Nelson Darby 1862 · Public Domain On v1 John Chapter 4
John Chapter 4
And now Jesus, being driven away by the jealousy of the Jews, begins His ministry outside that people, while still acknowledging their true position in the dealings of God. He goes away into Galilee; but His road led Him by Samaria, in which dwelt a mingled race of strangers and of Israel-a race who had forsaken the idolatry of the strangers, but who, while following the law of Moses and calling themselves by the name of Jacob, had set up a worship of their own at Gerizim. Jesus does not enter the town. Being weary He sits down outside the town on the brink of the well-for He must needs go that way; but this necessity was an occasion for the acting of that divine grace which was in the fulness of His Person, and which overflowed the narrow limits of Judaism.
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There are some preliminary details to remark before entering on the subject of this chapter. Jesus did not Himself baptise, for He knew the whole extent of the counsels of God in grace, the true object of His coming. He could not bind souls by baptism to a living Christ. The disciples were right in so doing. They had so to receive Christ. It was faith on their part.
When rejected by the Jews, the Lord does not contend. He leaves them; and, coming to Sychar, He found Himself in the most interesting associations as regards the history of Israel, but in Samaria: sad testimony of Israel’s ruin. Jacob’s well was in the hands of people who called themselves of Israel, but the greater part of whom were not so, and who worshipped they knew not what, although pretending to be of the stock of Israel. Those who were really Jews had driven away the Messiah by their jealousy. He-a man despised by the people-had gone away from among them. We see Him sharing the sufferings of humanity, and, weary with His journey, finding only the side of a well on which to rest at noon. He contents Himself with it. He seeks nothing but the will of His God: it brought Him thither. The disciples were away; and God brought thither at that unusual hour a woman by herself. It was not the hour at which women went out to draw water; but, in the ordering of God, a poor sinful woman and the Judge of quick and dead thus met together.
The Lord, weary and thirsty, had no means even to quench His thirst. He is dependent as man, on this poor woman to have a little water for His thirst. He asks it of her. The woman, seeing that He is a Jew, is surprised; and now the divine scene unfolds itself, in which the heart of the Saviour, rejected by men and oppressed by the unbelief of His people, opens to let that fulness of grace flow out which finds its occasion in the necessities and not in the righteousness of men. Now this grace did not limit itself to the rights of Israel, nor lend itself to national jealousy. It was a question of the gift of God, of God Himself who was there in grace, and of God come down so low, that, being born among His people, He was dependent, as to His human position, on a Samaritan woman for a drop of water to quench His thirst. “If thou knewest the gift of God, and [not, who I am, but] who it is that saith unto thee, Give me to drink”; that is to say, If thou hadst known that God gives freely, and the glory of His Person who was there, and how deeply He had humbled Himself, His love would have been revealed to thy heart, and would have filled it with perfect confidence, in regard even to the wants which a grace like this would have awakened in thy heart. “Thou wouldest have asked,” said the divine Saviour, “and he would have given thee” the living water that springeth up into everlasting life. Such is the heavenly fruit of the mission of Christ, wherever He is received. [22]
His heart lays it open (it was revealing Himself), pours it out into the heart of one who was its object; consoling itself for the unbelief of the Jews (rejecting the end of promise) by presenting the true consolation of grace to the misery that needed it. This is the true comfort of love, which is pained when unable to act. The floodgates of grace are lifted up by the misery which that grace waters. He makes manifest that which God is in grace; and the God of grace was there. Alas! the heart of man, withered up and selfish, and pre-occupied with its own miseries (the fruits of sin), cannot at all understand this. The woman sees something extraordinary in Jesus; she is curious to know what it means-is struck with His manner, so that she has a measure of faith in His words; but her desires are limited to the relief of the toils of her sorrowful life, in which an ardent heart found no answer to the misery it had acquired for its portion through sin.
A few words on the character of this woman. I believe the Lord would shew that there is need, that the fields were ready for the harvest; and that if the wretched self-righteousness of the Jews rejected Him, the stream of grace would find its channel elsewhere, God having prepared hearts to hail it with joy and thanksgiving, because it answered their misery and need-not the righteous. The channel of grace was dug by the need and the misery which the grace itself caused to be felt.
The life of this woman was shameful; but she was ashamed of it; at the least her position had isolated her, by separating her from the crowd that forgets itself in the tumult of social life. And there is no inward grief like an isolated heart; but Christ and grace more than meets it. Its isolati on more than ceases. He was more isolated than she. She came alone to the well; she was not with the other women. Alone, she met with the Lord, by the wonderful guidance of God who brought her there. The disciples even must go away to make room for her. They knew nothing of this grace. They baptised indeed in the name of a Messiah in whom they believed. It was well. But God was there in grace-He who would judge the quick and the dead-and with Him a sinner in her sins. What a meeting! And God who had stooped so low as to be dependent on her for a little water to quench His thirst!
She had an ardent nature. She had sought for happiness; she had found misery. She lived in sin, and was weary of life. She was indeed in the lowest depths of misery. The ardour of her nature found sin no obstacle. She went on, alas! to the uttermost. The will, engaged in evil, feeds on sinful desires, and wastes itself without fruit. Nevertheless her soul was not without a sense of need. She thought of Jerusalem, she thought of Gerizim. She waited for the Messiah, who would tell them all things. Did this change her life? In no wise. Her life was shocking. When the Lord speaks of spiritual things, in language well suited to awaken the heart, directing her attention to heavenly things in a way that one would have thought it impossible to misunderstand, she cannot comprehend it. The natural man cannot understand the things of the Spirit: they are spiritually discerned.
The novelty of the Lord’s address excited her attention, but did not lead her thoughts beyond her waterpot, the symbol of her daily toil; although she saw that Jesus took the place of one greater than Jacob. What was to be done? God wrought-He wrought in grace, and in this poor woman. Whatever the occasion might be as regards herself, it was He who had brought her thither. But she was unable to comprehend spiritual things though expressed in the plainest manner; for the Lord spoke of the water that springs up in the soul unto everlasting life. But as the human heart is ever revolving in its own circumstances and cares, her religious need was limited practically to the traditions by which her life, as regarded its religious thoughts and habits, was formed, leaving still a void that nothing could fill. What then was to be done? In what way can this grace act, when the heart does not understand the spiritual grace which the Lord brings? This is the second part of the marvellous instruction here. The Lord deals with her conscience. A word spoken by Him who searches the heart, searches her conscience: she is in the presence of a man who tells her all that ever she did. For, her conscience awakened by the word, and finding itself laid open to the eye of God, her whole life is before her.
And who is He that thus searches the heart? She feels that His word is the word of God. “Thou art a prophet.” Intelligence in divine things comes by the conscience, not by the intellect. The soul and God are together, if we may so speak, whatever instrument is employed. She has everything to learn, no doubt; but she is in the presence of Him who teaches everything. What a step! What a change! What a new position! This soul, which saw no farther than her waterpot and felt her toil more than her sin, is there alone with the Judge of quick and dead-with God Himself. And in what manner? She knows not. She only felt that it was Himself in the power of His own word. But at least He did not despise her, as others did. Although she was alone, she was alone with Him. He had spoken to her of life-of the gift of God; He had told her that she had only to ask and have. She had understood nothing of His meaning; but it was not condemnation, it was grace-grace that stooped to her, that knew her sin and was not repelled by it, that asked her for water, that was above Jewish prejudice with regard to her, as well as the contempt of the humanly righteous-grace which did not conceal her sin from her, which made her feel that God knew it nevertheless, He who knew it was there without alarming her. Her sin was before God, but not in judgment.
Marvellous meeting of a soul with God, which the grace of God accomplishes by Christ! Not that she reasoned about all these things; but she was under the effect of their truth without accounting for it to herself; for the word of God had reached her conscience, and she was in the presence of Him who had accomplished it, and He was meek and lowly, and glad to receive a little water at her hands. Her defilement did not defile Him. She could, in fact, trust in Him, without knowing why. It is thus that God acts. Grace inspires confidence-brings back the soul to God in peace, before it has any intelligent knowledge, or can explain it to itself. In this way, full of trust, she begins (it was the natural consequence) with the questions that filled her own heart; thus giving the Lord an opportunity of fully explaining the ways of God in grace. God had so ordered it; for the question was far from the sentiments which grace afterwards led her to. The Lord replies according to her condition: salvation was of the Jews. They were the people of God. Truth was with them, and not with the Samaritans who worshipped they knew not what. But God put all that aside. It was now neither at Gerizim nor at Jerusalem, that they should worship the Father who manifested Himself in the Son. God was a spirit, and must be worshipped in spirit and in truth. Moreover the Father sought such worshippers. That is to say, the worship of their hearts must answer to the nature of God, to the grace of the Father who had sought them. [23] Thus true worshippers should worship the Father in spirit and in truth. Jerusalem and Samaria disappear entirely-have no place before such a revelation of the Father in grace. God no longer hid Himself; He was revealed perfectly in light. The perfect grace of the Father wrought, in order to make Him known, by the grace that brought souls to Him.
Now the woman was not yet brought to Him; but, as we have seen in the case of the disciples and of John the Baptist, a glorious revelation of Christ acts upon the soul where it is, and brings the Person of Jesus into connection with the need already felt. “The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh; and when he is come, he will tell us all things.” Small as her intelligence might be, and unable as she was to understand what Jesus had told her, His love meets her where she can receive blessing and life; and He replies, “I, that speak unto thee, am he.” The work was done: the Lord was received. A poor Samaritan sinner receives the Messiah of Israel, whom the priests and the Pharisees had rejected from among the people. The moral effect upon the woman is evident. She forgets her waterpot, her toil, her circumstances. She is engrossed by this new object that is revealed to her soul-by Christ; so engrossed that, without thinking, she becomes a preacher; that is, she proclaims the Lord in the fulness of her heart and with perfect simplicity. He had told her all that she had ever done. She does not think at that moment of what it was. Jesus had told it her; and the thought of Jesus takes away the bitterness of the sin. The sense of His goodness removes the guile of heart that seeks to conceal its sin. In a word, her heart is entirely filled with Christ Himself. Many believed in Him through her declaration-”He has told me all that ever I did”; many more, when they had heard Him. His own word carried with it a stronger conviction, as more immediately connected with His Person.
Meanwhile the disciples come, and-naturally-marvel at His talking with the woman. Their Master, the Messiah-they understood this; but the grace of God manifested in the flesh was still beyond their thoughts. The work of this grace was the meat of Jesus, and that in the lowliness of obedience as sent of God. He was taken up with it, and, in the perfect humility of obedience, it was His joy and His food to do His Father’s will, and to finish His work. And the case of this poor woman had a voice that filled His heart with deep joy, wounded as it was in this world, because He was love. If the Jews rejected Him, still the fields in which grace sought its fruits for the everlasting granary were white already to harvest. He, therefore, who laboured should not fail of his wages, nor of the joy of having such fruit unto life eternal. Nevertheless, even the apostles were but reapers where others had sown. The poor woman was a proof of this. Christ, present and revealed, met the need which the testimony of the prophet had awakened. Thus (while exhibiting a grace which revealed the love of the Father, of God the Saviour, and coming out, consequently, from the pale of the Jewish system) He fully recognised the faithful service of His labourers in former days, the prophets who, by the Spirit of Christ from the beginning of the world, had spoken of the Redeemer, of the sufferings of Christ and the glories that should follow. The sowers and the reapers should rejoice together in the fruit of their labours.
But what a picture is all this of the purpose of grace, and of its mighty and living fulness in the Person of Christ, of the free gift of God, and of the incapability of the spirit of man to apprehend it, preoccupied and blinded as he is by present things, seeing nothing beyond the life of nature, although suffering from the consequences of his sin! At the same time, we see that it is in the humiliation, the deep abasement, of the Messiah, of Jesus, that God Himself is manifested in this grace. It is this that breaks down the barriers, and gives free course to the torrent of grace from on high. We see, also, that conscience is the doorway of understanding in the things of God. We are brought truly into relationship with God when He searches the heart. This is always the case. We are then in the truth. Moreover God thus manifests Himself, and the grace and love of the Father. He seeks worshippers, and that, according to this double revelation of Himself, however great His patience may be with those who do not see farther than the first step of the promises of God. If Jesus is received, there is a thorough change; the work of conversion is wrought; there is faith. At the same time what a divine picture of our Jesus-humbled, indeed, but even thereby the manifestation of God in love, the Son of the Father, He who knows the Father, and accomplishes His work! What a glorious and boundless scene opens before the soul that is admitted to see and to know Him!
The whole range of grace is open to us here in His work and its divine extent, in that which regards its application to the individual, and the personal intelligence we may have respecting it. It is not precisely pardon, nor redemption, nor the assembly. It is grace flowing in the Person of Christ; and the conversion of the sinner, in order that he may enjoy it in himself, and be capable of knowing God and of worshipping the Father of grace. But how entirely have we broken out in principle from the narrow limits of Judaism!
Nevertheless in His personal ministry, the Lord, always faithful, putting Himself aside in order to glorify His Father by obeying Him, repairs to the sphere of labour appointed Him of God. He leaves the Jews, for no prophet is received in his own country, and goes into Galilee, among the despised of His people, the poor of the flock, where obedience, grace, and the counsels of God alike placed Him. In that sense, He did not forsake His people, perverse as they were. There He works a miracle which expresses the effect of His grace in connection with the believing remnant of Israel, feeble as their faith might be. He comes again to the place where He had turned the water of purification into the wine of joy (“which cheereth God and man”). By that miracle He had, in figure, displayed the power which should deliver the people, and by which, being received, He would establish the fulness of joy in Israel, creating by that power the good wine of the nuptials of Israel with their God. Israel rejected it all. The Messiah was not received. He retired among the poor of the flock in Galilee, after having shewn to Samaria (in passing) the grace of the Father, which went beyond all promises to, and dealings with, the Jew, and in the Person and the humiliation of Christ led converted souls to worship the Father (outside all Jewish system, true or false) in spirit and in truth; and there, in Galilee, He works a second miracle in the midst of Israel, where He still labours, according to His Father’s will, that is to say, wherever there is faith; not yet, perhaps, in His power to raise the dead, but to heal and save the life of that which was ready to perish. He fulfilled the desire of that faith, and restored the life of one who was at the point of death. It was this, in fact, which He was doing in Israel while here below. These two great truths were set forth-that which He was going to do according to the purposes of God the Father, as being rejected; and that which He was doing at the time for Israel, according to the faith He found among them.
In the chapters that follow we shall find the rights and the glory shewn forth that attach to His Person; the rejection of His word and of His work; the sure salvation of the remnant, and of all His sheep wherever they may be. Afterwards-acknowledged by God, as manifested on earth, the Son of God, of David, and of man-that which He will do when gone away, and the gift of the Holy Ghost, are unfolded; also the position in which He placed the disciples before the Father, and with regard to Himself. And then-after the history of Gethsemane, the giving of His own life, His death as giving His life for us-the whole result, in the ways of God, until His return, is briefly given in the chapter that closes the book.
We may go more rapidly through the chapters till the tenth, not as of little importance-far from it-but as containing some great principles which may be pointed out, each in its place, without requiring much explanation.
Footnotes for John Chapter 4
22: Note, too, here, that it is not as with Israel in the wilderness that there was water from the smitten rock to drink. Here the promise is of a well of water springing up unto everlasting life in ourselves.
23: It will be found in John’s writings that, when responsibility is spoken of, God is the word used; when grace to us, the Father and the Son. When indeed it is goodness (God’s character in Christ) towards the world, then God is spoken of.
John Nelson Darby — Synopsis of the Books of the Bible: the New Testament (c. 1857–1862) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v1
VII
JESUS AT JACOB’S WELL. THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA. CHRIST THE FOUNTAIN OF LIFE, THE FOUNTAIN OF PEACE. THE WHITE HARVEST FIELD, OR THE FIELD OF EARTH AND THE FIELD OF HEAVEN. THE SOWERS AND THE REAPERS. THE FAITH OF THE SAMARITANS, A PRASAGE OF THE UNIVERSAL SPREAD OF THE GOSPEL
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Joh_4:1-42
1When therefore the Lord [Jesus]1 knew how [that] the Pharisees had heard that 2Jesus made [makes] and baptized [baptizes] more disciples than John (Though 3Jesus himself baptized not [did not baptize], but his disciples), He left Judea, and departed again2 into Galilee. 4And he must needs go through Samaria. 5Then cometh he [He cometh, therefore] to a city of Samaria, which is [omit which is] called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground [or piece of land] that Jacob gave to his 6son Joseph. Now [And] Jacob’s well [fountain]3 was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus [simply sat down] on the well: [.] and [omit and] it was about4 the sixth hour.
7There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.5 8(For his disciples were [had] gone away unto the city to buy meat9[food]). Then6 saith the woman of Samaria [The Samaritan woman7 saith] unto him, How is it that thou being a Jew, askest drink of me, which [who] am a woman of Samaria [a Samaritan woman]? for the [omit the] Jews have no dealings with the [omit the] Samaritans.8 10Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. 11The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou, hast nothing to draw with,9 and the well is deep: from whence 12then hast thou that [the] living water? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which [who] gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children [sons], and his cattle? 13Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever [Every one that] drinketh [πᾶς δ πίνων] of this water shall [will] thirst again: 14But whosoever drinketh [whosoever shall drink, δς δ’ ἅν πίῃ]10 of the water that I shall give him shall [will] never thirst; but the water that I shall give him11 shall be [become, γενήσεται] in him a well [fountain] of water springing up into everlasting life. 15The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not [may 16not thirst], neither [nor] come [all the way, διέρχωμαι] hither [ἐνθάδε] to draw. Jesus 17[He]12 saith unto her, Go, call thy husband,13 and come hither. The woman answered and said, I have no husband [οὐχ ἕχω ἅνδρα]. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband [A husband I have not, or, Husband I have none, ἅνδρα οὐχ ἕχω]: 18For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly [in this thou hast spoken truly, or, truth, τοῦτο ὰληθὲς εἵρηκας]. 19The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. 20Our fathers worshipped in [or, on] this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. 21Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me,14 the [an] hour cometh [is coming], when ye shall neither in [or, on] this mountain, nor yet [omit yet] at [in] Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22Ye worship ye know not what [that which ye know not]: we know what we worship [we worship that which we know]; for [the] salvation15 is [or, comes] of [from] the Jews. 23But the [an] hour cometh [is coming], and now is, when the true worshippers shall [will] worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him [for also (καὶ γάρ) such worshippers the Father seeketh], 24God is a Spirit [is spirit]:16 and they that worship him must worship him [omit him] in spirit and in truth. 25The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which 26[who] is called Christ:17 when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.
27And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the [a] woman:18 yet no man [no one] said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her?
28The woman then left her water-pot, and went her way [went away] into the city, and saith to the men, 29Come, see a man, which [who] told me all things that ever19 30I did: is not [omit not]20 this the Christ? Then [omit Then]21 they went out of the city, and came unto [to] him.
31In the mean while his disciples prayed [asked] him, saying, Master [Rabbi], eat. 32But he said unto them, I have meat [food] to eat that ye know not of. 33Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought him aught [any thing] to eat? 34Jesus saith unto them, My meat [food] is to do22 the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. 35Say not ye [Do ye not say], There are yet four months [it is yet a four-month23], and then cometh [the] harvest? behold [Lo!] I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already 36to harvest [white for harvest already]. And [omit And]24 he that reapeth [the reaper] receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that 37soweth and he that reapeth [the sower and the reaper] may rejoice together. And [For, γάρ] herein [in this spiritual field] is that saying [fully] true, One soweth, and 38another reapeth. I [have] sent you to reap that whereon ye [have] bestowed no labour: other men [others have] laboured, and ye are [have] entered into their labours.
39And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on [in] him for the saying [because of the word, διὰ τὸν λόγον] of the woman, which [who] testified, He told me 40all that ever I did. So when [When, therefore] the Samaritans were come [came] unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them [to abide with them]: and he abode there two days. 41And many more believed because of his own [omit own] word [ὁιὰ τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ]; 42And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not [No longer do we believe] because of thy saying [story, διὰ τὴν σὴν λαλίαν]: for we have heard him [omit him] ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ [omit the Christ],25 the Saviour of the world.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
[In this section our Saviour, sitting on Jacob’s well in weariness of body, yet with ever fresh sympathy for man, discourses on the water of eternal life with an ignorant, degraded, semi-heathenish, yet quick-witted, sprightly and susceptible woman, a sort of “Samaritan Magdalene,”26 and teaches her the sublime truths of the true worship of God which broke down the partition wall between Jews and Gentiles. He saw, by super-natural intuition, the dark spots in her character, but also the deeper aspirations of her soul which had not been extinguished by a life of shame; and when she began to repent and believe, He unveiled to her the future of His kingdom, as He had not done to an orthodox Jew. This scene is in striking contrast with the one related in the third chapter, where He instructed a Jew of the highest respectability in Jerusalem on the mystery of regeneration and the divine counsel of redemption. Christianity touches the extremes of society: humbling the lofty, raising the lowly, saving both. Christ’s intercourse with women, “the last at the cross and the earliest at the tomb,” was marked by freedom from Jewish and Oriental contempt of the weaker sex (comp. Joh_4:27), by elevation above earthly passion, and a marvellous union of purity and frankness, dignity and tenderness. He approached them as a friend and brother, and yet as their Lord and Saviour, while they were irresistibly drawn towards Him with mingled feelings of affection and adoration. He dealt with them as one who condemned even an impure look (Mat_5:28), and yet He permitted the sinful woman to wash His feet with tears of repentance (Luk_7:37 ff.). He partook of the hospitality of practical, busy Martha, while gently reminding her of the better part which her contemplative sister Mary had chosen in reverently listening to His instruction (Luk_10:38 ff.), and comforted them both at the death of their brother (John 11); He lent a sympathizing ear to the sorrows of travail and the joy of deliverance (Joh_16:21); He remembered His mother in the last agony on the cross (Joh_19:26-27); and He appeared first in His resurrection glory to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven devils.27
[The Samaritans, whether we regard them (with Gesenius and the majority of modern scholars) as the descendants of the remnants of the ten tribes and the heathen colonists introduced by the Assyrians, or (with Hengstenberg, Robinson, and the older writers) as pure heathen in descent, who afterwards adopted certain features of the Jewish religion, such as circumcision, the worship of Jehovah and the hopes of the Messiah (comp. note on Joh_4:4), were, at all events, in their religion, a mongrel people, at one time more Jewish, at another more heathenish, according to circumstances and policy, much given to deceit and lying, and more cordially hated by the Jews than the pure Gentiles. Christ broke the spell of this long nourished national prejudice. It is true, He forbade the disciples, in their early missionary labors, to go to the Samaritans (Mat_10:5-6), and this seems to be inconsistent with His own conduct as related in this chapter. But the prohibition was only temporary and well founded in the divine law of order and progress. The Apostles were first sent to the house of Israel; they must lay the foundation of Christianity in that soil which had been providentially prepared for centuries, before it could be successfully planted among Gentiles. At the same time Christ Himself, though in the days of His flesh “sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” incidentally and by prophetic anticipation, as it were, made an exception, not only in this case, but also in the case of the Syro-Phenician woman (Mat_15:21 ff.), and the heathen centurion of Capernaum (Mat_8:5 ff.); and, in the parable of the good Samaritan (Luk_10:30 ff.), He rebuked the pride and prejudice of the Jews with regard to that people. His favorable reception among them is confirmed by the report of Luk_17:11 ff., that of the ten lepers whom He healed on a journey through Samaria, only one returned thanks, and he a Samaritan, putting to shame the remaining nine, who were Jews.
[The discourse here told has all the artless simplicity, freshness, vivacity and truthfulness of historical reality. No one could have invented it. The portrait of the woman is remarkably life-like—every word and act is characteristic. The whole scenery remains to this day almost unchanged; Jacob’s well, though partly in ruins; round about the waving harvests of a fertile and beautiful valley, with abundance of water; the mountains of Ebal and Gerizim; a heap of stones on the spot where the Samaritan temple stood; the flat roofs of the neighboring town, visible through olive trees; veiled women in oriental costume coming for water, bearing a stone pitcher on the head or the shoulder; the weary traveller thirsting for a refreshing drink; the old bigotry and hatred of race and religion still burning beneath the ashes. How often has this chapter been read since by Christian pilgrims on the very spot where the Saviour rested, with the irresistible impression that every ward is true and adapted to the time and place, yet applicable to all times and places. Jacob’s well is no more used, but the living spring of water which the Saviour first opened there to a poor, sinful, yet penitent woman, is as deep and fresh as ever, and will quench the thirst of souls to the end of time.
[On this visit of our Saviour, the seed was sown which, a few years afterwards, as He prophetically foresaw (Joh_4:35), grew up into a plentiful harvest and resulted in the conversion of the Samaritans, as related Act_8:5 ff., and this in turn prepared the way for the conversion of the Gentiles. From Samaria hailed Simon Magus with the first doctrinal corruptions of Christianity by the admixture of heathen notions, but also Justin Martyr, the fearless apologist, who was a native of that very Sychar or Flavia Neapolis, where Christ met the Samaritan woman. But of far greater consequence than the result related in the Acts, is the example here set by Christ for missionary operations, and the doctrines laid down for all ages.—P. S.]
See the Literature in Heubner, p. 269 et al.; Niedhofer: Jesus und die Samariterin (Homiletic Discourses), Augsburg, 1821. [Archbishop Trench: Christ and the Samaritan Woman, in his Studies in the Gospels, pp. 83–137. Dr. J. R. Macduff: Noontide at Sychar; or the Story of Jacob’s Well. A N. Test. chapter in Providence and grace. N. York, 1869 (pp. 263).—P. S.]
Joh_4:1. When therefore the Lord [Jesus] knew.—The Lord, for the first time in this Gospel.28 Ἔγνω or γνούς no doubt has in John, after what he has previously said of Christ’s immediate knowledge of men’s hearts, a special signification when it relates to human thoughts and purposes connected with Christ.29 Οὗν primarily looks back to the preceding account, of the growing labors of Jesus; but it also points to the insight of Jesus into the spirit of the Pharisees, which was well understood, as natural means of knowledge are not excluded.
The Pharisees had heard.—Their hearing carries with it the idea of their having sought information, and keeping a jealous watch. Hence Jesus, it is true, avoids a premature hindrance to his labors, or, as Meyer says, a danger.30 Yet this one motive, which John states, does not exclude another: that the Baptist was about this time cast into prison, after having labored last in Galilee, and that in answer to the special occasion thus arising for a confirming of hearts in that region, Christ appeared in the place of John in Galilee. Besides, enough for the present had been done for Judea. A third motive probably was, that Jesus had now determined for a while entirely to cease baptizing.
That Jesus made more disciples.—Literally: “makes and baptizes.” The verbal quoting of what they had heard, expressed by the present tense, indicates a very definite or a very well known report. More disciples than John.—Jesus gave the Pharisaic spirit more to fear: His freer address; more public appearance in Jerusalem; His stronger influence; the purification of the temple: His higher authority; miracles; Himself accredited as the Messiah by John.
Joh_4:2. Though Jesus himself.—Evidently a parenthesis, otherwise it would belong to what the Pharisees had heard.31 The Evangelist does not correct the report (Meyer), for it was true; he only states the fact more precisely. The observation no doubt means not that it so happened, but that it was a rule, that Jesus Himself baptized not. Why? (1) Because the work of teaching was more important (1Co_1:17, De Wette [Alford]); (2) because He would have had to baptize into Himself (Tertullian); (3) Bengel: “Baptizare actio ministerialis est … Christus baptizat Spiritu sancto.” [So Godet, Trench. Godet: “Il était le Seigneur, et il se réservait le baptéme de l’ Esprit.”—P. S.] Nonnus follows this: the Lord baptizes not with water. Tertullian’s explanation, too, has warrant. As Christ is the object of baptism, the centre of the new kingdom, He would obscure the idea of baptism, if He should not have the transition from the old system to the new, so far as the baptism was concerned, administered by others.32
Joh_4:3. He left Judea.—At the same time giving up baptizing. Why? Because the imprisonment of the Baptist in the midst of the Jewish people had brought a ban of uncleanness again upon the whole congregation of Israel (see my Leben Jesu, II. 2, p. 515). This settled it, that a new baptism could proceed only from the baptism of blood, which at the same time would give it a deeper significance (as the final ideal consecration of death).
Departed again into Galille—As after He was baptized.
Joh_4:4. Through Samaria.—Samaria lay between Judea and Galilee, and through this province, therefore, the usual route of pilgrimage also passed (Joseph. Antiq. XX. 6, 1).33 The custom of scrupulous Jews, to make a circuit through Peræa, could have no force with Jesus; though afterwards the Samaritans themselves once occasioned His following it. But He then also had probably already come near the boundary of Samaria (see Maier, Commentar., p. 328), Luk_9:52. Samaria, שׂמְרוֹן; Chald. שָׁמְרָיִן, Ezr_4:10; Ezr_4:17, primarily the name of a city. The city lay in the kingdom of the ten tribes in middle Palestine, on a mountain (Robinson [Germ. ed.] III. p. 365); built by Omri about 922 B. C., and made the seat of the kingdom of Israel (1Ki_16:24, and elsewhere); a chief seat of the worship of Baal during the time of the apostasy, 1Ki_16:31; as the capital of Ephraim, the counterpart of Jerusalem (Eze_16:46, and elsewhere). Shalmanezer conquered the city and filled it with colonists, 2Ki_17:5 sqq. John Hyrcanus destroyed it, but it was soon rebuilt. Herod the Great, to whom Cæsar Augustus gave the city, beautified it, strengthened it, planted a colony of veterans in it, and named it Sebaste [Augusta, in honor of Augustus, Joseph. Antiq. XV. 8, 5]. The growth of Sichem [Neapolis] in the vicinity threw back the city to a hamlet, which still exists as Sebustieh, in ruins. From the city of Samaria (Σαμάρεια) the region of Middle Palestine gradually took its name, Σαμαρεῖτις (1Ma_10:30); it is a separate province in the time of the Syrian kings (also Σαμαρίς. Σαμάρεια in Josephus). The description which Josephus gives of the country, see in Winer under the word. Samaria appears more friendly than Judea, rich in vegetation and forest-clad hills. In the same article are the accounts of modern tourists respecting the city of Samaria.
By the Samaritans, שֹׁמְרוֹנִים, Σαμαρεῖται, Σαμαρεις, history understands the later post-exilian inhabitants of the country, the Χουθαῖοι (Joseph. Antiq. IX. 14, 3, etc.). According to the prevailing view, a mixed population grew up from the heathen colonists of Shalmanezer (and Esarhaddon, Ezr_4:2) from Assyrian provinces (2Ki_17:24), Babylon, Cuthah, Ava, Hameth, and Sepharvaim, and from the remnants of the Israelites. In the land of Israel they adopted the Israelite religion (2Ki_17:25; Ezr_6:21; Neh_10:28), and soon went so far as to call themselves the genuine offspring of Israel, or of the house of Joseph (Joseph. Antiq. XI. 8, 6). And now they would still be called Israelites, but not Jews. But as they presumed in pride to boast an Israelite descent, so too they often permitted themselves through policy utterly to deny this extraction, and give themselves out for Persians (Joseph. Antiq. XI. 9, 4) or Sidonians [Ibid. XI. 8, 6].
After Hottinger and others, Hengstenberg in particular [Beiträge I. 117; II. 3 sqq] has wholly denied to the Samaritans any genealogical connection with the Jews. The document, 2 Kings 17, mentions nothing, it is true, of remaining Israelites, and the Samaritans have often boasted that they were of heathen origin. This last fact, however, can signify nothing; for they likewise boasted, generally, that they were pure Jews (and the ἀλλογενής, Luk_17:18, evidently proves nothing). But it is said in 2Ki_17:24, that the colonists were placed in the cities; so that the colonization was limited. Besides, the deportations of this kind in history, as Winer observes, are never radical. The Samaritans were also early distinguished from the heathen (1Ma_3:10). Under Hezekiah (2Ch_30:6; 2Ch_30:10) and under Josiah (2Ch_34:9) there were remnants of Israel in Ephraim and Manasseh. And Christ, as well as the Apostles after Him, considered the Samaritans a middle people between Jews and heathen, Act_1:8; Act_8:5. A predominance of heathen blood is assumed by many.
As might be expected of such a mixed people, adopting Judaism in an outward way, (1) they were not consistent in their national and religious spirit; they professed now to be Jews, now to be Gentiles, as their interest might require. Under Antiochus Epiphanes their temple was dedicated to Jupiter Hellenius. Heresy in the Christian church, which is mainly a mixture of Christianity with heathenism, takes its rise in the Christianity of Samaria.34 (2) They attained no living development of their religious ideas; so that in their canon (the Pentateuch), their Messianic expectation, and their use of the law, they stopped where they began; whence they in many respects resembled the Sadducees (though the Sadducees had their abridged and stunted Judaism for having gone backwards with a negative criticism, the Samaritans for having gotten fast in the letter, and not gone forwards). (3) For this very reason, however, their Messianic hope remained more simple and pure. (4) After having been refused a share in the re-building of the temple in Jerusalem [Ezr_4:1 sqq.] they fully reciprocated (first of all by hindering the building of the temple, Ezr_4:4, .and the subsequent strengthening of the city, Neh_4:1) the fanatical hatred of the Jews, who looked upon them as heretics, not as heathen [see Sir. L. 27]; and they built a temple of their own on Gerizim. According to Josephus, Antiq. XI. 8, 4, this took place in the time of Alexander the Great. Manasseh, brother of the Jewish high-priest Jaddus, had a heathen lady for his wife. The Jewish rulers demanded his circumcision; whereupon Sanballat induced him to renounce his membership in the Jewish religion, and built the temple on Gerizim, of which Manasseh became high-priest. According to Neh_13:28, a son of the high-priest Joiada, not named, had married a daughter of Sanballat, and was excommunicated for it. We may suppose that the two accounts relate to the same case, and that the chronology of Josephus is here at fault, the case having occurred under Darius Nothus (see Winer, Samaritaner). On the further fortunes of the Samaritans, see Winer, l. c. (comp. Com. on Mat_10:5, p. 185; Leben Jesu II. 2, p. 539).
Joh_4:5. To a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar [lit. drunken].—Near to the city, into its vicinity: εἰς πόλιν. Συχάρ = Shechem or Sichem (שְׁכֶם), Gen_33:18, etc.; Συχέμ Sept., Act_7:16; also Σίκιμα; after the time of Christ, Neapolis [Joseph. De bello Jud. IV. 8, 1]; now Nabulus (Robinson, III. p. 336; Schubert, III. p. 136).35
Its general identity with Sichem is established by the particular statement that Jacob’s well was near. But the name Sychar for Sichem is not otherwise known, apart from the statement in Wieseler, that in the Talmud occurs the name of a place עין סוכר, well of the grave, literally of the purchased, that is, of the purchased burial-ground. Hug also (Einleitung II. p. 218) supposes the name comes from Suchar, and denotes the place of burial where the bones of Joseph [Jos_24:32] and, according to the tradition common in the times of Jesus, of the twelve patriarchs of the children of Israel, were deposited, Act_7:15-16. It is the prevailing presumption that Συχάρ is a popular Jewish nick-name, a contemptuous travesty of Sichem; with allusion, according to Reland, to Isa_28:1; Isa_28:7 : Samaria the crown of pride of the drunkards in Ephraim, therefore the city of drunkards [שִׁכּוֹר, drunkard]; according to Lightfoot, alluding to שֶׁקֶר, heathenism as falsehood [Hab_2:18], therefore the city of deceit.36 According to Hug and others, Sychar is to be distinguished from Sichem itself somewhat as a suburb, and then means the city of the sepulchre. This view is favored by the fact that both Schubert and Robinson put the ancient Sichem nearer Jacob’s well, than the present town lies, and that at the time of Eusebius, Sychar and Sichem were distinguished as two places. Consequently the views of Reland and Lightfoot may well be dismissed as ingenious scholastic conjectures (especially since the first view would make the city of Samaria, not Sichem, a Sychar, and since the allusion to Habakkuk is quite too subtile), though it might be some relief to suppose, with Meyer, that John uses the name Sychar only as the vulgar name. Yet then we might have to admit ignorance in reference to the true name; which we could hardly do; still less admit that John made nick-names. The hypothesis of an interchange of the liquidæ (Tholuck) is also inconclusive. We abide, therefore, by the hypothesis that Sychar is distinguished as the city of the sepulchre from Sichem37 On the situation of Nablus between Gerizim and Ebal, see Schubert, Robinson, and others (comp. Leben Jesu II. 2, p. 525).
Near to the parcel of ground that Jacob, etc.—The basis of the tradition is Gen_33:19. Jacob buys of the children of Hamor a field in Shechem on which to settle. The passage, Gen_48:22, is to be regarded as a prophecy; he would give Joseph a portion above his brethren, which he (in his posterity) would win (not had won; see Knobel on the passage) from the hand of the Amorites with his sword and bow. Finally, in Jos_24:32 it is said that the bones of Joseph were buried at Shechem in the parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor, and the sons of Joseph received them (with the field) for an inheritance. The somewhat inaccurate version of the Sept. is of no importance at all to the estimate of the perfectly correct account (against Meyer).
Joh_4:6. Jacob’s Well.38—The well which Jacob, according to the Israelitish tradition, dug; which by this tradition was made highly sacred. It is thirty-five minutes from the present Nablus, sunk in rock to the depth of a hundred and five feet [now only about seventy-five feet.—P. S.], with a diameter of nine. Maundrell found fifteen feet of water in it; Robinson and others found it dry.39 Probably it was not the well nearest the city. The woman, however, might have had occasion to avoid the conversation of other women at other wells; perhaps for the same reason she chose the unusual hour of noon (other possible reasons, from Robinson, in Leben Jesu, II. 2, p. 526).
Sat thus [ἐκαθέζετο οὕ τως , a graphic touch].—Simply sat. Probably indicating the absence of all constraint and reserve.40 About the sixth hour.—According to the Jewish reckoning, noon. Meyer: “Never to be forgotten by John.”
[The hour is probably also mentioned to bring more vividly to our mind the weariness of our Saviour at the heat of the midday sun, the burden and toil He suffered for us at the very moment He opened a fountain of refreshment to this poor thirsty woman and to us all. On the dates of John, see note on Joh_1:39, p. 92 f. There are additional reasons for assuming that he reckoned hero in the Jewish manner from sunrise to sunset. Otherwise he would have noted whether it was six in the morning (as Rettig assumes), or six in the evening (as Ebrard and Wordsworth hold). The former is too early to account for the fatigue of the Lord, the latter leaves no time for what follows, as the night sets in with little or no intervening twilight in Eastern countries. The conversation must have lasted at least half an hour, then the woman goes away to the city, tells her experience to the men, and they come to the well of Jacob; and yet after all this it must have been still daylight, to account for the words of Jesus: “Lift up your eyes and look on the fields” (Joh_4:35). Considering the oriental contempt for woman and the prejudice even of the disciples (Joh_4:27), a conversation with a woman late in the evening would have been even more unseemly than at noon-day. The fact that the woman was alone sufficiently explains that she came so early to draw water, instead of the evening as usual. The time of the year—it was at the end of December—permitted travelling till towards noon. Porter, in his excellent Handbook for Travellers in Syria and Palestine, ii. p. 341, takes the same view. “Christ probably came up the plain of Mukhna, and about noon reached the well.” So also Macduff, p. 36.—P. S.]
Joh_4:7. A woman of Samaria.—That is, of the country. The city of Sebaste was two hours [six miles] distant.41 Tholuck remarks that the characteristic traits of this very highly individualized woman are indifference to higher interests and roguish frivolity.42 But these are hardly individual traits; and these traits form hardly the whole outline of a deeply fallen character, who shows, however, a considerable versatility of mind and great energy, besides a deeper susceptibility under the veil of a bright, resolute nature. A sort of Samaritan Magdalene. With good reason Tholuck insists on the individuality of the woman against Strauss and Weisse. The striking invalidation of Baur’s fiction respecting the design of this supposed fiction is likewise worthy of notice.
Give me to drink.—Points: (1) The truth, of Christ’s thirst; (2) the freedom of His intercourse,—with a Samaritan, and a woman; (3) the higher purpose of His words; (4) the mastery of the great Fisher of souls [Luk_5:10], in having the earthly given to Him in order to give the heavenly.43
Joh_4:8. For his disciples.—Immediate occasion: The disciples had gone to the city. Probably they also carried a vessel for drawing water (ἄντλημα, Joh_4:11) with them44 To buy food.—Meyer: “The later [Rabbinical] tradition45 would not have allowed this. But at that time the separation may not have been so rigid, especially for Galileans, whose route of pilgrimage passed through Samaria. Besides, Jesus was above the divisions of the people, Luk_9:52.”
Joh_4:9. How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest, etc.—She recognizes Him in particular by His Jewish dialect and pronunciation [perhaps also from His Jewish physiognomy and the dress of a Rabbi]. Tholuck: The Samaritan tongue is between the Hebrew and the Aramaic. As Jesus Himself spoke Aramaic, this is not quite clear, and probably a medium between Western and Eastern Aramaic is meant.46 More than one thing might surprise her: not only that a Jew spoke with her, and asked drink from her pitcher, but also that this distinguished Jew condescended to ask of her. In truth we might well suppose that she was moved with a feeling of her unworthiness in the dignified presence: He unconsciously defies Himself on my pitcher; at least she hints at the difference between the man and the always less regarded woman. Though the national enmity could hot wholly prevent her asking water in her turn (Tholuck), yet the breach was wide enough to make her feel the request of Jesus to be a great and free condescension. Then the expression of this feeling may easily have been accompanied or disguised by a certain humor giving vent to her national spirit, as she now, with her pitcher, seems to have the better of the stranger. The addition: The Jews have no dealings, etc., is commonly taken as an explanatory note of the Evangelist. But in that case we should expect: The Jews and the Samaritans have no dealings with one another. The disdain being here ascribed to the Jew alone, the words no doubt, belong to the woman’s reply.
[The question of the woman illustrates the intensity and bitterness of sectarian bigotry and hatred as it then prevailed, and sets in stronger contrast the marvellous freedom of Christ from existing prejudices.47 According to Dr. Robinson and others the ancient hatred is still kept up, and the remnant of Samaritans neither eat, nor drink, nor marry, nor associate with the Jews, but only trade with them. An experienced traveller says, apparently to the contrary: “Never yet, during many years’ residence in Syria, and many along day’s travel, have I been refused a draught of water by a single individual of any sect or race. The Bedawy in the desert has shared with me the last drop in his water-skin. Yet the only reply of the woman to the weary traveller was, ‘How is it that thou, being a Jew,’ ” etc. (Porter’s Handbook for Travellers in Syria and Palestine, P. II., p. 342.) But this courtesy to strangers is not inconsistent with Dr. Robinson’s statement, nor with our narrative, for the woman did not refuse a drink of water to Jesus, but only expressed her surprise at His asking her for it.—P. S]
Joh_4:10. If thou knewest the gift of God.—Tholuck: “This answer indicates that she, instead of hesitating, must have felt herself honored, and made haste.” More pertinently Meyer: “Unquestionably Jesus immediately perceived the susceptibility of the woman; hence His leaving His own want, and entering upon a conversation so striking as to arouse the whole interest of the sanguine woman.” She is surprised that He, the supposed haughty Jew, is the asker; the Lord brings out the opposite relation, that she is the needy one, He the possessor of the true fountain of satisfaction.
The gift of God: (1) The person of Jesus (Greek com., Erasmus). [Hengstenberg refers to Joh_3:16; “God gave His only begotten Son,” and Isa_9:5 : “to us a Son is given,” as decisive proofs that Christ designated Himself “the gift of God.”] (2) The Holy Spirit [with reference to Joh_7:38-39] (Augustine, etc.) (3) Correctly: The singular grace of God in the golden opportunity of this moment (Grotius and others).48 [(4) Eternal life. So Lampe and Godet; Joh_4:13-14; comp. Rom_6:23 where eternal life is styled “the gift of God” (χάρισμα, but here we have δῶρον); Rev_22:17. (5) Living water. in anticipation of what immediately follows: “He would have given thee living water,” So Stier and Trench. Alford regards this as the primary view, but combines with it the first three, like Dr. Yeomans in the preceding footnote.—P. S.] And who it is.—Unfolding the thought of the gift of God. Thou (σύ) wouldest (already) have asked (not: wouldest ask him, Luther) of him.—Expressing the greatness of her need, the greatness of His gift, the urgency her request would have; doubtless also her susceptibility. [Mark the difference between ὁ λέγων σοι which Christ uses of Himself, after the woman had naturally asked: πῶς σὺ παῤ ἐμοῦ αἰτεῖς (Joh_4:9), and σὺ ἄν ᾕτησας, which assigns at once to the woman a position of inferiority and dependence on Him, the possessor and giver of that living water. “There lies often,” says Trench, “in little details like this an implicit assertion of the unique dignity of His person, which it is very interesting and not unimportant to trace.”—P. S.]
He would have given thee living water.—מַיִם הַיִים [Sept. ὕδωρ ζῶν] well-water.49 Expressing at once the greatness of the gift and the readiness of the giving, in a figure drawn from His own, request, but answering perfectly to her unsatisfied state of mind. The figures of Psa_36:8; Jer_2:13; Jer_17:13. The sense of the words, living water, explained in Joh_4:14. Various interpretations: (1) Baptism (Justin, Cyril [Cyprian, Ambrose]. But the water of Baptism is not water for drinking, which becomes a fountain in him who drinks it. (2) The evangelic doctrine. Grotius, similarly Meyer: The truth.50 Shall a man then after that thirst no more? (3) Tarnow; Gratia justificans. Like most of the explanations, too dogmatically exclusive. (4) Institutio salutaris (Semler). (5) Lücke: Faith. (6) Olshausen: Life (Joh_6:33). (7) The Holy Spirit, Joh_7:39 (Maldonatus, Bucer, [Webster and Wilkinson, Wordsworth] and others). The act of giving must no doubt be distinguished from the living water itself: The giving of the water is the gospel, the word of Christ; see Joh_4:26. The water itself, which quenches thirst, proves itself already operating when the woman sets her pitcher down, [Joh_4:28]: it is evidently the inner-life as the operation of the life of Christ, conceived predominantly under the aspect of inward peace (no longer thirsting), developing into regeneration, life in the Holy Ghost (the water’s becoming a fountain) and perfection in blessedness (springing up into everlasting life). Tholuck: “The word of salvation the medium of a living power of the Spirit, Joh_7:38; Joh_11:26.” [Godet: Living water is the life eternal, which is Christ Himself living in the soul by the Holy Spirit. Donner l’eau vive, c’est pour lui se communiquer lui-même; car la vie est identifiée avec son principe.—P. S.]
Joh_4:11. Sir, thou last nothing to draw with.—Sir. A title of respect usual even at that time among men, Joh_5:7; Joh_6:34, etc. Used in the ordinary sense.51 The spiritual conception was rendered difficult by the lack of the prophets among the Samaritans, and the want of knowledge of the prophetic metaphors (Tholuck). On this presumption the reply is not exactly “saucy” (Tholuck), but no doubt clearly thought, firm, savoring of national pride, exulting again in easy humor. Thou hast nothing. Exactly: Thou hast not even a vessel to draw with.52 She evidently distinguishes between the water itself standing in the well, and the spring at the bottom of it. Thou hast not even a bucket, i. e., thou canst not even reach down to the standing water. And the well is deep—That is, even with the bucket thou couldest not come to the living spring.53
Joh_4:12. Art thou greater.—Σύ emphatic. Μείζων cannot mean nobler, of higher rank, as Meyer thinks; for noble lords, as such, are not exactly masters in water-drawing or well-digging. The question proceeds from a feeling that Jesus assumed some extraordinary character, that He claimed a spiritual power; perhaps claimed to be a prophet, like Moses, who could make a fountain of water by miracle. Than our father Jacob.—Expressing the national jealousy towards the Jew. The Samaritans traced their descent from Joseph [Joseph. Antiq., viii. 14, 3; xi. 8, 6].
Who gave us the well.—This was a simple inference from the tradition that Jacob dug the well and left it to his posterity. The sense is: The patriarch himself knew not what better to give, and this sufficed for all the wants of his entire nomadic establishment. Meyer: “The woman treats the enigmatical word of Christ at first as Nicodemus does, Joh_3:4, but more thoughtfully [considering the false conception of Nicodemus], and at the same time more pertly and with feminine readiness of speech.” In her last word: θρέμματα, cattle, she finishes her carnal misapprehension of His spiritual words. [The mention of the cattle (which does not necessarily include the slaves, as sometimes on inscriptions (see Meyer, p. 192), completes at the same time the picture of the nomadic life of the patriarch. Stier is wrong therefore in regarding it as a falling off in the lofty language of the woman to descend from Jacob’s sacred person to his cattle. There is in the question of the woman a slight resentment at the seeming intentional disregard of the venerable traditions and memorials of her people by which they connected themselves with the patriarchal history. She had evidently a considerable degree of self-respect, national pride and interest in religious questions, and was a brave upholder of patriarchal succession.—P. S.]
Joh_4:13. Shall thirst again.—[As Christ Himself did, physically, on this occasion, and when He exclaimed on the cross διψῶ.—P. S.]—The excellence of that well Jesus suffers to pass.54 But in His view of the spiritual water, that has the fundamental defect of every earthly satisfaction: the partaker thirsts again. So it was with all the woman’s enjoyment of life hitherto. [She had by successive draughts at the “broken cistern” of carnal lust only increased her thirst, and the sense of the utter vanity of all earthly pleasures]. Shall never thirst.—[Comp. Joh_6:35 : “I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall not hunger; and he that balieveth in Me shall never thirst.” Rev_7:16 : “They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more.” Joh_21:6 : “I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.” Old Test. passages: Isa_55:1; Isa_49:10.—P. S.] An opposite word: the sentence of Wisdom in [the apocryphal book of the son of] Sir_24:21 : “Those who drink of me (the Wisdom) shall thirst again” (Οἱ πίνοντές με, ἕτι διψήσουσι). Meyer, not clearly: “This figure rests on another aspect of the drinking, as viewed in its particular moments, not in the continuity constituted by them.” Jesus Christ expresses the absolute satisfaction which is given in principle in the peace of the Christian life; Jesus Sirach describes the desire for further knowledge begotten by the first taste of wisdom. Not only is the object viewed on different sides; the object itself is in Sirach imperfectly conceived, with reference rather to quantity than quality. The Old Testament strives after life, the New strives in the life. What Sirach calls a thirsting again, Christ calls an everlasting springing up.55
Shall be in him a fountain of water.56—Not “after the negative operation the positive” (Meyer), for the quenching of the thirst is itself positive; but, after the elemental working of Christianity, coming point by point from without, as a means, its life as a principle continually reproducing and propagating itself as its own object. First water drunken, then water welling up: distinction of the catechumenate and the anointing of the Spirit. A fountain whose stream gushes into eternal life. The decisive word, spoken with the utmost confidence, stirring the soul of the hearer to its depths. The spiritual sense of the whole declaration of Christ appeared in every feature: (1) A water, after drinking which one thirsts no more; (2) a water drunken, which becomes a fountain; (3) a fountain which ever joyously flows (which can rarely be said of wells in the east); (4) a fountain which gushes into everlasting life. Here the spiritual sense was perfectly transparent. By the union of the divine Spirit with the human, the latter becomes an organ of the divine life, and therefore a self-supplying fountain of life. Calvin, in the interest of his doctrine, here emphasizes the thought that the life of the Spirit in the regenerate cannot dry up: Bengel, in the interest of his, that if a man thirst again, it lies not with the water, but with the man. [So also Alford.] Above this doctrinal antagonism stands the concrete unity of the life of faith sealed by the Spirit. Tholuck takes the thought that Christ assumes form in the believer; which does indeed describe the personal and objective side of spiritual life. He observes that some (Origen, Zwingle, and others) have been misled by the analogy of Joh_7:38 to think here also of a flowing for the quickening of others. The woman, at all events, does soon come to quickening others, though the fundamental thought here of course is satisfaction for one’s self.
In ἅλλεσθαι, applied to the fountain, are included (1) springing up from a hidden depth within; (2) incessant flow; (3) living, joyous, springing motion; (4) rhythmic life, continually increasing in a steady succession of living acts. That the fountain also, as a fountain, becomes more and more copious, is indicated by its streaming forth into eternal life. Comp. Sir_24:31.
It is a question, how into everlasting life (εἱςζωὴναἰώνιον) is to be interpreted. (1) Up into the heavenly life, like a fountain (Origen, Grotius, and others).57 Tholuck objects that this substitutes οὐρανόν. (2) Redounding to eternal life; affording it (the word being referred to πηγή not to ἁλλομένου, Luthardt). This loses the figure. According to Joh_3:36, one might indeed take the sense to be, that the spiritual life passes into eternal life; as in Sir_24:31 : My brook became a river, my river a sea.” But there, as in Ezekiel 47, the subject is the immeasurable objective unfolding of the revelation of salvation, or wisdom; here a subjective unfolding of saved life. Though this is eternal life, yet, to be complete, it must pour itself into the objective eternity (Olshausen: The eternal rests not, till it comes to eternity).58 In view of this, and in accordance with the figure, we understand by the words a flowing on of this well into the eternal life of perfect fellowship with God in the world to come. This eternal life is doubtless conceived in the figure as an ocean [into which all the rivers of life of individual believers empty at last]. The fountain leaps into eternal life (Meyer: ἅλλεσθαι εἰς, to leap into). The water drunk becomes a well, the well a fountain which incessantly flows into the ocean of eternal life.
As Jesus engages the stiffened Pharisaic spirit of Nicodemus by the free wind of the Spirit and its transforming power, so He enlists the restless, inconstant woman, whose thirst continually returned, by the offer of an endless satisfaction, which is at once an infinite tranquility and a perfect decision of effort, and soon passes into the enjoyment of the eternal life.
Joh_4:15. That I thirst not, neither come hither.—The sigh of a poor, weary woman, in whom neediness and the burden of toil seem to form a contradiction to spiritual claims, though the sigh is disguised by the air of good humor. The last words betray, to be sure, a misapprehension of the spiritual sense of the words of Jesus. But about her meaning there remains uncertainty.
(1) She means, in all earnest, a miraculous water, which might have the effect described by Jesus (Maier, Meyer). Not readily conceivable. Of such water no one would wish to drink.
(2) She asks the water, in order to get behind the mystery. Lampe: Tentare voluit audacula, quomodo præstita petitionis conditione, promissionem suam exsecutioni daturus esset. This is not ironical, as Tholuck thinks. At least it is only half so; according to Lücke’s interpretation: Her request is half sportive, half earnest.59 Such water is inconceivable to her, but yet she wishes for what has become to her a dim appearance of a toilless life.
(3) Ironical talk. Lightfoot: Verba irrisorie prolata longe apertius concipias, quam supplicatorie. So also Tholuck.
(4) The presentiment of something higher which might do her good is awakened in her (Baumgarten-Crusius and my Leben Jesu, II. p. 529).60 This is more probable, if we suppose that the woman had even journeyed to that sacred well in some sort of religious feeling under a troubled conscience, while there were other wells at least nearer the city of Sichem. Then, too, the third interpretation is accompanied with the view that Jesus breaks off, in order to take an entirely new method; and this involves the unintended, but hazardous presumption that the first method had failed. On the contrary, we suppose that the next word of the Lord was suggested by this request.
Joh_4:16. Call thy husband.—(1) The husband was to have part in the saving gift, and so she was to be brought indirectly to confession of sin (Chrysostom, etc.; Lücke). (2) Christ would in this way lead her indirectly to a consciousness of her guilt (Calov., Neander, Tholuck, Stier, Luthardt). (3) He intended to give her a sign of His prophetic knowledge in the lower sphere of life, to gain her confidence for disclosures from the higher (Cyril, Schweizer; similarly Meyer). (4) Conformity to custom and to the idea of the law. Hitherto Jesus had influenced her after the manner of a missionary, as man with man. In her last request, expressing spiritual susceptibility, the woman came to the position of a catechumen. But, as a proselyte, she must not act without the knowledge of her husband. Meyer objects: The husband was in truth a paramour. True, they were not legally united. But the highest, most delicate social law lies somewhat deeper; she had given that man the rights of husband. If there was still a moral spark in the immoral connection, Christ had an eye to detect it. Even Stier and Tholuck have not been able to appropriate this interpretation. But it is connected on the one hand with the moral principle, Mat_3:15; on the other with the principles in Mat_10:12; 1Co_7:15; 1Co_11:10, and with all those principles which distinguish the Evangelical church from the Roman Catholic in the manner of making proselytes.
[I must dissent from this interpretation as assuming a relation and a duty which did not exist. The words of Christ: Call thy husband, opened the wound at the tender spot where the cure was to begin, and were the first step in granting the woman’s request: Give me to drink. By a prophetic glance into her private life of shame, which, after five successive marriages, culminated in her present illegitimate relation, He at once effectually touched her conscience and challenged her faith in Him. Conviction of sin is the first indispensable condition of forgiveness, and is the beginning of conversion. She at once understood the intention, and her next word is a half confession of guilt, quickly followed by faith in the prophetic character of Christ.—P. S.]
Joh_4:17. I have no husband [Οὐκ ἕχω ἅνδρα].—She feels the effect of the sudden turn. She is living in a settled, to all appearance exclusive, but illegal relation; and this causes her to deny the correctness of the Lord’s address. This is the summit of her resistance,61 and the master-hand of Christ must prove itself over her. Call thy husband! This might be a word of conjecture. She supposes this, and so ventures the denial, half true, and half false. Her denial is untrue in that she denies a fact of which she is perfectly aware; true, in that she places herself on the ground of the law, and judges by that. Then in this might be already couched a confession of sin, or even the vow: I renounce him, if I may thereby share thy instruction and thy promise. At all events, we may be sure of this: If she had hitherto answered pertly and ironically in a vulgar way, she would now have departed with her pitcher filled, under an ironical promise to call her husband. If, on the contrary, she had taken Jesus for a magician, from whom she might receive a magical water of life, she would have called her husband, and permitted him to be recognized as such. Thus her denial itself proves (1) that she is bound up by the word of Christ; (2) that she for an instant looks on her relation with new eyes; (3) that she deceives herself in attempting to deceive the Lord; (4) that the confession of her guilt is already almost upon her lips. By some expositors the woman is made far too jovial, saucy, spiritually obtuse, and even vulgar.
Thou hast well62 said, husband I have not [ἅνδρα οὐκ ἕχω].—The emphasis is on husband, [Hence ἅνδρα here precedes, while, in the woman’s answer, it follows the verb,—P. S.] The saying is commended as proper. This is true of her saying in its strict sense, but it has an irony intended to drive out the reservatio mentalis, the untruth lurking behind the true saying; and this it does even by the emphatic placing of the word husband: Husband I have none.63
Joh_4:18. For five husbands thou hast had.—Some have concluded from the confession in Joh_4:29, that those former connections also had been illegitimate. [So Meyer.] Against this is the antithesis: Five husbands, and: Whom thou now hast, etc. Five marriages, therefore, had preceded, “of which at least some had been dissolved through the wantonness of the woman.” Tholuck. Whether the fault lay in sensual wantonness (licentiousness in the narrower sense), or in an antinomian looseness of spirit, does not appear. With Magdalene the latter seems to have been the case; and it is to be considered, that in Samaria, as well as on the sea of Galilee, Greek views of the marriage relation might already have had an effect. “According to the Talmud, the Samaritans did not acknowledge the laws of divorce; probably referring not to the laxer Hillelian view current among the Jews, but only the more strictly Biblical view of Shammai, following Deu_24:1. Yet even according to this, it was not only adultery that divorced, but any כָּעוּר, as the Talmud calls it: uncovering of the arms, laying off the veil, and the like.” Tholuck. Meyer supposes that she had not been faithful in one or more of her marriages, and was now a widow living with a paramour. But she might have been a divorced woman.64
The extraordinary disclosure of the Lord. Different explanations:
(1) The hypothesis that Jesus had learned the history of the woman from others (Paulus, von Ammon, etc.). Simply contrary to the text.
(2) The disciples added what they afterwards learned (Schweizer). The supposition of a forgery needs no refutation.
(3) The mythical hypothesis, with reference to the five heathen nations which came to Samaria (2Ki_17:24 sqq.; Joseph. Antiq. XIX. 14, John 3 : (πέντε ἕθνη—ἕκαστον ἵδιον θεὸν εἰς τὴν Σαμάρειαν κομίσαντες).65
(4) A providentially ordered representation of the life of the Samaritan people by this woman: the woman is Samaria; the five husbands are five gods, etc.; Hengstenberg, Beiträge [zur Einl. in’s A. T., 3 vols., 1831–’39] II. p. 23 sqq.66
To this Meyer objects that in this case the husbands must be six; and Heracleon actually read six. This is disposed of by a more attentive examination of Hengstenberg’s opinion. It may rather be observed that to the five nations, seven gods are reckoned, 2Ki_17:30 sq. But the chief point is that an actual personal offence of the woman, as here described by the Lord, is the subject, and that the woman would assuredly have understood nothing of such a scholastic allusion of the Lord, if He had intended to make it; and of this there is not the slightest indication. At most, however, the woman would be only an accidental allegory of the history of her people, since the marriage law of the Samaritans was strict; and not at all an allegory in so far as Samaria had at the same time from five to seven gods, and these not merely instead of, but together with, Jehovah. [The woman had her five husbands in succession, and was not guilty of polygamy, consequently she could not represent the polytheism of the Samaritans.—P. S.]
(5) “Lange, Leben Jesu II. 2, p. 531, strangely says, that the psychical effect of the five husbands upon the woman had forced out traces in her appearance which Jesus perceived.” So Meyer reports my view. This judgment might be expected from the author. Our reasons are still the same: 1. Every hair casts its shadow. Every marriage relation leaves its psychical mark; only in most cases our weak eyes do not see it. 2. There is a deep communicatio idiomatum in the life of the Lord. What He knew by His divine nature in a divine, immediate way, He at the same time knew in virtue of His human nature, in a human way through means. From the Christological point of view the old false scholastic alternative of merely divine or merely human is done away in reference to the life of Jesus.
[Dr. Lange here undoubtedly goes too far in the application of a true principle. It is, indeed, a fact that traits of character and habits, good and bad, especially pride, sensuality and intemperance, express themselves in the countenance and the eye, as the mirror of the soul.67 But this is very different from the assumption that particular events and relations of the past life, such as the five marriages, leave each a distinct mark on the face which may be read, as the forester reads the age of the tree in the number of its rings. Such details of private history even Christ could not know, except from report, or by special revelation, or by His mysterious union with the divinity. The last is the only proper view we can take of the case in hand. Not that Christ was strictly omniscient in the state of humiliation (He Himself disclaimed this, Mar_13:32); but wherever it was needed for His mission of saving sinners and the interests of His Kingdom, He could, by an act of His will and in virtue of His vital and essential union with the omniscient Father, unlock the chambers of the past, or penetrate, by immediate intuition, to the inmost secrets of the human heart, and read the history which is indelibly recorded on the pages of memory (comp. Joh_2:25).—P. S.]
Joh_4:19. Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.—1Sa_9:9. She justly infers this from the miracle of knowledge. [The Samaritans regarded the Messiah mainly as a prophet, see below.] We must note the gradual growth of her respect: (1) Σύ, Ἰουδαῖος ὥν, Joh_4:9; (2) Κύριε, Joh_4:11; (3) Κύριε, δός μοι.—At the same time a concession of her guilt, yet skilfully veiled.
Joh_4:20. Our fathers worshipped.—The Caricaturing estimate of this personage represents her as everywhere frivolously bantering up to this point without intelligence or misgiving, and now also as putting this question to get away under its cover (De Wette and others, Schweizer, Ebrard, Tholuck). Christ would hardly have gone so far to no purpose with such worthlessness.68 It may be going too far, to find in this sentence an expression of strong personal religious interest, as if: She perceives in Christ the searcher of hearts, perceives her guilt, and wishes to go to the holy place of forgiveness (Zwingli, Luthardt [Besser], and others). According to Chrysostom, Neander and others, an interest in objective religion at least was awakened in her. The case is probably to be thus conceived: Having indirectly owned her guilt, she cannot treat of it much further with the stranger. The need of religious atonement comes home. But with it comes the question: Where is the right place of atonement? And this question takes its precedence probably not merely from an external, superficial spirit, but rather from the preponderance of a reflective turn. In other words, she turns, not hypocritically, in embarrassment or silliness, to religious controversy, but, under a spiritual bias over-ruling her simple womanly feeling, to reflection. Probably also she had, through the same disposition, lost caste in Samaria, like Magdalene in Galilee (a homeless nature in Sichem, as on the sea of Galilee). Furthermore, she might hasten with this question, (1) because the opportunity of asking a prophet concerning it might not occur again; (2) because she could not but wish to agree in reference to religion and the place of worship with the prophetic man who inspired her with reverence, and who was privy to her guilt.
On this mountain.—Pointing to Gerizim, which was near. On Gerizim comp. 5 Raumer, Palästina, p. 38; Winer, s. v.; and the books of travel.69 But she does not say: We worship here, ye there; the antithesis is of another sort: Our fathers worshipped, and ye say. A decline of the Samaritan system of worship, and a sense of the weight of the Jewish protest in favor of Jerusalem, are expressed in the carefully chosen terms. At the same time, her having the religion of her fathers in any case contained an apology for her position.
Our fathers.—Down from the first Samaritans who were rejected by the Jews, and who, from being excommunicate, had become schismatic by setting up a temple on Gerizim.70 Chrysostom, Kuinoel, and others, suppose she goes back in thought to Abraham and Jacob; but the antithetic ὑμεῖς contradicts this.71 Even after the destruction of the temple by John Hyrcanus, the pinnacle of the temple continued to be the seat of the Samaritan worship (Joseph. Antiq. XVIII. 4, 1), and is so to this day (Robinson, III. p. 319). “Latterly the Turks have interposed hindrances.” Tholuck.
It is very expressive, that the woman merely states the issue, without making a question, which place of worship is the true one. By making a question, she would have somewhat compromised her system, and at the same time disparaged the prophet’s place of worship. Whether she meant anything by saying: In Jerusalem is the place, instead of: On Mount Zion, remains uncertain. She seems, at all events, proud of her holy mountain, as well as of her holy well. It might seem to favor the Samaritans, that Moses had designated Gerizim as the mountain of the benedictions of the law (Deu_11:29); in fact he seemed to appoint it distinctly as the seat of worship, according to Deu_27:4, where the Samaritan Pentateuch reads Gerizim instead of Ebal. On the other hand, Jerusalem had now a mighty representative in this prophet, who gave her, moreover, a strong impression of the dignity of the Jewish prophetic office.
Joh_4:21. Woman, believe me, an hour is coming.—[Believe Me, not us. A more familiar and condescending phrase for Verily, verily, I say unto thee. Nowhere else used by Christ.—P. S.] "Εοχεται ὥρα, a Johannean phrase, Joh_5:28, &c.—Ye shall worship the Father: pointing to a new, more inward mode of worship. [Ye, says Christ, not we, as an ordinary prophet would have done. He refers not only to the future conversion of the Samaritans (Meyer), but to all Christian ages. The Father indicates, as Grotius remarks, suavitatem novi fœderis; for the fatherhood of God is fully known and felt only in Christ, the only begotten Son, and the only Mediator between God and man.—P. S.] To speak of the “stupidity” of the woman on which Jesus wasted a sublime utterance, is utterly without foundation. The sublime utterance teaches the distinction between external and internal worship in a concrete form. The expression evidently contains primarily, in a gentle hint, a preferring of Jerusalem. The progressive grades of worship are: (1) Samaria, (2) Jerusalem, (3) Christianity. It cannot therefore be exactly asserted that Jesus evades a decision: still less that He puts Jews and Samaritans alike under mistake (Baumgarten-Crusius). But the greater prominence is given to the issue which puts Samaria and Jerusalem on one side, and the worship of God in spirit and in truth on the other. This is evident from the advent of Christianity in particular to the Samaritans. The negation of Samaria and Jerusalem only denies that prayer was to continue at all restricted to the places named; that is, it declares the abolition of external, legal cultus, both Samaritan and Jewish.72 At the same time it marks the woman’s question as one too little concerned with essential things.
Joh_4:22. Ye worship that which ye know not.—The question concerning the where of worship could be resolved only by the what, and this again by the how. The neuter instead of whom is significant. Just because God is not truly known to them, He is a ὅ rather than a ὅς, more impersonal than personal. Meyer supposes that the neuter denotes God in His essence and substance; Lücke, that it denotes τὰ τοῦ θεοῦ, which does not suit the term προσκυνεῖν. De Wette: “O refers to the act of προσκυνεῖν; ye worship, and therein do what ye know not. Brückner objects to the correctness of the sentence, that the Samaritans were monotheists. But there are different monotheisms. Tittmann and others explain: Pro vestra ignorantia. Tholuck (after Lücke): “The true knowledge is that which is shaped by the history of redemption; and the Samaritans who were limited to the Pentateuch for their sacred books, knew Jehovah, that is, the historical God of Israel, but partially.” As a whole, in a living growth of knowledge, they almost knew Him not. This accounts also for the ὅτι.
We worship that which we know.—Designating the Jewish fellowship in its living unity, as represented in fact by Himself. [The ἡμεὶς in the mouth of Christ in relation to God, is without example, but is easily explained by the fact that here He speaks as a Jew, defending the Jewish worship as the true one against the Samaritan. Otherwise He always calls God His Father, and puts Himself, as the only begotten Son, in a unique and exclusive relation to Him. In Joh_4:23-24 He drops the ἡμεῖς and speaks of the Christian worshippers in the third person.—P. S.]
For salvation is from the Jews.—[ἐστίν, the present, not ἕσται, for salvation was already at hand in the person of the Saviour.—P. S.] Σωτηρία: (1) Chrysostom, et al.: All benefits of salvation; (2) Erasmus: The prophetic knowledge of salvation; (3) The true Jews worship the God of continuous revelation. The proof of this lies in the fact that salvation breaks forth out of Judaism (Leben Jesu, II. p. 533). Similarly Tholuck, Meyer. In ἐκ τῶν (see Rom_9:4 ff) are intimated (1) the personal issuing of salvation out of Judaism, (2) its inward connection with Judaism, (3) its distinction from it. The expression is an evidence that John names the Jews not in a hostile sense alone.
[By this declaration Christ sets the seal of His authority on the Jewish religion as a divine revelation to prepare mankind for His coming, and sets aside all other religions as false, or at best as groping in the dark after “the unknown God.” This preparation by law, types, and prophecy, running back in unbroken succession to Abraham, and even to the very gates of paradise lost (Gen_3:14), forms one of the most convincing evidences of Christianity, as the final and perfect religion of mankind—P. S.]
Joh_4:23. When the true worshippers.—The hour now is. Christ was the centre of these worshippers, and about Him was gathering the discipleship of the true worship. The hour is, and the hour cometh. The true: the inward, whose prayer is truly prayer. The true worshippers are not so called for being beforehand worshippers in spirit and in truth (excepting Christ), but they are such as become so under the Christian revelation. [Οἱ ἀληθινοὶ προσκυνηταί are distinguished not only from hypocrites, but also from all worshippers before Christ, whose worship was necessarily imperfect.—P. S.]
In spirit and in truth.73—[The preposition ἐν signifies the element and the sphere in which worship moves.] This is the space-less place of prayer, in distinction from [and yet at the same time including both] Gerizim and Jerusalem. [Also πνεῦμα in opposition to flesh (σάρξ), ἀλήθεια in opposition to falsehood (ψεῦδος), both in opposition to mere forms and symbols (σκιά and τύποι).—P. S.] In spirit, as opposed to external, stiffened, and even carnally fanatical modes of worship; in the life of the spirit, the life of the human spirit moved by the Spirit of God (Rom_8:14; Rom_8:16; Rom_8:26).74 The distinction itself shows that πνεῦμα here cannot denote the Holy Ghost (Luthardt, after the ancients); yet neither can it denote the human spirit as such by itself. This is doubtless in especial opposition to some fanatical, carnal devotion of the Samaritans. In truth.—Neither subjective truth of the man, sincerity, of itself (which is involved earlier in ἁληθινοί);75 nor objective truth as such (which would mean in unity with God, or in the doctrine of God); but the opposite of a merely symbolical, formal, ritualistic worship; in real, actual religious life, i.e., in a true interaction between the personal worshipper and the personal God, in a religious vitality of the worshipper worthy of the living God. This probably in especial opposition to the Jewish symbolical system of prayer. Athanasius, et al.: Πνεῦμα is the Holy Ghost; ἀλήθεια, the Son of God.76 Augustine, et al., with reference to the place: In spiritu, in distinction from space: Foras eramus, intromissi sumus; in templo vis orare, in te ora.77 Lücke, et al.: That which is akin to God in spirit, the sphere of true prayer. Calvin, et al. with reference to the mode: The actio spiritualis itself; Bucer, et al.: The posture of mind corresponding to the Spirit of God. We must not overlook the close connection of “spirit and truth” as in an ideal unity. It implies that one cannot exist without the other. The rendering with the article—in the Spirit, etc. [in Luther’s 5]—is substantially not incorrect, yet it does not let the connection of the two things stand out strongly enough.
For such [τοιούτους, emphatically placed first] worshippers the Father also [καὶ γάρ, nam et pater (Vulg.), denn auch] seeketh.—On the part of the Father Himself this living prayer is sought, as on its own part it seeks the Father. Such He desires and requires; such He would have, and must have.—Interpretations: 1. The Father also, besides the Son [Besser]. 2. Also seeketh (referring the καί to ζητεῖ, which makes the antithesis not clear). 3. The Father also seeketh what these worshippers do (Meyer). More accurately: He seeketh for Himself such worshippers, as these worshippers seek for themselves such a God.
Joh_4:24. God is spirit.—Emphasis on πνεῦμα.78 The mode of prayer must correspond to the object of prayer. Hence it is now become the law of life for all worshippers, that they must worship God in spirit and in truth. Every other sort of praying is thereby done away, as well as, or in proportion as, the provisional system of religion. The mode of prayer is to be conformed to the mode of religion. God as the living Spirit, and as pure Spirit, is present to His worshippers, and He rejects an outward prayer or a false prayer from a carnal mind, as well as a symbolical prayer from a trammeled mind. God’s being spirit was neither a thing already known, now emphasized (Hofmann, Meyer), nor a thing entirely new to the Old Testament (Köstlin, etc.). The Old Testament speaks of the Spirit of God, and intimates also the spirituality of God (Exo_20:4; Num_16:22; 1 Kings 8; Isa_31:3), the New speaks of God as spirit; being in this matter also the finished revelation. Common prayers, liturgies, are not hereby forbidden; they may be regarded as the embodiment of the Christian spirit of prayer (Stier); but here is established the condition that this body be living, under perfect discipline, spiritual.
[“God is spirit”; “God is light” (1Jn_1:5); and “God is love” (1Jn_4:5), all from the pen of John, are the briefest and profoundest definitions, or divine oracles rather, concerning the nature of God, which can be found anywhere. The first refers mainly to His metaphysical, the second to His intellectual, the third to His moral essence; but, of course, the line cannot be so distinctly drawn. Light refers to purity and holiness as well as to truth. Although no metaphysician can exhaust these words, yet even the ignorant Samaritan woman could understand them sufficiently for all practical purposes, viz. that God, being a spiritual being, is not confined to Gerizim or Jerusalem or any other place, but is omnipresent, and can be worshipped everywhere. Trench applies to this passage the well-known saying, that the Scripture has depths for an elephant to swim in, and shallows for a lamb to wade,—a saying which seems to date from Gregory the Great (Preface to his Com. on Job: “Divinus sermo…est fluvius planus et altus, in quo et agnus ambulet el elephas natet”). Spirituality of Christian worship does, of course, not exclude forms, which are indispensable, as man consists of body as well as soul, but puts them in a subordinate position, as vehicles and aids of devotion, while formalism makes them substitutes for, or hindrances of, the inner service of the heart.—P. S.]
Joh_4:25. I know that Messiah cometh.—Here, too, comes a decidedly incorrect estimate of the woman in Tholuck: “The woman is not inclined to enter into so high matters, and therefore answers like Felix, Act_24:25.” Similarly, De Wette, Lücke, [Scott, Barnes]. Would Christ have revealed Himself as the Messiah to such a woman? Meyer better: “The woman is apprehended by the answer of Jesus, but does not as yet apprehend it, and appeals to the Messiah.” Evidently the words of the wonderful Unknown quicken in her the Samaritan expectation, of the Messiah. Even a presentiment that this might be the Messiah, may readily be imagined (Luthardt); and then her answer would have to be construed as a feeler for the true solution; perhaps as Lampe explains her words: “Give me this water.” At all events, she now felt the old system to be shaken, and with a longing for the inner life, the longing for the Messiah awoke (see Leben Jesu, II. 2. 534).79
A. Maier (p. 344): “If the Messianic hope of the Samaritans, who acknowledged only the Pentateuch, based itself on Deu_18:15, they must have expected in the Messiah chiefly a divine teacher, who like Moses, should make known to them the divine will, and lead them into hidden truths.” The Samaritans expected the Messiah of old, and they expect Him to this day. “The latest on this subject is in the work of Barge’s; Les Samaritains de Naplouse, 1855. They call Him הַשָׁהֵב, or הַתָּהֶב, which Gesenius, Anecdota Samarit., p. 65, etc., [and Ewald] would interpret conversor, Hengstenberg [and Meyer], with greater probability, restitutor,80 which the Samaritan priest in Barge’s confirms.” Tholuck. For other interpretations see the note in Tholuck, p. 150. The woman may have well known the Jewish term, and have chosen it instead of the Samaritan. According to V. Ammon, and others, the term [the explanation: Who is called Christ] is the Evangelist’s;81 which is very questionable, since he generally prefers to record the original expressions.
Joh_4:26. I am he [̓Εγώ εἰμι, ego sum, viz., the Messiah].—The subject of ἐγώ εἰμι is to be supplied from the text. Thus He now voluntarily presents Himself to this sinful woman openly as the Messiah, as in the old covenant the angel appeared first to Hagar as angel of the Lord (Gen_16:7), and as the risen Jesus appeared first to Magdalene. Among the Jews Jesus long avoided the name of Messiah,82 because its meaning was distorted by Chiliastic notions; the Samaritan idea of the Messiah was stunted, but not as yet encumbered with Chiliastic inferences, and therefore could here be introduced. [The Jews looked upon the Messiah as the King of Israel, and expected from Him first of all political changes (comp. Joh_6:15): while the Samaritans, deriving their Messianic expectations chiefly from Deu_18:15-19, regarded Him simply as a prophet or teacher, and were less liable to abuse this revelation for disturbing political purposes.—P. S.]
Joh_4:27. Marvelled that he talked with a woman.—Not with this woman as such (Kuinoel), but with a woman, on the low level assigned her by the rabbinic views. Two considerations met here: 1. The Oriental custom which imposed rigid restriction on intercourse with the female sex: Pirke Aboth i. 5. “Docuerunt Sapientes, ne multiplices colloquium cum muliere. Cum uxore dixerunt, quanto minus cum uxore alterius.” (Lightfoot, Schöttgen.) 2. Rabbinical scholastic prejudice. “According to Jewish Rabbinical ideas the female sex was incapable of religious instruction.” (Tholuck. It should doubtless be: Rabbinical instruction.)83 Yet no man said.—Expressing reverence, and the acknowledgment that He might well establish a new and higher custom. An enlargement of their horizon. Comp. Luk_10:38. Tίζητεῖς is hardly: What desirest Thou? (Meyer without connecting it with μετ’ αὐτῆς.) Plainly the ζητεῖν, in distinction from λαλεῖν, is to discuss in rabbinical style; the latter meaning merely to talk (chat). Μέντοι in the New Testament is almost peculiar to John.
Joh_4:28. The woman then left her water-pot.—“Now for the first time the force of the argument from His prophecy comes powerfully upon the woman, perhaps under the additional influence of an awakened conscience.” Tholuck. Why: Now for the first time? and why: perhaps? “She forgets her work, as the Redeemer had forgotten His need.” Luthardt: “Nicodemus went away silent and burdened; this woman hastens away in joyful certainty, with a burning heart, to be the herald of His name.” And she calls now not her husband, but the whole city. [Meyer: “What a power of the decided awakening of a new life in this woman!” She has been justly regarded as a fit illustration of the proper work of the church, viz., to be a witness of Christ, and thus to lead men to Him as the Saviour of the world.—P. S.]
Joh_4:29. Who told me all things that ever I have done.—Under the sense of her guilt she thinks He has told her everything she had done, that is everything wrong. The testimony of an awakened conscience.84 Unquestionably what Jesus said to her contained the sum of her particular transgressions. Besides this she had no doubt perceived by His look and tone, that He saw through her whole life. It may indicate still her legal spirit, that she speaks in the plural of her sins; yet she may also intend by this to magnify the wonderful vision of the prophet. The ὅσα, instead of ἅ, is full of emphasis.
Is this the Christ?—On the negative, doubtful element in the μήτι, comp. Meyer and Tholuck against Lücke (is He really the Messiah?) De Wette, however, suggests the analogous μήτι in Mat_12:23, which calls for an affirmative answer. Considering the boldness of the announcement, especially in presence of the authorities, the interrogative form is perfectly intelligible in the mouth of this poor outcast, and yet so shrewd and dexterous woman.85 The more, that she passes over Christ’s announcement of Himself, in order perhaps to take to herself somewhat of the honor of a glorious discovery. A sinful ambition may well still cleave to her confession of guilt which was more public than it was perfectly open. That she herself believes, or is inclined to believe, is evident from her extraordinary agitation, which impels her beyond all the bounds of reserve, bashfulness, and despised condition. Compare the woman who was a great sinner, and ventured into the house of the Pharisee, Luk_7:37.
Joh_4:31-33. In the meanwhile.—The woman was gone, the Samaritans had not yet come. The mistake of the disciples: “Quid mirum, si mulier non intelligebat aquam? ecce discipuli nondum intelligunt escam.” August. [Tract. xvi. 31.—P.S.].
Joh_4:34. My food is.—A very intelligible figure. Not merely satisfaction, but nourishment and quickening. An opposite judgment of the disciples, c. 1. A parallel, Matthew 4 Ἳνα adds to the nature of the food (ὅτι) its suitableness to its purpose. The aorist τελειώσω denotes the act which completes the ποιεῖν.
Joh_4:35. There are yet four months.—Τετράμηνος, sc. χρόνος. Harvest began in April [in the middle of Nisan], about, Easter, and lasted till Pentecost. Four months run back to December. Seed-time itself fell in the beginning of November (the month Marcheshvan). The fields, therefore, were probably green; and the more piquant was the expression: The fields are white for the harvest. The figure follows the analogy of the food. The Lord, as represented by John, is perfectly consistent in His use of the earthly as the symbol of the heavenly. Probably the Samaritans were already coming through the green fields, and they were the fields white for harvest. The disciples saw the green seed-field, He saw the white harvest-field, and to this He wished to open their spiritual eye. Many have taken the four months proverbially: “From seeding to harvest there are four months” (so also in the Talmud); and in this view the passage would lose its chronological value,86 and only denote in general some time before harvest (Lightfoot, Grotius, Lücke, etc.). Against this Meyer: The proverb does not elsewhere occur [nor is the seed-time mentioned]. After all there seems to be something proverbial about the expression. Yet it is suitable only at seed-time. It may then be an expression as well of joyful hope (only four months yet), as of waiting patience (yet four whole months). Lücke rightly chooses the latter sense. In the natural world we must wait yet four months; in the spiritual, it is already the time of harvest.
Yet this again may be understood in different ways. 1. In the natural world four months intervene between seeding and harvest; here a harvest follows immediately upon the sowing. Joh_4:38 goes against this. 2. In the natural world it is now seeding time; in the spiritual the harvest time is opening. Chemnitz, Baur (Stier, Luthardt, Tholuck), and others find in the harvest not only the harvest of the Samaritans (Acts 8), but also the harvest of the Gentiles.87 But then where would be the previous sowing? Primarily the talk is only of a field now white for the harvest, though betokening, to be sure, all future harvest fields.
Joh_4:36. And he that reapeth, etc.—The connection with the preceding is this: The field is white for harvest. Be reapers. Reaping in the spiritual field is full of promise. Tholuck: Christ thought of the conversion of far-off Gentiles. Then came the sad thought, that He Himself would not live to see it in this world; which relieved itself with the joyful thought that their joy would also be His. So De Wette, Meyer. In that case Christ would have mixed two figures; one representing Himself as already harvesting, another representing Him as sower. But harvest is the subject here, and the disciples are supposed to be reapers with Him. The sowing, therefore, must be sought at some previous time (Chrysostom: The prophets were the sowers). Even in Samaria spiritual seed had been sown by Moses and the Pentateuch, by Jewish teachers, last perhaps by John the Baptist (see Joh_3:23, p. 141 f.). As little can we accept the exposition of Meyer, Tholuck, and others, which makes the καί after μισθόν λαμβάνειν only expletive: that is, he gathereth fruit unto eternal life. This again is simply contrary to the figure, which represents an employed reaper. Hunnius and Calov: The μισθός is the gracious reward, the gradus gloriæ; the καρπός is the converts. But since the wages of the reaper are represented as given in this world, over against the gathering of fruit unto eternal life, the primary idea is the immediate spiritual blessings and joys of the harvesters, the joy of spiritual harvest, the communion of the converts themselves. A different and further joy is that of carrying the fruit into heaven, to gladden there the sower who passed thither long before, and to have with Him a common and simultaneous (ὁμοῦ) rejoicing; a thing not possible in the kingdom of nature, but belonging to the kingdom of grace. The ζωὴ αἰώνιος is here again represented objectively, as above; there under the figure of the ocean (Joh_4:14), here under the figure of a garner (Lücke).
Joh_4:37. Herein is that saying fully true [ἀληθινός, not ἀληθής].—The fundamental thought is the wonderfully great distance between seeding and harvest, in contrast with the wonderful fact that reaper and sower rejoice together in heaven. This, however, they can do only in heaven; in this world they are far, often very far, apart. Here, therefore, is the proverb fully true; here it reaches its proper truth; whereas in earthly life the sower is generally the reaper, and the proverb simply exaggerates into a general rule the exceptional fatality of the sower not living to see the harvest time, or at least not himself receiving and enjoying his harvest. [The words of Joshua spoken to the tribes of Israel at Shechem: “I have given you a land for which ye did not labor (οὐκ ἐκοπιάσατε), and cities which ye built not,” etc. Jos_24:13, form a striking parallel to this saying of our Lord uttered on the same spot, and perhaps with reference to it.—P. S.] Tholuck, after De Wette, incorrectly: Ἄληθινός may here mean only ἀληθής.88 Then the proverb in its ordinary sense would be declared false. It has, however, some truth; but it does not sustain its truth throughout; as earthly things are not ἀληθινά, but only symbols of the infinite, though they all have their ἀληθές. And since in the spiritual sphere sowing and reaping seem often almost to coincide, we must not overlook the actual reference to the present case. Yet the ἐν γάρ τούτῳ does not mean in this instance, but in this matter. Then, too, the proverb must here be a universal law. The crop in the kingdom of God ripens slowly.89 The full harvest is the end of the world. The earliest seed was the word of God in paradise, or the earliest sowers were the earliest patriarchs. The kingdom of God is the mightiest realm of nature and history; and Christ is the root of nature in His slow growth towards His appearance in the middle, and again at the end of time. (On the proverb: Wetstein.)
Joh_4:38. I sent you to reap.—Ἀπέστειλα (comp. Joh_17:18.) Hardly merely “in the sense of the prophetic future” (De Wette, Tholuck). They are not yet apostles by a distinct appointment; still they were already disciples to whom an apostolic commission is prospectively affixed. Hence thus: I have chosen you for apostles, or, to keep the figure, for laborers, to send you into the harvest-field. Ye are destined pre-eminently to reap a spiritual harvest which has been long preparing (so also Meyer). According to Meyer the ἅλλοι and αὐτῶν refer simply to Jesus, in the plural of category.”90 But Jesus here evidently sets Himself above the distinction of sowers and reapers as the Lord of the harvest (Olshausen, with reference to Mat_23:34). The older expositors [also Grotius, Bengel, Luthardt, Ewald] include at least the prophets [and John the Baptist] with Him. Bucer: even the heathen philosophers and their elements of truth. [Tholuck: All the preparatory organs of the economy of salvation.] The seed here in view, however, is not the seed of general culture and intelligence, but the seed of theocratic faith.
Others have labored. The painful labors and toils of the prophets. Their sowing was a sowing in tears. It should shame and encourage the disciples, that they so suddenly come into the great harvest of the history of the world, for which the grandest seeds-men have for centuries labored. This does not exclude either the relative harvest which exists at every stage of the kingdom of God, or again the great sowing in the work of the apostles; yet the sight of a present harvest predominates, as in Mat_9:38; especially here, that the disciples might feel reverence before the hidden work of God in the despised Samaritans, and believe in their susceptibility to conversion, as they were just now approaching. They could no more take offence it the labors of Jesus with the Samaritans, than at His helping the Canaanitish woman; here as there His leading of their spirit corresponds to His outward act.
Joh_4:39. And many of that city believed.—These first believers, who were gathered by the word of the woman, are distinguished from the much greater company afterwards won by the word of Jesus (Joh_4:41). These believers are now come to Him (see Joh_4:30). [Olshausen: “If the Redeemer had been like any other man, His λόγος could have had no more weight than that of any other, and in support of His own cause, it would have been still less effective. But as the sun proves its existence and reality merely by the light and the animating warmth which it imparts: so Christ, as the Sun of the spiritual world, in all ages past, and to this day, has had but one witness for Himself, viz., His own operation upon souls. By this one means He so entirely takes possession of every unprejudiced mind, that through the reception of His higher vital energies, it becomes to them experimentally certain that the salvation of the world rests in Him. Hence conceptions of the truth and doctrinal knowledge are not principles in the life of faith, but effects resulting from the reception of the spiritual element.”—P. S.]
Joh_4:40. The evangelist makes record that Jesus tarried two days teaching in the Samaritan city. [Orthodox Jews besought the Lord to depart from their coasts (Mat_8:34), took up stones against Him, and plotted for His overthrow (Mat_8:34; Luk_4:29; Luk_13:31-32, etc.). Heretical Samaritans besought Him to tarry with them. The first became last, and the last first.—P. S.]
Joh_4:41. And many more believed, etc.—From the great result, analogous to that in Judea, we infer a great work of Jesus, which however was, at least for the most part, a labor in word. [In these two days of incidental labor Jesus made more converts among the half-heathenish, yet less bigoted and prejudiced Samaritans, without working miracles, than in the preceding eight months of official work in word and signs among the Jews in Jerusalem. The harvest in Samaria was only an episode in the life of our Lord, and yet how rich in immediate results and future promise! His servants also often accomplish most in times and places where they least expect it. Not seldom the meaning of many years or a whole life is condensed into a few days or hours. No labor for the Lord, however, is in vain; if it bear not the proper fruit in this world, it will do so at the final harvest of history.—P. S.]
Joh_4:42. And said unto the woman.—Under the direct impression which Jesus made upon them, the indirect testimony of the woman certainly became to them a λαλιά; not as contemptuous, but as now appearing insignificant.91 Meyer justly notices that John himself, as an impartial narrator, says of her word: τὸν λόγον. We must here take into account also the serenity of happy feeling, to understand that the expression has no malice, more than that of the governor of the feast: “Thou hast kept the good wine until now.” (Comp. the remarkable expression in Joh_8:43.)
We have heard him ourselves.—Found out by our hearing, so that we now know. [This is a higher order of faith connected with knowledge and personal experience (“come and see,” Joh_1:39; Joh_1:46), while formerly it rested only on external authority. Difference of the Roman Catholic and the higher Evangelical Protestant conception of faith. Grotius: “Notarunt veteres in hac Samaritidi ecclesiæ esse figuram, quæ nos adducit ad verbum divinum; nos verbo, maxime propter ipsius majestatem et sanctitatem, credimus.”—P. S.]
That this is the Saviour of the world [Only here and 1Jn_4:14],—Tholuck doubtfully (after a doubtful expression of Lücke): “Whether the idea contained in ὁ σωτὴρ τοῦ κόσμου is lent to the people by the evangelist, is a question.” But this puts in question the whole point of the great narrative. Meyer better: “A confession sufficiently intelligible as the fruit of the two days’ instruction of Jesus, the more since the Samaritan Messianic faith was more accessible to a universality of salvation [see Gesenius, De Samarit. Theol., p. 41 sqq.] than the Jewish with its concrete and rigorous particularism.” As Samaritans they had peculiar reason to express themselves thus: Yea verily, He is not only a Messiah for the Jews, but also for us and the Gentiles; in Him the divided world again becomes one.92
The work of Jesus in Samaria laid the foundation for the subsequent conversion of that people under the Apostles, Acts 8.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. Respecting the pretended contradiction between this history and Mat_10:5 (Strauss, Bruno Bauer, and in part Weisse), it should be remarked that the case in Matthew is that of a special mission of the disciples in a particular direction towards Jerusalem, not of the general itinerancy of the Lord. And when He Himself gave out, in reference to His earthly office, that He was not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel [Mat_15:24], He referred to the divine law of His work, and did not exclude the Samaritans from an incidental share of His labors. It was consonant with the historical position of the Samaritans, with their susceptibility, with the directions of the Lord Himself (Act_1:8), and with the subsequent spread of Christianity from Judea over Samaria and the Gentile world, that He already appeared for once among them; as, on the other hand, it was in conformity with the economy of His work, that this visit was only incidental, and not for a protracted ministry. Thus were the disciples exercised beforehand in the true order of preaching the gospel. Act_8:5 is supposed to have occasioned the mythical invention of the story before us; whereas that great conversion rather points to a historical preparation. Meyer justly calls attention to the perfect naturalness of the several features of the story, which could not have proceeded from a poetizing spirit. It may be added, that the several stumbling-blocks which have been found in it, such as the misapprehensions of the woman, are simply so many misapprehensions of criticism and exegesis. The remarkable directness of the representation also, in respect to season, locality, the individuality of the woman, rabbinical custom, etc., must be noted. With Baur this history dissolves into a type: “The woman of Samaria, representing susceptible heathendom, readily opening itself to faith, and offering a wide field of harvest, the counterpart of Nicodemus, who is the type of unsusceptible Judaism.” Neither rhyme nor reason, and a further proof of the legend like fantasticism of a criticism past its crisis, in its last stage of consumption.
2. On the history of the hatred between the Jews and the Samaritans comp. Robinson, III., p. 339 sqq.; Leben Jesu, II., 2, p. 539.
3. On Hengstenberg’s reference of the five husbands, etc., to the five gods of old Samaria, see Leben Jesu, II., 2, p. 540. [Comp. my annotations on Joh_4:18. Hengstenberg’s allegorical interpretation is at least more sensible than that of Augustine (Tract, xv. c. 19), who understands the five former husbands of the five senses, and explains the words, Call thy husband, to mean, Apply thy reason, by which thou must be governed, rather than by the bodily senses (adhibe intellectum, per quem docearis, quo regaris)! In another place he finds in the five husbands the five books of Moses, and in the sixth husband the Lord Himself, as if He said: Thou hast served the five books of Moses as five husbands; but now he whom thou hast, i.e., whom thou hearest, is not thy husband: for thou dost not yet believe in him!—P. S.]
[3 b. Joh_4:7. “Give me to drink.” So God introduces Himself to us for our salvation: He asks of us a service. He does this from the beginning, and puts our whole earthly life to us as a serving of Him. Our daily labor is at least required of us as a patient submission to His condemnation: “In the sweat of thy face,” etc. And in His covenant of grace, as with Israel, it is consecrated to be primarily a devout serving of Him with tithes and first-fruits. Our ministry to one another is also a giving Christ meat, or drink, or otherwise ministering to Him. Our constitutional unbelief, the enmity of the carnal mind against God, like the natural enmity of Samaritans to Jews, makes us skeptical that He should have any such dealing with us. But if we only know the gift of this wonderful reciprocity established between us and God in Christ,—if we have a heart for it—it opens the deepest fountains of devotion and prayer in our souls. It gives us a wonderful introduction to God! In other words, this sort of presentation of Himself to us lays the foundation of substantial religion in ourselves, and thus also opens the way for the richest gifts of everlasting life from God.—E. D. Y.]
4. As Jesus appears in chap. 1 higher than John the Baptist, in chapter 2 higher than the temple, in chap. 3 higher than the rulers of the people, so here He appears greater than the sacred well of Jacob and its founder, as afterwards greater than the porches of Bethesda, the manna, the temple-light, the pool of Siloam, etc. And the superiority is at the same time antithetic: Christ is everything in truth (the ἀληθινός), in realized essence, which before Him was presented only in type. Thus Christ is here the real antitype of the typical patriarchal well-diggers, in particular the patriarch Jacob; hence His spiritual life is the real living water of a sacred well. To this main symbol of this chapter are attached the other symbols of the food, the harvest field, the Lord of the seed-field and harvest-field, the sowers, the reapers. In reference to each, see the exegesis.
5. As Christ makes light the symbol in manifold respects of His nature and life, so with the well, and water. Here He is evidently a giver of peace within one’s self, as in chap. 7. He is a giver of the Spirit communicating itself to others, while in chap. 5. He appears as the true well of healing. Thus the fountain of life is the fountain of peace, of healing, of the Spirit.
[6. Jesus and women. Jesus was never married, because He was the Son of God as well as the Son of Man, and because He represents sinless and universal humanity. Hence no fallen creature and no single daughter of Eve even without sin, if there were such, but only the whole church of the redeemed is fit to be His bride. Nevertheless He had much intercourse with women, and this, as well as His dealing with children, forms an interesting chapter in His life and an evidence of Christianity, especially if we contrast it with the radically different position which woman holds at the source of other religions and licentious mythologies. The subject has not yet received the attention it deserves. In addition to my introductory remarks (p. 150), I shall give the views of Guizot,93 partly in opposition to Renan, the only writer of note, who, to his own discredit, has dared to cast a reflection on this relation so pure and Christlike. “The women,” says Guizot, “seem irresistibly attracted toward Him, with hearts moved, imaginations struck by His manner of life, His precepts, His miracles, His language. He inspires them with feelings of tender respect and confiding admiration. The Canaanitish woman comes and addresses to Him a timid prayer for the healing of her daughter. The woman of Samaria listens to Him with eagerness, though she does not know Him: Mary seats herself at His feet, absorbed in reflections suggested by His words; and Martha proffers to Him the frank complaint that her sister assists her not, but leaves her unaided in the performance of her domestic duties. The sinner draws near to Him in tears, pouring upon His feet a rare perfume, and wiping them with her hair. The adulteress, hurried into His presence by those who wished to stone her, in accordance with the precepts of the Mosaic law, remains motionless in His presence, even after her accusers have withdrawn, waiting in silence what He is about to say. Jesus receives the homage, and listens to the prayers of all these women with the gentle gravity and impartial sympathy of a being superior and strange to earthly passion. Pure and inflexible interpreter of the Divine law, He knows and understands man’s nature, and judges it with that equitable severity which nothing escapes, the excuse as little as the fault. Faith, sincerity, humanity, sorrow, repentance, touch Him without biasing the charity and the justice of His conclusions; and He expresses blame or announces pardon with the same calm serenity of authority, certain that His eye has read the depths of the heart to which His words will penetrate. In His relation with the women who approach Him, there is, in short, not the slightest trace of man; nowhere does the Godhead manifest itself more winningly and with greater purity. And when there is no longer any question of these particular relations and conversations, when Jesus has no longer before Him women suppliants and sinners, who are invoking His power or imploring His clemency: when it is with the position and the destiny of women in general that He is occupying Himself, He affirms and defends their claims and their dignity with a sympathy at once penetrating and severe. He knows that the happiness of mankind, as well as the moral position of women, depends essentially upon the married state; He makes of the sanctity of marriage a fundamental law of Christian religion, and society; He pursues adultery even into the recesses of the human heart, the human thought; He forbids divorce; He says of men, ‘Have ye not read, that He which made them at the beginning made them male and female? For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh. Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder.’…. Signal and striking testimony to the progressive action, of God upon the human race! Jesus Christ restores to the divine law of marriage the purity and the authority that Moses had not enjoined to the Hebrews ‘because of the hardness of their hearts.’ ”—P. S.]
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
The retreat of Jesus from Judea to Galilee through Samaria, the first turning-point in His official life: 1. Motives (the Pharisees began to watch Him with hostile eye: the Baptist is imprisoned). 2. Character: Free consciousness (He retreats in free discretion, without fear; in holy discretion, hence: “the Lord knew”). 3. Rich results (beneficent sojourn in Samaria, beneficent results in Galilee). 4. Significancy (He ceases to baptize, tarries in Samaria on His return).—Symbolical import of baptismal water and drinking water in Christianity. (In John 3. Jesus baptized with water: in John 4 he passes to offer a living water to be drunk.)—The resting of the Lord on Jacob’s well, a living emblem of the old patriarchal days and the new evangelistic time in one.—Christ in His human weakness and divine exaltation, (1) weary, and yet the rest of a weary soul; (2) thirsty, and yet a fountain; (3) hungry, and yet enjoying heavenly food, the Lord of the harvest-field; (4) left alone, yet in spirit surrounded with approaching nations.—Christ a Saviour even from the religious perversities of fanaticism.—Fanaticism in its inhumanity and its immoral conduct.—The woman of Samaria, or a Samaritan Magdalene.—The condescending pity of Jesus in the conversion of the woman of Samaria.—How the grace and love of Christ can break through all conventional restrictions, for being the new law of the Spirit: the restrictions (1) of the ancient religious separation, (2) of the ancient national separation, (3) of the old social custom (as to the separation of the sexes), (4) of the old contempt for the fallen.—How many prejudices that one little word of Jesus: Give me to drink, abolishes: 1. The prejudice of the ancients against the female sex; 2. The prejudice of statute against the fallen; 3. The prejudice of nationality; 4. The prejudice of religion.—The wisdom and gentleness of the Lord in winning souls: 1. The opening of the conversation (Give me to drink; a token of common life). 2. The progress of the conversation (a. objective salvation in a sensible emblem: b. subjective need of salvation). 3. The goal: Manifestation of Christ to a sinful, penitent heart.—The stages of the religious instruction of the Samaritan woman: 1. The missionary stage; 2. The catechetical stage; 3. The church stage (see the exegesis).—How Christ sent back as an evangelist into her city a woman who came out of it a notorious sinner.—The day of grace (If thou knewest.)—The life of the Lord, living water (spring-water) in distinction from the stale water of this world’s life: 1. The latter provokes thirst, the former quenches thirst. 2. The one becomes foul, the other takes away foulness. 3. The one stands, in a marsh, the other gushes and flows. 4. The one sinks away, evaporates, the other becomes an eternal fountain.—Christ the life, as fountain of life.—The fountain of life, as a fountain of peace.—Jacob’s well, the pool of Bethesda, the fountain of Siloam, emblems of the salvation in Christ.—The water of life, which Christ bestows: 1. A draught which becomes a fountain; 2. A fountain which becomes a stream; 3. A stream which runs into the ocean of eternal life, without losing itself therein. The crystal spring of truth (that may be likened to spring water) in contrast with the turbid water of vanity and sin (which may be likened to salt water and puddles and ponds).—The miraculous virtue of self-reproduction in the water and the bread which Christ bestows.—The thirst of life, and the satisfaction of it in Christ.—Sir, give me this water, or the unsatisfied longing of the poor, sinful heart: (1) Astray, deceived, debauched in sin; (2) led aright, purified, brought to itself by the awakening of repentance; (3) satisfied, transformed into blessed life by grace.—Call thy husband. Christ not only the knower of hearts, but also the knower of lives.—Christ aims at the conscience, to subdue the sinner.—The gradual awakening: 1. Awakening of reflection; 2. Awakening of conscience; 3. Awakening of faith.—The divine visitation in the hour when the dark human heart feels itself exposed and seen through by a heavenly eye.—The decision of Christ respecting the religious controversy between the Samaritans and the Jews, in its permanent typical import.—“Salvation comes from the Jews.”—But while they quarrel on over the old issue, a new and higher point of unity is present.—The future of religion: Worship of God in spirit and in truth.—The Messiah’s revelation of Himself for the woman of Samaria (compared with the self-presentation of the angel of the Lord to Hagar, of the risen Jesus to Magdalene).—The school which the disciples of Jesus went through in Samaria in reference (1) to the Samaritan woman, (2) to the Samaritans.—The marvelling of the disciples of Jesus at His talking with a woman, in conflict with their reverence.—The whole life discipline of the Christian an alternation of the spirit of captious and of reverential wonder.—The food of Jesus.—Heavenly remembering and reminding an earthly forgetting: 1. Christ forgets His earthly meat; 2. The woman forgets the earthen pitcher.—The difference between the Master and the disciples in their way of seeing: 1. The disciples still look upon the green growing fields (according to the earthly appearance); 2. The Master looks upon the white harvest fields (according to the spiritual reality).—The Samaritans on their way to Jesus, a sign of harvest;—a mission token.—The messengers of Christ not only sowers, but also reapers.—The miraculous relation between sowing and harvest in the kingdom of God: 1. The two infinitely far apart; 2. The two coincident.—The sowers and the reapers of the Lord: 1. How they for the most part do not know each other in this world. 2. How they rejoice with one another in the next.—The symbolism of the field (of the sown field and of the harvest field).—The double grounds of faith which the Samaritan had: 1. The account of the woman; 2. Acquaintance with Christ Himself.—The two days of the sojourn of Jesus in Samaria.—The dark side and the bright side of the Samaritan life: 1. Greater danger of the adulteration of Christianity with heathenism, than among the Jews; 2. Greater freedom from Jewish prejudice, and hence greater access for the word of faith.—The testimony of the Samaritans: This is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world: 1. A fruit, ripened (a) under the sense of contempt from the Jews, (b) under the sense of free grace on the part of the Lord; 2. A bud which fully unfolded in subsequent faith and under the preaching of the Apostles.
Starke: Envy (with reference to the Pharisees).—(Cramer): Christians should take care of themselves, Mat_10:23.—(Majus): The dignity and virtue of the sacraments depends not on persons who administer them.—Christ seeks the salvation of all men by all means and at all times.—There is no land entirely void of monuments of grace even from its antiquity.—Christ, as true man, became weary.—If the Lord became weary for the good of His creatures, we should be incited to the patient endurance of the toilsomeness of our calling.—Man must also have his rest.—Canstein: Direct the necessary rest to the glory of God.—A picture of the grace which anticipates us and fondly persuades us.—Quesnel: Jesus voluntarily humbles Himself so far as to have need of His creatures, that we may not be ashamed to accept their help.—Thirst for the salvation of men was greater in Christ than bodily thirst for water.—Christianity consists not in secluding oneself and locking the room and sitting with the prayer book behind the stove; else the Lord would not have talked with the Samaritan woman. Majus: National hatred pernicious and sinful.—Canstein: We should not withhold the general duties of humanity on account of difference in religion.—The same: An inordinate estimate of our ancestry may sometimes be a hinderance to salvation.—Osiander: No earthly refreshing and delights can satisfy the heart.—Thirst a great need;—those who once drink from this fountain of life furnish themselves against all thirst for the world.—He who is to be converted, must be brought to a knowledge of his sin.—Canstein: Christ and His Spirit must disclose to a man his secret shame if they are to help him.—Bibl. Wirt.: Jesus looks especially upon one’s conduct of his married life.—Piscator: In matters of religion and faith no one should appeal to fathers or ancestry, unless their doctrine be first proved from the word of God.—Prayer and worship depend not on time, place, posture, bending of knees or folding of hands, but upon spirit and truth.—Worship in spirit and in truth by no means supersedes outward worship.—Canstein: The way of serving God must agree with the attributes of God.—Majus: If between contending parties there still is agreement or harmony in some points, one must not despise him, but endeavor as opportunity offers to turn it to edification.—Osiander: The true knowledge of Christ fills a man with heavenly joy.—Hedinger: Grace, when it is vitally kindled in the soul, gives joy and alacrity.—The same: Doing the will of God should be to us above eating and drinking and every necessity.—Quesnel: A great consolation for those in the church of God who labor much and see no fruit, that they are here assured that they shall lose nothing of their reward.—Hedinger: He who continues to depend on man, attains not to divine certainty.—Christ a universal Saviour of the whole world, 1Ti_4:10; Tit_2:11; Tit_2:13.
Gossner: Where the true Christ comes, He first uncovers disgrace and shame, and then takes them away.—Braune: This is the fixed order in the kingdom of God, which is above all time: that it reaches over centuries, and every generation reaps what the preceding sowed, and in turn must sow what the succeeding may reap.
Gerlach:—Every sensuous form of worship, even that ordained by God Himself, is a symbolical worship, and therefore reaches its truth only in the spiritual,—without which it would be a false worship.—“Wouldst thou have a high, a holy place? consecrate thyself inwardly a temple of God; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are, 1Co_3:17. Wouldst thou pray in a temple, pray in thyself; but become first thyself a temple of God, for He hears him who calls to Him out of His temple.” (Augustine.)
Heubner: Jesus teaches us prudence, silent withdrawal; it is more illustrious than bold daring, challenge, resistance, and foolhardiness.—A blessing often still rests on old places.—The inward progress in the leading of souls.—“There cometh a woman.” How the steps of man are guided!—Request, an approach to the heart.—The gospel seems at first only to ask of the unconverted, but under this apparent asking the offer of the highest grace is covered.—The first apprehension of the soul by divine grace takes place so secretly and imperceptibly that the souls themselves do not at all suspect it.—Religious hatred the bitterest hatred among nations.—Jesus does not stop upon invidious partizan disputes.—He who begins to know Jesus, asks of Him, calls upon Him.—“The well is deep.” How deep then is the well of Jesus from which the flock of God is refreshed!—The natural man resists the demand of radical renewal with the pretence that godly ancestors have surely been saved by their mode.—“Greater than our father Jacob?” This was her standard. How imperfect in comparison with Jesus.—God compels man to reflect, to come to the knowledge of Himself.—Through Christianity the whole earth is to become a temple of God. The heavenly Jerusalem has no temple (Rev. John 20, 21).—Yet Christ does not teach syncretism, He compromises nothing of the truth.—The future in the germ already lies in the present.
Joh_4:24. Jerome well applies this passage to pilgrimage.
Joh_4:30. One coal kindles the others.—Eternal life equalizes all. In it all faithful laborers enjoy in common the fruit of the labor of all.—There is a faith at first hand and a faith at second hand. The latter must lead to the former, because the latter is not enough.—(From Schleiermacher: Why Christ did not baptize and why Paul acted in like manner, 1Co_1:14; both, on the contrary, preached, whereas among us the authority to preach comes before the authority to administer the sacraments, Vol. Ι., p. 237).—It is certainly false for a man to say, he must not speak of such (spiritual) things in social life, because they would be too high and deep. For the earthly and the spiritual are not so separate.—In those hot and dry countries where water was scarce, thirst became a tormenting sensation, such as we cannot share.—Soon the time will come when ye shall not use some this word, I some that word, to express a given Christian truth, but when men shall express themselves on the same subject in a manner in which controversy disappears.
[E. D. Yeomans:—The Saviour, wearied with ages of pilgrimage among us and of forbearance towards our heartless service of Him, sits on the well—at the sources of earthly life, which we frequent and throng, to draw,—a well of really holy memory, consecrated by the draughts of the patriarch’s faith,—and asks of us a drink, Himself the gift of God to us! If we but saw things so, what glad labors, what cheerful sufferings, what effectual prayers, what glorious hope, would make up our life!]
[Schaff:—Several idyllic scenes of Scripture, such as the meeting of Abraham’s servant with Rebecca (Genesis 14), Jacob’s first interview with Rachel (Genesis 29), Moses’ meeting with Zipporah in Midian (Exodus 2), took place in the neighborhood of wells; but the most interesting and important event is that attached to Jacob’s well.—“Few can see the literal wells of Palestine, all can visit the better fountain of salvation, all can gather around the true Shepherd, lie down on the green pasture of His love, and drink of the still waters” (Macduff).—Christ’s divine-human dealing with women, as a friend and Saviour, securing both their affection and adoration—an evidence of Christianity.—Christ offering the same gospel to an ignorant, semi-heathenish woman, as to a learned, orthodox Pharisee (John 3).—Christ’s discourse with the Samaritan woman a proof of His condescending love. (Calvin: Mirum bonitatis ejus exemplum! Quid enim, fuit in misera hac femina, ut ex scorto Filii Dei repente discipula fieret?)—Christ’s discourse with the Samaritan woman, in its effect, breaking down national and religious hatred and bigotry, and elevating woman to higher dignity.—Jewish and Samaritan bigotry continued in the sectarian quarrels of Christendom, contrary to the spirit of Christ. Catholics “have no dealings” with Protestants, nor Episcopalians with Presbyterians, Lutherans with Calvinists, Baptists with Pedobaptists, high churchmen with low churchmen, etc.—The weariness and thirst of Christ turned into an unfailing fountain of refreshment for a poor woman and for all thirsty souls.—A touching allusion to Christ’s weariness in the Dies iræ:
“Quærens me sedisti lassus,94
Redemisti crucem passus:
Tantus labor non sit cassus.”
Weary sat’st Thou seeking me,
Died’st, redeeming, on the tree,
Let such toil not fruitless be.
Christ’s weariness, hunger and thirst—a proof of His true humanity, including our infirmities—“When we are carried easily, let us think on the weariness of our Master” (Henry).—The thirst of Christ’s soul for the salvation of man.—‘Christ weary in His work, but not of His work.’—Christ always more ready to give than we are to ask.—Christ, the great Fisher of man, as eager to catch a single soul, as a vast multitude.—The priceless value of a single soul in the view of Christ.—Christ the model of a practical teacher in commencing a most spiritual discourse in a most natural way, and rising from physical wants to the wants of the soul.—How to spiritualize and Christianize the events and occasions of every-day life.
Joh_4:16-19. There is an avenue to every human heart.—Kindness often more effective than severity.—Reproof is most profitable when least provoking.—“Those who would win souls should make the best of them and work upon their good-nature; for if they make the worst of them, they certainly exasperate their ill-nature” (Henry).—”Amongst all sins the sin of uncleanness lies heaviest upon the conscience; for no sin is so directly opposite to holiness; no sin quenches the Holy Spirit like this” (Burkitt).—Christ keeps a record of our sins.—Conviction of sin the first step to conversion.
Joh_4:20. The right and wrong appeal to the fathers and to tradition.
Joh_4:21-24. The spirituality of worship distinct: 1. from formalism and ritualism; 2. from intellectualism; 3. from fanatic spiritualism.—True and false spirituality.—“O for a mountain to pray on, thou criest, high and inaccessible, that I may be nearer to God, and God may hear me better, for He dwelleth on high. Yes, God dwelleth on high, but He hath respect to the humble.… Wouldest thou pray in the temple? pray in thyself; but first do thou become the temple of God” (St. Augustine).—The right use and abuse of forms in worship.
Joh_4:28-30. The Samaritan woman a specimen of unpretending and effectual lay-preaching. (Origen, who himself preached before his ordination to the priesthood, calls her “the apostle of the Samaritans.”)
Joh_4:41-42. Two kinds of faith; faith resting on external authority or tradition (the woman’s λαλιά), and faith resting on personal experience (αὐτοὶ ἀκηκόαμεν καὶ οἴδαμεν).—The Samaritan woman a picture of the church in leading men to Christ that they may see and know for themselves.]
Footnotes:
[1]Joh_4:1.—[ὁ Ἰησοῦς is supported by א. D. A. Vulg. Syr., Tischend. (ed. VIII.); the text. rec. ὁ κύριου by A. B. C. al., Treg., Alf., Westc. and Hort.—P. S.]
[2]Joh_4:3.—The πάλιν is doubtful, being wanting in Codd. A.E. F., etc., many minuscules, and many versions among them. [Sustained by א. B.2 C. D. etc., Tischend., Alt.—P. S.]
[3]Joh_4:6.—[John uses, alternately, with good reason, πηγή (Joh_4:6; Joh_4:14) and φρέαρ (11, 12); the Vulgate retains the distinction, rendering the former by fans, the latter by puteus. Augustine says: omnis puteus fons, non omnis fons puteus. Only such a spring as is not on the surface, but deep and low down, is called a well (comp. Joh_4:11 : “the well is deep”). The Arabs make a similar distinction between ’ain or fountain, which bubbles and gushes up at its source, and beer (bîr) or well, which is constructed by a shaft sunk deep into the earth, either built of stone or excavated in the solid rock. The A. V. obliterates the distinction. “Fountain” is a better rendering of πηγή, at least in connection with “springing,” Joh_4:14.—P. S.]
[4]Joh_4:6.—A. B. C. etc., ὡς. [Text. rec. ὠσεί with E. Chrys. Cyr.—P. S.]
[5]Joh_4:7.—On the writing error πῖν, comp. Meyer. [Text. rec.: πιεῖν, Tischend., Alf.: πεῖν, which is best supported. It is the infin. a. r. of πίνω. Both forms are used, but the dissylabic πιεῖν is more correct. See the quotation from Herodian in the 8th ed. of Tischend.—P. S.]
[6]Joh_4:9.—[οῦ̓ν is omitted by Tischend. (VIII.) and Alford.—P. S.]
[7]Joh_4:9.—[ἡ γυνὴ ἡ Σαμαρεῖτις. In Joh_4:7 it is γυνὴ ἐκ τῆς Σαμαρείας. The country is meant, not the city of Samaria (Sebaste). which was two hours distant.—P. S.]
[8]Joh_4:9.—[The explanatory words: οὐ γὰρ συγχρῶνται Ἱουδαῖοι Σαμαρείτας, are omitted by Tischend. in his 8th ed., but retained by Lachm., Treg. Alf. Westcott and Hort include them in brackets. Meyer, Trench and most commentators take the words as an insertion of the Evangelist, but Lange ascribes them to the woman.—P. S.]
[9]Joh_4:11.—[Κύριε, οὔτε ἄντλημα ἔχεις. The ἄντλημα, haustrum (hauritorium in Augustine), bucket, in most of the early E. V., is not the same with the ὐδρία or water-pot which the woman leaves behind in her zeal to communicate the good news to the people in town (Joh_4:28), but, another vessel, with a rope or stick to draw up the water from the well. Trench, quoting from Malan, says, it is “the situla [?] generally made of skin, with three cross sticks tied round the mouth to keep it open. It is let down by a rope of goat’s hair, and may be seen lying on the curb stones of almost every well in the Holy Land.”—P. S.]
[10]Joh_4:14.—[“The ὁ πίνων sets forth the recurrence, the interrupted seasons, of the drinking of earthly water;—the ὅ δ’ ἄν πιῃ—the once having tasted, and ever continuing in the increasing power, and living forth-flowing, of that life-long draught.” Alford.—P. S.]
[11]Joh_4:14.—Lachmann has put the words: οὐ μὴ διψήσει εὶς τὸν αἰῶνα, ἀλλὰ τὸ ὕδωρ, ὅ δώσω αὐτῶ in brackets, because they are wanting in Cod. C., in Origen, and in several minuscules. These words, however, are sufficiently attested. Probably the omission has arisen through a confounding of the second αὐτῷ with the first. It should be further noted that there is a wavering between διψήση and διψήσει. Most of the authorities (A. D. L.) are for [Wordsworth prefers the lect. rec. διψήση (shall not thirst) as intimating that the believer shall be preserved from thirst by divine power. But διψίσεη (will not thirst) is supported by א. A. B. D. L. M., etc., and adopted by Tischendorf, Alford, etc.—P. S.]
[12]Joh_4:16.—Ὁ Ἰησοῦς is wanting in B. C.* etc.
[13]Ibid.—The order σου τὸν ἄνδρα in Cod. B., minuscules, and Origen, adopted by Tischendorf, has the advantage of stronger emphasis. [Lect. rec. τὸν ἄδρα σου.—P. S.]
[14]Joh_4:21.—[In the best authorities γύναι follows after the verb: Believe me, woman.—P. S.]
[15]Joh_4:22.—[ἡ σωτηρία the promised salvation, the only salvation.—P. S.]
[16]Joh_4:24.—[Πνεῦμα, which in the original stands emphatically first, is here not the Holy Spirit as a distinct Person, but the spiritual, immaterial nature of God which is common to all persons of the Holy Trinity. Hence spirit should not be capitalized, as in the A. V. Nor should the indefinite article be retained. The meaning is: God is pure spirit, spirit in the highest, absolute sense, nothing but spirit. Comp. God is light, 1Jn_1:5; God is love, 1Jn_4:8.—P. S.]
[17]Joh_4:25.—[the words ὁ λεγόμενος χριστόςare probably the words of the woman, not a parenthetical explanation of the Evangelist. Comp. Joh_4:29.—P.S.]
[18]Joh_4:27.—[The insertion of the definite article by the A. V. shifts the astonishment from the sex to this particular woman, of whom the disciples knew nothing. See Exeg. Notes.—P. S.]
[19]Joh_4:29.—The ὅσα of the Recepta, after A. D., is more expressive and more probable than the ἅ of B. C., adopted by Tischendorf. The same in Joh_4:39. [ἁ is rather better sustained א. B. C.* Syr. Orig., and adopted by Tischend. ed. viii. Alford reads ὅσα.—P. S.]
[20]Joh_4:29.—μήτι (and μή), as interrogative particle, presupposes a negative answer, or least leaves the matter in doubt, like the German: doch wohl nicht, comp. Mat_7:9-10; Luk_6:39. The woman is afraid to trust her own great discovery, and therefore modestly asks in this doubting style.—P. S.]
[21]Joh_4:30—The οῦ̓ν of the Recepta is too feebly attested.
[22]Joh_4:34—The reading ἵνα ποιῶ (Tischend.) is better supported than ποιήσω (Lachm.), which has come from the succeeding τελειώσω.
[23]Joh_4:35.—The reading of the Recepta: τετράμηνον would elucidate the well supported τετράμηνος. [The latter is the reading of the oldest uncial MSS. including א. B., and adopted by Tischend. and Alf.—P. S.].
[24]Joh_4:36.—Kαὶ is wanting in Codd. B. C.* D. (Cod. Sin.—E. D. Y.], and others. Probably inserted to prevent the connecting of ἤδη (Joh_4:35) with what follows (Joh_4:36) as in Cod. A. and others. The ἤδἥ nevertheless belongs to Joh_4:35. [Tischendorf and others connect ἤδη with Joh_4:36.—P. S.]
[25]Joh_4:42.—The addition of ὁ Χριστός in the Recepta [after: “the Saviour of the world;” the Engl. Vers. like Luther’s reverses the order.—E. D. Y.], supported by A. D., is made uncertain by B. C. [Cod. Sin.—E. D Y.], Orgien, Irenæus, and minuscules.
[26][So Dr. Lange calls her.]
[27][Comp. Guizot’s remarks on this subject, quoted below, Doctr. and Ethic. No. 6.—P. S.]
[28][But the reading is doubtful, see Text. Notes. The term κύριος, as equivalent to Jehovah or Adonai in the O. T., is not near as often applied to Christ in the Gospels (comp. Joh_6:23; Joh_6:34; Joh_11:2; Joh_20:28, etc.) as in the Epistles, because in its full sense it presupposes the elevation of Christ to glory. In the mouth of the Samaritan woman, Joh_4:11, and others not acquainted with the true character of Christ, it is simply a title of courtesy.—P. S.]
[29][Meyer denies the supernatural character of ἔγνω here.—P. S.]
[30][Against the artificial interpretation of this occurrence by Hofmann. Schriftbeweis, I. p. 168. see Meyer, p. 186, note (5th ed.). Withdrawal from danger, no less than firm courage in the face of martyrdom, is under circumstances a duty to God and the church, expressly enjoined by Christ, Mat_10:23, and sanctioned by His example. Flight from cowardice is always contemptible, flight from fidelity to duty is compatible with unflinching courage. An humble retreat may at times imply more self-denial than proud and ambitions resistance.—P. S.]
[31][Hence the use of Jesus instead of He.—P. S.]
[32][Clement of Alex. and other fathers, in their over estimate of water baptism. assumed, without any warrant from the text, that Jesus baptized at least Peter, who then baptized Andrew, etc. To the three reasons mentioned above for Christ’s not administering baptism, Lightfoot adds a fourth, viz., Because He would prevent all quarrels and jealousies which might have arisen if some had been baptized by Christ Himself and others only by His disciples. But the one sufficient reason is no doubt because water baptism is a ministerial act of secondary importance and that Christ reserved to Himself instead the baptism with the Holy Ghost.—P. S.]
[33][Hence ἔδει, which expresses a geographical necessity, if the shortest route was to be chosen. This necessity become a providential opportunity for doing good.—P. S.]
[34][Simon Magus: See my Geschichte des apostol. Zeitalters, I. p. 301 ff; and the treatise: Die Samariter und ihre Steltung in der Weltgeschichte von J. Grimm (priest), Munich, 1854.]
[35][The old Hebrew Shechem, or Sichem, or Sychar, the Græco-Roman colony Flavia Neapolis (founded probably after the destruction of Jerusalem, by Flavius Vespasianus), and the modern Arabic Nabulus, or Nablus (i. e., Neapolis), are substantially identical as to location, though probably a little apart from each other (see below) and must be sought in the narrow, fertile and beautiful valley between Mt. Ebal and Mt. Gerizim, which is much admired by modern travellers, as the Eden of Palestine. Dr. Robinson, who is by no means enthusiastic in his descriptions, says of Shechem: “It came upon us suddenly like a scene of enchantment. We saw nothing like it in all Palestine.” The place figures very conspicuously in sacred history. At Sichem Abraham built his first altar in Canaan; there Jacob pitched his tent, buried the idols of his household, built the well and bought the tomb of Joseph; there Dinah was defiled by Shechem, the son of Hamor, prince of the country; there Joseph was sold by his brethren and found the last resting-place for his bones. After the conquest of Canaan under Joshua, Shechem was made a city of refuge and a centre of union to the tribes; under the judges it was the capital of the abortive kingdom of Abimelech; subsequently the capital of the kingdom of the ten tribes till Samaria deprived it of that honor; it continued during the exile and long afterwards the ecclesiastical metropolis of Samaria, the only temple of the Samaritan worship being close by on Mount Gerizim. The present city of Nabulus has according to Dr. Robinson, about 8,000 inhabitants, all Mohammedans, except about 500 Jews and as many Greek Christians, with a bishop, who, however, resides in a convent at Jerusalem. Dr. Rosen (in the Zeitschrift der M. D. Gesellschaft for 1860, pp. 622–639, as quoted by the writer of the art. Shechem in Smith’s Dictionary), estimates the population of Nabulus at about 5,000, among whom are 500 Greek Christians, 15) Samaritans, and a few Jews, the Mohammedans making up the bulk of inhabitants.—P. S.]
[36][Or Lietown, Lugstadt. So also Hengstenberg (I. 244), Wordsworth, Trench: “St. John, by this turn of the word, which has brought it into closest connection with the Hebrew for a lie, declares at what rate he esteemed the Samaritan worship, declares by anticipation at what rate it was esteemed by his Lord.”—P. S.]
[37][Dr. Thomson, The Land and the Book, and others, likewise distinguish them for the reason that at Sichem (Nablus) there are de icious fountains of water which the Samaritan woman would hardly have left to draw from a well that is nearly two miles off. Bovet, of Neuchatel (Voyage en Terre Sainte, p. 363, as quoted by Godet) thinks he has discovered some ruins of Sichem in the midst of olive plantations between the present Nablus and the well of Jacob. “Le nom meme de Naplouse,” adds Godet, “indique un nouvel emplacement; autrement la nouveile ville eut conservé le nom de Sichem. Cette circonstance explique pent etre comment la femme Samaritaine venait chercher le l’eau au puits de Jacob.” This conjecture may be correct, but the narrative does not require it. The woman may have labored or dwelt near the well of Jacob, or put a special value on its sacred waters to induce her to go to special trouble. Porter, who identifies the two places, but assumes that the ancient Shechem was a much larger city than the present Nablous, says (Handbook for Travellers in Syria and Palestine, Part II., p. 342): “The mere fact of the well having been Jacob’s would have brought numbers to it had the distance been twice as great. And even independent of its history, some little superiority in the quality of the water, such as we might expect in a deep well, would have attracted the Orientals, who are, and have always been, epicures in this element. There is a well called ez-Zenabîyeh, a mile or more outside St. Thomas’ Gate, Damascus, to which numbers of the inhabitants send for their daily supply, though they have fountains and wells in their own houses far more abundant than ever existed in the city of Shechem.”—P.S.]
[38][The same is now called by the natives Bir-Jakoub. Renan, Vie de Jésus, p. 233.—P. S.]
[39][It should be remembered, however, that Dr. Robinson visited the well in the middle of June. He remarks that “it was said usually to contain living water, and not merely to be filled by the rains.” Jews, Samaritans, Christians and Muhammedans all agree in this tradition respecting both Jacob’s well and Joseph’s tomb. Adjacent to the well are the ruins of an ancient church forming mounds of rubbish, among which Robinson discovered three granite columns. When last measured, the well was only about seventy-five feet deep. A portion of the vault has fallen in and completely covered up the mouth so that nothing can be seen but a shallow pit half filled with stones and rubbish. See Porter’s Handbook for Travellers in Syria and Palestine, II. p. 341.
My friend, the Rev. W. W. Atterbury, who visited Jacob’s well, April 7, 1866, kindly permits me to extract the following observations from his Journal, which confirm Dr. Robinson’s account as to the present condition of the well:
“At the entrance of the Nablus valley we stopped to visit Jacob’s Well. In the middle of a ploughed field, a low stone wall enclosed a ruined vault, through the broken arch of which we let ourselves down to its floor, where, almost entirely closed with fragments of stone, was the well. We could judge something of its depth by the fall of a stone, and thus ascertained that there is now no water in it. It is said to be 70 ft. deep, and is hewn out of the solid rock. Sitting on the fallen stones that covered the mouth of the well, I read the 4th chap. of John. A few rods N. W. is a small Moslem tomb, of stone, said to cover the grave of Joseph. The way up the vale to Nablus was charming. Gerizim and Ebal, bare of trees, and but scantily carpeted with vegetation, except near their bases, were at-first so near each other that ordinary voices might shout audibly from one side to the other. The valley widened as we advanced. A recess occurs on each side, opposite the one to the other, like the transepts of a vast Cathedral in which it is easy to suppose respective divisions of the tribes were stationed when, the priest standing in the midst, the people responded to the blessings and the curses.”—P. S.]
[40][So Chrysostom and the Greek commentators: ἀπλῶς ὡς ἔτυχε, just as it happened, i. e., on the ground or the stones surrounding the well; Grotius: ut locus se obtulerat; Bengel: sine pompa (to which he adds: admirabilis popularitas vitæ Jesu); Meyer: so ohne weiteres, i. e., “without ceremony and preparation; Wordsworth: as any one among men. But Erasmus, Beza, Winer, Stier, Hengstenberg, Webster and Wilkinson and Alford, refer οὕτως to κεκοπιακώς, i. e., sic nempe quia fatigatus, fatigued as He was, as a weary man would, or accordingly. We might say (with Godet) that the word was inspired by the contrast to the unexpected task before Him. But Fritzsche and Meyer object that in this case οὕτως should precede ἐκάθεζετο, as in Act_20:11; Act_27:17; to which may be added Heb_6:15.—P. S.]
[41][The Roman martyrology knows the name of the woman (Photina) and of her children, Augustine: “Venit mulier ad puteum, et fontem quem non speravit, invenit.” Trench: “To that same well she oftentimes may have come already, day by day, perhaps, during many a weary year of the past. And now she came once more, little guessing how different was to be the issue of this day’s coming from that of all the days which had gone before … that in the midst of that and all the other weary toil, outward and inward, of this earthly life, she should have within herself a fountain of joy, springing up unto life eternal, should draw water with joy from unfailing wells of salvation.”—P. S.]
[42][Dr. Lange very properly objects to this low estimate of the Samaritan woman who, with all her vices, had some higher traits of character. Hengstenberg justly remarks (I. 254) that Jesus would hardly have entered into a conversation with her, if He had not discovered in her an open susceptibility to the truth.—P. S.]
[43][The physical thirst introduced the deeper spiritual thirst. While appearing as the receiver of natural water, He was the giver of supernatural water and thirsted to communicate this to the woman. Somewhat differently Augustine: Ille qui bibere quærebat, fidem ipsius mulieris sitiebat. Trench observes in this request of Jesus, and the discourse to which it was the prelude, a threefold testimony against the narrow-heartedness of His age and people—against that of the Jew who hated the Samaritan, of the Rabbi who would have scorned such familiar intercourse with a woman (Joh_4:27), of the Pharisee who would have shrunk from this near contact with a sinner (Luk_7:39).—P. S.]
[44][This is the usual interpretation, but the Saviour may have isolated Himself from His disciples in the spiritual interest of the woman in order to win the easier her repentance and confession of sin. (Cornelius a Lap. and Trench), Hengstenberg (I. 253) plausibly assumes that John remained with the Lord and heard the conversation which he so accurately and vividly records. He was afterwards with Peter delegated to Samaria, Act_8:14. But he may have learned the conversation from Jesus or from the woman after her conversion.—P. S.]
[45][Rasche ad Sota, p. John 515: “Hominis Samaritani panem comedere aut vinum ejus bibere prohibitum (nefas) est.” Tanchuma fol., 43,John 1 : “Dicunt, qui edit frustum Samaritan, est ut edens carnem porci, et non proselytus fit Samaritanus in Israele, nec est ipsis pars in resurrectione mortuorum.”]
[46][Stier (Reden Jesu) thinks that the woman recognized the Jew rather by his dress (after the manner of the Rabbis), than by His softer dialect. If the Samaritans, like the Ephraimites of old (Jdg_12:6) were still distinguished by lack of the full sibilant (sh) in their pronunciation, the words which Jesus probably used הַשְׁקִינִי נָא or תְּנִי לִי לִשְׁתּוֹת (teni lishethoth, Samaritan: teni lisethoth), were enough to indicate the nationality. In any case we may infer from the words of the woman that our Lord had nothing in His personal appearance, dress or manner to distinguish Him from other Jews, and to attract the superficial observer. Yet the spotless beauty and peace of His soul must have shone through His eye and the expression of His face. He had not the physiognomy of a sinner.—P. S.]
[47][Ecclus. c. 25, John 26: “There be two manner of nations which my heart abhorreth, and the third is no nation: they that sit upon the mountain of Samaria, and they that dwell among the Philistines, and that foolish people that dwell in Sichem.”—P. S.]
[48][Neither of these interpretations alone seems sufficient for this very full expression. The third is certainly the leading one, but it includes the others. The third itself, as here given, is too vague. The “singular grace of God in the opportunity of this moment” is, in particular, that God, so far from being beyond the reach of our requests, appears as a fellow-man asking a service from us. His taking such a place, to be kindly served of us for our joy and salvation is itself a gracious gift of God. In Jesus alone could this wonderful relation between God and man be established and offered; He alone is God-Man; “the gift of God” therefore includes the person of Jesus. And it includes a gift of life still in reserve for those who, knowing Christ, ask of Him; and this gift of God, waiting for our asking, is in substance the Holy Ghost. J. J. Owen: “The connection refers it evidently to the gift of living water, which was emphatically the gift of God bestowed through the agency of His Spirit.” But a still more careful weighing of the context shows that it rather refers this “gift of God” to a gift which God had already given, than to one which He had yet to give; rather to the actual gift of His condescension, than to the offered gift of living water or the Holy Ghost.—E. D. Y.]
[49][As distinct from cistern water, or water of reservoirs, or stagnant water, comp. Gen_26:11); Lev_14:5; Son_4:5; Jer_2:13; the vivi fontes of the Romans. Then used metaphorically for spiritual blessings, truth, wisdom, even tile Holy Spirit. On this double meaning rests the turn of the discourse from the earthly to the heavenly, and the point of comparison is the refreshing power and the satisfaction of thirst. Here the ὕδωρ ζῶν means, in the highest spiritual sense, fresh, springing, life-giving, self-renewing water from Him who is αὐτοζωή, life itself, and imparts life to all His followers (Joh_1:4; Joh_5:40; Rev_7:17; Rev_21:6; Rev_22:1; Rev_22:17] in fulfilment of the prophecy, Eze_47:9 : “Everything shall live whither the river Cometh” (that issues from under the threshold of the house of God).—P. S.]
[50][Meyer (5th ed.) agrees substantially with Calvin, who sees here tota renov itiomis gratit., and refers the living water to both grace and truth with reference to Joh_1:14.—P. S.]
[51][Yet κύριε is an advance on σὺ Ἰουδαῖος Joh_4:8, and indicates a dawning sense of the dignity of the stranger. We infer this, however, more from the connection that from the word itself, for this is also used by Rebekah in addressing the servant of Abraham, Gen_24:18, and by Mary Magdalene in speaking to Jesus whom she mistook for the gardener, Joh_20:15. Euthymius: κύριον αὐτὸν προσηγόρευσε, νομισασα μέγαν εῖ̓ναι τινα—P. S.]
[52][Ἄντλημα is not to be confounded with ὐδρία, Joh_4:28. Comp. the Text. Notes.—P. S.]
[53][Or rather: Neither (οὔτε) hast thou a vessel to draw with, and (καί, instead of οὔτε, nor) the well is too deep (over a hundred feet) to get at it without such a vessel. There is a change of construction here, οὔτε—καί, instead of οὔτε—οὔτε (comp. the Latin neque—et), as John Joh_4:10, and often in the classics. Comp. Winer, p. 460 (7th ed.), and Jelf, § 775.—P. S.]
[54][A dispute about the comparative greatness of Jacob could have led to no result, and is therefore wisely avoided, but the question, μὴ σύ μείζων εῖ̓, is virtually answered by what follows. If Jesus is the Messiah and the Giver of the water of eternal life, He is, of course, greater than Jacob, and all the patriarchs and prophets.—P. S.]
[55][Bengel (with whom Alford agrees) reconciles the two passages thus: “Sane aqua illa, quantum in se est, perennem habet virtutem; et ubi sitis recurrit, hominis, non aquæ defectus est: at aquæ elementaris potio sitim subinde ad aliquot tantummodo horas sedare valet.” Olshausen sees in Sirach the negative expression of the same idea, i. e., who drinks of the (essential, divine) Wisdom, is ever turned away from the temporal, and ever turned towards the eternal.” The apocryphal writer looks upon revelation as a growth, Christ as something completed. Hengstenberg: There is always deep contentment in the believer’s heart, though often concealed. (Calvin: nunquam prorsus aridi). Stier: Christ intensifies and reverses the more imperfect expression of the same truth in the O. T. Also the Christian must continue to drink of the water of life to the end. Drusius and Trench: He shall never thirst for any other water save this living water which Christ imparts.—P. S.]
[56][Comp. Isa_12:3 (“with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation”); Isa_55:1; Son_4:12 (“a spring shut up, a fountain sealed”); 15 (“a well of living waters and streams from Lebanon”); Rev_22:1.—P. S.]
[57][Grotius: Emphasis est in voce saliet. Solent enim aquæ salire ad altitudinem suæ originis. Trench: “These waters shall find their own level: they shall return to God whence they came. The water of life is borne upward by a supernatural impulse.”—P. S.]
[58] [Comp. the lines of Albert Knapp (in his beautiful poem on the Wurmlinger Capelle, near Tübingen):
“Was ewig ist will Ew’ges haben,
Muss an dem Lebensstrom sich laben,
Der ungetrübt und unverhüllt
Vom Throne des Allmächt’gen quillt.”—P. S.]
[59][So also Alford: “half in banter, half in earnest.”—P. S.]
[60][The address κύριε and the next word of Christ imply seriousness expressed with a simple-hearted naivete. The woman who had thirsted so long and found no satisfaction in sensual gratification, was still confused, but blindly longing after the water of life. So also Godet and Trench.—P. S.]
[61][Yet at the same time the beginning of her conversion. It proved her sincerity. She dare not call the man with whom she lived, her husband, and thus by implication admitted her guilt. Her subsequent conduct shows that she was moving in the right direction. See Dr. L.’s remarks further on.—P. S.]
[62][καλῶς, correctly, to the point (richtig, zutreffend), as Joh_8:48; Mat_15:7; Luk_20:39. In the next verse Christ says: τοῦτο ἀληθὲς εἴρηκας, she spoke the truth objectively (ἀληθές) in this one thing, but not truthfully (ἀληθῶς, subjectively), for she concealed her real guilt under the duplicity of ἄνδρα ἔχειν.—P. S.]
[63][Meyer and Godet likewise find something of irony in the words of Jesus. There is no doubt that the partial assent to the answer of the woman implies a rebuke, but no dissimulation. He simply draws her out, with a firm and gentle hand, from the hiding-places of her shame to the open daylight. While admitting the literal truth, He detects the hidden falsehood, yet so kindly and mildly as to conceal the censure under an approval. There are, however, clear instances of the use of irony and sarcasm in the Bible, e.g., in the epistles of Paul, and in Elijah’s remark about the priests of Baal, 1Ki_18:27.—P. S.]
[64][The five were lawful husbands, and are distinguished from the sixth, who was not. Whether she had forsaken her former husbands, or been forsaken by them, or lost them by death, there was certainly more or less guilt and shame in such unseemly haste and inordinate desire, as there was in her present intimacy with a paramour.—P. S.]
[65][The view of Strauss in the first ed. of his Leben Jesu (1835), Vol. I. p. 519, retained in the second, but abandoned in the third and fourth ed. (see ed. 4th, I. p. 541). He represents the story as an unconscious mytho-poetic fiction. Keim (Geschichte Jesu von Nazara, 1867, Vol. I., p. 116, footnote 3) changes the mythical interpretation into a symbolical, in the sense of a conscious invention of the Evangelist. This is still worse, but more consistent.—P. S.]
[66][Repeated in his Commentary on John (1861) I. 262 ff. Hengstenberg, of course, differs from Strauss and Keim in that he considers the narrative strictly historical as well as allegorical. The coincidence with the fact recorded 2 Kings 17 and by Josephus, is certainly remarkable, and the double meaning of living water, and give me to drink, etc. may be adduced in favor of this allegory. But when we attempt to carry it through it breaks down. See below. Wordsworth, without mentioning Hengstenberg, has adopted the allegorical view; Lücke, Stier, Meyer and Trench reject it; Alford ignores it.—P. S.]
[67][John Ruskin, the ablest English writer on æsthetics, in his work “The True, and the Beautiful in Nature, Art, Morals and Religion” (Am. Sel. p. 27) has some good remarks on the effects of sin and vice upon the human face and figure. He speaks “of the terrible stamp of various degradations; features seamed with sickness, dimmed by sensuality, convulsed by passion, pinched by poverty, shadowed by sorrow, branded with remorse; bodies consumed with sloth, broken by labor, tortured by disease, dishonored in foul uses; intellects without power, hearts without hope, minds earthly and devilish; our bones full of the sin of our youth, the heaven revealing our iniquity, the earth rising up against us, the roots dried up beneath, and the branches cut off above; well for us only if, after beholding this our natural face in a glass, we desire not straightway to forget what manner of men we be.”—P. S.]
[68][Comp. the remarks of Hengstenberg and Godet in agreement with Lange.—P. S.]
[69][Comp. also the very instructive article Samaria, by Petermann, in Herzog’s Real-Encyclopädie, Vol. XIII. pp. 359–391. According to Petermann, who derived much of his information from a Samaritan high-priest, the Samaritans now believe what they probably believed in the days of Christ, that the top of Mount Gerizim was the seat of paradise, that from its dust Adam was formed, that from this holy mountain the rains descend to fertilize the earth. They still point out on that mountain the spot where Adam built his first altar, where Seth did the same, where the ark rested after the flood—for they identify Gerizim with Mount Ararat—,where Noah erected an altar after the flood, where Abraham offered Isaac, and where Jacob slept and saw the ladder which reached to heaven. All these and other important events they locate on the highest plateau of Gerizim, where there is now nothing hut a forsaken mosque (l. c. p. 377).—P.S.]
[70][So also Meyer, Alford: the ancestors of the schismatic Samaritans, the founders of the Samaritan worship, the builders of the temple on Gerizim.—P. S.]
[71][Trench and Owen contend that a reference to the patriarchs, the common fathers of Jew and Samaritan, gives greater force to the woman’s question who had called Jacob our father (Joh_4:11) and did her best to maintain her position against the Jewish strangers. But it should be remembered that she already recognized in Him a prophet.—P. S.]
[72][Meyer infers from οὔτε ἐν ̔Ιεροσολύμοις, that the modern doctrine of a restoration of the glory of Jerusalem is a chiliastic dream.—P. S.]
[73][Cod. Sin. reads: ἐν πνεύματι ἀληθείας, in the Spirit of truth, probably referring πνεῦμα to the Holy Ghost.—P. S.]
[74][So also Godet: “L’espril designe ici cet élément le plus profond de l’ âme humaine, par lequel elle est capable de communiquer avec le monde divin. O’est le siége du recueillement, le sanctuarie où se célèbre le urai culte. Rom_1:9 : λατρεύω ἐν τῷ πνεύματι μου. Eph_6:18 : προσεύχεσθαι ἐν πνεύματι….Mais le πνεῦμα ἀνθρώπινον o’est qu’une simple virtualité. Il n’acquiert une énergie victorieuse, a l,égard des autres éléments de la vie humaine [σῶμα and ψυχή], qu’au contact de l’Esprit divin; et ce n’est que dans cette union qu’il réalise la vraie adoration, qui lui est attribute dans notre text et dans les passages cités. Ce premier trait caractérise l’intensité du culte nouveau.”—P. S.]
[75][Comp. Ps. 144:18 Sept.: ἐγγὺς κύριος πᾶσιν τοῖν ἐπικαλουμένοις αὐτὸν ἐν ἀληθείᾳ.]
[76][With reference to Joh_14:6, where Christ calls Himself “the Truth,” ἡ ἀλήθεια. Basil (De Spiritu Sancto, 26), and Ambrose (De Spiritu Sancto, iii. 11, 81), and Bengel likewise see here the whole mystery of the Trinity. Bengel: ‘Pater adoratur in Spiritu Sancto et in veritate per Jesum Christum. But in this case we should expect the article before πνεῦμα and ἀλήθεια.—P. S.]
[77][He adds: “Sed prius esto templum Dei, quia ille in templo suo exandiet orantem.”—P. S.]
[78][Hence placed first in Greek: πνεῦμα ὁ θεός, comp. Joh_1:1 : θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος. The absence of the article indicates the generic character, the essence of the spirit here spoken of, not the personality. The same is the case with θεός Joh_1:1. Hence the indefinite article of the E. V. (a Spirit) should be omitted. God is pure spirit, absolute spirit, in opposition to all materialistic and materializing conceptions. This clearly implies that the anthropomorphic expressions of the Bible must not be taken literally. Tertullian ascribed to God a body, corporeity, but perhaps he meant it in the sense of substance. Comp. an able article of Ackermann on πνεῦμα, νοῦς, und Geist, in the Theol. Studien und Kritiken for 1839, pp. 873–944.—P. S.]
[79][Trench also (p. 123) sees in these words of the woman a cry of helplessness connected with a timid presentiment, such as she hardly dares own, much less ventures to utter: “Thou perhaps art He whom we look for.”—P. S.]
[80][Another Moses, Deu_18:15.]
[81][So also Trench; comp. Joh_1:41; Joh_11:16; Joh_20:26; Joh_21:2.]
[82][Comp. Mat_8:4; Mat_16:20; Mat_17:9; Joh_9:31.]
[83][The same contempt for woman we find among Christian monks, especially in the East, even such men as St. Anthony and Pachomius. Some church fathers are not free from it.—P. S.]
[84][And the exaggeration of a lively womanly temper.—P. S.]
[85][Meyer: The woman believes in the Messiahship of Jesus, but, carried away by the greatness of the discovery, she does not trust herself, and ventures only modestly and doubtingly to ask.—P. S.]
[86][On the chronological value of the passage, which Alford denies, see Wieseler: Chronol. Synapse, p. 214 ff., and Robinson: Harmony of the four Gaspels in Greek, p. 189. Christ must have tarried in Judea about eight months, from the preceding passover in April (Joh_2:13; Joh_2:23) till December.—P. S.]
[87][So also Meyer: Christ looked prophetically beyond the approaching Sycharites to the green fields of the whole humanity, for whose conversion He laid the foundation. Godet denies this general reference and confines the scene to an extemporized Samaritan harvest festival.—P. S.]
[88][On the difference of ἀληθινός genuine, and ἀληθής, true, see my note on I, 9, p. 66. Meyer: “Die Fassung von ἀληθινός gleich ἀληθής 2Pe_2:22 (De Wette, u. V.) ist ganz gegen die Johanneische Eigenthümlickkeit (auch xix. 35).” ἐστιν is here=applies, comp. συμβέβηκεν, 2Pe_2:22.—P. S.]
[89][“Habet Deus suas horas et moras.” “God’s mills grind slowly, but surely and finely.”—P. S.]
[90][In correspondence with ὐμεῖς, as it was ἄλλος—ἄλλος in the proverb. So also Lücke. Stier, Alford and Trench, who find here an antithesis not between two different companies of laborers—the prophets and the Apostles—but between Christ Himself and His Apostles, the Master and His servants.—P. S.]
[91][Calvin, Alford and others, take λαλιά here in the classical sense, garrulous talk, babbling, gossip (Geschwiltz Gerede); but in later Greek (Polybius, Josephus, Sept., Apocrypha) it has no such slighting usage, certainly not in John, who ascribes it to Christ, Joh_8:43. It is equivalent to λόγος, Joh_4:39, but properly chosen from the standpoint of the speaking Samaritans, while John as reporter uses as aptly τὸν λόγον. Comp, Meyer on Joh_8:43 (p. 356). Trench remarks (p. 135): “This speech of her fellow-townsmen to the woman has nothing rude or offensive about it, rather, indeed the contrary: We set our own seals to the truth of thy report.”—P. S.]
[92][Comp here the remarks of Calvin and Trench, p. 136, to the same point. The historical character of the narrative is vindicated even in this circumstance that it puts the expression σωτὴρ τοῦ κόσμου, which nowhere else occurs in the Gospels, into the month, not of bigoted, particularistic Jews, but of Samaritans who had no exclusive claims and privileges and could accept salvation only on the same terms as the heathen. Trench thinks it likely that they may have found some ground for this belief in the prophecy of Shiloh, to whom “shall the gathering of the people be” (Gen_49:10), which the Samaritans of old referred to the Messiah, while the modern Samaritans refer it to Solomon.—P. S.]
[93][In the first volume of his Meditations on the Essence of Christianity. I quote from the English translation N. Y., 1865, pp. 323 ff.]
[94][Vulgate. Joh_4:6 : “Jesus fatigatus ex itinere, sedebat sic supra fontem.”]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16, 19, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 34, 35, 36, 38, 39, 40 Jesus baptized not--John being a servant baptized with his…
Jesus baptized not--John being a servant baptized with his own hand; Christ as the Master, "baptizing with the Holy Ghost," administered the outward symbol only through His disciples.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 42 Mat_4:12; Mar_1:14; Luk_4:14-15.
§ 23.—JESUS AFTER JOHN’S IMPRISONMENT RETIRES THROUGH SAMARIA TO GALILEE.
THE SAMARITAN WOMAN AND TOWNSMEN 1-42.
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Mat_4:12; Mar_1:14; Luk_4:14-15.
1. Lord knew… Pharisees had heard—Jesus may have heard of the question between the disciples of John and the Jew, (Joh_3:25,) who was evidently of the party of the Pharisees. The Pharisees are the unbelieving ruling class, who at first rejected John; and then when Jesus appeared, and announced himself by the purifying of the temple at the Passover, grew jealous of him. They saw that his claims were bolder than those of John; and following him with their eyes as he retired to baptize, they learned that the popularity of his baptism flung John’s into the shade. The intelligence which Jesus now receives decides two things; 1. He, more than John, is now the prominent object of the ruling odium, although even John was about to be cast into prison. 2. His baptism is decisively rejected by the Jewish representative government. Correspondently he does two things: he withdraws himself from their jurisdiction and view by departing to Galilee; and he henceforth entirely withholds baptism until its renovation after his resurrection. See note on Joh_3:23.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 42 1. When therefore the Lord knew] The ‘therefore’ refers…
1. When therefore the Lord knew] The ‘therefore’ refers us back to Joh_3:26. Of the many who came to Christ some told the Pharisees of His doings, just as others told John.
the Pharisees] See on Joh_1:24.
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made and baptized] Literally, is making and baptizing, the very words of the report are given. This is important as shewing the meaning of the next verse, which is a correction not of the Evangelist’s own statement but of the report. In the Authorised Version S. John seems to be correcting himself: he is really correcting the report carried to the Pharisees.
than John] They did not object so much to John’s making disciples. He disclaimed being the Messiah, and he took his stand on the Law. Moreover, he ‘did no miracle.’ They could understand his position much better than that of Jesus, and feared it less. See on Joh_6:15.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv1–42 (1) When therefore the Lord knew.—The second clause of…
(1) When therefore the Lord knew.—The second clause of this verse is given in the exact words of the report which came to the Pharisees: When therefore the Lord knew that the Pharisees heard, “Jesus maketh and baptizeth more disciples than John.”
The report which reached John (Joh_3:26) had come to them also, and the inference from His retirement is that it had excited their hostility. The hour to meet this has not yet come, and He withdraws to make, in a wider circle, the announcement which He has made in the Temple, in Jerusalem, in Judæa, and is about to make in Samaria and in Galilee.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42 Vers. 1-42. 7. The ministry and revelation of the…
Vers. 1-42. 7. The ministry and revelation of the Lord to those beyond the strict compass of the theocracy. This passage describes an incident of consummate interest, and records a specimen of our Lord"s intercourse with individuals, and the reaction of that instruction upon the disciples. The event is a solitary chink through which the light of historical fact falls upon an otherwise darkened and unknown period of the Saviour"s life. When we skirt a forest we see at intervals, where by some accident of growth the light falls upon a narrow space, a miniature world of life and loveliness of every kind, suggesting what might happen if every square yard of the forest could receive a similar illumination. Every day of that wondrous life of Christ may have been equally full of meaning to some souls. "These things are written, that we may believe that Jesus is the Son of God; and that believing we may have life.
The relation of the Jews to the Samaritans gives a special character and both typical and symbolical meaning to the incident. The lifelike reality of the scene, the extreme unlikelihood of such an event having been fabricated with consummate art to establish any specific theological conclusion, the natural appropriateness of the transaction, all confer a high value and historicity upon this paragraph. Thoma, after the manner of Strauss, finds the origin of every detail in the story of Eliezer at the well; but there are no limits to what allegorists may dream, if the reins are thrown on the neck of imagination. The story of Philip"s ministry in Samaria and the successes of the gospel in the early days of Christianity are also supposed to have aided the composition of the story. In our opinion, Acts 8 is better explained from Joh 4 than the reverse process. Baur"s supposition, that the author sought to contrast the cautious hesitation of the Jewish doctor with the susceptible emotional disposition of the Samaritan woman as the representative of the Gentile world, is unreasonable. The woman is represented as a believer in Divine revelation and worship, in the early traditions of the Jews themselves, and even in their Messianic hopes, which, in this instance, were more spiritual than those of the Jews.
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There are numerous debates as to the origin of the Samaritan nation, and opinions waver as to whether they were the descendants of those remnants of the kingdom of Israel who were left in the district once occupied by the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, after the final deportation under Shalmaneser (or Sargon, as the Assyrian inscriptions make probable), together with the heathen settlers who had been mixed up with them, or were solely and purely of Assyrian origin, as they appear to maintain. (Ezr_4:2) The narrative of 2Ki_25:12 implies that all the inhabitants were carried away to cities of the Medes, but it is tolerably clear and eminently probable (2Ch_34:9) that there were some of the people left behind; so that the extent to which Israelitish blood and ideas prevailed in the mongrel race is very difficult to determine. We know that heathen notions of Jehovah, and the worship of graven images, were curiously blended. (2Ki_17:28-41 2Ch_34:6, 2Ch_34:7) But this is only what might be anticipated if their moral and religious degeneration corresponded with the charges brought against them by Hosea and Amos. In the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, efforts on their part to share in the honours and independence of Judah were sternly interdicted, and the interdict avenged by angry recriminations which delayed the progress of reconstruction. The antagonism commenced then was deepened into a deadly rivalry by the erection of a temple to Jehovah on Mount Gerizim (B.C. 409), and by Manasseh, brother of the high priest of Judah, beingdriven from Jerusalem by his refusal to renounce Sanballat"s daughter, and by his becoming high priest of the heretical temple. This temple on Gerizim, in close proximity with the site of Shechem, the abode of the first patriarchs, gave dignity and solidity to some of their traditions and claims; and the modifications they had introduced into the text of the Pentateuch in their celebrated version of it helped to aggravate the schism between the two peoples. The district of country was held during the quarrels of the Ptolemies and Seleucidae alternately by both. Samaritan hatred of the Jews led them to purchase peace during the cruel oppression of Judah under Antiochus Epiphanes, by dedicating their temple to Zeus (Josephus, "Ant.," 12:5, 5), and again by siding with the Syrians against the Maccabees. Their temple was destroyed by John Hyrcanus, B.C. 130, and its ruins only were visible in the time of Christ. The city of Sebaste was built by Herod, on the site of the city of Samaria, and Flavia Neapolis, now called Nablous, was erected on the site or close neighbourhood of the ancient Shechem. There were mutual recriminations between Jews and Samaritans, which led to strained relations and fierce condemnation, and yet, strange to say, the rabbis did not treat the land as "unclean" (Edersheim, "Life of Jesus the Messiah," bk. 3, 100, 7), and consequently the disciples were not precluded from purchasing articles of food from the Samaritan village. They were the "foolish people," "abhorred" of devout Jews (Ecclus. 50, 25, 26); and Rabbi Chuda treated them as heathens, yet Simon ben Gamaliel regarded them as Israelites, and the "Mishnah" shows that in many of their customs they resembled the Jews. It is doubtful whether they denied the resurrection, and it is certain that their principal tenets and practices were derived from the old revelation. The opposition was felt so strongly by some Jews in the northern province of Galileo that they travelled to Jerusalem through Persea in order to avoid it.
Our Lord"s treatment of Samaritans in this narrative seems at first sight inconsistent with Mat_10:5, where the apostles are advised to avoid cities of the Samaritans on their first experimental journey. Still, there is a difference between Christ"s "passing through" Samaria, on his way to Galilee, and his limiting the early proclamation of the kingdom to "the lost sheep of the house of Israel." The disciples were not then to be entrusted with a commission which, not until after Pentecost, they would fulfil with so much joy (Acts 8). The success of Philip, Peter, and John may have been due to the first sowing of the heavenly seed by the Lord himself.
That Christ should have chosen a woman of doubtful reputation from a semi-alien and accursed race to have received some of his greatest teaching (albeit there was no less an ear than John"s at hand to record the marvel) is akin to many of the mysteries of his life. Why, it is sometimes asked, did he not proclaim his sublimest thoughts in the schools or temple courts? Why did he confine them to Nicodemus and the Samaritaness? There is no reason to compel us to any such conclusion. The simple fact before us is full justification of the belief that on many another occasion as well as on this, he uttered like things.
Vers. 1-6. (1) The contrast between Jewish unsusceptibility and Samaritan pre-disposition to faith.
Vers. 1, 2. When therefore the Lord a few occasions are found in the Gospels where this appellative, without any proper name, is used for, (Joh_6:23 Joh 11:2 Luk_10:1 Luk_17:5 Luk_22:61) and on these occasions some special suggestion is made of the Divine rank and personality of Jesusknew that the Pharisees heard; i.e. were taking notice, after their wont, with secret machination and with open hostility, of the course which he was pursuing. The treatment which John the Baptist received at their hands was pointedly referred to by our Lord on two occasions. (Mat_17:12, 13 21:23-32) They did not believe in John"s baptism. The publicans and harlots had repented and pressed into the kingdom before them. This "generation" did whatever it listed to the Elias. Therefore we judge that Herod"s persecution, stimulated by his guilty passions, was assisted by "the offspring of vipers." They had probably broken up the baptismal enthusiasm of the multitudes, and aided Herod to shut up John in the castle of Machearus, and hence their present "hearing" meant immediate and hostile action. Jesus had left the temple, and retired to the courts and homes and neighbourhood of Jerusalem; and then was only visited at night by solitary men, who ought to have come in crowds. He left Jerusalem itself for some point in Judaean territory, and there continued for a season the preparatory call for repentance and conversion. The extraordinary success of Jesus at this period excited the special attention of the Pharisees. The matter that came to their ears was that Jesus makes and baptizes more disciples than John. In other words, they heard of an extraordinary wave of popular excitement, yet of nothing answering to the Baptist"s imagination of what ought to have taken place. John"s ideas corresponded more closely than the teaching of Jesus did with the tenets and methods of the Pharisees. We find that the disciples of John are coupled with Pharisees in the matter of fasting, (Mat_9:14 and parallel passages) yet that John"s preaching and baptism were distasteful to the Pharisees. A fortiori the baptism of Jesus would be still more offensive, for it was doubtless accompanied by more searching demands. It had invaded the temple precincts, it had advanced more conspicuous personal claims. John said, "I am come to prepare the way of the Lord;" Jesus said, "I am come down from heaven." (Although (and yet) Jesus himself (in person) baptized not, but his disciples performed the act.) This parenthetical clause, explanatory of the statement of Joh_3:22, as well as of the previous verse, is justified on the simple ground that Jesus baptized with the Spirit, and not with water. For him to baptize into his own name would have been to darken the mystery; for him to baptize into One who should come would in a way have hidden the fact that he had come. The administration of the rite by the few disciples who were with him would preserve all the symbolism of the new observance. We have no repetition of this statement, nor the faintest hint that the apostles continued this Johannine ceremonial. Moulton and some others lay emphasis on the present; tenses, "makes and baptizes," and therefrom argue that the ministry of John had not yet been brought to a termination, that John was not yet cast into prison, and that the journey into Galilee does not correspond with that described in Matthew 4, but thai; our Lord removed from Judaea simply to avoid the apparent rivalry between the two baptismal and evangelistic ministries. When Jesus knew that the Pharisees had heard, etc., he resolved upon a new and startling course.
Vers. 1-6. The journey of our Lord through Sumatra.
We are now to see the firstfruits of Gentile conversion.
I CONSIDER THE CAUSE OF CHRIST"S DEPARTURE FROM JUDEA TO GALILEE. "When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, he left Judaea and departed again into Galilee.
1. The anger of the Pharisees was roused by the greater success of Jesus. "All men were coming to him", (Joh_3:26) to be his disciples and to receive his baptism. John was now in prison. Nothing more was to he apprehended from the rousing ministry of the Baptist. But a more formidable Teacher had appeared in the land, who commanded a still wider acceptance. The fact that the Baptist had borne testimony to Jesus, and that our Lord was more independent of Pharisaic traditions in the spirit of his work, made him vastly more dangerous to the dominance of the leading religious party.
2. It argued no cowardice on the part of Christ to leave Judaea in circumstances of danger. He himself counselled his apostles to follow his example: "When they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another". (Mat_10:23)
II THE NECESSITY THAT DIRECTED HIS ROAD THROUGH SAMARIA. "And he must needs go through Samaria." This was necessarily the direct route to Galilee, but was usually avoided through the particularistic spirit of the Jews, if not from an apprehension of Samaritan hostility.
1. We remark how the hostility of the Pharisees in Judaea was overruled for the conversion of the Samaritans.
2. This visit of mercy to Samaria is not inconsistent with the original commission given to the apostles. "Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel". (Mat_10:5, Mat_10:6)
(1) The limitation in the commission is confined to that one mission only, for in the final commission (Act_1:8) Jesus says, "Ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and to the uttermost part of the earth.
(2) The commission recognizes merely the prior claim of the Jew in order of time. "To the Jew first, and also to the Gentile.
(3) The apostles needed to be gradually disciplined to more catholic ideas by the action of our Lord himself in inaugurating the mission to the Samaritans.
(4) Consider how persistent Jesus was in well doing. He has no sooner ceased to labour in Judea than he resumes his task by the way to Galilee. Truly he "went about every day doing good.
III THE SCENE OF HIS SAMARITAN LABOURS. "Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground which Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
1. The city is the modern Nablous, where the Samaritans still live.
2. The people were a mixture of five nations, transported from the East to occupy Samaria after the exile of its native inhabitants. They were more hated by the Jews than the Gentiles themselves, and were never received as proselytes. Hate begat hate. The moral separation was complete.
3. Jacob"s well was the spot where the first word of grace was spoken to the Samaritans. "Now Jacob"s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus upon the well.
(1) Jesus was weary with travel in the heat of the day; for "it was about the sixth hour one o"clock in the day.
(a) It was a mark of his poverty that he travelled on foot.
(b) It was a mark of his true humanity that he had full experience of its infirmities.
(2) Mark how Divine providence brings together the Saviour and the sinner at the "meeting place of destiny." The woman comes to draw water; Jesus sits, a wearied traveller by the well, seeking the relief of his thirst.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv1, 9, 10, 11, 15, 16, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28, 29, 35, 41, 42 When therefore the Lord knew
Joh_4:1-42
When therefore the Lord knew
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The first visit to Samaria
I.
THE STORY ITSELF.
1. The memorable halt (Joh_4:1-6).
2. The surprising request (Joh_4:7-9).
3. The opened vista (Joh_4:10).
4. The proud reminiscence (Joh_4:11-12).
5. The perennial fountain (Joh_4:13-14).
6. The weary request (Joh_4:15).
7. The merciful wound (Joh_4:16-18).
8. The everlasting debate (Joh_4:19-20).
9. The majestic annunciation (Joh_4:21-24).
10. The sublime claim (Joh_4:25-26).
11. The marvellous wonder (Joh_4:17).
12. The startling surmise (Joh_4:28-30).
13. The bidden manna (Joh_4:31-35).
14. The cheery parable (Joh_4:35-38).
15. The glorious harvest (Joh_4:39-42).
II. LESSONS OF THE STORY:
1. The duty of seizing opportunities.
2. A model for religious conversation.
3. The true method of quenching the souls thirst (Joh_4:13-14).
4. The spirituality of Christian worship (Joh_4:21-24).
5. A test of Messiahship (Joh_4:29).
6. The sense of vocation the true food (verse 31-34).
7. Harvesting the Churchs privilege and duty (Joh_4:35).
8. The community of Christian fruition (Joh_4:36).
9. The present the harvest of the past (Joh_4:37-38).
10. The power of a single conversion (Joh_4:39).
11. Spiritual privileges to be cherished (Joh_4:40).
12. The superiority of personal experience (Joh_4:41-42).
13. A pastors personal invitation. (G. D. Boardman, D. D.)
Christ at Jacobs well
This history teaches us that
I. No soul is so LOST BUT THE LORD CAN FIND IT. Frivolity was natural to this woman. She had lived without restraint and morality. Woman has one safeguard against sin--innate delicacy. This lost, all is lost; and this was so with the Samaritan. How many would have turned away from her as hopeless, But Christ turns to her because she is a soul whom the Father has given Him to save.
II. NO OCCASION IS SO TRIFLING BUT THE LORD CAN USE IT. The woman comes to draw water, a common act, by a common way. Who would have thought that the way would have led to everlasting life? The least trifle may become in Gods hand a means of salvation: a word spoken at random, a familiar scene, an unforeseen hindrance, the monotony of life, the influence of a friend. Gods seeking grace encompasses us like the air we breathe.
III. NO STRENGTH IS SO FEEBLE BUT THE LORD CAN INCREASE IT. Few could have been morally weaker than this woman. She lacked the power to understand Christ and to know herself. Christ had to awaken everything in her. So are we impotent; but the Spirit of Christ helps our infirmities. Christ asks in order that He may give. He requires humility, but only to exalt, the surrender of the old life in order to confer life eternal.
IV. NO BEGINNING IS SO SMALL BUT THE LORD CAN LEAD IT TO A BLESSED END. What a small beginning here I And yet before long a disciple and evangelist is found. Dont despise little beginnings and struggling souls. (Carl Keogh, D. D.)
Jesus at the well
I. A SYMPATHETIC COMPANION.
1. Sharing human infirmity (Joh_4:6; Isa_53:3; Mat_4:2; Mar_14:34; Joh_11:35; Joh_19:28).
2. Accepting human supplies (Joh_4:7; Mat_21:17; Mar_2:16; Luk_7:36; Luk_19:5; Luk_24:41).
3. Surpassing human expectations (Joh_4:9; Mat_8:27; Mat_9:8; Mat_22:22; Mar_5:20; Joh_3:9).
II. A HELPFUL COMPANION.
1. Dispelling ignorance (Joh_4:10; Mar_2:10; Luk_19:42; Joh_10:38; Joh_13:7; Joh_15:15).
2. Arousing desire (Joh_4:14; Mat_5:6; Mat_11:28; Joh_3:12; Joh_14:12; Joh_16:24).
3. Begetting prayer (Joh_4:15; Mat_9:27; Mat_15:22; Mat_20:30; Mk Luk_18:41).
III. A DIVINE COMPANION.
1. Knowing all things (Joh_4:17; Joh_1:48; Joh_2:25; Joh_16:30; Joh_21:17; Col_2:3).
2. Illustrating true worship (Joh_4:23; Exo_20:3; 2Ki_17:35; Psa_96:9; Jer_25:6; Mat_4:10).
3. Avowing the Messiahship (Joh_4:26; Psa_2:6; Mat_16:16; Joh_11:27; Act_3:18; Act_17:7. (S. S. Times.)
Jesus at the well
How immense the distance between Give Me to drink and I am He.
I. AN OBJECT-LESSON IN THE ART OF RELIGIOUS CONVERSATION.
1. No duty more difficult than that of opening out a conversation on the things of the soul. This an art, because we must learn it by practice through mistakes and discouragement. Jesus left few discourses, because His teaching was mostly conversational, suggested by passing things. Beginning here with human thirst and eliciting questions, He gradually and naturally led up and on to the highest truths.
2. Notice the skill with which Jesus avoids a plain answer to a plain question, and so replies that He becomes the questioner and arouses deepening curiosity and interest.
3. The use He made of the womans moral intuitions and the truths she already knew. This was the favourite method of His dialectics.
4. Here do we need our lesson from Christ.
(1) How perfectly He entered into human need!
(2) He had infinite patience with the narrow and dull and earthbound.
(3) With all this went an equal faith in that hidden but immortal power to which He appealed.
II. THE TRUTHS OF THIS DISCOURSE.
1. Living water.
(1) The comparison of spiritual blessings to water familiar in Scripture.
(2) The characteristic of this water is that it is a gift. Men do not have to fetch, buy, nor earn salvation, but receive it.
(3) This water of life is not Christ, for He gives it, but the whole truth and grace which make for salvation.
2. True worship.
(1) The vital inward power brings one into the true attitude of worship. The heart first, form afterwards.
(2) True worship must be an inward secret thing. Ritual, music, etc., only aid the silent movements of the soul towards God.
(3) True worship must be true to Gods requirements and our own moral wants, not merely honest and sincere, although misguided, but in accordance with the reality of things.
(4) The Father seeks such worship.
3. Jesus the Messiah. Salvation was of the Jews, but Christ was the fulfilment of hopes as old as the race. (Sermons by the Monday Club.)
The woman of Samaria
1. The person here introduced was a member of a race specially hateful to the Jews; but Jesus was above the prejudice of His nation.
2. The Samaritan was a woman. Never speak to a woman in the street, even if she be thy wife; Burn the words of the law rather than teach them to a woman, were current maxims in Jewish society. But Christ, in the unsullied purity of His manhood, brushed aside as cobwebs all social regulations which tended to perpetuate feminine servitude.
3. This woman lived in habitual sin. But Christ came to save sinners. Notice Jesus Christ
I. ENLIGHTENING THE WOMAN. He leads her from natural to spiritual subjects.
1. Observe His sweet courtesy. He opens the conversation, not with a sneer or opprobrious epithet, after the manner of a Jew, but with a request; and notwithstanding her ungracious rebuff, not one word of rebuke escapes Him. A most gentlemanly stranger. True religion teaches us to be courteous. This urbanity impressed her, and He became successively in her eyes Jew, Sir, Prophet, Christ. The truth must be spoken in love, and love will impress quite as much as truth.
2. Notice that the womans lack of culture did not hinder Christ making the grandest disclosures. A radical mistake is made when the attempt is made to simplify the gospel beyond what Christ has done. The sublime will always awaken the corresponding consciousness. This is one reason why the words of Christ have more power and permanence than the systems of men.
3. The Lord made a discovery to this woman which He never made to any one else--His Messiahship. Why? Because that would not have been safe in Judaea or Galilee? Rather because of the different dispositions of those He addressed.
II. RECLAIMING THE WOMAN. The object of His enlightening her was to save her.
1. Christ always aimed at doing good.
(1) In ancient times men did good spasmodically; relief was the result of natural impulse. But in Christianity impulse has been dignified into a principle.
(2) Plato and Aristotle teach you to love men for your own sakes; Christ for their sakes and His. The essence of the gospel is not self-interest, but self-sacrifice.
2. He sought to do the highest good by reclaiming the worst characters. There are three stages in history relative to this subject.
(1) A state of well-nigh complete insensibility. The Iliad delineated heroes and cowards, strong men and weak, but not good and bad.
(2) The next stage is marked by the awakening of conscience and of the idea of right and wrong. Virtue is applauded, vice censured. But the idea of justice taught men to sympathize with the man sinned against, not the sinner.
(3) The last stage is that of full-orbed mercy in Christ, teaching us to compassionate both the injurer and the injured. Christ changed the attitude of the world in respect to its notorious sinners.
3. To accomplish these ends He threw into His philanthropic movements unprecedented zeal (Joh_4:34).
(1) He had infinite faith in human nature. He saw its hidden potentialities. A lady, examining one of Turners pictures, remarked: But, Mr. T., I do not see these things in nature. Madam, replied the artist, with pardonable naiveté, dont you wish you did? Christ saw what none of His contemporaries saw. The age was pessimistic; Christ was the only optimist of His time.
(2) According to the strength of His hope was the fervour of His zeal.
III. INSPIRING THE WOMAN, inparting to her His own enthusiasm.
1. She at once set about converting her neighbours. She did not lecture them; she only related her experience. We can also say if we cannot preach. Despise not the day of small things. Her saying led to the evangelization of a whole city.
2. The success attending the womans simple efforts filled the Saviour with holy joy. (J. Cynddylan Jones, D. D.)
Christ and the woman of Samaria
I. THE MINGLED TACT AND CONDESCENSION OF CHRIST IN DEALING WITH A CARELESS SINNER. He does not begin with reproof, but with a request for water, a subject uppermost in her thoughts. This at once threw a bridge across the gulf between them. So Christian workers must go to the sinful, and bear down upon them in the spirit of friendly aggression, studying the best avenues to their hearts, and avoiding any show of superiority.
II. CHRISTS READINESS TO GIVE MERCIES TO CARELESS SINNERS. If she had asked, He would have given. Ask and receive.
III. THE PRICELESS EXCELLENCE OF CHRISTS GIFTS WHEN COMPARED WITH THE THINGS OF THIS WORLD (Joh_4:13-14). Thousands of men have every temporal good, and are yet weary and dissatisfied. Jesus alone can give solid happiness. His waters may have their ebbing seasons, but they are never completely dried.
IV. THE ABSOLUTE NECESSITY OF CONVICTION TO CONVERSION. The woman was comparatively unmoved until our Lord exposed her breach of the seventh commandment. From that moment she is an Inquirer after truth. Till a sinner sees himself as God sees him he will continue careless and trifling. Conscience must be pricked by the preaching of the law.
V. THE USELESSNESS OF ANY RELIGION WHICH ONLY CONSISTS OF FORMALITY. True and acceptable worship depends on the state of the worshippers heart (1Sa_16:7).
VI. CHRISTS GRACIOUS WILLINGNESS TO REVEAL HIMSELF TO THE CHIEF OF SINNERS. Nowhere in the gospels do we find such an explicit avowal as in Joh_4:26. Whatever a mans past life may have been there is hope and a remedy for him in Christ. He will undertake to cure the apparently incurable. (Bp. Ryle.)
The lost one met and saved
I. THE JOURNEY.
1. The occasion (Joh_4:1; cf. Isa_51:13).
2. The route. There were four routes (Mat_19:2; Act_23:23). The Jews usually chose that by the Jordan valley, to avoid Samaria.
3. The reason (Luk_9:10).
4. The rest. Notice Christs humanity.
II. THE MEETING.
1. The woman
(1) A Samaritan;
(2) with some knowledge of God (Joh_4:20);
(3) expecting the Messiah (Joh_4:25).
2. The time. Midday. Not the usual hour for drawing water; but a time for such an one to do so unobserved.
3. The request. Compliance with it would have done honour to an archangel. Christ placed Him- self in the position of one desiring a benefit.
4. The reply (Joh_4:9). This man is not like other Jews.
III. THE CONVERSION.
1. The first flash of light (Joh_4:10; cf. Eph_5:14). Water is sold in Egypt as the gift of God.
2. Its reception (Joh_4:11-12). The woman is perplexed, and seems to struggle between the literal and the spiritual. She changes her mode of address--Sir. Our Lord takes no notice of her query, but addresses her state of mind.
3. The leading on (verses 13, 14). The womans desire is intensified. The light becomes obscured. How true a picture of an awakening soul I
4. The revelation (verse 16). The request is granted in Christs way, not in hers. He flashes light on her soul and her past (verses 18, 29).
5. Her anxious inquiry (verses 19, 20). How is salvation to be obtained? Not by forms, places, etc.
6. The gift received (verses 25, 26).
IV. THE EFFECT (verse 28). She hastens away a saved sinner to save others Joh_1:41-45). See a mark of her change, as showing its reality in the fuluess of her confession (Joh_1:29; cf. Joh_1:17; Luk_19:8; Luk_23:41; Rom_10:10). (J. Gill.)
Jesus at the well of Sychar
The Fourth Gospel may be called the Gospels of the Conversations, for, more than any other, it reports particular interviews of our Lord with individuals. These conversations, too, are real conversations, for Jesus was not like some famous men, who discourse in monologue. Even His addresses to the multitude were often interrupted by the inquiries or remarks of others, and, in smaller companies, He guided the conversation, while apparently taking the lesser part. The golden silences of Jesus are very marked, and George Borrow, in that fascinating book, The Bible in Spain, relates that the taciturn people of the little Republic of Andorra noticed these silences, and said of them, Jesus played the Andorran. While He spoke with authority, yet He dispelled all feeling of restraint, and even seemed to awaken in others unwonted freedom. Not unfrequently He gave the thought, and let them do the talking. Christ never appears to have saved anything for a large audience, nor feared that any utterance of truth, breathed into the receptive heart of however humble a hearer, could fail of its effect. And these conversations all have a personal turn. They attach great principles to common life, and they lead people through their own needs to the grandest spiritual truths. Jesus evidently has confidence in the living power of truth, and therefore does not press it, but leaves His hearers to follow out the idea and make the application for themselves. If, then, we would understand the effect of our Lords conversation with the woman of Samaria, we must read it in the message she bore to her people: Come, see a man which told me all things that ever I did. Can this be the Christ? This perfect knowledge of the Christ is our greatest safeguard. It is needful, to defend us from plunging farther into sin, that we have the confidence of a loving Saviour. When we are on the verge of temptation, the thought that He knows and grieves over our past sins may win us back. When will we learn the noonday lesson taught at the well of Sychar, that it is the Christ who reveals us to ourselves! It is not for you to find out your sin, but for Him to reveal it to you. With the Psalmist, you ask God to search you, that you may be led in the way everlasting. You are to become acquainted with your own heart by having Him read it to you; and all you can tell Him will be of that which He has told you before. Repentance now loses its bitterness, because it is the revelation of the Christ. Once, says Luther, I thought no word so bitter as repentance; now there is none more sweet, and those passages in the Bible that used to terrify me now smile and sport about me. In the same spirit, Augustine says, in his Confessions, I will now call to mind my past foulness and the carnal corruptions of my soul; not because I love them, but that I may love Thee, O my God. For love of Thy love I do it; reviewing my most wicked ways in the very bitterness of my remembrance, that Thou mayest grow sweet unto me. The power of such a revelation of the Christ is manifest in the fact, that the largest harvest of souls our Lord ever gathered while on earth was reaped in the two days He spent at Sychar. A soul brought face to face with Him, beholding His glory by being self-revealed, is a fit instrument to convey to others the advent of the Christ. (James G. Vose.)
The model Teacher
I. His ZEAL.
1. He went to a most unwelcome neighbourhood. His hereditary prejudices were arrayed against it, yet, when the world of Palestine was open to Him, our Lord mast needs go through it.
2. He became a teacher. What condescension of His; what an ennobling of the office.
3. He was satisfied with a class of one scholar. He talked just as long, kindly, and eloquently as He did to thousands. The great doctrines were in many cases given quietly to individuals. Regeneration to Nicodemus; resurrection to Martha; spirituality of worship to this woman.
4. He occupied Himself with a disagreeable pupil. Never was there more unpromising scholar.
5. He laboured with her when He was wearied almost to exhaustion.
II. His TACT.
1. How ingenious He was in catching an illustration to interest her mind. He took her water-pot for His text, as He did afterwards fish, loaves, etc. Try to link the unknown on to the known.
2. How quick He was in turning the illustration so as to impress her conscience. He knew He had done nothing until He made her feel that she was a sinner. So McCheyne, standing before a forge fire, said gently to the workmen, Who can dwell with everlasting burnings; and Payson to his coach companion on nearing their destination, Are you prepared for the end of the journey which is so much longer than this?
III. His SPIRITUALITY. He made the interview religious. Like all other sinners, the woman wanted to talk about something else.
1. Jesus avoided all discussion of sectarian questions. She
(1) Proposed sectarian questions;
(2) Suggested ritualistic points;
(3) Ventured on speculative inquiries.
2. Jesus pressed home the one lesson He wanted her to learn first of all. He told her of
(1) The exact state of her case, and drew her to an admission of it;
(2) The demands of Divine law;
(3) The Redeemers help.
3. Jesus completed His work by disclosing Himself. (C. S.Robinson, D. D.)
The pedagogy or rudimentary teaching of Jesus
The Church has a twofold mission.
1. To collect the masses, to bear patiently with them and educate them.
2. To go after individuals, person- ally to lay hold of their inner life in order to bring them into a state of salvation. Particular communions have leaned some to one side and some to the other. Romanism has cultivated the social element; lesser communities have laid greater stress on individual faith. Both objects ought always to be united. Let us learn from the pedagogic example of the Lord. Here He reaches the community through the individual; but the individual must first be educated to the faith and knowledge of the truth. There are three steps.
I. The first is reached BY AWAKENING IN THE WOMAN A SENSE OF A DEEPER WANT, the desire for something better than this well can offer.
1. She had regarded life as a matter of sensual enjoyment. The accusations of conscience had not troubled her, and she was happy in her way.
2. Jesus makes her discontented. It was not cruel, only inevitably painful, as is a surgical operation. To destroy quiet is the first step to the cure. Suspended between heaven and earth our souls are drawn to God, but bound to the World, and in the latter we seek happiness. This is the delusion of sin. A life of worldliness assumes a variety of forms, from the most degraded to the most refined, but the principle is the same. And that all is vanity is the first lesson we must learn and teach, to excite the desire for living water.
II. GO, CALL THY HUSBAND, is the second stage. The first is of doubtful result. It may lead right or left; to pride and contempt of other men who have no aspiration. Christs words, therefore, lead us from the struggle without to that within, to sin as the occasion of the mischief. This sin we must willingly know and renounce. This the woman was led to by the look of love which read her history in her heart. This teaches us to enter lovingly into personal life. A tender solicitude unlocks the heart and encourages confession. The word which exposes sin is the law in the hand of love.
III. Conviction of sin awakens the desire for forgiveness in prayer. The inquiry respecting Gerizim and Jerusalem was no evasion, but led to the third step, where our Lord refers her to THE HISTORICAL REVELATION FOR SALVATION. Salvation is of the Jews. God must be worshipped in Spirit, yet the revelation of Himself was in Israel, and its end the Messias. It is not enough to tread the path of inward self-knowledge; we must walk also in the way of faith. Not only do we move to meet God, He is come to meet us. The truth of salvation is historical, and the historical gospel is a moral certainty. So the woman proved. The saved individual now seeks to save society. She left her water-pot, etc. Conclusion:
1. We should go forth and lead souls to Christ as Christ led this woman.
2. No doubt we shall be weary sometimes, but, if the Master was weary, we need not be ashamed, And the wells which men have dug will then be doubly refreshing; for what- ever the Creator has given to man to enjoy is also given for the refreshment of the soul.
3. But the soul lives not by these alone, and when the highest matters press we must be prepared to renounce them, for they do not quench the souls deepest thirst. (C. E. Luthardt, D. D.)
Characteristics of Christ displayed in this conversation
I. Our Lords MERCY is remarkable. That such an one as He should deal so graciously with such a sinner is a striking fact.
II. His WISDOM. How wise was every step of His way in dealing with this sinful soul!
III. His PATIENCE. How He bore with the womans ignorance, and what trouble He took to lead her to knowledge.
IV. His POWER. What a complete victory He won at last! How almighty must that grace be which could soften and convert such a carnal and wicked heart! (Bp. Ryle.)
Subsidiary points
I. HUMAN FOLLY AND DIVINE WISDOM in contrast.
II. OUR LORDS REAL HUMANITY in His subjection to weariness and thirst.
III. OUR LORDS REAL DIVINITY in the mastery of all the secrets of the human heart.
IV. OUR LORDS WILLINGNESS TO IMPART THE DEEPEST TRUTHS TO THE HUMBLEST understanding, thus assuring us that, although God has hid these things from the wise and prudent, He has revealed them unto babes. (H. J. Van Dyke, D. D.)
When … the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John
The journey to Samaria
I. THE DEPARTURE. The reason for it was the jealousy of the Pharisees at Christs success.
1. Jesus saw that a storm was coming, and withdrew. To abandon the profession or defence of the gospel from dread of suffering is quite a different thing from the persecuted Christian in one city fleeing to another to there hold forth the Word of life.
2. It is that persecutors are not always the open enemies, but are sometimes the professed friends, of religion, and that the name of God has often been associated with relentless cruelty.
3. The Pharisees did not hear Christ, but received reports doubtless exaggerated, for they heard that He personally baptized.
4. The great work of the ministry is not to baptize, but to preach. They are Christs fellow-workers in discriminating the truth, but not fellow-workers with the Spirit in communicating grace.
II. THE ARRIVAL.
1. Although the district was alien, there were souls to be saved.
(1) To the eye of man Jesus appeared to be fleeing from persecution.
(2) To the eye of God the visit was part of a mysterious plan by which the glory of the Divine government was to be revealed.
(3) To the eye of faith it offers an illustration of the manner in which the purpose of God is fulfilled.
2. Christs presence and work at Sychar, with its illustrious antecedents, offer encouragements to prayer for those who are to come after us.
(1) Parents should be stimulated to pray for childrens children,
(2) Believers to plead for the future of the Church. (A. Beith, D. D.)
Christ driven away
I. FALSE TEACHERS ARE ENEMIES TO THE TRUE. They will join with corrupt magistrates and favour their villainies (Isa_9:15), as the Pharisees did Herod against John. Christ, therefore, will rather trust Herod in Galilee than the Pharisees in Judaea (cf. Act_25:11)
.
II. IT IS NO UNCHARITABLENESS, BUT WISDOM, TO SUSPECT WICKED MEN; as Christ did the PHARISEES.
III. WHEN ONE TEACHER IS GONE GOD CAN RAISE UP ANOTHER. The Pharisees thought themselves well when John was out of the way, but Christ gives them more displeasure (Mar_1:14). They thought themselves sure when Christ was crucified, but Christ raised up twelve more to do greater things than Himself. Ministers are mortal, but the Church is immortal (Psa_2:1).
IV. PROMISES ARE TO BE SEALED TO THOSE ONLY WHO REPENT AND BELIEVE.
1. Disciples were made
2. Then were baptized.
V. GOD TURNS THE MALICE OF MEN TO THE GOOD OF HIS CHURCH The Pharisees drove Christ to Galilee, but on the way a whole city was brought to Him. An ill wind that blows nobody good. (Jeremiah Dyke.)
The retreat of Jesus
The first turning point in His official life.
I. MOTIVES. The Pharisees began to watch Him with hostile eyes; the Baptist is imprisoned.
II. CHARACTER. Free consciousness. He retreats
1. In free discretion, without fear.
2. In holy discretion, the Lord knew.
III. RICH RESULTS. Beneficent sojourn in Samaria.
IV. SIGNIFICANCY.
1. He ceases to baptize.
2. He tarries in Samaria on His return.
The rite of baptism
I. AS PRACTISED BY JOHN (Joh_1:25-28; Joh_1:33; Joh_3:23; cf. Mt Mar_1:4-8; Luk_3:8; Luk_3:20).
1. Its nature--water baptism. Its mode uncertain. The word signifies either the application of an object to water or water to an object. Hence to immerse (2Ki_5:14) or to wash (Mar_7:4; Luk_11:38). Against immersion in the present case stand
(1) The multitudes;
(2) The impromptu and public manner;
(3) Its practice in all seasons.
In favour of pouring is the contraposition of with water and with the Spirit (Joh_1:33), by which the two baptisms are distinguished. The believer is not immersed in the Holy Ghost, but the Holy Ghost descends on the believer.
2. Its import--purification of the outer life; reformation rather than regeneration.
3. Its design--preparation for Messiah.
4. Its obligation--faith. The recipient was bound to believe in and go over to the Messiah when He appeared.
II. AS CELEBRATED BY CHRIST (through His disciples) (Joh_3:22-26).
1. Its resemblance to Johns.
(1) Performed in the same way.
(2) Possessed the same significance.
(3) Looked towards the same end.
2. Its difference from Johns. Administered
(1) By Christs express authority.
(2) To such as professed their faith in a come Messiah.
(3) With a view of admitting to Christian discipleship.
(4) As an acknowledgment of obligation to learn and obey.
III. AS ADMINISTERED BY THE APOSTLES (Mat_28:19; Mk Act_2:38; Act_2:41; Act_7:13; Act_7:36; Act_9:18, etc.).
1. How tar it agreed with the preceding.
(1) In form it was a baptism with water.
(2) In authority it rested on the commandment of Christ.
(3) In significance it symbolized purification and sealed faith in the Messiah.
(4) In effect it introduced to the Messianic Church.
(5) In design it bound to acceptance of the teaching and obedience to the rule of Christ.
2. How far it went beyond the preceding. It -
(1) Rested on the authority of the risen as well as of the incarnate Christ.
(2) Symbolized inward renewal by the reception of the Holy Ghost.
(3) Was administered on a profession of faith, not simply in the
Messiah, but in the Trinity.
(4) Was not restricted to the Jewish people.
(5) Was not provisional, but permanent. (T. Whitelaw, D. D.)
Why Christ did not personally baptize
Lightfoot mentions because
1. He was not sent so much to baptize as to preach.
2. It might have been taken as a thing somewhat improper for Christ to baptize in His own name.
3. The baptizing that was most proper for Christ to use was not with water, but with the Holy Ghost.
4. He would prevent all quarrels and disputes among men about their baptism, which might have risen if some had been baptized by Christ and others only by His disciples. To these reasons we may add another of considerable importance. Our Lord would show us that the effect and benefit of baptism do not depend on the person who administers it. We cannot doubt that Judas Iscariot baptized some. The intention of the minister does not affect the validity of the sacrament. One thing seems abundantly clear, and that is, that baptism is not an ordinance of primary, but of subordinate, importance in Christianity. The high-flown and extravagant language used by some divines about the sacrament of baptism and its effects is quite irreconcilable with the text before us, as well as with the general teaching of Scripture (see Act_10:48; 1Co_1:17).
The three baptisms
There are three degrees in the institution: Johns baptism, which was a general consecration to the Messianic kingdom by repentance; the baptism of Jesus, an attachment to His person as a disciple; baptism as reconstituted by Jesus after His resurrection as a consecration to the possession of salvation thenceforth acquired by Him for the whole world. We do not find that the subjects of the first baptism (the apostles, e.g.) were afterwards subjected to the second or third. It was they, on the contrary, who were charged with administering the two last (verse 2; Act_2:1-47.). (F. Godet, D. D.)
He left Judaea
From Jerusalem to Nazareth, by way of the hill towns of Shiloh, Sychar, Nain, and Endor, the distance, as a bird would fly, is about sixty-four miles, being nearly the same as that from Oxford to London. By the camel paths, and there are no other, it is eighty miles. A good rider, having little baggage and less curiosity, may get over the ground in two Icing days; to do so, however, he must make up his mind to spend twelve hours each day in the saddle, on stony hill-sides, with very little water, and still less shade, under the blazing light of a Syrian sun. An easy journey, with time to rest and read, to see the wells, rums, and cities on the route, may be made in four days; though better still in five. The Lord and His disciples went through the land on foot, resting by the wells, under the shade of fig-trees, in the caves of rocks. The first part of this journey, a ride of thirty-six miles from the Damascus gate, to be done in about twelve hours, brings you to one of the most lovely and attractive spots in Palestine--the site of Josephs tomb and Jacobs well. (W. H.Dixon.)
The original word, αφίημι, is a remarkable one; καταλεὶπο might have been expected (Mat_4:15; Heb_11:27); and there is no exact parallel in the New Testament to this usage (yet comp. Joh_16:28). The general idea that it conveys is that of leaving anything to itself, to its own wishes, ways, fate; of withdrawing whatever controlling power was exercised before. Christ had claimed Jerusalem as the seat of His royal power, and Judaea as His kingdom. That claim He now in one sense gave up. (Canon Westcott.)
He must needs go through Samaria
Christ and the Samaritans
The ministry of Christ may be divided into two sections, the Galilean and the Judaean. Taking Capernaum as a centre and describing a circle of ten miles, and taking the Temple as a centre and describing another circle of equal radius--between these two points the life of Christ oscillated. Separating the two provinces was a strip of country inhabited by a mongrel semi-alien race--the Samaritans, between whom and the Jews there was a long.standing feud. How will Christ treat it? Will He pass round it? Will He widen the chasm? Or will He loin the two in one? Let us see.
I. WHEN CHRIST SPEAKS OF THE SAMARITANS IT IS IN WORDS OF FAVOUR AND COMMENDATION.
1. In the Samaritan Stranger of Luk_17:11-20, He finds the truest worship of Jehovah offered, not on Moriah, nor yet on Gerizim, but by the wayside.
2. In the parable of the Good Samaritan a comparison is drawn between the Samaritan and the Jew, to the eternal honour of the one, and the eternal shame of the other. The former is placed beside the very elite of Judaism, the priest and Levite, and the Master uses their selfish inhumanity as a foil to throw out more clearly and brightly the noble generosity of this stranger.
3. Christ is Himself called a Samaritan (Joh_8:48), doubtless because of His strong Samaritan leanings, and He does not protest.
II. CHRIST SEEKS TO REMOVE THE PREJUDICES OF HIS DISCIPLES BY PERSONAL CONTACT WITH THE DESPISED RACE.
1. The exception (Mat_10:5) is due to their narrow views and prejudices.
2. Christ takes them with Him into Samaria (chap. 4.) and sends them to have dealings with the Samaritans; and tarries with them there two days (verse 40), and thus the old prejudices are removed by friendly hospitalities.
III. CHRIST OFFERED TO THE SAMARITANS THE PRIVILEGES OF HIS KINGDOM.
1. He deigns to ask a favour of the Samaritan woman and speaks one of the sublimest discourses of His ministry.
2. She and her fellow-citizens proclaim Christ the Messiah.
3. As a result of this the chasm is filled up (Act_1:8; Act_8:5-8). Henceforth the Samaritan is no more the stranger, but a fellow-citizen with the saints, and of the household of God. (H. Burton, M. A.)
Utilizing disagreeable necessities
1. The first signs of hostility to Christ (Joh_4:1).
2. The prudence of the Master. Just as it was necessary for Him to die for a worlds salvation, so now it is required that He should live in order that the true cause and nature of His death may be manifest. There is therefore nothing unworthy about this escape.
3. We must seek the explanation of this movement, not in the eternal decrees. Samaria would prove a neutral zone to keep His enemies at a distance, and while passing through it would not probably be followed. And besides, it admitted of His utilizing what might have been an anxious period and a waste of time.
I. HE IGNORED A FALSE DISTINCTION. Ceremonial cleanness and goodness were confounded by the Jews; a confusion rectified by the Parable of the Good Samaritan. Church and society are still full of such distinctions.
1. It is for us, not wantonly, but on sufficient occasion to expose and set at nought the error.
2. To get at true distinctions one must first expose false ones. But we must be sure that it is false and that the true does not preponderate, and that we have something better to substitute.
3. Wisdom and courage arc, therefore, necessary.
4. No safer guide can be found than a strong desire to do good and glorify God.
II. HE CONVERTED AN INCONVENIENCE TO A SPIRITUAL USE. He is a fugitive, but He does not hurry through the country, nor forget its spiritual destitution in His own sorrows.
1. Annoyance or ill temper at the disturbance of settled plans ought not to make us weary in well doing. Many are idle in the Church because they cannot get the particular thing they like best. But the greatest discoveries and reforms have been effected by the determination to do what we can.
2. Illtreatment on the part of professors is no excuse for idleness or cynicism.
3. Nor ought we to be engrossed with our own troubles. Doing good is the way to recovery.
4. Let us try to improve the unpleasant and unfortunate people and leave the world better than we find it.
III. A SPECIAL BLESSING ATTENDED HIS IRREGULAR EXTEMPORIZED MISSION. Each incident links itself easily on to another. It almost seems a beautiful creature of circumstances. Inconveniences are often Providential. A fault in the strata may point to richer seams. (A. F. Muir, M. A.)
The needs be
I. BY THE DETERMINATE COUNSEL AND FOREKNOWLEDGE OF GOD.
1. A wandering star was to be reclaimed from its devious orbit.
2. The locality was most unpromising.
3. What the Church would have missed had this chapter been lacking.
II. THE PEERLESS VALUE OF A SINGLE SOUL IN THE SIGHT OF CHRIST. The narrative is the parable of the Lost Sheep in impressive reality.
III. THE YEARNING PERSONAL LOVE OF THE SAVIOUR.
IV. LET NONE DEEM THEMSELVES BEYOND THE PALE OF CHRISTS SYMPATHY AND SUCCOUR. (J. Macduff, D. D.)
The occasion of the journey
He must needs go through Samaria, not only because that province lay in His way, but because He was hungry, and in poor half-heathen Samaria lay the savoury meat which His soul loved. In the same manner He must needs pass through our nature and our world, as He goes from the glory of the eternity past to the glory of the eternity to come. It was not any physical necessity; for the Maker of all worlds might bane found another path from glory to glory without visiting this shooting star. But He must needs pass through the abode of fallen humanity on His way to the throne of the kingdom, because He longed to save the lost with a longing like hunger, and here only could be found the food that would satisfy His soul. His own sovereign love laid the necessity upon Himself. The sun, His creature, is under an inherent necessity of giving out light; so Christ, the light of the world, must needs give out the light of life, and therefore He casts Himself in the way of a dark world, as the hungry seeks food and the thirsty makes his way towards water-springs. (W. Arnot, D. D.)
In the path of Christ
Happy for them that they lay in our Saviours way to be looked upon: His paths drop fatness. Luther had rather be in hell with Christ than in heaven without Him. (J. Trapp.)
Providence shown in conversions
Now, there are divers things in those providences Which are versant about this work, and exceedingly sweet and taking; as, viz., The wonderful strangeness and unaccountableness of this work of Providence in casting us into the way, and ordering the occasions, yea, the minutest circumstances about this work. Thus you find in Act_8:26-30. The eunuch, at that very instant when he was reading the prophet Isaiah, had an interpreter, one among a thousand, that joins his chariot just as his mind was, by a fit occasion, prepared to receive the first light of the knowledge of Christ. So, for the conversion of the Samaritans, it is observed Joh_4:4) Christ must needs go that way, because it lay just in the road betwixt Judea and Galilee, and at the sixth hour, i.e., high noon, He rests Himself upon Jacobs well, still seeming to have no other design but His own refreshment, by sitting and drinking there; but, oh! what a train of blessed providences follow this, which seemed but an accidental thing! First, the woman of Samaria, and then many more in that city, are brought to believe in Christ, as you find in Joh_4:29; Joh_4:41. (J. Flavel.)
Unquenchable enthusiasm
When I was going to Europe in 1867, my friend Mr. Stuart, of Philadelphia, said, Be sure to be at the General Assembly in Edinburgh, in June. I was there last year, said he, and it did me a world of good. He said that a returned missionary (Dr. Duff) from India was invited to speak to the General Assembly on the wants of India. This veteran missionary, after a brief address, told the pastors who were present to go home and stir up their churches to send young men to India to preach the gospel. He spoke with such earnestness, that after awhile he fainted, and they carried him from the Hall. When he recovered he asked where he was, and they told him the circumstances under which he had been brought there. Yes, he said, I was making a plea for India, and I did not quite finish my speech, did I? After being told that he did not, he said, Well, take me back and let me finish it. But they said, No, you will die in the attempt. Well, said he, I shall die if I do not, and the old man asked again that they would allow him to finish his plea, When he was taken back, the whole congregation stood as one man, and as they brought him on the platform, with a trembling voice he said: Fathers and mothers of Scotland, is it true that you will not let your sons go to India? I spent twenty-five years of my life there. I lost my health, and I have come back with sickness and shattered health. If it is true that we have no strong grandsons to go to India, I will pack up what I have and be off to-morrow, and I will let those heathen know that if I cannot live for them I will die for them. (D. L. Moody.)
Commendable enthusiasm
Exception being taken, as I have said, to his energy and vehemence, Rowland Hill told how he had once seen a vast bank of earth, below which some men were at work, suddenly rend asunder; and leaving its bed, precipitate itself forward to bury them alive before they could utter a cry, or move a foot to escape. And who then, he asked, found fault with me, because, in my anxiety to save them, my cries for help were loud enough to call the neighbourhood t6 the rescue, and be heard a long mile away. Left there, they perished, miserably perished--needing what God, not man, always is, a very present help in trouble. (Dr. Guthrie.)
Our attitude towards Samaria
There is much in the disposition of the Samaritans that reminds us of the feelings of thousands of our own population to-day. Not only are they alienated from our faith, but they suspect us of a haughty and exclusive, or at least patronising attitude towards them. There is no fiercer resentment than the pharisaic spirit excites. Note the example of Christ.
I. CHRIST DOES NOT AVOID SAMARIA. He will not shun those who entertain prejudices unpleasant to encounter. And we shall never restore the slums to piety if we skirt them with dainty feet.
II. CHRIST DOES NOT HURRY THROUGH SAMARIA, BUT SEEKS CONVERSE WITH ITS INHABITANTS. None mere hurried visits to the headquarters of prejudice, rushing as through a cloud of suffocating smoke we must encounter, but amidst which we will not stay, will suffice. There must be true intercourse.
III. CHRIST IS FORBEARING IN HIS ATTITUDE. His first overture is met with a half-playful, half-bitter reminder of what He never sanctioned, the division of sentiment between Jew and Samaritan. What do we oftener meet? It is irritating to be taunted with the conduct of those whose spirit we do not share, though we may nominally share their religious name. But we ruin our influence by recrimination or bitter rejoinder. Like Christ, we must gently ignore the taunt.
IV. CHRIST, WITH SACRED TACT, INTRODUCES HIS GOSPEL. Had He commenced controversially, the womans heart would have been hardened; had He commenced with His final announcement (Joh_4:26), she would have been sceptical; had He commenced with such words as He used to learned Nicodemus, she would have been hopelessly bewildered. But He takes water for His text to this water-carrier, and in a picture lesson unfolds the truth. Ours are blind eyes if they see not texts in the commonest things, where-from we may preach the gospel of the kingdom. In that gospel Jew and Samaritan alike find hope and peace. (W. Hawkins.)
He cometh to a city of Samaria called Sychar
The locality
This name is only found in St. Joh_4:5, but it is universally considered to be the same as Sichem or Shechem, which is frequently mentioned in the Old Testament history. Dr. Robinson (Bib. Res. 3.118) says, In consequence of the barred of the Jews, and in allusion to the idolatry of the Samaritans, the town Sichem probably received among the Jewish common people the by-name of Sychar, which we find in the Gospel of St. John; while Stephen, in addressing the more courtly Sanhedrim, employs the ancient name (Act_7:16). Sychar might be derived from a Hebrew root, meaning either falsehood or drunkard. Josephus describes Sheehem as between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal. The present Nabulus is a corruption of Neapolis; and Neapolis succeeded the more ancient Shechem. The city received its new name from Vespasian. The situation of the town is one of surpassing beauty. It lies in a sheltered valley, protected by Gerizim on the south and Ebal on the north. The feet of these mountains, where they rise from the town, are not more than 500 yards apart. The bottom of the valley is about 1,800 feet above the level of the sea, and the top of Gerizim 800 feet higher still. The site of the present city, which is believed to have been also that of the Hebrew city, occurs exactly on the water- summit; and streams issuing from the numerous springs there, flow down the opposite slopes of the valley, spreading verdure and fertility in every direction. Travellers vie with each other in the language which they employ to describe the scene that bursts here so suddenly upon them on arriving in spring or early summer at this paradise of the Holy Land. Here, says Dr. Robinson (3:96) a scene of luxuriant and almost unparalleled verdure burst upon our view. The whole valley was filled with gardens of vegetables, and orchards of all kinds of fruit, watered by several fountains, which burst forth in various parts, and flow westward in refreshing streams. It came upon us suddenly like a scene of fairy enchantment. We saw nothing to compare with it in all Palestine. Here, beneath the shade of an immense mulberry-tree, by the side of a purling rill, we pitched our tent for the remainder of the day and night We rose early, awakened by the songs of nightingales and other birds, of which the gardens around us were full. (F. I. Dunwell, B. A.)
Its history
Few places in Palestine, after Jerusalem, have had so much of Bible history connected with them. Here God first appeared to Abraham Gen_12:6). Here Jacob dwelt when he first returned from Padanaram, and here the disgraceful history of Dinah, and the consequent murder of the Shechemites took place (Gen_34:2, etc.). Here Josephs brethren fed their flocks when Jacob sent him to them, little thinking he would not see him again for many years (Gen_37:12). Here, when Israel took possession of the land of Canaan, was one of the cities of refuge (Jos_20:7-8). Here Joshua gathered all the tribes, when he addressed them for the last time (Jos_24:1). Here the bones of Joseph were buried, and all the patriarchs were interred (Jos_24:32; Act_7:16). Here the principal events in the history of Abimeleeh took Jdg_9:1, etc.). Here Rehoboam met the tribes of Israel after Solomons death, and gave the answer which rent his kingdom in two 1Ki_12:1). Here Jeroboam first dwelt, when he was made king of Israel (1Ki_12:25). And finally, close by Sheehem was the city of Samaria itself, and the two hills of Ebal and Gerizim, where the solemn blessings and cursings were recited, after Israel entered Canaan (Jos_8:33). A more interesting neighbourhood it is difficult to imagine. Whichever way the eye of a wearied traveller looked, he would see something to remind him of Israels history. (Bp. Ryle.)
The parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. In two different ways this had come into the hands of Jacob. First, he had purchased it from the children of Humor, and then, when the Amorite invaded it, and took violent, unrighteous possession, he had, with his sword and his bow, recovered it. The land thus belonged to Jacob by right of purchase and by right of conquest: it became the property of his son by gift, by inheritance, and by grateful acceptance on his part. Our spiritual Jacob has both purchased our inheritance and taken it out of the hand of the Amorite; so likewise He bestows it freely on His dear children and they gratefully receive it, and rejoice in it as their portion. Eternal life is at once the gift of God and the fruit of faith. It becomes ours according to His eternal purpose, and also by the faith which accepts it--such faith as that of Joseph. Joseph was in Egypt, apparently independent of Canaan. The time when he or his seed could claim the inheritance was far distant--four hundred years of dreadful bondage were included in the intervening period--but Joseph believed. God will surely visit you, said he to his descendants, when he was dying, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence. A similar faith had dictated the words of Jacob. Beheld I die, but God shall be with you, and bring you again to the land of your fathers. A faith having the same origin, exercised against the same discouragements, and producing the same blessed fruits of patience, endurance, and hope, must be ours. (A. Beith, D. D.)
Now Jacobs well was there
Jesus found at the well
Some years since there lived in the west of England a well-known character called Foolish Dick. Not being considered quite sharp, one day he was going for a pitcher of water, when a good old man hailed him with So, Dick, you are going to the well. Yes, he replied. Well, Dick, the woman of Samaria found Jesus at the well. Did she? was the answer. Yes, said the good old Christian. Dick passed on, full of thought; the remark riveted on his mind by the Holy Spirit, quickening him into new life. He thought, Why should I not find Jesus at the well? Oh, that I could find Him! Will He come to me? He prayed, and found Christ at the well; left his water-pot to tell his neighbours what be had found, and from that time proved the reality of his conversion by his holy and active life, proclaiming Christ to others.
Suffering begets sympathy
Jesus Himself being weary was the more able and apt to help this poor Samaritress. He that hath had the toothache will pity those that have it. We are orphans all, said Queen Elizabeth in her speech to the children at Christs Hospital, let me enjoy your prayers, and ye shall be sure of my assistance. (J. Trapp.)
No sympathy without suffering
Johnson, whose robust frame was not in the least affected by cold, scolded me as if my shivering had been a paltry effeminacy, saying, Why do you shiver? Sir William Scott told me that when he complained of a headache, in the post-chaise, Johnson treated him in the same manner. At your age, sir, I had no headache. (Boswell.)
Jesus sitting on the well
Many things remind us of our Lord: a well, a weary peasant resting at noon. How truly human was Jesus!
1. How worn was His humanity. He was more weary than His disciples.
(1) He had a greater mental strain than they.
(2) He had a weariness they knew not of.
2. His self-denials even then were remarkable.
(1) He would in all points be made like unto His brethren.
(2) He would not exempt Himself from fatigue.
(3) He would not work a miracle for His own refreshment.
(4) He would not refuse to bear heat, thirst, exhaustion.
3. He has thus made Himself able to sympathize with
(1) The traveller who rests by the road-side.
(2) The labourer worn out with toil.
(3) The sufferer who feels pain.
(4) The poor man who must rest on a cold stone, and look for refreshment to the public fountain.
(5) The weary mind.
I. LET YOUR CONSCIENCE DRAW A SPIRITUAL PICTURE OF YOUR WEARIED SAVIOUR. He is wearied with our
1. Sins (Isa_43:24).
2. Formal worship (Isa_1:14).
3. Errings through unbelief (Psa_95:10).
4. Resistance of His Spirit (Isa_63:10).
5. Cavillings and rebellions (Mal_2:17).
Perhaps we have specially wearied the Lord, as we read in Amo_2:13, where singular provocations are mentioned. That is a grave question asked by the prophet Isaiah (vii. 13).
II. LET YOUR CONSCIENCE DRAW A SPIRITUAL PICTURE OF YOUR WAITING SAVIOUR. He waits
1. For comers to the well: He seizes on all occasions to bless, such as affliction, the hearing of the Word, the recurrence of a birthday, or even the simplest event of life. Men have other errands; they come to the well only to draw water, but the Lord meets them with His greater errand.
2. For the most sinful: she that had five husbands.
3. To enlighten, convince, convert.
4. To accept and to commission.
5. To begin by one convert the ingathering of a great harvest. How long He has waited for some of you! At how many points has He been on the outlook for you? Is He not waiting for you at this very hour? Will you not yield to His patient love?
III. LET YOUR PENITENCE DRAW ANOTHER PICTURE. Alter the position of the character.
1. Be yourself weary of your sinful way.
2. Sit down on the well of your Lords gracious ordinances.
3. Wait and watch till your Saviour conies.
4. Ask Him to give you to drink, and, in so doing, give Him to drink, for this is His best refreshment.
5. Drink yourselves of the living water and then run to tell others.
Conclusion: Will you not do this at once? May His Holy Spirit so direct you! (C. H. Spurgeon,)
The weary pilgrim
1. If now, with all the comforts of tent and equipage, the modern traveller finds locomotion oppressive and exhausting, what must it have been to Christ with no aid but the staff and rough sandal?
2. It is in such incidental occurrences that our Lords humanity and condescension are most touchingly exemplified.
3. He worked miracles for others, never for Himself.
4. My Saviour is my brother. He took not on Him the nature of angels.
(1) Because angelic nature is a Spiritual essence and incapable of corporeal suffering.
(2) Because He could not then have participated in feeling with those He came to redeem.
5. But my Saviour is my Lord or He could never have relieved my want.
I. Let the WEARY WITH LIFES JOURNEY, with pain, travail, and loneliness consider Him, lest they be weary and faint in their souls.
II. Let the WEARY WITH SIN who have come up through hot valleys of temptation, and are now sitting by poisoned wells, the pitcher broken at the cistern, the zest of life gone, without shelter, hear Him say, Come unto Me and I will give you rest,
III. Let those WEARY WITH THE BURDEN AND HEAT OF THE DAY IN THE MIDST OF THEIR LIFES CALLING, in manhoods sixth hour, one half of existence over, hasten to Him, lest the valley of death, like the valley of Shechem, be close at hand while the fountain of life is neglected. Conclusion. You are Spiritually between the Ebal of courses and the Gerizim of blessings--Which are you to choose? (J. R. Macduff, D. D.)
Christ in His human weakness and Divine exaltation
I. WEARY AND YET THE REST OF A WEARY SOUL.
II. THIRSTY AND YET A FOUNTAIN.
III. HUNGRY AND YET ENJOYING HEAVENLY FOOD.
IV. LEFT ALONE AND YET IN SPIRIT SURROUNDED WITH APPROACHING NATIONS. (Lange.)
Weariness and work
1. This world is a place of weariness through sin; but love is a weariness that heaven approves, that of the Shepherd seeking the lost sheep.
2. There is a great mystery in this weariness: for the weary man was God; but He was weary that we might have rest.
I. CHRISTS WEARINESS AS IT REFLECTS OUR OWN.
1. Christ was weary in His work, not of it.
2. We need not be surprised, therefore, if we are weary.
3. When so, wait upon Him to renew thy strength.
II. WEARINESS CAN BE PUT TO PURPOSE.
1. Under the most unlikely circumstances God can bring us work and refreshment at the same time. Christ had to all appearance turned His back on His work; but He had not, and when He seemed most unfit He did it most effectively. So Paul was taken from work to prison, but then he was instrumental in the jailers conversion.
2. The willing heart will often create its own opportunities. Christ was weary but watchful. A willing heart can find its work at any time and place.
We think we could do more were we better placed. But Christ says, He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much.
3. An earnest mind will avail itself of small opportunities, and through little things become really great. Christ was contented with a congregation of one. He did not preach sensational sermons, but sermons which created a sensation. He spake as earnestly to one as to a thousand.
III. CHRIST ASKS US THROUGH HIS WEARY REPRESENTATIVES TO MINISTER TO HIS WEARINESS. The poor, sick, widows, orphans, overworked pastors, etc., in Christs name cry, Give me to drink. (W. Poole Balfern.)
The realness of the scene
By a singular fate this authentic and expressive memorial of the earliest dawn of Jewish history became the memorial no less authentic and expressive of its sacred close. Of all the special localities of our Lords life in Palestine, this is almost the only one absolutely undisputed. By the edge of the well, in the touching language of the ancient hymn, Quoereus me, sedisti lassus. Here He halted, as travellers still halt, in the noon or evening of the day. Up that valley His disciples went away into the city. Down the same gorge came the woman to draw water, according to the unchanged custom of the East; which still, in the lively concourse of veiled figures round the wayside wells, reproduce the image of Rebekah, and Rachel, and Zipporah. Above them, as they talked, rose this mountain of Gerizim, crowned by the Temple, of which vestiges still remain, where the Samaritan sect said men ought to worship, and to which still, after so many centuries, their descendants turn as to the only sacred spot in the universe: the strongest example of local worship in the world, where the sacredness of local worship was declared to be at an end. And round about them spread far and wide the noble plain of waving corn. It was still winter or early spring, four months yet to the harvest; and the bright golden ears had not yet whitened their unbroken expanse of verdure. He gazed upon them; and we almost seem to see how the glorious vision of the Gentile world, with each successive turn in the conversation, unfolded itself more and more distinctly before Him, as He sate absorbed in the opening prospect, silent amidst His silent and astonished disciples. (Dean Stanley.)
Jacobs welt an emblem of the sanctuary
Note that
I. NO GOOD DEEDS ARE EVER DONE IN VAIN, AND THAT THEY HAVE POWER TO BLESS MANY AGES TO COME.
1. None can measure his power for good. Influence may be mightier after death than in life. When Jacob dug that well, he little thought of the multitudes for whose refreshment he was providing, or of this sacred incident. Do you think the discoverer of printing foresaw the penny newspaper, or Columbus New York, and Boston, and Chicago? God watches over good efforts, and influences to bless them.
2. But if Jacob knew not all his well would do, he knew it would bless. How like a well is a gospel sanctuary! Look at the desert all around--how refreshing this spot in contrast. Here the weary find rest, the thirsty water.
3. Churches, like wells
(1) are made by mans effort, but filled with Gods gift;
(2) Are not stagnant pools but living springs?
II. JESUS STILL REFRESHES HIMSELF AT WELLS BUILT BY HIS PEOPLE.
1. What was it that refreshed Him here? My meat, etc.
2. And Jesus still comes into our sanctuaries, and asks for small gifts of love as the return for His own greater love. He is yearning to find satisfaction in souls--waiting to see the full fruits of His servants efforts to save men.
3. How grateful was Jesus for this seat. He commanded John to record this gratitude. None of us will ever regret anything done to please Jesus.
4. You say, if I had seen Him, I would have invited Him to my home. Have you opened you heart to the heavenly Guest?
III. THIS WELL IS CHRISTS APPOINTED PLACE TO MEET UNSATISFIED SOULS.
1. He was there before the woman, waiting for her, and thoughtfully sent away the disciples that no restraint might check her conversation. Has He not promised to meet His people in His house? Have you not often said, It was as though the preacher knew all my circumstances.
2. That woman, often like ourselves, little expected to find her Saviour.
3. She left her water-pot, and how often have you left your burdens.
IV. THIS WELL IS THE PLACE FOR QUIET FREE CONVERSATION WITH THE SAVIOUR, where Christ wants to enlighten, refresh, and pardon. (R. H.Lovell.)
Why religious ordinances are sometimes unprofitable
The ordinances of religion are compared to wells of water; but then they are like Jacobs well. The water lies far below the surface, and to the man of the world, the mere professor of religion, who has the name but not the faith of a Christian, we may say, as the woman said to our Lord, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Faith is, as it were, the rope, and our souls the vessels, which we let down into this well to fill them with living water. But that they do no good to some forms no reason why we should despise or neglect ordinances. It is no fault in the bread that, thrust between a dead mans teeth, it does not nourish him. Water will revive a withering, but not a withered, plant; wine will revive a dying, but not a dead, man; the breath of your mouth, or the breeze of heaven, will rekindle the smouldering coal, but not the cold, grey ashes of the hearth. And it is only spiritual life that can derive benefit from such ordinances as are intended to revive the faint and give strength to the weary. (D. Guthrie, D. D.)
The ordinances necessary
Christ is the well of the water of life. It is by faith the soul reaches out after this living water, Faith is the souls muscular action, by which the water is drawn up and brought into use. But faith needs as an implement those means which Christ has appointed. These means are the pitcher in which the water is conveyed. Faith is not a Christ; neither are sacraments a Christ; but faith (under all circumstances) and sacraments where they may be had, are necessary to the appropriation and enjoyment of Christ. (Dean Goulburn.)
Influence after death
It is related of a broker in one of the Italian cities that his strict economy brought on him the reputation of miserliness. He lived plainly and poorly, and at his death a hundred thousand men in the city were ready to curse him until his will was opened, in which he declared that early his heart was touched with the sufferings of the poor in the city for the lack of water. Springs there were none, and the public wells were bad; and he had spent his life in accumulating a fortune that should be devoted to bringing, by an aqueduct, from the neighbouring mountains, streams that should pour abundantly into the baths and dwellings of the poor of the city; and he not only denied himself of many of the comforts of life, but toiled by day and by night, yea, and bore obloquy, that he might bless his fellow-citizens. He is dead; but those streams pour their health yet into the city. (H. W. Beecher.)
Value of a well in the East
When we remember that in the land where most of the Scriptures were written there was, for the greater part of the year, but burning and scorching heat; that there was no winter, as we understand the term; that water was as precious as gold; and that the digging of a well was the work of kings and princes; that shadow was a luxury, to attain which hours of sore and weary travelling were accounted well spent--we can understand the beauty and force of such figures as Jesus uses in speaking to the woman of Samaria. Digging a well rendered a man the benefactor of his race. Canst thou do more than dig a well? was the meaning of the womans question to Jesus. (H. W. Beecher.)
Topography of Jacobs well and neighbourhood
As the well is near magnificent springs gushing from the roots of Gerizim, and flowing to the East, the Patriarchs task in sinking so deep a well and building a wall round it, can only be explained by the jealousy which the Canaanites, like all Eastern peoples, regarded their own springs. To have trusted to these would have been to invite trouble. It was, therefore, much better for Jacob to have a well of his own, so as to be independent. This well lies a little off the road, on the right hand. There is nothing visible now above ground. A little chapel, about twenty feet long, once built over the well, has long ago fallen; its stones lying about in heaps. The ground slopes up to the fragments of the broken-down wall. The church dates from the fifth century, but, except these stones, the only traces of it are some remains of tessellated pavements and carvings, which are hidden beneath the rubbish. Over the well is a large stone, with a round hole in the middle, large enough for the skin buckets of the peasantry to pass down. This stone is probably as old as the twelfth century. The mouth Isa_7:5 feet across, and its depth, which some centuries ago was 105 feet, is still about 75 feet, though for ages every visitor has thrown down stones to hear the echo when they strike the bottom. It is cut through a thick bed of soil, and then through soft rock; the water filtering through the sides to the depth occasionally of 12 feet, though it is dry sometimes for years together. It is thus rather a beer or rain pit than a spring well; hence, the contrast between this water and living water. Our Lord must have sat with His face towards the S.W., since He speaks of Gerizim as this mountain. Around Him were the same sights as are before the visitor of to-day--the rich valley running up westward towards Shechem, with a rippling streamlet in its centre; the groves that border the town hiding the houses from view; the heights of Gerizim, towering in rounded masses one over another to a great height, close before Him on the south. Mount Ebal, steep but terraced almost to the top into gardens of prickly pear, lay behind them; the little hamlet of Balata, where Abrahams altar once stood under the sacred tree; the mud huts of Sychar; a little village now called Askar, not half as far off as Shechem, and the dome of Josephs tomb being at its foot. To the east, beyond the great plain, was Salim, near to AEnon, where the Baptism preached, and the wooded Hill of Phinehas, with the tomb of the once fiery high priest. (C. Geikie, D. D.)
The interior of the well
Some men were set to work to clear out the mouth of the well, which was being rapidly covered up. A chamber had been excavated to the depth of ten feet, and in the floor of the chamber was the mouth of the well, like the mouth of a bottle, and just wide enough to admit a mans body. We lowered a candle down the well and found the air perfectly good, and after the usual amount of noise and talking among the workmen and idlers, I was lashed with a good rope round the waist, and a loop for my feet, and lowered through the mouth of the well by some trusty Arabs, directed by my friend, Mr. Falcher, the Protestant missionary. The sensation was novel and disagreeable. The numerous knots in the rope continued to tighten and to creak, and after having passed through the narrow mouth I found myself suspended in a cylindrical chamber, in shape and proportion not unlike that of the barrel of a gun. The twisting of the rope caused me to revolve as I was being lowered, which produced giddiness, and there was the additional unpleasantness of vibrating from side to side, and touching the sides of the well. I suddenly heard the people from the top shouting to tell me that I had reached the bottom, so when I began to move I found myself lying on my back at the bottom of the well: looking up at the mouth the opening seemed like a star. It was fortunate that I had been securely lashed to the rope, as I had fainted during the operation of lowering. The well is seventy.five feet deep, seven feet six inches diameter, and is lined throughout with rough masonry, as it is dug in alluvial soil. The bottom of the well was perfectly dry at this time of the year (the month of May), and covered with loose stones. There was a little pitcher lying at the bottom unbroken, and this was an evidence of there being water in the well at some seasons, as the pitcher would have been broken had it fallen upon the stones. It is probable that the well was very much deeper in ancient times, for in ten years it had decreased ten feet in depth. Every one visiting the well throw stones down for the satisfaction of hearing them strike the bottom, and in this way, as well as from the debres of the ruined church built over the well during the fourth century, it has become filled up to probably more than a half of its original death. (Lieut. S. Anderson, R. E.)
Jacobs well a type
Now Jacobs well was there. The Samaritans were infinitely corrupt in their doctrine and worship, yet they had the fountain of the Mosaic doctrine among them. They had received the Pentateuch, and worshipped God according to Jacobs rites, and the letter of Moses law. But the letter without the spirit is dead. The stagnant well of water, becoming muddy by agitation, and corrupt by lying undisturbed, is inferior for use and gratification, and is not like the running water of the living spring, which continually freshens itself, and runs itself clear, and is always replenishing itself in purity and copiousness, for use and enjoyment. A greater than Abraham, or Jacob, or Moses, must give them this spring. Jacobs children, after the flesh, drank of that well, but his spiritual children, and they only, should drink of this water. (L. R. Bosanquet.)
Christ and the woman of Samaria
I. THE SAVIOUR AS A JEWISH TRAVELLER. Observe three things.
1. The simplicity and humbleness of His life. He comes to this earth as a poor man. Learn from this:
(1) That poverty is perfectly compatible with extensive religious usefulness.
(2) That religion in particular cases imposes much labour on its disciples.
(3) Those who wish to study the Scriptures, must study and labour hard too.
2. The superiority of moral to bodily pleasures. Our Saviour was thirsty, but we do not read that He immediately quenched His thirst.
3. In our Saviour a beautiful instance of amiableness and general benevolence.
II. THE VIEW GIVEN OF OUR SAVIOUR AS A DIVINE TEACHER.
Sir, I perceive Thou art a prophet! What did He teach?
1. He instructed the woman in divine worship.
2. Let us look on the same subject in another form, and consider the Saviour as giving the doctrine of worship.
3. And worship of God should be in accordance with His nature and character. God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must do so in spirit and in truth. Our Saviour had in view the overthrow of three great errors: one is atheism. The next error is idolatry. The other error at that time in reference to God and His worship was pantheism.
4. The other lesson our Lord Jesus Christ taught this woman was, He told her all that ever she had done.
III. THE THIRD LIGHT IN WHICH JESUS MANIFESTED HIMSELF, WAS AS THE SAVIOUR OF THE WORLD. Here He spiritualizes the scene, and represents Himself as possessing that which was essential to the happiness of men--living water. (Caleb Morris.)
The appropriateness of the place for the purpose
Not inappropriate, surely, was it that He should occupy a spot beneath the shadow of Gerizim, the mountain of blessing; He Himself about to become so, in a nobler sense, to an outcast, the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. (J. R.Macduff, D. D.)
Sat thus on the well--The adverb may designate the attitude of a man who is there, awaiting what God will say; or it reproduces the notion of fatigue; thoroughly worn out with fatigue, as He was; or perhaps it signifies, without any preparation, taking things as He found them. (F. Godet, D. D.)
The sixth hour.--I think that the sixth hour, in the text before us, means twelve oclock, for the following reasons.
1. It seems exceedingly improbable that St. John would reckon time in a manner different to the other three gospel-writers.
2. It is by no means clear that the Romans did reckon time in our way, and not in the Jewish way. When the Roman poet, Horace, describes himself as lying late in bed in a morning, he says, I lie till the fourth hour. He must surely mean ten oclock, and not four in the afternoon.
3. It is entirely a gratuitous assumption to say that no woman ever came to draw water except in the evening. There must surely be exceptions to every rule. The fact of the woman coming alone, seems of itself to indicate that she came at an unusual hour, and not in the evening.
4. Last, but not least, it seems far more probable that our Lord would hold a conversation alone with such a person as the Samaritan woman at twelve oclock in the day, than at six oclock in the evening. The conversation was not a very short one. Then the woman goes away to the city, and tells the men what has happened, and they all come out to the well to see Jesus. Yet by this time, in all reasonable probability, it would be quite dark, and the night would have begun. And yet, after all this, our Lord says to the disciples, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields (Joh_4:35). There is a special seemliness in the fact that our Lord held His conversation with such a person as this Samaritan woman at noon, day. When He talked to Nicodemus, in the preceding chapter, we are told that it was at night. But when He talked to a woman of impure life, we are carefully told that it was twelve oclock in the day. I see in this fact a beautiful carefulness to avoid even the appearance of evil, which I shall entirely miss if the sixth hour meant six oclock in the evening. I see even more than this. I see a lesson to all ministers and teachers of the gospel, about the right mode of carrying on the work of trying to do good to souls like that of the Samaritan woman. Like their Master, they must be careful about times and hours, especially if they work alone. If a man will try to do good to a person like the Samaritan woman, alone and without witnesses, let him take heed that be walks in his Masters footsteps, both as to the time of his proceedings as well as to the message he delivers. (Bp. Ryle.)
The self-abnegation of Christ
In the case of Nicodemus, He was ready to give him the time set for rest; here He does the same when tired and thirsty at noon. (C. E. Luthardt, D. D.)
There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water
Connection between the conversations with the woman of Samaria and with Nicodemus
I. THERE IS A STRIKING CONTRAST AND COMPLEMENT BETWEEN THE TWO. The woman, the Samaritan, the sinner, is placed over against the Rabbi, the ruler of the Jews, the Pharisee. The nature of worship takes the place of the necessity of the new birth; yet so that either truth leads up to the other. The new birth is the condition of entrance into the kingdom; true worship flows from Christs gift.
II. THERE IS A REMARKABLE SIMILARITY OF METHOD in Christs teaching in the two cases. Immediate circumstances, the wind and the water, furnished present parables, through which deeper thoughts were suggested, fitted to call out the powers and feelings of a sympathetic listener.
III. THE MODE IN WHICH OUR LORD DEALT WITH THE WOMAN finds a parallel in the synoptic gospels (Luk_7:37, etc.; comp. Mat_26:6, etc.). The other scattered notices of the Lords intercourse with women form a fruitful subject for study (Joh_11:1-57; Joh_20:14, etc:; Mat_9:20 and parallels, Mat_15:22, etc., and parallels, Mat_27:55 and parallels, Mat_28:9, etc.; Luk_8:2, etc., Mat_10:38, etc., Mat_11:27, etc., Mat_13:11, etc.). (Bp. Westcott.)
Christ and the woman
I. A MEMORABLE INTERVIEW DESCRIBED (Joh_4:7-8).
1. Memorable to Jesus.
(1) For the place where it occurred: Jacobs well, a scene of loveliness and fertility, marred only by the city of liars or drunkards; a spot consecrated by sacred memories.
(2) For the time when it happened--at noon in Midsummer--an unusual season and hour; at the close of a long journey in obedience to His Fathers will; at a moment of weariness and loneliness and perhaps sadness at having to leave Judaea; waiting for the next opportunity.
2. Memorable to the woman. Because of
(1) The person she met.
(2) The truths to which she listened.
(3) The discoveries she made.
(4) The treasures she found.
3. Memorable to the Evangelist. On account of
(1) The insight it afforded into Christs character.
(2) The light it cast upon the work.
(3) The prospect it opened of the ultimate triumph of the kingdom of God.
II. A PROFITABLE CONVERSATION OPENED.
1. A simple request preferred (Joh_4:7); natural (Jdg_4:19); moderate 1Ki_17:20); courteous (Psa_45:2; Luk_5:22); condescending (Mat_11:27); honouring the woman; gracious.
2. An astonishing answer returned (verse9). Persons of narrow intelligence generally surprised to find others capable of throwing off prejudice.
3. An important truth announced (verse10). What keeps men from becoming Christians is ignorance (Eph_4:18)
(1) Of Gods gift (Joh_7:39; Act_2:38);
(2) Of Him through whom that gift is offered (Joh_8:19; 1Co_2:8);
(3) Of the terms upon which it can be secured: by asking (Mat_7:7; Jam_4:3) freely (Isa_55:1);
(4) Of the certain success of every application, Christ denying none who Joh_6:37; Rev_21:6); and
(5) Of the value of the gift (Joh_7:38-39; Rom_8:2; 2Co_3:6; Gal_6:18). (T. Whitelaw, D. D.)
The drawer of water
I. WHAT BRINGS HER THERE? The distance was a mile and a half, and much nearer were two copious fountains as old as the Canaanites, besides springs in and around the city. The hour, too, was peculiar. It is only the wayfarer or caravan that pause at noon for refreshment. Moreover, it was not the public well of the city, because there was no accommodation for drawing water. The answer is a superstitious virtue supposed to attach to the well. In Europe we have many monasteries and shrines reared around sacred fountains, to which pilgrims resort. The objection to this, grounded on the profligacy of the woman, is answered by the fact that abject superstition is often allied with licentiousness; as in the case of many Mohammedans, Roman Catholics, and Hindoos.
II. THE GUIDING HAND WHICH BROUGHT HER AT THAT TIME. Nothing, in an earthly sense, was more purely accidental. Who can doubt that all unknown and unforeseen by her it was one of those ordinary every-day providences of God which we are compelled to believe if we would unriddle the mystery of the world. The same needs be which brought the Redeemer there brought also her. The same truth is often illustrated in our individual histories. Events apparently trivial and unimportant form the mighty levers of life shifting our whole future. (J. R. Macduff; D. D.)
The woman of Samaria
Though this woman was a sinner, her coming forth to draw water herself was commendable. It is the devil that meets with us when we are idle. The angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds while they were keeping watch over their flocks by night. Matthew was called at the receipt of custom. Peter, and Andrew, his brother, were fishing; James the son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, were mending their nets, when called by the Saviour. Elisha was ploughing when Elijah cast his mantle upon him, and said, Follow me. Saul was seeking his fathers asses when he met with Samuel, who anointed him king over Israel. How favourable the season! His disciples were gone away into the city, to buy meat. How unsuitable would company have been in a case like this. There is business that can only be tranacted between God and the soul. How often does religion take its rise from solitude. It teaches us what He is in Himself; The gift of God; by way of emphasis and distinction. It teaches us what He has to bestow; living water. It teaches us how we are to obtain this blessedness of Him. We must ask: nothing less is required, nothing more. It teaches us the reason why men do not apply to Him. It is because they do not know Him. It is in religion as it is in nature, the understanding sways the will and the affections. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore we are to get wisdom, and with all our getting to get understanding. And hence we see the difference between this woman and blind Bartimeus, on a similar occasion. Bartimeus was sitting by the wayside begging, when Jesus was passing by--but he knew that it was Jesus; and therefore he cried, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. (W. Jay.)
Give Me to drink
The thirsting Saviour
I. A TESTIMONY TO THE TRUE HUMANITY OF OUR LORD. In His spiritual thirst for the womans salvation we must not lose sight of His natural thirst. Christ was thoroughly human. Grasping this we see
1. His ability to suffer death.
2. The power of His example.
3. His kinship with us.
4. His sympathy for us.
II. AN IMPLICATION OF HIS DEITY.
1. Had He been a man claiming Divine powers would He have asked for water? A pretender would have attempted a miracle.
2. His Godlike reserve. Christ is never prodigal of miracles because conscious of the fulness of His Divine power. He uses natural means whenever they can serve His purposes.
III. AN INSTANCE OF THE FREENESS AND GREATNESS OF HIS LOVE TO SINNERS.
1. The woman embodied all that could excite the aversion of a Jew.
(1) Her Samaritan birth rendered her an object of sectarian hatred,
(2) Her sex forbade a rabbi to be familiar with her.
(3) Her loose life would have brought down the contempt of a Pharisee.
2. But Christ had no national animosity, sectarian bigotry, professional dignity, or self-righteous loathing.
3. He sees a lost soul in whom longings for better things have not been wholly stifled and sets Himself to save her.
IV. A LESSON OF WISDOM, TACT, AND ZEAL IN SAVING SOULS.
1. Christ suits His method to individual characters and circumstances--touching with equal ease the two extremes of society.
2. He seizes trifling opportunities.
3. He sets a signal example of turning secular things to sacred uses.
4. The lesson He here teaches can only be learned by practice.
5. The encouragement to learn this lesson is that our wise and Divinely-directed efforts in small matters may yield rich results.
V. AN EMBLEM OF HIS THIRST TO SAVE SINNERS.
1. This was deeper than His spiritual craving.
2. He thirsts now for you.
3. This thirst can only be quenched by your surrender. (A. Warrack, M. A.)
Christs request
In this notice
I. A GRACIOUS ACT OF SPIRITUAL AGGRESSION ON A SINNER. He did not wait for the woman to speak to Him, but was the first to begin conversation.
II. AN ACT OF MARVELLOUS CONDESCENSION. He by whom all things were made, the Creator of fountains, brooks, and rivers, is not ashamed to ask a draught of water from the hand of one of His sinful creatures.
III. AN ACT FULL OF WISDOM AND PRUDENCE. He does not at once force religion on the attention of the woman, and rebuke her for her sins. He begins with a subject apparently indifferent, and yet one of which the womans mind was doubtless full. He asks bet for water.
IV. AN ACT FULL OF THE NICEST TACT, and exhibiting perfect knowledge of the human mind. He asks a favour, and puts Himself under an obligation. No line of proceeding, it is well known to all wise people, would be more likely to conciliate the womans feelings towards Him and to make her willing to hear His teaching. Simple as the request was, it contains principles which deserve the closest attention of all who desire to do good to ignorant and thoughtless sinners. (Bp. Ryle.)
Christ abolishing prejudices
I. OF THE ANCIENTS AGAINST THE FEMALE SEX.
II. OF STATUTE AGAINST THE FALLEN.
III. OF NATIONALITY AGAINST AN ALIEN RACE.
IV. OF RELIGION AGAINST SEPARATISM AND HERESY. (Lange.)
The conference
Each one of us must come to have a personal dealing with Christ.
1. It may be at one of the crisis-hours of existence.
2. It may be at a dying hour.
3. It must be at the day of Judgment.
I. CHRIST OFTEN COMES AND SPEAKS UNEXPECTEDLY. When the woman left her home she never dreamed of this interview. Christ often comes
1. In sudden sicknesses.
2. Sudden reverses.
3. Sudden sanctuary visitations.
II. CHRIST OFTEN COMES AND SPEAKS TO THE SINNER WHEN ALONE. Had the woman come with other females at the customary evening hour this conversation would have been impossible. So in another case (chap. 8:9, 10).
III. CHRIST OFTEN SPEAKS IN THE MIDST OF THE ORDINARY DUTIES OF LIFE. So with the apostles. Christ thus puts His seal on lifes daily drudgery. (J. R.Macduff, D. D.)
Chance in the Divine economy
Here, then, we have an instance of what appeared to be chance, and what was chance as much as any human affairs can be so, being made subservient to a great and beneficial end. It was with no design of meeting the woman that Christ passed through Samaria, nor did He sit down by the well because He knew she would repair thither, but because He was weary; neither did the disciples go into the city that Christ might be left alone for this interview, but to buy meat; nor did the woman go to the well to meet a teacher and to receive instruction, but to draw water. The coincidences were all of them unconnected with each other. And this is what in common language we properly enough call chance. But in all such cases, though on the part of man the circumstances and results are undesigned and accidental, on the part of God they are foreknown and fore-ordained. (J. Fawcett, M. A.)
The real significance of the womans coming to Christ
As at the memorable scene of patriarchal days the ark of the testimony was placed between the adjacent hills, so now did the true Ark stand between her and the Ebal of curses directing and conducting her up to the mountain of blessing, and saying, Woman, thy sins are forgiven thee. Shechem, her ordinary dwelling-place, was one of the old cities of refuge. She may possibly have seen with her own eyes the manslayer hastening with fleet foot along the plain of Mokhna up the narrow valley she had just traversed to be safe within the appointed walls from the avenger of blood. That Old Testament institution and type had, in the Adorable Person standing by her side, a nobler meaning and fulfilment. Though all unconscious at the moment of her peril and danger, He was to her the great antitypical Refuge from the avenging sword of that law which she had so flagrantly outraged in heart and life. (J. R. Macduff, D. D.)
The Jewish treatment of women
It is worth noting that this freedom of speech between man and woman was condemned by the rabbins. One rabbinic precept is: Prolong not speech with a woman; a later edition reads: Ones own wife is meant--how much less the wife of another; and a third statement goes so far as to intimate perilous consequences in the next world for those who disregard this injunction. The Talmud declares it scandalous for a man to talk to a woman on the street; and women were prohibited from keeping schools because that would imply consultation with the fathers of their scholars. (S. S. Times.)
The revolution Christ effected in the treatment of women
If proof were needed of a strange abnormal disturbance in the history of the human race, it would be found in the treatment woman has received at the hands of society. Throughout the animal world the female sex is treated with consideration. Among birds and beasts the female is never systematically maltreated. This occurs only among men. The Saviour, however, in the unsullied purity of His manhood, brushed aside as cobwebs all social regulations which tended to degrade or oppress women. But He could not do it without exciting the wonderment even of those who knew Him best. Notwithstanding her life of illicit indulgence, the Saviour enters into earnest holy conversation with her. We have an account also of So, rates once holding a parley with the strange woman. What is the purpose of his conversation? Does he endeavour to reclaim her? Nay; he only teaches her how to ply her infamous trade with greater success, furnishing her, out of his deep knowledge of human nature, with new foibles wherewith to entrap the unwary. In extenuation of his offence it has been alleged that he was only making an experiment with his much-vaunted method. Maybe; but it conclusively proves that he had no adequate conception of the gross turpitude of moral evil, and that he was animated by no strong desire to win back to virtue those who had fallen from feminine integrity. What infinite distance separates the conversation of Socrates with the courtesan from the conversation of Christ with the Samaritan woman! (J. Cynddylan Jones, D. D.)
Christs gentleness with the fallen
A hawthorn, near Glastonbury Church, one of the oldest churches within these realms, was reported to bud and blossom in midwinter; whereas the bushes and trees round about looked bare and naked, this particular one appeared clad in beauty. What was the cause of its flowering in mid-winter? Tradition answered that Joseph of Arimathaea, the supposed first missionary of Christianity to Britain, and the accredited founder of the Glastonbury Church, touched it one day in passing with the fringe of his garment, whereupon extraordinary virtue flowed into the bush, and it forthwith blossomed. What is not true naturally may be true spiritually. Let men of prickly characters, the cantankerous thorns of humanity, be gently brushed by the hand of love, and forthwith they will flower in all the beauty of holiness. (J. Cynddylan Jones, D. D.)
Soul-winning tact
A colporteur entered an Austrian shop. He relates: A little girl asked me what I wanted. I have Bibles to sell. The little girl brought word that her parents had plenty of books, and would rather sell than buy. This led me to a little more boldness in my attack. I walked in a little nearer, and talking to some one supposed to be in the room, I explained what my books were. My husband is a Roman Catholic, was the reply; he would object to read the Bible. But I am very fond of my Bible; may I just read a short portion to you? Within a second room the husband himself was at work. He overheard our conversation and the passages read, and, peeping round the corner, said he would buy a copy. By-and-by a second man issued forth from the inner room. He would also take a copy. A regular talk began, and the people said, Stay and have some dinner with us. I did, and we parted capital friends. (Bible Society Report.)
Tact and kindness will win souls
At Mr. Moodys mid-day meeting, a minister rose and said he endorsed all which had gone before, and then related the following incident. I was holding a mission in a colliery district, and in the course of the morning when I was inviting people to the evening meeting, I knocked at a door and found a woman at the washing-tub. I said to her, I called to tell you I.am holding mission services at such and such a chapel, will you and your family join us? Chapel, she said; I am up to my eyes in washing. I have three black men coming in, and theres that wringing machine, I gave fifty shillings for it, and its broken the first round. She was in a towering passion, and I thought I would not say any more to her, so I took a look at the machine and found it was not broken, but had only slipped out of its gear, so I unscrewed it altogether, and set it right, and then said, Now you have been hindered so Ill just take a turn at the wringing. So I went to work, turn, turn, turn. At last she looked up and said: Where did you say the chapel was? I told her. She said: Ill tell my husband to-night, and well come. That woman got blessed, and her husband and all her family, and she turned out the best worker in the village, and there was a blessed work of God in that place. She went from house to house, saying, Come and hear the minister, its he as mended the machine!
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Expositor's Bible 1887 · Public Domain On vv1, 17, 31 Chapter 9
Chapter 9
THE WOMAN OF SAMARIA.
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When therefore the Lord knew how that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus Himself baptized not, but His disciples), He left Judæa, and departed again into Galilee. And He must needs pass through Samaria. So He cometh to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph: and Jacobs well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give Me to drink. For His disciples were gone away into the city to buy food. The Samaritan woman therefore saith unto Him, How is it that Thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a Samaritan woman? (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give Me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of Him, and He would have given thee living water. The woman saith unto Him, Sir, Thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast Thou that living water? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his sons, and his cattle? Jesus answered and said unto her, Every one that drinketh of this water shall thirst again: but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up unto eternal life. The woman saith unto Him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come all the way hither to draw. Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.- Joh_4:1-16.
Jesus left Jerusalem because His miracles were attracting the wrong kind of people, and creating a misconception of the nature of His kingdom. He went into the rural districts, where He had simpler, less sophisticated persons to deal with. Here He gained many disciples, who accepted baptism in His name. But here again His very success endangered His attainment of His great end. The Pharisees, hearing of the numbers who flocked to His baptism, fomented a quarrel between His disciples and those of John; and would, moreover, have probably called Him to account for presuming to baptize at all. But why should He have feared a collision with the Pharisees? Why should He not have proclaimed Himself the Messiah? The reason is obvious. The people had not had sufficient opportunity to ascertain the character of His work; and only by going about among them could He impress upon susceptible spirits a true sense of the nature of the blessings He was willing to bestow. To the woman of Samaria He did not hesitate to proclaim Himself, because she was a simple-minded woman, who was in need of sympathy and spiritual strength. But from controversial Pharisees, who were prepared to settle His claims by one or two trifling theological tests, He withdrew. The time would come when, after conferring on many humble souls the blessings of the kingdom, He must publicly proclaim Himself King; but as yet that time had not arrived, and therefore He left Judæa for Galilee.
A line drawn from Jerusalem to Nazareth would pass through the entire breadth of Samaria, and quite close to the town of Sychar. Between Judæa, where Jesus was, and Galilee, where He wished to be, the province of Samaria intervened. It stretched right across from the sea to the Jordan, so that the Jews, who were too scrupulous to pass through Samaritan territory, were compelled to cross the Jordan twice, and make a considerable détour if they wished to go to Galilee. Our Lord had no such scruples; besides, the springs near Salim, where John was baptizing, were not far from Sychar, and He might wish to see John on His way north. He took, therefore, the great north road, and one day at noon[11] found Himself at Jacobs well, where the road divides, and where, at any rate, it was natural that a tired traveller should rest during the mid-day hours. Jacobs well is still extant, and is one of the few undisputed localities associated with our Lords life. Travellers of all shades of theological opinion and of no theological opinion are agreed that the deep well, now much choked with débris, lying twenty minutes east of Nablûs, is the veritable well on the stone rim of which our Lord sat. Ten minutes walk north of this well lies a village now called El-Askar, which represents in name and partly in locality the Sychar of the text. Partly in locality I say, for Palestine was ten times as populous in the days of our Lord as it is at present; and there is therefore good ground for the supposition that although now but a little village or hamlet, Sychar was then considerably larger, and extended nearer to the well. Coming, then, to this well, and being tired with the forenoons walk, our Lord sat down, while the disciples went forward to the town to buy bread.
And thus arose that conversation with the woman of Sychar, which has brought hope and comfort to many a thirsting and weary soul besides. That which struck the woman herself and the disciples is not that which is likely to impress us most distinctly. We all feel the unsurpassed delicacy and grace of the whole scene. No poet ever imagined a situation in which the free movements of human nature, the picturesqueness of outward circumstance, and the profoundest spiritual interests were so happily, easily, and effectively combined. Yet the chief thing which struck the woman herself and the disciples was the ease with which Jesus broke down the wall of partition which the hatred of centuries had erected between Jew and Samaritan.
To estimate aright the magnanimity and originality of our Lords action in making Himself and His salvation accessible to this woman, the marked separation that had hitherto existed must be borne in mind. The Samaritans were of heathen origin. In the Second Book of Kings, chap, xvii., we read that Shalmaneser, King of Assyria, pursuing the usual policy of his empire, carried the Israelites to Babylonia, and sent colonists from Babylonia to occupy their cities and land. These colonists found the country overrun by wild beasts, which had multiplied during the years of depopulation; and accepting this as proof that the God of the land was not pleased, they begged their monarch to send them an Israelitish priest, who would teach them the manner of the God of the land. Their application was granted, and an adulterated Judaism was grafted on their native religion. They accepted the five Books of Moses, and looked for a Messiah-as indeed they still do. The origin of their hatred of the Jews is told in Ezra. When the Jews returned from exile and began to rebuild the temple, the Samaritans begged to be allowed to share in the work. Let us build with you, they said, for we seek your God as ye do; and we sacrifice unto Him since the days of Esarbaddon. But their request was bluntly refused; they were treated as heathens, who had no part in the religion of Israel. Hence the implacable religious enmity which for centuries manifested itself in all sorts of petty annoyances, and, when occasion offered, more serious injuries.
This Samaritan woman, then, was taken quite aback when the quiet figure on the well, which by dress and accent she had recognised as that of a Jew, uttered the simple request, Give me to drink. As any Samaritan would have done, she twitted the Jew with showing a frankness and friendliness which she supposed were wholly due to His own keen thirst and helplessness to quench it. But, to her still greater surprise, He does not wince before her thrust, nor awkwardly apologise, or seek to explain, but gravely and earnestly, and with dignity, utters the perplexing but thought-provoking words: If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of Him, and He would have given thee living water. He perceived the interest of the situation, saw with compassion her entire ignorance of the presence in which she stood, and of the possibilities within her reach. So do the most important issues often hinge on slight, trivial, every-day incidents. The turning-points in our career have often nothing to show that they are turning-points. We unconsciously determine our future, and bind ourselves with chains we can never break, by the way in which we deal with apparent trifles. We do not know the forces that lie hidden all around us; and for want of knowledge we miss a thousand opportunities. The sick man drags out a miserable existence, incapacitated and useless, while within his reach, but unrecognised, is a remedy which would give him health. It is often by a very little that the scientific or philosophical student fails to make the discovery he seeks; one more fact known, one idea fitted into its proper place, and the thing is done. The gold-digger throws aside his pick in despair at the very point where another stroke would have turned up the ore. So with some among ourselves; they pass through life alongside of that which would make all eternity different to them, and yet for lack of knowledge, for lack of consideration, the thin veil continues to hide from them their true blessedness. Like the crew that were perishing from thirst, though surrounded by the fresh waters of the River Amazon that penetrated far into the salt ocean, so we, surrounded on all hands by God and upheld by Him, and living in Him, yet do not know it, and refrain from dipping our buckets and drawing out of His life-giving fulness. How often, looking on those who, like this Samaritan woman, have gone wrong and know no recovery, who go through their daily duties sad and heavy at heart and weary of sin-how often do these words rise to our lips, If only thou knewest. How often does one long to be able to shed a sudden and universal light into the minds of men that would reveal to them the goodness, the power, the all-conquering love of God. Yes, and even in those who can speak intelligently of things Divine and eternal, how much blindness remains. For the knowledge of words is one thing, the knowledge of things, of realities, is another. And many who can speak of Gods love have never yet seen what that means for themselves. Certainly it is true of us all, that if we are not deriving from Christ what we recognise as living water, it is because there is a defect in our knowledge, because we do not know the gift of God.
In two particulars this womans knowledge was defective: she did not know the gift of God, nor who it was that spoke to her.
She did not know the gift of God. She was not expecting anything from that quarter. Her expectations were limited by her earthly condition and her physical wants. With affections worn out, with character gone, with no purifying joy, she came out listlessly day by day, filled her pitcher, and went her weary way. She had no thought of Gods gift, no belief that the Eternal was with her, and desired to communicate to her a spring of deep and ever-flowing joy. Doubtless she would have acknowledged God as the Giver of all good; but she had no idea of the completeness of His giving, of the freeness of His love, of His perception and understanding of our actual wants, of the joy with which He provides for them all. Through all ages and for all men there remains this gift of God, sought and found by those who know it; different from and superior to the best human gifts, inheritances, and acquisitions; not to be drawn out of the deepest, most cherished well of human sinking; steadily arrogating to itself an infinite superiority to all that men have regarded and busily sunk their pitchers in; a gift which each man must ask for himself, and having for himself knows to be the gift of God to him, the recognition by God of his personal wants, and the assurance to him of Gods everlasting regard. This gift of God, that carries to each soul the sense of His love, is His deliverance from evil. It is His answer to the misery and vanity of the world which He has resolved to redeem to worth and blessedness. It is all that is given in Christ, the hope, the holy impulses, the new views of life-but above all it is the means of conveyance that brings God to us, His love to our hearts.
What, then, can teach a man to know this gift? What can make a man for a while forget the lesser gifts that perish in the using? What can reasonably induce him to turn from the accredited sources round which men in all ages have crowded, what can induce him to forego fame, wealth, bodily comfort, domestic happiness, and seek first of all Gods righteousness? May we not all well pray with Paul, that we may have not the spirit of the world but the Spirit of God, that we may know the things that are freely given us of God; that we may see the small value of wealth or power or any of those things which can be won by mere worldly prudence or greed; and may learn fixedly to believe that the things of true value are the internal, spiritual possessions, which the unsuccessful may have as well as the successful, and which are not so much won by us as given by God?
Jesus further describes this gift as living water, a description suggested by the circumstances, and only figurative. Yet it is a figure of the same kind as pervades all human language. Water is an essential of animal and vegetable life. With a constantly recurring appetite we seek it. To have no thirst is a symptom of disease or death. But the soul also, not having life in itself, needs to be sustained from without; and when in a healthy state it seeks by a natural appetite that which will sustain it. And as most of our mental acts are spoken of in terms of the body, as we speak of seeing truth and grasping it, as if the mind had hands and eyes, so David naturally exclaims, My soul thirsts for the living God. In the living soul there is a craving for that which maintains and revives its life, which is analogous to the thirst of the body for water. The dead alone feel no thirst for God. The soul that is alive sees for a moment the glory and liberty and joy of the life to which God calls us; it feels the attraction of a life of love, purity, and righteousness, but it seems continually to sink from this and to tend to become dull and feeble, and to have no joy in goodness. Just as the healthy body delights in work, but wearies and cannot go on exerting itself for many hours together, but must repair its strength, so the soul soon wearies and sinks back from what is difficult, and needs to be revived by its appropriate refreshment.
And this woman, if for a moment she felt as if Christ were playing with her or making her enigmatical offers that could never bring her any substantial good, was immediately made aware that He who made these offers had fully in view the harshest facts of her domestic life. Mystified, she is also attracted and expectant. She cannot mistake the sincerity of Jesus; and, scarcely knowing what she asks, and with her mind still running on relief from her daily drudgery, she says, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. In prompt response to her faith Jesus says, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. The water which He means to give cannot be given before thirst for it is awakened. And in order to awaken her thirst He turns her back upon the shameful wretchedness of her life, that she may forget the water of Jacobs well in thirst for relief from shame and misery. In requiring her thus to face the facts of her guilty life, in encouraging her to bring clear before Him all her sinful entanglement, He responds to her request, and gives her the first draught of living water. For there is no abiding spiritual satisfaction which does not begin with a fair and frank consideration of our past, and which does not proceed upon the actual facts of our own life. If this woman is to enter into a hopeful and cleansed life, she must enter through confession of her need of cleansing. No one can slink out of his past life, forgetting or huddling up what is shameful. It is only through truth and straightforwardness we can enter into that life which is all truth and integrity. Before we drink the living water we must truly thirst for it.
If the inquiry be more closely pressed, and if it be asked what this Samaritan woman would find to be living water to her, what it was which, after Christ had gone, would daily renew in her the purpose to live a better life and to bear her burden cheerfully and hopefully, it will be seen that it must have been simply the remembrance of Christ; the knowledge that in Christ God had sought her, had claimed her in the midst of her evil life for some better and holier thing, had, in a word, loved her through all her sin, and sent deliverance to her. It is still, and always, this knowledge which comes with fresh exhilarating power to every disconsolate, despairing, fainting soul. The knowledge that there is One, the Holiest of all, who loves us, and who will be satisfied with nothing short of the purest blessedness for us; the knowledge that our God follows us, forgives us, elevates and purifies us by His love, this is living water to our souls; this revives us to the love of goodness, and braces us for all effort. It is not a little cistern that soon runs dry. To the end of a Christians life this fact of Gods love in Christ comes as fresh and as reviving to the soul as at first; to us this day it has the same power of supplying motive to our life as it had when Christ spoke to the woman.
He further defines the gift as a well of water in the soul itself springing up to everlasting life. This peculiarity of the water He would give was remarked upon here for the sake of contrasting it with the well outside the city to which the woman in all weathers had to repair; often wishing, no doubt, as she went out in the heat or in the rain, that she had a well at her door. The source of spiritual life is within; it cannot be inaccessible; it does not depend on anything from which we may be separated. And this is mans victory and end when within himself he has the source of life and joy, so that he is independent of circumstances, of position, of things present and things to come. It was a commonplace even of heathen philosophy, that no man is happy until he is superior to fortune; that his happiness must have an inward source, must depend on his own spiritual state, and not on outward circumstances. Similarly Solomon thought it a saying worthy of preservation that the good man is satisfied from himself; that is, he shall not look to success in life, or to comfortable circumstances, or even to domestic happiness or the society of old friends, as a sure and unfailing source of joy; but shall be at bottom independent of everything save what he carries always and everywhere in himself. Nothing is more pitiable than the restlessness one sees in some people; how they can find nothing in themselves, but are ever going from place to place, from entertainment to entertainment, from friend to friend, seeking something to give them rest, and finding nothing, because they seek it without and not within. It is Christ dwelling in the heart by faith that is alone the fountain of living water. It is His inward presence, apprehended by faith, by imagination, by knowledge, that revives the soul continually. It is thus that God makes us partakers of the life that is only in Him, linking us to Himself by our will, by all that is deepest in us, and so producing true and lasting spiritual life.
The woman was blinded by her ignorance on a second point; she did not know who it was that said to her, Give Me to drink. Until we know Christ we cannot know God: it is to Christ we owe all our best thoughts about God. This woman, when she had met the absolute goodness and kindness of Christ, had for ever different thoughts of God. So as we look at Christ our thought of God expands, and we learn to expect substantial good from Him. Yet often, like this woman, we are in Christs presence without knowing it, and listen, like her, to His appeals without understanding the majesty of His person and the greatness of our opportunity. He does offer largely; He speaks as if He were perfect master of the human heart, knew its every experience, and could satisfy it. He speaks of the gift He has to bestow in terms which convict Him of silly and heartless extravagance if that gift be not perfect; He has, in plain words, misled and deceived a large part of mankind, and especially those who were well inclined and thirsting for righteousness, if He cannot perfectly satisfy the soul. He challenges men in the most grievous and undone conditions to come to Him; He calls them off from every other source and stay, and bids them trust to Him for everything. If a man expects to find in Him all that the human heart can contain of joy, and all that the human nature is susceptible of, he does not expect more than the explicit offers of Christ Himself warrant. Manifestly such offers are at least worth considering. May it not be true that if we were to awake to the knowledge of Christ, we might now find His pretensions to be well founded? He professes to bestow what is worth our immediate acceptance, His friendship, His Spirit. What if it should be now that He seeks to come to our heart with these words, If thou knewest who it is that speaketh. Yes, if but for one hour we saw Gods gift, and Him through whom He offers it, we should become the suppliants. Christ would no longer need to knock at our door; we should wait and knock at His.
For in truth it is always the same request He urges to all. In His words to the woman, Give Me to drink, there was more than the mere request that He would lift her pitcher to His lips. Driven from Judæa, wearied as much with the blindness of men as with His journey, He sat on the well. Everything He saw had that day some spiritual meaning for Him. The bread His disciples brought reminded Him of His true support, the consciousness that He was doing His Fathers will; the fields whitening for harvest suggested to Him the nations unconsciously ripening for the great Christian ingathering. And when He said to the woman, Give Me to drink, He thought of the intenser satisfaction she could give Him by confiding in Him and accepting His help. In her person there stands before Him a new, untried race. Oh that she may prove more accessible than the Jews, and may allay His thirst for the salvation of men! His parched tongue seems forgotten in the interest of His talk with her. And to which of us has He not in this sense said, Give Me to drink? Is it cruelty to refuse a cup of cold water to a thirsting child, and none to refuse to quench the thirst of Him who hung upon the cross for us? Ought we to feel no shame that the Lord is still in want of what we can give? This woman knew it was a real thirst which could induce a Jew to ask drink from her. Has He not sufficiently shown the reality of His thirst for our friendship and trust? Could it be a feigned desire that led Him to do all He has done? Are we never to have the joy of appropriating His love as spent upon us; are we never with humble ecstasy to exclaim:-
Weary satst Thou seeking me,Diedst redeeming on the tree.Can in vain such labour be?
[11] Some good authorities hold that John reckoned the hours of the day from midnight, not from sunrise. It is, however, probable that John adopted the Roman reckoning, and counted noon the sixth hour.
William Robertson Nicoll, ed., The Expositor's Bible (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1887–1910) — public domain. 65 of 66 books (1 Corinthians is not separately keyed, as that volume carries no machine-parseable verse references); section-level commentary keyed to the opening verse. Introductory and overview sections not keyed to a specific passage are excluded.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 29, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 40, 41, 42 1–3. When therefore the Lord knew, etc. These verses…
1–3. When therefore the Lord knew, etc. These verses tell why Jesus ended his ministry in Judea, for the present, and departed into Galilee. The Pharisees were becoming jealous of his increasing influence and the time had not come for an open conflict.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On vv1, 27 Joh_4:1-3. These verses form an historical introductory note prefixed…
EXPLANATORY AND CRITICAL NOTES
Joh_4:1-3. These verses form an historical introductory note prefixed to and explaining our Lord’s ministry in Samaria. He left Judæa to avoid conflict with the Pharisaic party.
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Joh_4:2. Though (καίτοιγε = howbeit, and yet).—This word is intended to indicate a partial correction of the report recorded in Joh_4:1 (vide also Joh_3:22; Joh_3:26). “Why did not Jesus Himself baptise? Just because He was the Lord, and as such reserved to Himself the baptism of the Spirit. By leaving the baptism of water to the apostles, He rendered this rite independent of His personal presence, and so provided for the maintenance of it in His Church after His departure” (Godet).
Joh_4:3. He left (ἀφῆκε).—This is not the verb usually employed. ἀφίημι means “to leave a thing to itself,” “to leave it alone,” etc. (vide Westcott, Reynolds, etc.). Here is fore shadowed the awful word of doom of Mat_23:38.
Joh_4:4. He must needs, etc.—If He wished to go directly and speedily to Galilee the way through Samaria was the most direct; and Jesus, we may be assured, did not share Jewish prejudice as to this route (Luk_10:30-37). We, however, may conclude that this was a necessity of redeeming love. Samaria was a district of Central Palestine which took its name from the city built by Omri (1Ki_16:24). It was colonised by Assyrians in the reign of Esar-haddon, the Assyrian king, after the conquest of Israel (2Ki_17:24). The colonists were a mixed race, including five tribes or nations, each of which brought with them their own divinity, the worship of which they conjoined with the worship of Jehovah. Their only sacred books were the five books of Moses. The later Jewish prophetical and historical books they did not receive or acknowledge.
Joh_4:5. Sychar (Συχάρ).—This name has given rise to no little controversy. It was long supposed that either Συχάρ was simply an erroneous reading for Συχέμ (Act_7:16), and that Sychar was therefore Shechem, the modern Nablous; or that “the change of the name to Sychar is due to the contempt shown for the Samaritans by the Jews, who charged the Samaritans with the worshipping of an Idol (שֶׁקֶר), Sychar, or falsehood, from שָׁקַר (fefellit) (Hab_2:18). Lightfoot derives it from שָׁכַר (inebriavit)” (Wordsworth’s Greek Testament). But Shechem and Sychar were distinguished in ancient times (e.g. by Eusebius); and a Samaritan chronicle of the middle ages contains the name of a town called Iskar. In the Talmud also (see Westcott) a place called עין סוכר, i.e. the fountain of Soukar, is mentioned; whilst in recent years a spot has been discovered within half a mile or so of Jacob’s well called El-’Askar. If Nablous anciently extended nearer to Jacob’s well than it does now, this place might have been in reality a suburb of Shechem.
Joh_4:6. Jacob’s well (πηγή, עין, a spring).—The well is still called ’Ain Yacûb. Maundrell over two hundred years ago described it as 105 feet deep; but in 1886 it was found to be only 75 feet, and contained no water. It lies just under the side of Mount Gerizim. The sixth hour.—It has been much debated whether the Evangelist in his notes of time reckons according to the Jewish or Roman mode. According to the latter mode of reckoning, it must either have been six o’clock in the evening or morning. But as the time of year was December–January (Tebeth), it would thus, had it been evening, have been dark when the incident occurred, and there is nothing in the narrative to indicate that night had fallen. And it could hardly have been six in the morning, as there is no indication that the Lord and His disciples had been travelling over-night or very early in the morning. All the circumstances seem to point to the noontide hour, and to show that John used the Jewish time-reckoning.
Joh_4:8. To buy meat.—I.e. food.
Joh_4:9. The woman knew He was a Jew probably by His dress, but it may be also by His accent. It has been pointed out that the words of the question asked by Jesus in Aramaic would be תני לי לשׁחת (Teni li lish’ḥoth), whereas the woman would have said לשׂחת (lis’ḥoth) (vide Jdg_12:5-6).
Joh_4:10. If thou knewest (or hadst known) the gift of God.—I.e. the gift of His Son (Joh_3:16). Had she known this in place of waiting for Him to ask, she would have been first with her petitions. Living water.—No doubt the woman had some faint conception of the spiritual meaning of our Lord’s language. Such imagery would be quite clear to Jews (Joh_7:37-38; comp. Zec_14:8; Jer_2:13, etc.).
Joh_4:11. The well is deep.—Vide note on Joh_4:6.
Joh_4:12. Our father Jacob.—The Samaritans considered themselves to be descendants of Ephraim and Manasseh, i.e. Joseph. The woman is conscious of a hidden meaning in our Lord’s words, but she does not fully comprehend them. Whence can He obtain this living water? Not from Jacob’s well; it is deep, and He has nothing to draw it with. And besides, could He give her water more sacred, more blessed, than this ancient well afforded?
Joh_4:15. Come hither to draw.—διέρχωμαι, come all the way hither, seems the idea expressed (see Westcott).
Joh_4:16. Go, call thy husband, etc.—Jesus knew by His divine insight the character and life of this woman; and His question, though at first sight a strange one, was put with the intention of revealing her to herself and leading her to repentance.
Joh_4:17-18. The woman answered, etc.—The mystical interpretation of this passage must be noticed. Hengstenberg and others contend that this must be interpreted nationally and spiritually of the Samaritans. The five husbands mean the five idols of the original idolatrous settlers, the gods of Cuthah, Babylon, Ava, Hamath, and Sepharvaim; and that He whom thou hast is not thy husband is to be held to refer to Jehovah, whom the Samaritans claimed now to be their God, but on whom in reality they had no covenant claim. And there certainly seems to be some foundation for the interpretation in the fact that the conversation almost immediately turned on the validity of the Samaritan faith and worship. It has been pointed out that the idols mentioned in 2Ki_17:30-31, are seven. It might, however, be maintained that the double idols of Ava and Sepharvaim might each be considered one. There may therefore be a double meaning in our Lord’s words, understood by His Samaritan auditor. But a calm survey of the passage seems to lead to the conclusion that the narrative must be taken, primarily at least, in its obvious and literal signification.
Joh_4:19-20. Thou art a prophet.—The emphasis is on Thou (σύ). “The first thought in the Samaritan’s mind is that the connexion of man with God has been authoritatively restored” (Westcott). Hence the woman’s question in Joh_4:20. Nothing could be more important than a decision on that point. Our fathers.—Probably refers to Deu_27:4-5, where in the Samaritan Pentateuch Gerizim is substituted for Ebal. But the reference might also be to the patriarchs in their connection with Shechem. No temple existed on Gerizim, however, it would seem, till the times of Nehemiah.
Joh_4:21-22. Woman, believe Me, etc.—Although our Lord directly answers the woman’s question, pointing rather to a higher universal worship which should supersede all local cults, He yet makes it plain that Jerusalem has hitherto been the centre of true worship. Ye worship that which ye know not.—They rejected the continuous revelation God gave of Himself in the prophetic word and the history of His people. It was only a partial idea of God as revealed which they had, and therefore their worship was necessarily imperfect. But to the Jews the progress of revelation tended to the recognition of God as the Father (Psa_103:13; Jer_31:9; Mal_1:6; Mal_2:10), the great truth finally established and made luminous by the Incarnation.
Joh_4:23. In spirit and in truth.—“Worship involves an expression of feeling and a conception of the object towards Whom the feeling is entertained. The expression is here described as made in spirit, the conception as formed in truth.… By the Incarnation men are enabled to have immediate communion with God, and thus a worship in spirit has become possible. At the same time the Son is a complete manifestation of God for men, and thus a worship in truth has been placed within their reach” (Westcott).
Joh_4:24. God is Spirit.—πνεῦμα ὁ Θεός.
Joh_4:25. Which is called Christ (ὁ λεγόμενος Χριστός).—This is evidently one of the Evangelist’s interpretations of Hebrew terms for his Gentile readers. Messias.—The Samaritans seem to have had an expectation of a coming prophet and deliverer founded on the promises in the Pentateuch (Gen_3:15; Num_24:7; Deu_18:15); and probably to some extent influenced by Jewish belief. The modern Samaritans expect one to come whom they call הָשָּׁחֵב, Ha.sbaḥev (from שׁוּב, to return), which signifies the one who brings back, or the one who returns or restores. Taken in connection with Joh_4:42, this statement of the woman would seem to imply an imperfect but so far true conception of the functions of the coming Messiah.
Joh_4:26. I that speak, etc.—“This is the great ἐγώ εἰμι (‘I am’) that recurs throughout John’s Gospel” (Luthardt).
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Joh_4:1-26
The woman of Samaria.—The dispute between John’s disciples and a Jew was apparently only an outstanding incident, significant of deeper under-currents of feeling. It tended, perhaps, to produce an outbreak of the latent hostility toward Jesus in certain quarters. Even in Galilee itself there seemed to be indications of a feeling of opposition to the popular enthusiasm for Christ (Mar_2:5-6, etc.). The Baptist had now been cast into prison; and on Jesus the full stream of Pharisaic hatred, which had formerly been divided, was now turned. And the hatred was all the greater because Jesus made and baptised more disciples than John (Joh_4:1). Therefore, in the circumstances, Jesus for the time withdrew from Judæa, practising a precept He afterward laid down for the disciples (Mat_10:23).
I. The necessity for His going through Samaria.—
1. It was not an absolute material necessity. Strict Jews would have avoided it by going through Peræa. Those who wished to make a speedy journey, however, required to take this direct route. This did not seem to be the sole reason why Jesus chose it; for He remained two days at Sychar.
2. The “must needs” be is no doubt to be found in the incidents that follow. It is a divine necessity for Christ to save thirsting souls.
3. How does this mission to Samaria agree with the command to the disciples in Mat_10:5-6? It was a command applying only to that special mission (Act_1:8). And although the Saviour was sent specially to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Mat_15:24), yet He never withheld His saving power from those ready and willing to receive it.
II. Christ’s meeting with the woman of Sychar.—
1. In the heat of the day (for even in winter, the best time for travelling in Syria, the midday sun is often very hot, and walking fatiguing), Jesus came, wearied, to Jacob’s well (Gen_33:18-20; Gen_49:21-22; Deu_33:28-29), near a village or suburb of Shechem called Sychar, now called El Askar, about a mile from Nablous (Shechem).
2. Jesus had journeyed on foot. The common fund evidently did not admit of hiring animals for all His company, and He therefore went with them afoot. He shared with His disciples the common fatigues and hardships of the way.
3. He sat thus, wearied and footsore, by the well, whilst the disciples went for provisions to the neighbouring village or town. He was truly human—the Son of man as well as the Son of God. He knows our toils, trials, wearinesses, and can sympathise with us in our troubles (Heb_4:15).
4. While He thus sat “a woman of Samaria” came to draw water. It was not the usual hour when women came to draw water, and this particular woman must have come there at that time for some especial need, perhaps also to avoid publicity, which she had reason to do. Our Lord entered into conversation with her, showing that He was free from rabbinic prejudice and Jewish exclusiveness. He asked from her a draught of water, as the disciples had probably taken with them the vessel for drawing water (Joh_4:11). The Saviour’s request was a real request. The sinless needs of His human nature were as ours (Joh_19:28; Mat_8:24).
III. Christ leads the woman to desire the living water which He can give.—
1. Whilst the Saviour’s request was a genuine one, it also afforded Him an opening for offering this poor woman a richer gift.
2. The mere fact of doing a kindness to another leads us to take a more than ordinary interest in that person. A way is often found into the soul of a man by giving him the sense of an ability to be helpful to others. It awakens a kindly feeling toward the person helped. Here we have an example of but one of the many ways in which Christ brings sinners to Himself. Something connected with our daily duty may be made a turning-point in our life. As the man at his daily work found the treasure in the field (Mat_13:44), so often in the pursuit of our daily duty the Lord may give us the privilege of bringing to light heavenly riches.
3. The woman was astonished at our Lord’s request. His costume (most probably His accent) proclaimed him a Jew; and, considering the relation between Jews and Samaritans, the request was a strange one (vide Note, p. 124), although we may be sure it was granted (Luk_10:33).
4. Jesus soon showed that He was no ordinary traveller, not simply a liberal-minded Jew, as He said to her, “If thou knewest the gift,” etc. (Joh_4:10). The water of Jacob’s well was truly a divine gift flowing for all; but there is a richer, fuller spring, giving enduring satisfaction, “living water” drawn from the ever-fresh, never-failing springs of eternal love and grace (Psa_36:9; Psa_87:7; Isa_12:3; Isa_41:17-18; Isa_55:1).
5. The woman now realises that here is some one far above her, and she addresses Him courteously, Sir. But she does not yet quite comprehend His meaning. Moreover, her pride of race and religion is up in arms; and perhaps some idea of a special sanctity in this well is in her mind as she replies, “Art Thou greater?” etc. (Joh_4:12).
6. The answer of Jesus reveals to the woman a well of deeper depth than that of Jacob. He opens up to her gaze the deep spring of eternal love and grace. He who drinks from Jacob’s well, or any earthly spring of material joy, shall thirst again. “But the water that I shall give,” etc. (Joh_4:14), shall be an inner source, never failing, of satisfaction (Isa_55:1). And thus, too, that other prophetic word is fulfilled: “The Lord shall … satisfy thy soul in drought,” etc. (Isa_58:11). All fountains of earthly satisfaction cannot satisfy the soul, which needs a supply not from external sources only, but deep in itself, ever flowing through faith, and which is checked only by unbelief. It is living water, flowing from the source of all grace (Ezekiel 47), full and abounding for spiritual satisfaction, springing up unto life eternal. It is Christ, and His Spirit and gospel (Joh_7:37-40).
IV. From the well to the mount of service.—
1. The woman of Sychar, although perplexed by the words of Jesus as to the gift of living water which He could bestow, realised evidently that there was some deep meaning under these words. At all events, she realised that such a gift would be a valuable one, and in her heart a great desire for this gift was awakened (Joh_4:15).
2. And Jesus would fain give her this boon; but there was needed first a preparation of heart and life for its reception. Hence our Lord’s answer, although fitted to lead toward this end, would be unexpected, and, we may believe, at first unwelcome to the woman. It revealed the poor sinful woman to herself, and gave her a glimpse of the nature of Him with whom she was speaking. She had apparently lived a loose and evil life, and now Jesus brought it up before her suddenly—not simply to shame her, but with a view to lead her, and her partner in sin, to repentance. Probably her former husbands had discarded her for her wicked life. She made no attempt to cover or conceal her sin.
3. We are not, therefore, to consider the apparently strange turn given to the conversation as merely “a woman’s ruse” to escape an unpleasant and unwelcome turn in the conversation. In all probability this woman (who possessed evidently some force of character) had grown dissatisfied with her past life, but found no help and guidance toward higher things in the religion and worship of Samaria. She was evidently of the number of those who were vaguely longing for the bright new era of Messiah (Joh_4:25). And the thought might well come to her, “Here was one who was evidently a prophet—might He not decide this question, and give her some definite clue as to what was the truth?” There must have been some such feeling in her mind, else Jesus would not have followed the turn in the conversation, which indeed led up to the end He desired to reach. “Our fathers worshipped on this mountain” (Gerizim), etc., said the woman.
4. The answer of Jesus was truly prophetic. He had to convince the woman that the Samaritan religion and worship were erroneous, and that in the Jewish Church alone at that period the true Object of worship was adored and the way of salvation known. But, at the same time, He had to show that all merely local cults were soon to pass away, giving place to a universal, rightly directed, and true worship, when men should everywhere worship the Father (see homily on Joh_4:20-24).
5. In her answer to our Lord the woman of Samaria showed a deeper and truer conception of part of Messiah’s work than did the Jews. She realised that He was to come as the Revealer (Joh_4:25). And Jesus, recognising in this poor woman’s heart a receptivity not common in Israel, revealed Himself unto her (Joh_4:26). Not prejudiced like the Jewish rulers and the mass of the Jewish people, she willingly received His word. In haste, excited and rejoiced above measure at this great discovery, leaving her waterpot behind in her excitement, thus forgetting the object of her visit to the well, or having otherwise realised it (above, Joh_2:4), she hurried to Sychar to communicate her important news, and thus became the first preacher of Christ in that place.
Joh_4:7-26. A soul awakened and enlightened.—In this conversation of our Lord with the Samaritan woman, we find the Saviour employing quite another method than that followed in the case of Nicodemus. Jesus did not use any stereotyped plan in dealing with men and women regarding spiritual things. Each individual case was treated with reference to its own special circumstances and needs. There seems to be a danger of forgetting this in certain quarters nowadays—of forgetting that men cannot be treated spiritually in the mass, and run, as it were, into moulds like molten metal. There is a danger lest those whose feelings have been stirred by emotional excitement may in this state be led to grasp a shadow for the reality. It is better, certainly, that men and women should be stirred up, than that they should remain wholly indifferent. But there is room for much wise and calm spiritual guidance in their treatment. It is needful, e.g., that men should have true views of sin, else they will never have true views of God and salvation. In this conversation our Lord gives an example of faithful and wise dealing with a sinful soul. Most marked is the skill with which the Good Physician of souls led this woman to a desire for something higher—to tacit confession of her sinfulness—to a glimpse of the meaning of the true spiritual life.
I. In this conversation Jesus awoke in her heart a desire for something higher.—The woman of Samaria came to Jacob’s well, with her waterpot, intent only, it would seem, on satisfying material needs. Her life had not been a good one; and possibly, like many slaves of sin, she felt the bondage to be bitter. Even amid her sinful life also she turned her thoughts sometimes toward higher things (Joh_4:25). The Saviour read her heart, and His very presence helped (as it ever did) to awaken the germ of spiritual life slumbering there, and well-nigh extinct. He effected His purpose of mercy toward her and her fellow-citizens, by leading His hearer through the material occupation of the moment to the thought of the higher spiritual reality. The empty waterpot led Him to speak of the spiritual thirst of men, and to show the divine way in which alone it can be satisfied. The woman knew, as her words show, that Jesus spoke of some other water than Jacob’s well or any material spring. Perhaps it was some vague religious feeling that led her to come to Jacob’s well—some semi-superstitious thought that a blessing might come through drinking from this hallowed spring. But the toil remained—the blessing had not come. Hence she says (Joh_4:15), “Sir, give me,” etc.
II. Jesus led her by personal revelation to conviction of sin and to feel her need.—The inner look of the Saviour revealed this woman to herself, and at the same time showed her that she stood in the presence of One who knew her altogether (Joh_4:17-19). She made no attempt to deny her sinfulness. Her tacit acknowledgment was confession. But she showed her sense of her need, and her faith that He could supply it, by at once asking Him for light regarding religion and the spiritual life.
III. Our Lord revealed to her the true spiritual life, and Himself as the way to it.—The woman now in a measure understood what Jesus meant, and desired to know more. He therefore showed her the inadequacy of her present faith, and pointed out the fact that the way of salvation was revealed to Israel. But at the same time He opened to her the vista of true spiritual service, now first fully revealed, of which the Father is the centre, and Himself the revealer of the Father.
Joh_4:4-26. Our Lord’s dealing with the Samaritan woman.—In order to assimilate all that is beautiful, instructive, and touching in this story, to explain and consider worthily all the precious words spoken by Jesus on this occasion, would go far beyond the limits of our meditation. We shall not, therefore, consider the particulars, but rather the Redeemer’s mode of dealing with souls, as shown in this conversation; and notice the special application the whole may have in our ordinary life. We see—
I. How the Redeemer, starting from a very ordinary occurrence, one of the smallest in human life, knew how to turn the conversation with the Samaritan to the highest truths of His teaching, and the end and aim of His appearance in the world. Thus, not only in the narrower circle of those immediately around us and connected with us, but in that wider circle in which we all more or less move, in which men are not so open with each other as in the narrower sphere of friendship and companionship, even although they are not entirely strangers to each other, we often in conversation linger on trifles, on the petty occurrences of life! And when the talk turns on personal circumstances, how seldom is it conducted in such a way that profitable considerations arise from it, and the heart is moved to turn from those lesser things to things of higher import, etc.
II. Notice how the Redeemer declared Himself to this Samaritan woman in regard to the relations between the Jews and the Samaritans. He left her in no doubt regarding His opinion as to these contending claims. Similar circumstances meet us. There are many divisions of the Church of God. But when through these divisions men become embittered and inimical; when the higher consciousness of the unity of the faith, and the oneness of the Church resting thereon, vanishes; when in place of helping each other toward the knowledge and practice of the true and good they deny to each other insight, right feeling, and love of the divine,—then how unblessed are such divisions! How disastrous also! for thus the Church becomes like a congeries of small states, divided and inimical—an easy prey to the foe. If the Redeemer were asked as to His opinion concerning these divisions, He would point to a time when neither one nor another would exist … and reply that such division can become beneficial only in so far as there is a recognition of the higher unity. But we must also, in imitation of our Redeemer, not suppress our views of the subjects on which we are divided. Yet, fellowship, love, and the power of truth are to be invoked to bring about an agreement founded on better opinions. Men must be brought to an earnest conviction that the blessing of God does not rest on our divisions, but on the unity which lies at the basis of each.
III. Lastly, notice the open avowal of Christ: “I that speak unto thee am He.” We live in an age when many a one is unwilling to say who and what he is, and what his deepest thoughts, etc., are. But when the hearts of men are truly turned to God, when faith and love increase and are strengthened, when men deny themselves to what is of the earth earthy, renounce dissimulation, and desire first of all God’s eternal kingdom which Christ has opened even on earth—then when we meet others like-minded with ourselves, let us openly avow ourselves to them, and thus strengthen and comfort each other whilst pressing forward in our course.—Abridged from F. Schleiermacher.
Joh_4:10. Divine grace.—This gift of God which the Samaritan woman did not yet know is divine grace. It is a precious gift which we do not ourselves comprehend sufficiently, and which we do not always take pains to seek to comprehend. Hence it comes about that it is frequently received in vain. It is important, therefore, to seek to have right ideas regarding it. Of divine wisdom it is said that she works gently and yet attains her ends with power. So it may be said of grace, for grace works within us as the instrument of sovereign wisdom. Consider then, first, the gentleness, and, second, the power of grace.
I. The gentleness of divine grace.—By this attribute grace touches the sinner and becomes victorious. This gentleness is seen—
1. In this, that grace waits for us. Jesus, wearied, etc., as He was, waited to be gracious to this sinful Samaritan.
2. Grace avails itself of the times and occasions best suited for gaining its ends.
3. Grace is the first to meet us. So our Lord opened the conversation with this woman, etc.
4. What grace wishes to obtain it asks from us—it solicits and invites. The Lord entreated the Samaritan woman to believe Him: “Woman, believe Me,” etc. More, grace asks little from us that it may give much. The Saviour asked a draught of water, that He might offer to this woman a draught from the fountain of living water.
5. Grace accommodates itself to our nature and temperament. This woman showed an inquiring disposition, and the Saviour deigned to converse with her on the themes she introduced.
6. Grace does not involve us in positions of difficulty where it cannot comfort and help us. It is true God by His grace influences us to renounce the world; but only after by grace we have made known to us its vanity and danger.
II. The power of divine grace.—It has always appeared to me, and I am still of the same opinion, that one of the most convincing proofs of the truth of our faith is to see what grace does in certain souls. And if I consider only the conversion of this Samaritan, I should conclude without hesitation that there is a superhuman power that works within us. There is seen a double miracle of the almighty power of divine grace in this conversion—the one in regard to the mind, the other in regard to the heart.
1. There was a miracle of grace and power effected in the mind of the Samaritan. She was an unbeliever and was brought to faith—always a difficult process.
2. There was a miracle of grace in the power that changed her heart. She had lived an evil life, and grace convinced her of its sinfulness.
3. These miracles were evidently works of superhuman power, yet the Saviour of the world wrought them speedily. Her conversion was sudden, and its reality evident.
What lessons shall we learn from this?—
1. Hope all things from divine grace; and however great seems to be the effort needed to bring one back to God, have confidence.
2. If God in His mercy has brought you out of the estate of sin, imitate the zeal of the Samaritan, and labour like her to bring in as many sinners as you are capable of affecting, above all those who have been accomplices in your sins. Say with penitent David: “Come and hear, and I will declare what God hath done for my soul” (Psa_66:16), and therefore what He will do for you also. Inspire us with such zeal, O God, and with Thy Holy Spirit.—Abridged from Bourdaloue.
Joh_4:21. The true sacredness of places of worship.—The natural tendency of men to localise worship and consecrate certain spots as sacred is checked by the true knowledge of the spirituality and omnipresence of God. His manifestation of Himself specially in Israel was suited to the childhood of the race, and to the fact that Israel alone was then consecrated to His service. But by the Incarnation the barriers of exclusiveness have been thrown down, and from every race and nation the spiritual Israel is being gathered in. So that everywhere in the Church—the congregation of the faithful—which is Christ’s mystical body, an acceptable worship ascends to God (1Pe_2:5). Are we to say then that our churches—places of worship—are to have no special sanctity in our eyes; that they may be used for other and secular purposes, like ordinary buildings; indeed that churches may be dispensed with altogether, and men worship the Father in solitary stillness?
I. The place of worship is consecrated by the communion of true worshippers with each other.—The mere stone and lime of a religious edifice may not be more sacred than other stone and lime. Yet from the fact that the worshippers meet there in praise and prayer, united in their acts of devotion to God, the place acquires a sacredness in their sight which belongs to no other place. There the divine word has been faithfully preached for many generations; there many a one has been led to conviction of sin and settled peace; within those walls have come the weary and have found rest, the troubled and perplexed and have found comfort. There our fathers have worshipped, and have said, “It was good for us to be there.” All these memories awaken our gratitude and thankfulness, and should make our united supplications rise with more fervour and power to the throne of grace. And all this will make the place of communion sacred and dear.
II. The place of worship is also, for the most part, the place of closest fellowship and communion with our Saviour and our God.—It is so, indeed, only because the congregation statedly meet there. Hence many a church building is called—and well called—a Bethel, a place where God has manifested Himself to His waiting people. Wherever God’s people assemble, in the lowly hut amid savage wilds, in the woods, beneath the open sky, or in dens or caves of the earth, they may, and do, enjoy this communion. But in settled communities there is ever a stated place; and that place must and will be hallowed by the memories of heavenly consecration and fellowship; and it would be felt to be a profanation to use such a place for all ordinary purposes. We do not make vegetable gardens or sow corn on the spots where our loved ones lie buried. These spots are kept sacred to their memory. And shall we not also consider that place as hallowed where first the name of Christ was named upon us—where often in the sacred rite of His own ordinance we have entered into communion with our risen Lord? This is not mere sentimentality. It is a sense of the fitness of things which dictates this feeling.
III. Our places of worship are specially prepared for the purpose of social public prayer and praise.—They are set apart from the distractions of the world. “The loud vociferations of the street” do not enter them; and all the accessories should tend to distract the mind and heart from earth, so that they may be fixed on heavenly things. The art—both in the furnishing and the music—should be fitted to aid the soul in its heavenward flight. Whilst here on earth the senses and feelings and emotions are part of our being; and all must be made to contribute to and not hinder spiritual worship. It is difficult to prevent men going to extremes here—of “baldness” on the one hand, of sensuousness on the other. The remedy is to pray for and to exercise the spirit of true worshippers, who worship the Father “in spirit and in truth.”
Joh_4:20-24. Worship in spirit and in truth.—The subject brought before us in these verses is true worship—its Object, its universality and spirituality. Whether the whole of the conversation between our Lord and this Samaritan woman is here reported cannot, perhaps, be clearly determined. It may be that as in the conversation with Nicodemus, only the salient points are recorded. At all events, we see this auditor of our Lord led upward from her merely material cares to the loftiest of themes. A revelation is made to her of a higher and more heavenly truth than had ever before been made known to man. Not in the groves of the Academy, not in the School of the Peripatetics, not in the “Painted Porch,” was this revelation made—not in imperial Rome, learned Athens, or cosmopolitan Alexandria; but in an obscure district of Palestine, to a poor Samaritan woman, and therefore to a member of a race despised by the Jews and not much regarded by the Gentiles, was this great truth first spoken, by One despised and rejected of men, a weary traveller seated for rest and refreshment by the rand of Jacob’s well. And yet although the truth then proclaimed in all its fulness for the first time among men appeared so lofty and heavenly, yet now it has been made known it is at once seen to be in accordance with reason and with the higher aspirations of the race. And withal it is so simple that even Christ’s humble, uninstructed listener by Jacob’s well seems to have partly caught and assimilated it—a striking example of how great spiritual truths, hidden from the wise and prudent, are revealed unto babes (Mat_11:25).
I. The object of true worship.—
1. The true worshippers shall worship the Father. By this endearing word the woman of Sychar, and since then all men, had revealed to them a thought which would set them free for ever from all debasing forms and modes of worship. In His personal relation to men God is the Father. On the throne of universal dominion there is seated not merely almighty Power inscrutable, before whom men must needs bend in dread and awe—not certainly divine wrath merely, frowning down on trembling men, and requiring to be appeased by ever richer offerings, costlier sacrifices, and bloodier rites: on that throne sits the God of love, the Father of Him whom He sent to save the race of men, and in whom, new-born, they can come with holy boldness to that divine throne, and say, “Abba, Father.” This great thought, revealed faintly and dimly to Israel, our Lord made fully known, thus elevating and enlarging the thoughts of men regarding God.
2. God is Spirit. In this word the nature, the eternal personal essence, of the Deity is described. There is no limitation in His being. He is not limited by the bounds of time and space, as we are—not to this moment of the world’s history, in this set place in the universe. Even as thought can live in eternities past or eternities future, so the divine Spirit exists yesterday, to-day, and for ever, unbounded by any limit of space or time. And in this description we are also to realise the idea of absolute freedom. It is just this freedom of will that distinguishes man as a free spiritual being: all else in his nature is under the dominion of the forces of the universe. And thus man is in his nature a complex being—strange and perplexing; on this side swayed by the forces around him, on that choosing freely to act, and conscious of the responsibility resting on him in view of his activity. But God has no limitations on the side of nature, for He is the creator of nature, which lies plastic in His hand. Therefore He is “free personality—the supreme conscience.” He knows, He wills absolutely. “He is distinguished from all His creatures, because by an act of His love He has formed them.” And in His activity “none can stay His hand from working, or say unto Him, What doest Thou?” He is therefore absolute freedom, the absolute One. And thus in this conception men escape the idolatry of heathenism, with its gods each limiting the other—from the pantheistic dreams of the one substance, from fatalistic materialism. Yet again, the spiritual being is founded on righteousness and truth. It is even by these qualities of their moral being that men rise to be what they are. Without them, as the guiding principles of life and action, men may become worse than the beasts that perish. And these are the eternal and immutable attributes of the Godhead. “Righteousness and judgment are the habitation of His throne.” Indeed, without these qualities there can be no true spirituality, no true freedom. Where righteousness is wanting slavery reigns. “This is the God whom Jesus reveals—infinite and eternal, everywhere present and conscious, Lord and Father, merciful and holy” (Viguié).
II. The true manner of worship: it is to be in “spirit and in truth.”—
1. As are men’s gods so is their worship. According to men’s ideas of the supreme Being the form of their worship will shape itself. The pages of the world’s annals have but to be glanced through to reveal how true this statement is to fact. The cruel Moloch will demand a ritual of cruel, even human sacrifice. And on the other hand a cold monotheistic and rational conception of the Deity (such as that of the Sadducees and Samaritans) will lead to a cold, formal, lifeless worship. And the agnostic, who philosophically, and even with a sense of superiority, postulates an “unknown God,” has either no worship at all, or one so ethereal that it remains unseen.
2. But in this highest act of the spiritual life men can only find true satisfaction when they come to Him whom Christ has revealed as the Father. He is no mere abstraction of the intellect—no mere negation—no mere chimera of the human imagination. He has come near—He has revealed Himself in Christ. “He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father” (Joh_14:9). And therefore those who become His children approach in holy reverence and boldness, with gratitude and love, “as children to a Father.” Their hearts are drawn toward Him; and the spirits He has created rise into loving and joyful fellowship with the divine Spirit.
3. We are thus to adore Him in spirit. Not now by material sacrifices—not by ritualistic posturings, by ascetic penances, nor by any outward or material means merely, is God truly worshipped; but by the rising of the human spirit toward the divine in prayer and praise and spiritual communing. Nor do the true worshippers come in the spirit of servile fear, or for mere show and pretence, to gain favour in the eyes of men, or ignorantly hoping thereby to purchase favour from God. They rather “offer up to God a sacrifice of praise continually,” etc. (Heb_13:15). And yet again, the true worshippers are to worship God in holiness and truth. Indeed, the nearer we approach in spirit and in life to the divine likeness, the more true and spiritual will our worship become. The more we learn and know of God, the more will our worship be in truth. Because worship is not an act we can dissociate altogether from our life in general. We cannot in reality say, as some imagine we can, here lies our secular and there our spiritual sphere. They mingle and unite: we cannot separate them. Men cannot lead unholy lives and still truly worship God. Such acts of worship He counts as “vain oblations” (Isa_1:10-18). And thus we see how the new spiritual worship may still be expressed in the old symbolic language. There are sacrifices still; but it is our bodies we are to present “living sacrifices” (Rom_12:1). There are lustrations and separations still. “Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts, ye double-minded” (Jas_4:8). “Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord” (2Co_6:17). And thus serving Him here we shall rise ever nearer to that perfect scene when in the company of the redeemed we shall “serve Him day and night in His temple” (Rev_7:15).
III. The place of worship.—
1. Great would be the astonishment of the Samaritan woman and of all who heard for the first time this wonderful saying: “An hour cometh when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem shall ye worship the Father.” Until that hour—unless where faintly adumbrated by psalmist and prophet—no universal worship of the omnipresent God had been thought of. Even in the case of Jehovah, although the inspired teachers of Israel had risen to some true conceptions, to the mass He was the God of Israel whose habitation was in Zion. All the gods of the heathen were more or less localised, and their shrines were the holy places of the peoples.
2. But here in a word Jesus swept away for ever all such childish and idolatrous ideas. By revealing the true nature of God, He at once made plain the true spirit of worship, and the fact that the Most High “dwelleth not in temples made with hands, neither is worshipped with men’s hands” (Act_17:24-25). “The only temple in the universe is the body of man” (Novalis). “Your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost” (1Co_6:19). “Thus saith the high and lofty One,” etc. (Isa_57:1-15). This is the true temple of God, and thus worship is universal as humanity—nay, is found wherever there are minds to know and hearts to love. At all times then, and in all places, the spiritually enlightened may offer up an acceptable service to God. No longer in Jerusalem or in Gerizim is God to be worshipped exclusively, but in all places where true worshippers meet sincerely and spiritually to call on God and to praise and glorify His name.
“Where’er they seek Thee Thou art found,
And every place is hallowed ground.”
HOMILETIC NOTES
Joh_4:9. Jews and Samaritans.—The last words (οὐ γὰρ συγχρῶνται) are a remark made by the Evangelist, for the sake of his Gentile readers who might not know the origin of the Samaritan people (2Ki_17:24 et seq.). It was a mixture of five nations transported from the East by Esar-haddon to repeople the kingdom of Samaria, whose inhabitants had been removed by Shalmaneser. To the worship of their national gods they joined that of the divinity of the country—Jehovah. After the return of the Babylonish captivity, they offered their services to the Jews in the rebuilding of the temple. Being rejected, they used all their influence with the kings of Persia to hinder the re-establishment of the Jewish people. They built a temple on Mount Gerizim. Their first priest was Manasseh, a Jew who had married a Persian. They were more abhorred by the Jews than the Gentiles were. No Samaritans were received as proselytes (Godet). Indeed, strict Jews were forbidden to have any intercourse with their despised and hated neighbours; and they were even forbidden to eat bread prepared by Samaritans: “He who eats a Samaritan’s bread is as he who eats swine’s flesh.” Generally perhaps the prohibition was directed against all prepared foods, as thus defiled. Fruits and vegetables, uncooked eggs, etc., were not included in the prohibition.
ILLUSTRATIONS
Joh_4:6. Memories of Jacob’s well.—Let us set ourselves down on the edge of Jacob’s well. The Lord had seated Himself there, weary with His journey. The way had been long, and the midday sun hot. He was athirst. Who would grudge this rest to the Son of man? Shall He not be permitted to breathe restfully in this place, whilst behind Him lies Jerusalem inimical to Him, and before Him Galilee rich in labours, and around Him strangers who still had no part in Him? Might He not, drawn thereto by the many memories clustering about this place, take refuge from the harassed present in the peaceful past? In those pleasant shades did not the figures of ancient times live and move? Jacob digging this well, where so oft the patriarch himself, his household and flocks, refreshed themselves. How he gave the village of Sychar to his beloved Joseph; how Joseph here, earnest and chaste, went in and out, solicitous for his brethren; and how at last the bones of this Israelite, royally exalted and dying highly honoured in a foreign land, were brought hither and entombed. But Jesus did not come to revel in such remembrances, although they were so poetically beautiful, but to advance the kingdom of God. He did not come again to bury the dead, but to awake the dead. He did not come to be ministered unto, but to minister; and that where He asked a gift He might bestow one infinitely richer in return.—Dr. Rudolph Kögel, “Predigt.”
Joh_4:24. Worship in truth.—Behold worship in truth, perfect worship and eternal, beyond which we can neither imagine nor conceive anything further. It is in truth, as the Saviour said, because it is sincerity itself. There cannot, indeed, be either division or discord between the act and the inner disposition. The disposition is here the act. It is the heart which worships, and has always its part therein. There is no place for hypocrisy. This worship is in truth because it is the perfection, the sublime flight, the culminating point, to which the whole being tends, toward which it pants, and where is seen the vision of God. Such a worship defies time and space; it is independent of everything that is contingent and perishing. It is “worship in truth” to-day, to-morrow, for evermore. It is “worship in truth” on our poor earth; but wherever you can conceive of spiritual beings existing can you imagine for them a worship superior to the worship in spirit?… Luminous spheres which dazzle our gaze, worlds innumerable which sweep through the celestial spaces and overwhelm us by your majesty, say, who are those spirits that people and animate your immensities? In our weakness here below we shall doubtless never know in perfect fashion concerning their nature and the mode of their activity. But we know one thing. They are of God, they have come from the creative hand of the Father all merciful and all holy—they are made in His image. And without doubt, if we judge from a comparison of their glorious habitations with our poor world, this divine image will be less obscured and effaced than among us. Therefore will they love more perfectly than we do, hope more perfectly, and do good. More perfect also will be their adoration, with more devotional ardour, more prayer, more fervour, more holiness. They mount up ever toward the Father, and in this come before us. Yet between them and us, unworthy though we be, there is a glorious bond of union, a spiritual resemblance, the sign and image of the Father; and that is our worship. Thus from sphere to sphere, from eternity to eternity, the same aspirations of the soul have risen and will rise toward God. It is the universal thrill, the immensity of joy, the universal attraction of spiritual beings toward the supreme Spirit—the radiant centre of everything that lives. It is the eternal hosanna, the sublime harmony, that ascends to the Lord from all worlds and from all ages. Let us join our strains to these—it is our glory to do so, our patent of nobility, the mark of our exaltation.—Translated from Viguié.
The heart must be made a temple to God, wherein sacrifices do ascend; but that they may be accepted, it must be purged of idols, nothing left in any corner, though never so secret, to stir the jealousy of our God, who sees through all. Oh happy that heart that is, as Jacob’s house, purged, in which no more idols are to be found, but the holy God dwelling there alone, as in His holy temple!—Leighton.
Joh_4:26. The joy and fruit of sincere Christian profession.—What good fruit did this conversation bear to the Redeemer, as subsequently men and women came to Him, saw Him and heard Him, prayed Him to remain with them, and then testified that they believed no more simply because of the speech of the woman, but because they had heard Himself! How was His spirit rejoiced by the hope that the fields were white to harvest! how gladly He welcomed His disciples with the prospect that He would send them to reap where they had not sowed! how joyously He beheld the accomplishment of His work, and the whole of the way He had yet to tread! Well, my friends, we too can find in similar fashion the strength and comfort which the Redeemer here found—yes, we also, who need it much more than did the Redeemer—if we will not set it aside through over-anxious forebodings. To us also will joyful hope be given when we openly avow ourselves to like-minded fellowmen. Although truly we cannot cast such a widely extensive glance over all that lies before us, but only on a special portion … yet what we thus see partially is also a field white to the harvest. And the hope must arise in us that God will come, that His throne is already set for judgment, and that the time draws nigh when the Sun of the righteous will shine again with noonday splendour. All that is grand and beautiful after which we sigh can issue only from a union of forces, to which each individual truly can only make a small contribution, but must do this from the heart: and the basis of this union of all the good is love and confidence alone. Therefore in all our intercourse with men let this endeavour lie at the foundation of it—to investigate and put to the test wisely and sincerely where even one seems to be like-minded, whose heart we might influence and strengthen in faith and zeal for the day of the Lord.—Translated from F. Schleiermacher.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain On v1 Joh 4:1-41. “When our Lord knew that the Pharisees…
CHAPTER 10
JESUS PREACHES TO THE SAMARITAN WOMAN
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Joh 4:1-41. “When our Lord knew that the Pharisees heard that Jesus is making and baptizing more disciples than John (indeed, Jesus himself did not baptize, but his disciples), he left Judea, and departed again into Galilee.” While the English construction leaves here an open problem, susceptible of the conclusion that Jesus did baptize His disciples, remember once for all that such an inference is utterly and positively precluded by the Greek, which sweeps all controversy from the field, and settles the matter positively and unequivocally that Jesus did not baptize any person with water, it being His prerogative to baptize with the Holy Ghost, while His disciples did baptize with water. Jerusalem and Judea were the populous regions of the country. Jesus, as we see, preferred to keep this ministry somewhat unostentatious, as there was a probability of His being troubled by Herod, as John the Baptist had already been arrested; or, in case of excessive ado over Him, the multitude would very likely crown Him King, in which case the Romans would kill Him immediately as a rival of Caesar. Consequently, leaving Jerusalem and Judea, He goes away to the less populous regions of Galilee.
“And it behooved Him to go through Samaria.” On the map you will see that Samaria reaches across Palestine, from the Jordan to the sea. Therefore the route from Judea into Galilee necessarily leads through Samaria, unless they go through Perea, thus crossing the Jordan twice.
“Then He comes into a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near the land which Jacob gave to Joseph his son.” I traveled this same route during my late tour. It is about thirty miles. Sychar is synonymous with Shechem in the Old Testament, being quite a notable city, in the valley of Succoth, between Mt. Gerizim on the south and Mt. Ebai on the north, and situated on the old caravan road from Jerusalem to Damascus. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and other patriarchs and prophets, were all here frequently. When Jeroboam led off the ten tribes, he made this city his capital. Here Moses commanded six tribes to stand on Mt. Gerizim, and enunciate the blessings that would come to Israel in case of obedience; and the other six to stand on Mt. Ebal, and reiterate the curses destined to come upon Israel in case of disobedience. Before I went to these mountains and tested the matter, becoming acquainted with their amphitheatrical conformation, producing jointly a vast whispering-gallery, having the form of an ellipse, with two foci, and so constructed as to transmit sounds from one focus to the other, I used to wonder how six hundred thousand people could all intelligently bear the same utterances of the human voice. This city continued to be the capital during the reign of Jeroboam, his son Omri changing to the city of Samaria, twenty-five miles northeast. Though Reuben was Jacob’s first- born, he forfeited the birthright — i.e., a double portion of the patrimony — by his misconduct, Jacob taking it from him and giving it to Joseph, the first-born of Rachel, his favorite wife. For this reason, Joseph received two portions in the land of Canaan, which Joshua gave to his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, including this land of which we speak.
“And there was the well of Jacob. Therefore Jesus, being weary of the journey, sat thus upon the well, and it was about the sixth hour.” O how I enjoyed my visit to Jacob’s Well as I knew I was then in the track of Jesus, for which privilege I traveled seventeen thousand miles; there never having been any dispute in reference to this location Hence, when pilgrims cross oceans and seas to walk in the track of the Savior, they all know they have achieved the end in view when they walk about Jacob’s Well. This well is seventy feet deep, and was doubtless considerably deeper in the days of our Savior, as Jacob dug it as a guarantee against a water-famine, lest in that delightful and fertile region, where springs abound, they may all go dry during the long summer droughts, and his herds and flocks famish for water. During the occupancy of the Holy Land by the Christian Crusaders, A.D. 1099 to A.D. 1187, they had a stone church-edifice over this well, which, after the conquests of Saladin, and the expulsion of the Crusaders from that country, was taken down, doubtless some of the stones being permitted to drop into the well, partially filling it up; so when I saw it, November, 1899, there was no water in it. The people said it had been dry but a short time, and, as the winter rains were even then beginning, they were looking for the water to come into it. Perhaps Jacob made it ninety to a hundred feet deep, finding there an inexhaustible perennial fountain. Here we read of Jesus being weary, but nowhere is it stated that He was ever sick; sickness being the result of sin, which He never had, and weariness only that of excessive toil.
“The woman comes from Samaria to draw water. Jesus says to her, Give me to drink. For His disciples had gone away into the city, in order that they may purchase food. Then the Samaritan woman says to Him, How do you, being a Jew, ask to drink with me, being a Samaritan woman? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.” When Shalmaneser, the Chaldean monarch, carried away Israel captive to Babylon, B.C. 721, leaving only a few very poor people in the land; as the years rolled on, and the wild beasts were about to take the country (of this you would not wonder, when they have so many hiding-places in the mountains), Esarhaddon, king of Babylon, sent people from different parts of his great heathen empire to come and inhabit the land, they being not only aliens, but idolaters. When Israel returned out of captivity, under Nehemiah, B.C.
490, and began to build the temple, these Samaritans, under the leadership of Sanballat, their governor, wanted to fall in as loyal Israelites, help to build the temple, and participate in the worship. On their rejection by Nehemiah and the elders of Israel as aliens and heathens, they became very mad, and did their utmost to defeat the building of the temple. This alienation developed into bitter antipathy, which was only intensified as the years rolled on. We are not to conclude that this woman was not willing to give Him a drink, but observing from His costume and physique that He is a Jew, she indulges in momentary tantalization; i.e., “Though you Jews despise all of us Samaritans, yet now, that You are weary and thirsty, You will condescend to take a drink at the hands of a Samaritan woman. Jesus responded and said to her, If you knew the gift of God, and who is the One speaking to you, Give Me to drink, you would have asked Him, and He had given you living water.” Here we see the solution of the water-problem raised in the preceding chapter, “Born of water.” This woman thought He meant the water in the well, whereas He here perfectly relieves the matter, and solves the mystery, by telling her that He means “living water” — i.e., the water of life.
“The woman says to Him, Sir, You have no drawingrope, and the well is deep; whence then have You living water?” The disciples had gone on to the city a nearer way, doubtless carrying the rope with them, ready for use in this well or any other, as we see they bought their food and ate it at their own discretion, which is the current custom of that country at the present day, our party observing it.
“Art Thou greater than our father Jacob, who gave to us the well, and he himself drank of it, and his sons and his herds?” You must remember that the Samaritans, though in the main aliens and heathens, and consequently reprobated by the Jews, claimed the bona fide lineage of the patriarchs, through those few Israelites who survived in the land after the Babylonian captivity.
“Jesus responded and said, Every one drinking of this water, shall thirst again; but whosoever shall drink of the water which I will give unto him, shall never thirst; but the water which I will give unto him, shall be a fountain of water, springing up unto eternal life.” You see here that while the water in the well, which had to be drawn out, emblematizes regeneration, this springing water is an artesian well, which the Savior puts in the heart when He sanctifies us wholly. While running along through the Great American Desert, on my way to California, I look out and see a beautiful green farm, wrapped in verdant meadows, luxuriant gardens, prolific orchards, and fruitful fields. I wonder why this inspiring relief in the midst of the rainless, burning deserts. Now I see the problem solved. There is an artesian well in the midst, pouring out a constant stream of water, about six inches in diameter, perennially, night and day, shooting up into the air, the excessive overflow forming a beautiful limpid lake, from which all that country is abundantly irrigated. The sanctified man has this artesian well in his soul, shooting up a living stream, night and day, wherever he goes. He has plenty for himself, and it is a joy in the community.
“The woman says to Him, Sir, give to me this water, in order that I may not thirst, nor come hither to draw.” Occidental women have no conception of the toil endured by their Oriental sisters in carrying water from the fountains, frequently to a great distance, as this well is about a mile from the city.
“Jesus says to her, Go, call your husband, and come hither.” Why this sudden transition of the subject? Jesus is a Model Preacher, and knows precisely how to do it. Your preaching will never be a success without true and radical conviction, which strikes deep into the heart, takes hold of the interior spirit, and never looses its grip. As Jesus knew all about her life, He here sends a thunderbolt into the secret citadel of her soul, going down and striking the taproot of that native evil, which had developed into her besetting sin.
“The woman responded and said, I have no husband. Jesus says to her, You spoke truly, That I have no husband. For thou hast had five husbands, and the one whom thou now hast is not thy husband; thou hast spoken this truth.” This poor woman was a freelover, this being the grand citadel of her soul’s enemy. Jesus struck the great rock of her sinful nature in the center, the breakage radiating in all directions. Therefore He had a glorious case of lightning conviction. Lord, help us to preach like Thyself! I am an old revivalist, having been preaching forty-six years, and am now used of the Lord mainly on the teaching line. When I enjoyed my physical vigor, I never found a place where I couldn’t have a revival. I always began with the Sinai gospel, preaching for conviction till it came on my congregation like a nightmare from the eternal world. You see here that Jesus begins with conviction, adopting the only available method of securing it; i.e., looking His auditor straight in the face, and telling her the blackest sin of her life.
“The woman says to Him, Sir, I see that you are a prophet.” You see, conviction has already reached her, and this total Stranger, on whom she has been looking with the odium of a Jew, she now confesses to be a prophet of the Lord.
“Our fathers worshipped in this mountain, and You say that Jerusalem is the place where it behooveth us to worship.” From the time Nehemiah and the elders at Jerusalem rejected the cooperation of Sanballat and the Samaritans, they had turned about and built a great and magnificent temple on Mt. Gerizim, as a rival of the temple on Mt. Moriah at Jerusalem. When I was there, I climbed great Mt. Gerizim to its summit, visiting that temple, which is yet majestic, though in ruins. On the beautiful plateau surrounding that temple, the Samaritan millions were accustomed to gather and keep the Passover and other institutions of Moses.
“Jesus says to her, Woman, believe Me, that the hour cometh when you will neither worship the Father in this mountain, nor at Jerusalem. You worship you know not what.” That was true, because their worship was really a mixture of Judaism and idolatry. “We worship what we know, because salvation is of the Jews;” i.e., the Savior was to come of the Jews, and bring salvation to all the world. “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for such the Father seeketh worshipping Him. God is a Spirit, and it behooveth those worshipping Him to worship in spirit and in truth.” These deliverances of our Savior certainly sweep away forever the local ecclesiasticism which existed in the Hebrew nation down to the Messianic advent, a necessity of the times, in order to identify the progenitorship of Christ, revealing clearly to all the world His lineage from Adam, and establishing, beyond the possibility of controversy, His identification with the human race, which is indispensable to His efficiency as a Mediator, without which the plan of salvation would be as chimerical as the legends of the Hindoo gods, having their abodes in the skies, and little sympathy with suffering humanity. Therefore the Jewish religion focalized at Jerusalem, rigidly inhering in the Abrahamic seed, fortified impregnably in its exclusiveness by the irrefragable laws of the Mosaic theocracy. The egregious mistake of the Christian ages has been the institution of local, and, in many instances, national ecclesiasticisms, a practical return to the Jewish dispensation. The New Testament organization recognizing no officers but the pastor, in charge of the spiritual interest; the deacon, the temporal interest; and the eldership, the general interest, and is so simple and imcomplicated as to peregrinate the globe with the moving tide of population, incurring not the slightest inconvenience, having no Jerusalem but the city beyond the stars, whose Builder and Maker is God, as the heralds of the universal commission, recognizing the “world as our parish,” every continent and island our meeting-house, the cerulean dome of the arching skies the covering of this universal temple, in which we worship God; as Jesus here assures us that the “true worshipers do worship Him in spirit and in truth,” recognizing the essentiality of no interceding priest but Jesus, who is our Great High Priest, and no baptism but that of the Holy Ghost and fire, which He gives. Thus panoplied with the infallible Word of God, we march forth, claiming the world for Christ, with all possible expedition evangelizing all nations, in constant anticipation of our glorious coming King, riding down on a cloud, crowned and sceptered, King of kings and Lord of lords; thus verifying this grand truth He here preaches to the woman at the well, as the glorious ultimatum of His incarnation, that this whole world shall be turned into a Jerusalem, in which “the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth.” When the Lord hears the cries of His saints, and projects a holiness movement in the earth, it is always free from the entanglements of human ecclesiasticisms — the gospel, the true Church, the kingdom of God, is a pure spirituality, as here we see clearly taught by our Savior. If the present holiness movement ever crystallizes into an ecciesiasticism, her power is gone, like Samson; shorn of her locks by the Delilah of carnal sectarianism, she will wake up to the fact that the Holy Ghost has retreated away, and she has no more power than her sisters.
“The woman says to Him, I know that Messias cometh, who is called Christ; when He may come, He will proclaim to us all things. Jesus says to her, I am He, the One speaking to thee.” You will find that more than two years had rolled away before our Lord openly declared His Messiahship to the Jews. One good reason for His reticence on this subject was, that they all understood that the Christ was to be their King, and would have crowned Him unhesitatingly. In that case the Romans would have put Him to death as a rival of Caesar. But when you recognize the fact that the Gentiles did not want a Jew for their king, you see at once that there was no need of this reticence as to His Christhood while preaching to the Gentiles, such as these Samaritans and the Gadarenes, to whom He openly proclaimed His Messiahship. In some way the expectation of the Messianic advent was at that time anticipated in the whole world. Here you see this fallen heathen woman had it at her tongue’s end.
“At this His disciples came, and were astonished because He was speaking with the woman.” The reason of their astonishment was because they had no idea that He would preach to the Samaritans; this being a brilliant scintillation of the oncoming conflagration destined to roll the fires of the Holy Ghost over the Gentile world. “No one indeed said, What do you seek, or why do you speak with her?” A realization of the Divine presence evidently overawing the disciples.
“Then the woman left her water-pot, and went away into the city, and says to the people, Come, behold a Man who told me all things whatsoever I have done; whether is not this One the Christ? They came out from the city, and came unto Him.” We see here that this woman was really electrified through and through. Having come for water, leaving her water-pot, she fled away, and stirred the city by her vehement proclamations. “Meanwhile His disciples asked Him, saying, Master, eat; and He said to them, I have meat to eat which you know not. Then the disciples said to one another, Whether has any one brought Him anything to eat? Jesus says to them, My food is, that I may do the will of Him that sent Me, and I shall perfect His work.” We are not altogether dependent on material food for the sustenance of our bodies. Moses, Elijah, and Jesus all fasted forty days without feeling a sensation of hunger, supernaturally sustained by the Holy Spirit in a state of ecstasy. Rich spiritual experiences economize a vast amount of table expenses. Here we have the proof, as Jesus is our Exemplar. This problem I wonderfully realize in my personal living. I have traveled in Europe, Asia, Africa, and forty States in America, never finding a place where I could not live bountifully, having everything I wanted to eat, on fifteen cents a day.
“Do not you say that it is yet four months and the harvest cometh? Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and see the fields, because they are already white unto the harvest. He that reapeth receiveth a reward unto eternal life, in order that the sower and the reaper may rejoice together. In this, the word is true, That one soweth, and another reapeth. I have sent you to reap that on which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their toil.” It was the month of May at that time, when the barley harvests are all ripe, the wheat being harvested in June, these two whole months thus being devoted to the harvest in Palestine; the sowings having taken place the preceding winter, four months previously. Now the application of this illustration is simple and clear. In that country, just about four months elapse after the sowing till the reaping. The fields at that time were everywhere ripe and white, inviting the sickle. In the case of the gospel, we do not have to wait the four months. We can sow today, and reap today. With God, one day is as a thousand years, and a minute as good as a month, the execution of His mighty works in regeneration and sanctification depending on our repentance, faith, and consecration. It is our privilege to reap a harvest speedily, or it may be prolonged many years. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joshua, and the prophets had all preached in that country, and now He is preaching. There is no need of waiting for the crop to grow and mature, as already the sowings of their predecessors are ripe for the sickle. Besides, such is the omnipotence of gospel grace, that the seed He is sowing at that very time may spring up, develop into a glorious harvest, and be reaped that very day. Hence, gospel workers have wonderful encouragement. We can sow for others to reap after we are dead and gone; we can reap what others sowed before we were born; or we can sow and reap the same day, and even the same hour. If we can not reap, let us be content to sow for others to reap. If we can not sow, let us be content to reap what others have sown. Glory to God for His unutterable grace!
“And many of the Samaritans from the city believed on Him on account of the word of the woman testifying, That He told me all things so many as I did. Then, when the Samaritans came to Him, they asked Him to abide with them, and He remained two days. And many more believed through His word. And they continued to say to the woman, That we no longer believe on account of thy gabbling; for we ourselves have heard and know that He is truly the Christ, the Savior of the world.” Here we see that Jesus stops and preaches two days in Shechem (Sychar), the old capital of Samaria, and one of the oldest cities in the world, often visited by Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the prophets. The result of His preaching is a great, spreading revival. Proud Churches contemptuously reject the testimony of fallen women. Here you see these heathens not only receive her testimony, but they are so moved by her ministry that they run away in great crowds to the well, to see the Man whose preaching had so powerfully converted their neighbor. The Greek lalia (“speech”), as applied to this woman, means gabbling, indicating the uncouth dialect of this poor, ignorant, illiterate woman. Here we see our Savior’s approval of woman’s ministry in a very broad sense, as this poor fallen woman was not only His only auditor in His first sermon at the well, but becomes His efficient witness and prominent helper in the great revival which follows. After so many Samaritans receive Him with joy, and confess their faith in His Christhood, they proceed to notify the woman that, while she was instrumental in moving them to seek Jesus, and they set out relying on her testimony, that they are no longer dependent on her ipse dixit, as they have personal assurance that this Man is none other than the Christ, the Savior of the world. There is but one way they could possibly have such an assurance, and that is to come to Jesus, and get intelligently and experimentally saved. Hence, there is no doubt but the fruits of that glorious revival will be seen in the day of eternity.
Let us never be discouraged with a small audience; as here you see this glorious Samaritan revival began with a solitary auditor, and she such as the respectable Churches reject with contempt. Here we have these two notable cases in our Savior’s ministry — the fallen woman at Jacob’s Well and Nicodemus in Jerusalem, each one complimented by the Savior with a gospel sermon, which has been ringing round the world ever since, and bringing thousands to God. When you preach to an individual, there is no room for dodging. Never is the gospel so potent as in case of direct personal appeal. Here you see our Savior spending His precious noonday, preaching to this lonely fallen woman. But she gets gloriously saved, runs away and stirs the city by her testimony, so that many come running, hear the gospel, and get saved too. So, if you want a revival in the community, follow the example of the Savior — make a specialty of some hard reprobate. When you get one notorious sinner gloriously saved, he or she will stir the whole community, and give you a great revival.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Sermon Bible 1900 · Public Domain On v1 The story of the woman of Samaria is the…
Joh 4:7
The story of the woman of Samaria is the history of one whom Christ found a bitter ignorant sinner, and left a large-hearted, devoted missionary. It is the experience of a soul which Christ took in hand and treated by Himself. It was just the centre of the day’s heat, when there came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus saith unto her, "Give Me to drink." It was all so very simple, so insignificant, so casual. And yet to what vast results did Christ bring out that ordinary circumstance.
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Notice:—
I. That upon a thing so small, Christ built up the salvation, not of one only, but of many. It was the quick perception and holy use of an opportunity. Now here lies a great sin at the door—the neglect of opportunities of usefulness. They are laid at our feet everywhere, and if we had but taken them up, if we had only seen in common events the openings for influence, what a different thing would life have been, and what sad retrospects of wasted time and of useless existence might some of us have been spared this day.
II. The way Christ went to work was this. He began with what might be called a commonplace, but immediately He took it out of commonplace, and raised it to a truer tone and a higher level. That is a holy art which every follower of Christ in this world will do well to learn from his Master’s lips. It will be a true and good resolve to determine, "I will try to make conversation worthier of my own and others’ being."
III. In His remark, Christ took the lower ground; He placed Himself as the one to receive. There is a beautiful lesson in the Lord of Life and Glory saying to a poor woman, "Give Me to drink." He wanted to open an avenue to that woman’s heart, and He knew that the lower we stoop, and the more we put the other on the upper ground, the surer we are to have access to his soul. It is often a much more winning and endearing thing to receive something than it is to give something. If there is any one you wish to attack, let that person be kind to you. Ask and accept a favour; do it with an unselfish, consecrating motive. "Give Me to drink"—and see the result.
J. Vaughan, Sermons, 3rd series, p. 165.
References: Joh 4:7.—Homiletic Quarterly, vol. iii., p. 99. Joh 4:10.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xiii., No. 782; Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. i., p. 274; F. D. Maurice, The Gospel of St. John, p. 115; D. Fraser, The Metaphors of the Gospel, p. 228; J. H. Hitchens, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxiii., p. 38. Joh 4:11.—Spurgeon, My Sermon Notes: Gospels and Acts, p. 130. Joh 4:11-14.—Ibid., vol. iii., p. 94. Joh 4:13, Joh 4:14.—E. Blencowe, Plain Sermons to a Country Congregation, vol. ii., p. 387. Joh 4:14.—Spurgeon, Morning by Morning, p. 280; Ibid., Sermons, vol. xv., No. 864; vol. xx., No. 1302. Joh 4:13, Joh 4:14.—Homilist, 3rd series, vol. vi., p. 193. Joh 4:14.—Ibid., new series, vol. iii., p. 365.
Joh 4:15
It is evident that Christ’s method with the Samaritan was first to awaken an interest, a desire, a consciousness—at first vague, but growing clearer and clearer—that there was a condition beyond her which, whether she had known it before or not, she really required to make her happy, and which, if she liked, she could attain. For be assured of this, that some measure of hope is essential to all true repentance and conversion.
I. There is a gift, there is a Giver—a gift for the Giver to give, and a Giver to give the gift. It might have been otherwise. The best part of the gift is that the Giver puts Himself into the gift. It is all free, all to be had for asking; and therefore, if any one is not happy, it is either because he does not know the gift or because he does not know the Giver.
II. The real fountain of a Christian’s being is at the throne of God. It is a once-crucified, now-ascended Jesus, from whom, in glory, flow all the life-streams. Into the man’s inmost heart those life-streams from the wounds of the glorified Jesus run; and there, like some deep reservoir, that grace of God, in communication with Christ in the heavens, is treasured up; and thence, happy thoughts—holy, purifying thoughts; thoughts of strength and wisdom; thoughts of love and self-sacrifice and heaven; thoughts of Jesus, every drop redolent of its fountain, are always springing up in the man. The woman knew enough of all this to be aware, just aware, that there was something to which she was a stranger which Jesus had to give, and which would be far better to her than all she was now working and slaving for. And she said, "Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw." Let us see how she stood. (1) She had lost, or at least she was losing, her confidence in her own resources. The well was no longer to her what it once was; she was thinking less, if she did not think meanly of it. (2) She was conscious of, and she was expecting and she was longing for what she was told, and what she believed, would be satisfying. (3) All she looked for she was looking for at the hand of Him who could give it.
J. Vaughan, Sermons, 3rd series, p. 173.
References: Joh 4:15.—H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit, vol. ii., p. 155; Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xiii., No. 770.
Joh 4:16
We little know what our own prayers involve. Should we pray them if we did? Here, too, the veil is drawn in mercy before the future. You ask for the waters of joy, and you have them; but the first drops of the waters of joy are the tears of penitence. The woman wished to drink of Christ’s well, but she must first drink of her own sin. "Go, call thy husband, and come hither."
I. Notice, that it was just after He had awakened bright expectations of the future, that Christ at once sent her mind back into the past, and led her to retrace her sinful course. Prospects should precede retrospects.
II. How was sin fastened upon the woman’s mind? Christ took it out of all generalities. He did not talk of the corruption of the human heart, but He sent one arrow straight home to its place in that heart. It is a very great thing to look upon Christ not only as the healer, but as the detector, of sin. Is it not an equal part of the physician’s work to detect as it is to heal a disease? Ask the Great Physician to do for you the same office which He did for the Samaritan woman. There is no hand which can do it like His—so faithfully, and yet so tenderly. Your own or another man’s may be rough, His will be laid delicately; theirs may be partial, His will be true; theirs uncertain, His exact. Under that wise hand, immediately the woman began to show the two signs of a changed heart, she thought badly of herself and honouringly of Christ. At once there was an acknowledgment of guilt, "I have no husband;" and at once, too, Christ stood out to her in one of His greatest offices, "I perceive that Thou art a prophet." I do not suppose that she felt sin yet as she felt it afterwards, or that she saw in Christ all that she afterwards recognised in Him, but there was some confession of faith. It is well; the rest of the road to that woman will be much easier. If you have gone so far as ever to feel and confess one sin, and to honour one attribute of the Lord Jesus Christ, from that point you will be led on, like her, quickly.
J. Vaughan, Sermons, 3rd series, p. 181.
Reference: Joh 4:16.—Homiletic Quarterly, vol. iv., p. 116.
Joh 4:19-24
God is Spirit; worship in spirit
I. Christ lived in another region than that of religious quarrel. To Him, both Judaism and Samaritanism were worn-out forms of truth, and He came to put them both aside and to lead men into a new world. But had He been like some of our modern prophets, who place themselves above religious disputes, He would not have thought it worth while to decide which of them had most truth, which of them then was worthiest. "Both are nothing to Me," He would have said; "leave them both alone and come and sit with Me." But Christ did not take that position. Though He lived in the loftiest region, at home with absolute truth, He could come down among the strifes of men about relative truth, and see on which side in the lower region the greatest amount of truth lay; He thought only of the cause of truth itself and of the advantage of mankind. He thought of the cause of truth, and He felt that it was of high importance that He should plainly say whether Jerusalem or Samaria were the nearest to truth. And if we live with Him in a world above forms and opinions, churches and sects, we shall often have, if we wish to do any good, to follow Him in this. We must take trouble and say, Jerusalem is better than Samaria.
II. But there was a further answer to the woman’s question. The woman had stated the whole question of religious strife, and we have discussed that part of Christ’s reply which had to do with existing circumstances. Jerusalem was better than Samaria. But there was something better still—the higher spiritual life, in which the questions in dispute between Jerusalem and Samaria would wholly cease; the life in the spirit and in truth which should pass beyond Jerusalem as a place of worship, and everywhere worship God, in which the temple and altar were neither on Mount Moriah or Mount Gerizim, but set up in every faithful heart. And we, taking this new conception of His into our hearts, rise with Him into the higher region, where the woman’s question seemed to have no meaning, where religious strife is dead, because God is worshipped as Spirit and known as Truth. To us God is everywhere, and we worship the Father most truly when we enter the realm of Infinite Love, where He abides beyond the strife of men.
S. A. Brooke, Sermons, 2nd series, p. 324.
References: Joh 4:20-29.—H. W. Beecher, Christian World Pulpit, vol. iii., p. 250.
Joh 4:21
The Ideal of Christian Worship
I. In considering the ideal of Christian worship, look at the very evident symbolism of the Tabernacle and the Temple. There was the outer court for the general congregation. Here the sacrifice was actually offered. But it was in the Holy Place, within the first veil, into which only the priests might enter, that it was presented, while into the most Holy Place, within the second veil, the high priest alone entered once in each year, with the blood of the sacrifice of the great day of atonement. This inner holy of holies was symbolical of heaven, the place of the immediate presence of God.
II. From and after the completion of the work of Christ in His ascension and His gift at Pentecost, heaven and earth, spiritually, i.e., in respect of spiritual privileges, became one. Access is free, the barrier is removed. So in the ideal view, that is, the only worthy, the only adequate, the only real and scriptural view, of Christian worship, heaven and earth are one, their worship one. (1) This spiritual and inner identity of the worship of heaven and earth has from the first been, as matter of fact, distinctly affirmed by the Catholic Church, whether intentionally, after deliberation, or unconsciously, as it were, by a true spiritual instinct. (2) The next link of unity between the worship of the Church militant and that of the Church at peace within the veil—and this is a link far more deeply-underlying and essential—is the identity in the view of the one Intercessory action of the one High Priest. His action is not confined to heaven. Wherever His Church is, there is He her Head; and wherever He is, and pleads, He is a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec—at once the king and the priest of His city of righteousness and peace. And that this, His sacerdotal function—which needs must last throughout this dispensation, until, from within the veil, He shall appear on earth again the second time without sin unto salvation, that this His intercession might not be without its visible exhibition here below, He offered Himself in the upper chamber, and bade His apostles show forth His death for a perpetual memorial of Him.
Canon Medd, Oxford University Herald, February 10th, 1883.
References: Joh 4:22.—J. Clifford, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxii., p. 8. Joh 4:22-30.—W. Hay Aitken, Ibid., vol. xiii., p. 401.
Joh 4:23
The Spirituality of Worship
I. What is it to worship God in spirit and in truth? And why did the Father seek such to worship Him? In order to answer this question satisfactorily we must consider the nature of God, for in a subsequent verse our Lord describes this nature, and grounds on His description the necessity for such worship as is mentioned in the text, saying, God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. That Deity differs immeasurably from ourselves is a truth which lies at the foundation of all true religion; for it is impossible that we should entertain a due reverence for God, and yet invest Him in any degree with our own feebleness and imperfection. The scriptural representations of God as infinite as well as omnipresent seem to require us to believe that God cannot have a body, but that God must be pure spirit. All acceptable worship of the Divine Being must take its character from the nature of that Being; otherwise it cannot be supposed that the worship will be agreeable to the Being, and obtain favour in His sight. If then the Father have revealed himself as a Spirit, it will necessarily follow that a carnal and ceremonial worship cannot be that in which He will delight; and you must be quite prepared, if you are seeking an account of what service will be acceptable to the Father, for such an admonition as that of the text.
II. We observe, next, of worship, that in rendering it we only render unto God that honour which He has a right to require at our hand. It is not optional whether or no we will worship God at all; for the creature stands in such relation to the Creator that, if worship is withheld, the Divine Being is defrauded, and wrath and punishment must inevitably follow. But if it be thus imperative upon us that we worship God, it must be equally imperative that we worship Him according to His nature. The worship which God requires is the homage of the soul, an act in which all the powers of the inner man earnestly combine; so that the understanding, and the will, and the affections are alike engaged in the service of the Lord. To worship God in spirit and in truth engages the understanding, with all its powers of embracing truth; and the will, with all its energies of choice and decision; and the affections, with their fervour and tenacity in the one work of acknowledging and embracing in the Lord God Almighty, the alone object whose wrath is really terrible, and whose favour is really valuable.
H. Melvill, Penny Pulpit, No. 2614.
References: Joh 4:23.—Homiletic Magazine, vol. xii., p. 54; J. Thain Davidson, Christian World Pulpit, vol. iii., p. 248; G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 213. Joh 4:23, Joh 4:24.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xii., No. 695; A. Murray, With Christ in the School of Prayer, p. 9; Homilist, new series, vol. iv., p. 325.
Joh 4:24
The Worship of God, the Personal Spirit
It is when we get into the midst of practical life, out of abstractions of thought, that we realize our need of a heavenly Father, that we turn to Christ as the revealer of that Divine and blessed truth. And of how we are led to do that I shall illustrate from the cases of those whom I have already dwelt on as needing to conceive God as impersonal.
I. The idealist, who contemplates and worships God as Thought, and sees Him as essential Truth, Love, Justice, and Beauty, is satisfied with that idea as long as he can live apart in his study and separate himself from the strifes of the world. But when such a man, at some great crisis of human history, is thrilled with the excitement of humanity, and, going forth to take his part with men in fighting for freedom or his fatherland, or for any of those truths which are the saving ideas of mankind, finds himself one of a great company, all moving with one thought, all breathing the same passionate air; yet, though united, each having their own personal inner life, their own separate way of feeling the same emotion, their own especial worship in the words of their own heart, their own personal need of One on whom beyond man’s help they may rely—think you that then his conception of a God who is infinite Intelligence, essential Love and Truth, impersonally conceived, will be sufficient? No; when Fichte, idealist of idealists, left the classroom as the drum went by, and marched with his soldiers to the War of Independence, he did not abandon his ideal conception of the great "I Am," whom he abstained in general from clothing with the attributes of personality; but he added to it the conception of a Father and Lover of men, who went with each of them hand in hand, as man with man to battle. In such hours the idealist worships the personal Fatherhood of God.
II. And the natural philosopher, one who loves and honours God as the living energy of the universe, and worships Him as such honestly and rightly, though he conceive Him as impersonal, when one of the great sorrows of life besets him, and the sorrow makes him feel the absolute personalty he himself has, and which he had almost lost in ceaseless contemplation of an absolute Force—does he then only see the Impersonal bending above him? Is not the passionate longing of his heart for One who can be his Father, a Friend—a human God to him, grasping his hand, and saying, "Be of good cheer, for I am thine, and those thou hast lost on earth are Mine for ever"? Many may resist these things, but they are there—vital, powerful, impassioned desires. Whence do they come? What do they say? They come from, and they tell us of, our need of the personalty of God.
III. How shall we worship God as the personal Father of the race in spirit and in truth? Why, in that truth, your life must become a worship of love—spirit being that it is—of love of men, and God, because He loves men. Love of man is easy when we believe in that idea of God. We cannot help loving that which God loves so well; we cannot help being proud of our fellowmen, for are not all ennobled in His love? We cannot help loving that which is destined to be so beautiful; for we see men not as they are, but as they will be. We look not at the poor worm that crawls from birth to death, nor at the chrysalis that seems to die. We see the beautiful creature that is to be, the winged Psyche of humanity; and every soul grows precious as beauty in the vision. To hasten the coming of that day we put this spiritual love into a spiritual life of active righteousness.
S. A. Brooke, Sermons, 2nd series, p. 406.
It was not an utterance unknown to the heathen world before the coming of Christ, that God was Spirit. The Greeks, the philosophic Hindus, the later Platonists of Alexandria, and many others in many nations had said it, and said it well. Then what was there new in it on the lips of Christ? How was He more remarkable when He said it than the teachers who had gone before him? It is a question often on the lips of the opponents of Christianity, and it arises from their ignorance of that which they oppose. For where do they find that Christ put Himself forward as giving especially new truths? A new method He did give; new commandments, new inferences from ancient truths. A new centre for them He did give; but He was far too profoundly convinced of the consistent and continuous development of religious truth to dream of creating anything absolutely new in truth.
I. Consider now the truth here taught, "God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." I approach one part of it, or God as a Spirit in all men, by dwelling on Christ’s act in giving this truth to the Samaritan woman as a representative act. In giving it to her He gave to all in her state of intellect and heart. He proclaimed, in giving it to her, that it was not only for learned and civilised people, but for all people, however ignorant, savage, and poor; and if for all, then the spiritual life, or the indwelling of God, was possible to all. But if it was possible for all, it could only be so by a previous kinship between all human spirits and God the source of spirit. To give it to all was, then, to proclaim that God as Spirit moved in all.
II. Believing this, what should be the result on our life? We should (1) ourselves worship God in this truth, and (2) in its spirit live among men. For ourselves, to worship God in this truth is to live one’s whole spiritual life in it and by it, believing that God is in it. We may have been reckless, godless, because we heard our nature pronounced to be corrupt in all its ways; we now turn with a thrill of joy and recognise, led by the light of a new faith, the very Spirit of God in us—speaking, living, impelling, working with us for our perfection. Secondly, worship God not only in yourselves in this truth, but live in it and in its spirit among men, and your outward life will then be it—worship of God in spirit and truth.
S. A. Brooke, Sermons, 2nd series, p. 339.
I. Consider what we mean when we say "God is Spirit." We mean by it that He is the essential Being of all those things invisible, immaterial, impossible for ever to be subjected to the senses, which we therefore call spiritual ideas, such as truth, love, righteousness, wisdom; and that He is their source in us, or rather their very Being in us, that in having them we have God. Take any one of these ideas—trace it through its various forms at different times, under different circumstances; it will always preserve certain external elements that will enable you to collect all its forms into one expression—truth, or justice, or love. The natural philosopher does similar kind of work when he collects all the phenomena which belong to any one form of force, and unites them under one expression—heat, light, or electricity. And just as he finally takes all these separate forces, and, seeing that they are correlated and pass into one another, declares that they are different modes of one constant force—that they are all motion, dynamic or potential—that the source of their motion is always one and the same; so do we, contemplating the spiritual ideas, and knowing that they are spiritual forces, recognise that they are correlated and interchangeable—that Truth is Justice, and Justice Love—and finally reach the conception that there is one spiritual force of which all these are but modes—the force of the spiritual will. That is God—God as Spirit. God is Truth, Love, Justice, Purity, and the rest; and all these are one in Him.
II. We are to worship these ideas as God, in spirit and in truth; to give a life reverence and devotion to them; to be true in every thought, word, and deed; to be pure in the deepest centre of our being; to be loving as Christ was loving, in our national, social, and private life; to be just in thought in our relations with men, in behalf of the weak against the oppressor. To do these things is to worship God. (1) First, then, we must do this worship in spirit. To worship in spirit in this case is to have perfect freedom in the matter of forms for our ideas, keeping our love for the ideas as the first thing. If that is the case—if we love these ideas of God—then the life which is in love will freely make its own form—first for the thoughts, secondly for their worship—as best suits its needs; worshipping now in the church, now on the lake or in the crowded street; now praying as we walk, now kneeling to pray; now keeping a Sabbath, now abstaining; now following no observances, now sedulously keeping them up—exactly as we feel that the Divine spiritual life in us needs expression. Always at perfect freedom, always in the spirit, because, through the ever-felt presence of God, all times, all places, all things are holy unto us. (2) Secondly, the worship of spiritual ideas must be in truth. Christ used that phrase in opposition to a worship of them through doctrines, opinions, creeds, confessions, and the like things which veil the truth. To be able to live spirit to spirit, heart to heart, without any need of formulating, in intellectual propositions, the ideas that appeal to the heart—that would be the highest life. To worship in truth is to care more for truth than creeds; to harmonise our spiritual life and thought, not with doctrinal symbols, but with the very light and truth of Divine ideas; to hold oneself free to take from all religions and forms of faith thoughts which may extend the range of our ideas, and give us a greater and nobler view of God;—in one word, to keep ourselves in the worship of the living things themselves that are in the spirit, and not of their intellectual forms that are in the letter. This it is to worship God as Spirit in truth.
S. A. Brooke, Sermons, 2nd series, p. 354.
God in Spirit: Personal and Impersonal
I. To represent God as the essential Truth, Love, and Righteousness is to give, so far as it goes, a just idea of Him. But it would be, taken alone, a wholly inadequate idea. We should have to connect with it the ideas which we possess of absolute Being, of Absolute Power and Knowledge, of Infinity and Eternity. But these are also spiritual ideas; and even when they are added, the idea of God still remains inadequate for us, because it can be still conceived as apart from the Personal Man. If we were pure intellect or pure spirit, the conception of God as absolute Truth, or absolute Knowledge, might be sufficient for us; we might then, abiding in truth or knowledge, conceive of them as perfect and infinite, and call the conception God. But we are not pure intellect or spirit: we are limited on every side of our nature, and in realizing our limitations we find ourselves possessed of that which we call Personality. Having an intense conviction of personality, we find, when we come to conceive of God, that it is one of the strongest tendencies of our thought to bestow on our idea of Him a personality similar in kind to our own. We impute to Him will, character, affections, self-consciousness. We make Him a Person; we say, He is, and knows that He is. He wills, thinks, and makes will and thought into form and action.
II. Again, supposing the reality of God and that we are His offspring. It stands to reason that He would wish to give some tidings of His nature to us. He would then give a revelation of Himself, as we were able to receive it. And we should say, à priori, arguing from our wants and our nature, that such a revelation ought to be a personal one. And it is so from beginning to end—revelation assumes that we want a personal God, and satisfies that want. As revelation went on, the idea of God as a personal God was expanded and strengthened. In elder times He had not been brought very near, as a Person, to the heart of man. That work was fulfilled by Christ. He called God our Father, and the word established the Christian idea of God, as a Being who has personal relations and dealings with us, as a father has with a son; and in thus likening Him to us in the common round of our affections, it made the whole conception of God’s personality infinitely stronger.
III. When the notion of God’s personality was strengthened in Christianity, even then (though it was combined with the other thought that He was Spirit) the human personal element became too strong, and often extinguished the other. There are two results which follow. (1) God is less and less conceived as the spiritual essence of Truth and Love and Justice, and the purity of our conception of these spiritual ideas in Him is violated at every step by this exaggerated dwelling on His personality. (2) The idea of God as an all-pervading life in mind and in nature, an idea which goes with the conception of Him as Spirit, fades away also, and is replaced by a vast Personality outside of man, not in every man; outside of nature, and leaving it to the action of blind laws, not in nature as its living spirit. Because God had been conceived of as too personal, men drifted into conceiving Him as impersonal. But it chiefly arose out of man’s necessity for such a conception. And here we answer the question whether it is enough for our wants to conceive of God as personal? I answer that it is not, and that the theory of Pantheism ought to be taken up into our idea of God. The conception of God must share in the personal and the impersonal; Pantheism is true, but not true by itself. Personal Theism is true, but not by itself. It is only when they are both rolled together and both brought into our idea of God, that they lose their several evils, and that we possess an adequate conception of His nature, fitted for the whole of our lives, fitted for the different characters of men.
S. A. Brooke, Sermons, 2nd series, p. 372.
The Worship of the Impersonal Spirit
I. The man who possesses that poetic feeling for beauty in nature, and that intense sense of a life in nature, which, combined without the formative power, cause him the same pleasure as the artist has—what is his state of mind when he looks, in the stillness of the hills, or lost in some woodland, or by the solitary banks of the sea, upon the infinite beauty of the world? He feels a thrill of emotion so intense that he forgets the whole of his life, and is lost in the moment in which he lives. Having lost the consciousness of his personality, there is nothing that touches him from that landscape that he does not become, and become in ceaseless change of his indwelling. He has become impersonal. Now if the man be religious, or wishes to worship, is it possible for him to connect a personal God with that? He has himself lost for the time that sharp self-consciousness which leads him at other times to claim and need a personal Father in heaven. He cannot worship a personal God as long as he feels thus, and no modern poet when speaking of nature can make God in it personal to his feeling. Now what these men feel is precisely that which, modified by different capacities for emotional pleasure in beauty, and for emotional perception of life, all men who have anything of the artist character feel in contact with nature. We cling with all the power of men who are utterly desolate without it to the idea of God as personal Fatherhood when we live in our own hearts or in those of our fellowmen; but when we live alone with nature, and humanity has died out of our field of thought and feeling, we cling equally to the idea I have given above—to the infinite impersonality of God.
II. Now, what is the true and spiritual worship of God, as impersonal, in the work of art and science when they are at work on nature? In the first it is this—adding to our conception of God the thoughts of unlimited life, beauty, and harmony—to adore these in nature as the all-pervading God, with all the life, sense of beauty, truth, and melody of nature that we ourselves possess. It is to see in all things universal love as their living but not necessarily self-conscious essence, and to love it in them with all our strength of emotion, and to hold, and rejoice in holding, that in doing so we are worshipping God in spirit. (2) As the natural philosopher looks at nature he becomes face to face at last with Force alone, active or latent, and the characteristic of it is intense impersonality. What is this force? Say it is only motion in matter, and the philosopher has no God, or only a God divided from the universe—a conception becoming more and more impossible in our present stage of thought. But let him say that matter is nothing but Force—a perfectly legitimate theory in natural science—and he may answer the question, What is Force? in a way which will enable him to find God in the universe. He may say that force is really will, active as thought, a universal will, a will free, resembling that which we possess, but which in us is limited by the bounds which constitute our personality. Remove those bounds of which he is conscious, abstract from it the confining elements of personality, and he has the conception of an infinite omnipotent will in which he may find God as He manifests Himself in nature. He will not find the impersonal God whom we worship as personal, but an impersonal God seen in Force as Will, in Action as Thought. It is, indeed, not matter, but spirit, that he touches, and his worship is the worship of a spiritual life, conceived of an ever-acting will.
S. A. Brooke, Sermons, 2nd series, p. 391.
This text gives us the sum of the whole matter; the grand principle of all true worship. The law of acceptable Christian worship is briefly this: that it must be the worship of the heart. The text leaves to men, in the exercise of the faculties God has given them, and through experience of the working of their own minds and of the minds of others, to find out what kind of worship is likeliest to be so. It does not follow, of necessity, that a very simple worship is to be the most spiritual and hearty. To some minds it may be so, while others may find that it is easier to worship in spirit and in truth with the help of a stately worship and a noble church. And each, as before God, must find what suits him best. Outward variations in form are of infinitely little importance, if only the soul as before God is worshipping Him in spirit and in truth.
I. And yet, looking to the whole teaching of Holy Scripture, and weighing the matter in our own best judgment, we may, perhaps, arrive at certain principles for our guidance as to the external circumstances most favourable to true and spiritual worship. Probably all intelligent Christian people would be agreed to go as far as this: that we are doing only what is right when we remove, as far as we can, all distracting circumstances, all outward hindrances to spiritual worship. Little outward annoyances, notwithstanding the most earnest prayer for the presence of the Blessed Spirit, may greatly abate spiritual enjoyment, and neglect of external decency and order is to very many a great hindrance in the way of worshipping in spirit and in truth. Surely then it may be accepted as certain, that it is fair and right to carefully remove whatever may hinder and distract us in our worship of God.
II. How can we think on the question of helps in worship? The enjoyment of noble architecture and music is not worship, and may be mistaken for it. The rest which falls on us, walking the aisles of a church of eight hundred years, the thrill of nerves and heart as the glorious praise begins, whose echoes fall amid fretted vaults and clustered shafts,—all that feeling, solemn as it is, has no necessary connection with worshipping God in spirit and in truth. On this question of aids in devotion I can say no further than that each Christian must, as before God, judge for himself. Only remember, that here you are on dangerous ground. You may fancy you are worshipping in spirit and in truth when you are doing no more than enjoying a sentimental excitement, fruitless and unprofitable.
A. K. H. B., From a Quiet Place, p. 73.
References: Joh 4:24.—A. P. Stanley, Christian World Pulpit, vol. x., p. 129; Ibid., vol. xvii., p. 82; W. G. Horder, Ibid., vol. xxxi., p. 131; J. M. Wilson, Ibid., vol. xxxiii., p. 124; G. Brooks, Outlines of Sermons, p. 18; S. Clarke, Church of England Pulpit, vol. ii., p. 163; Ibid., vol. xiii., p. 37; Ibid., vol. xviii., p. 156.
Joh 4:25
Christ our Prophet. Christ came in one portion of His threefold office to be a teacher and a speaker forth to us of the will of God. As, on the one hand, those are deeply in error who limit His office to this portion of it, and omit to dwell on His High-priesthood and His Kingship, so on the other hand it would be an error equally fatal to the entering into and realizing His redemption to forget those other essentials of His office, this His great work of teaching. Consider Him as our Prophet—our teacher sent from God; enquiring into His practice and the peculiar characteristics of that He is teaching.
I. His teaching was earnest and continuous. The power of His anointing ever abode upon Him, ever wrought in Him, and spoke forth from Him. "He taught them there," is the constant record of the Evangelists. The Lord wrought at His appointed work while it was day with Him, and He filled the day with His work. It was no accident of His course, but its very purpose and substance.
II. It was a powerful teaching. They were astonished at His doctrine, but He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. No man could withstand the power and wisdom with which He spake.
III. It was a spiritual teaching: a teaching not bound down to the exposition of the law or prophets as they stood, but designed to fill them out, to clothe their dead and bare forms with life and sinews, and to establish them where they never were planted before—in the hearts and lives of men.
IV. Again, His teaching was popular teaching. We are told that the common people heard Him gladly. His teaching went straight to the heart and laid open the life. Hence it was that it moved and convinced the hearers.
V. It was bold and unflinching. In what burning words did He unmask the decent sanctity of the scribes and Pharisees, who were even then conspiring to kill Him!
VI. His teaching again is full of the most varied and profound wisdom.
VII. It is supernatural, and above the power and grasp, as it is also above the character, of all human teachers.
VIII. It is prophetic.
IX. It bears witness of the Father.
H. Alford, Sermons, vol. vi., p. 126.
Reference: Joh 4:25, Joh 4:26.—J. Kelly, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xviii., p. 120.
Joh 4:26
I. The woman at the well, feeling about for light, was led to her own Scriptures, and in those Scriptures to a prophecy—a prophecy of a great Teacher who was to come—the Messias. The coming Teacher, she knew, would solve all her difficulties, and make her way quite clear. It is very beautiful, very comforting, very teaching, to watch this poor, earnest, baffled woman’s soul, gathering itself at last till it centres upon Christ. She was in a great strait; where was the escape? Messias comes; He makes all things right. As the key fits into the lock, as the light matches to the eye, or as sweet music to the ear, so Christ is made for the soul, and the soul is made for Christ. Till nature has that filling it must be incomplete, and life must be restless till it settles on that one resting-place; and this that thirsting, confessing, enquiring mind was finding out, when God took her by the hand and led her, and put it into her heart to feel, "I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when He is come, He will teach us all things."
II. It is a safe thing to affirm that, wherever there is a desire for Christ in the heart, Christ Himself is not far from that desire. For of this you may be assured—Christ is always nearer to you than you think. Though you do not know it, the voices of your soul are all echoes. They are the responses to other voices, which are speaking to you. Had not Jesus first talked with you, there would never have been any of those things in your mind. All along, He who is to make the answer woke the question. He is there. You have been conversing with the very object that you are seeking; and that Presence it is which has aroused the feeling which now affects you. "I that speak unto thee am He." Patiently, very patiently, by a thousand tongues, God is always conversing with us; but rare is the heart to hear it. And happy is the man who, in the poetry of nature, in the arguments of fact, in the eloquence of truth, always catches the same accent, "I that speak unto thee am He."
J. Vaughan, Sermons, 3rd series, p. 197.
References: Joh 4:27.—J. Pulsford, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xx., p. 388; L. Abbott, Ibid., vol. xxxv., p. 98; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. ii., p. 253. Joh 4:27-30.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxviii., No. 1678. Joh 4:28, Joh 4:29.—Homiletic Quarterly, vol. iii., p. 416. Joh 4:29.—G. W. Conder, Christian World Pulpit, vol. vii., p. 341; W. V. Robinson, Ibid., vol. xxvii., p. 66. Joh 4:31-34.—Homiletic Quarterly, vol. xvi., p. 300. Joh 4:31-38.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxii., No. 1901. Joh 4:34; Ibid, vol. vi., No. 302. Joh 4:34-37.—Homilist, new series, vol. i., p. 361. Joh 4:35.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xii., No. 706; I. de Witt Talmage, Old Wells Dug Out, p. 294; Homilist, 3rd series, vol. vi., p. 32. Joh 4:35, Joh 4:36.—R. Rainy, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxi., p. 248. Joh 4:37.—R. S. Candlish, Sermons, p. 1. Joh 4:35-38. —Preacher’s Monthly, vol. x., p. 169. Joh 4:37, Joh 4:38.—Church of England Pulpit, vol. xviii., p. 73; Homiletic Magazine, vol. xii., p. 114. Joh 4:38.—Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxxii., p. 234; Ibid., vol. xiii., p. 111. Joh 4:39.—Ibid., vol. viii., p. 211. Joh 4:39.—Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. ii., p. 158. Joh 4:39-42.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xviii., No. 1053. Joh 4:42.—J. Vaughan, Ibid., Nov. 12th, 1862; R. Duckworth, Ibid., vol. xxxvi., p. 166. Joh 4:46.—G. Littlemore, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xxvii., p. 170. Joh 4:46-53.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxxi., No. 1865. Joh 4:46-54.—Homiletic Quarterly, vol. i., p. 467; Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. iii., p. 24.
Joh 4:48
Faith without Demonstration. (Trinity Sunday.)
A few words will make it evident that men are unreasonable and inconsistent in refusing to believe the creed before they see the Scripture proof.
I. I would ask, in the first place, whether we reason and prove, before we act, in the affairs of this life? In ordinary legal matters, for instance, a man thinks it safe to go by the opinion of men in general; in extraordinary, he consults men learned in the law, feeling too vividly how much is at stake to trust himself. He cannot afford, in such a case, to indulge his love of argument, disputation, and criticism. No; this love of argument can only be indulged in a case in which we have no fears. It is reserved for religious subjects. Surely the general opinion of all men around us—and that from the first—the belief of our teachers, friends, and superiors, and of all Christians in all times and places, that the doctrine of the Holy Trinity must be held in order to salvation, is as good a reason for our believing it ourselves, even without being able to prove it in all its parts from Scripture, as the general belief how the law stands, and the opinion of skilful lawyers about the law, is a reason for following their view of the law, though we cannot verify that view from law books.
II. But it may be said that the Catholic doctrine of the Trinity is mysterious and unlikely. Now, I consider that this mysterious view is, as far as it proves anything, a recommendation of the doctrine. I do not say that it is true because it is mysterious, but that, if it be true, it cannot help being mysterious. It would be strange indeed if any doctrine concerning God’s infinite and eternal nature were not mysterious. Let us learn from this festival to walk by faith. A subtle infidel might soon perplex any one of us. Of course he might. Our state and warfare is one of faith. Let us aim at, let us reach after, and (as it were) catch at the things of the next world. There is a voice within us which assures us that there is something higher than earth. We cannot analyse, define, contemplate what it is that thus whispers to us. It has no shape or material form. There is that in our hearts which prompts us to religion, and which condemns and chastises sin. And this yearning of our nature is met and sustained, it finds an object to rest upon, when it hears of the existence of an all-powerful, all-gracious Creator. It incites us to a noble faith in what we cannot see. Let us exercise a similar faith as regards the mysteries of revelation also.
J. H. Newman, Parochial and Plain Sermons, vol. vi., p. 327.
References: Joh 4:48.—Spurgeon, Evening by Evening, p. 248; T. Bonney, Church of England Pulpit, vol. xxi., p. 243; Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. vi., No. 317; J. Keble, Sermons for Sundays after Trinity, Part II., p. 278; F. D. Maurice, The Gospel of St. John, p. 128. Joh 4:48-50.—C. Kingsley, Westminster Sermons, p. 241.
Joh 4:50
Taking God at His word
When I say that we ought to take God at His word, I assert the most evident of truths, and I appear to be laying down the easiest of rules. But practically, I believe, none is harder; certainly there is no rule so little kept.
I. Between man and man the social law of faith is so strict that, if you do not believe what a man says, you are held to commit the greatest wrong that you can inflict upon him. It is wonderful how everyone accepts his fellow-creature’s word. It is the basis of all civil transactions. Take away that confidence, and society itself must break up. At this moment there is nothing which most of us would resent so keenly as the shadow of an imputation upon the credit of his word. And has not the true God the same sense of jealousy for His own truthfulness, and the same indignant feeling of wrong and outrage when His word is questioned? Do you wonder that unbelief is placed among the most heinous of sins?
II. Note one or two ways by which we may cultivate that blessed art, that deep secret, of taking God at His word. (1) First, you must go back to the simplicities of childhood. It is the characteristic of a little child that it trusts. And if its confidence has never been abused, and its habit of faith never rudely violated, a very little child takes everybody at his word; it sees everywhere the reflection of its own transparency. It is the prerogative of physical and of spiritual childhood to believe. (2) You must take honouring views of what God’s word is. There is not a word which God ever spoke to you, but all the attributes of God went to make that word. Make experiments every day with God’s word. Every experiment you make upon a promise will confirm its truth and power; and experiments daily repeated will soon become the habit of taking God at His word. (3) But, far more than all, you must acquaint yourself with the Speaker. You must know, before you can know the word, the heart that speaks it—you must know the heart of Jesus. How shall we trust the word, if we do not trust the Speaker?
J. Vaughan, Sermons, 1868, p. 165.
References: Joh 4:50.—Clergyman’s Magazine, vol. v., p. 32. Joh 4:54.—W. Milligan, Expositor, 2nd series, vol. iv., p. 268. John 4—A. B. Bruce, The Training of the Twelve, p. 248. Joh 5:1.—Expositor, 1st series, vol. viii., p. 390; Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. xxi., No. 1211. Joh 5:1-9.—Ibid., vol. xiii., No. 744; Homilist, 3rd series, vol. ii., p. 144. Joh 5:1-16.—Homiletic Quarterly, vol. ii., p. 209. Joh 5:1-18.—Ibid., vol. xiv., p. 154; A. B. Bruce, The Training of the Twelve, p. 88.
The Sermon Bible, ed. William Robertson Nicoll (1888–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
F. W. Grant 1903 · Public Domain On v1 Section 3. (Joh 4:1-42.)
Section 3. (Joh 4:1-42.)
Life in the Spirit.
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We have now to follow the Lord outside of Judea and even of Galilee, to find more receptive hearts in Samaria than in either of these, and His own heart freer than yet in Israel. A significant time it is, and all the more for its exceptional character, even in John’s Gospel. Samaria, spite of the claim put forth to "our father Jacob," is really Gentile, though with a tinge of Israelitish blood which was worse than valueless, the fruit of mixed marriages forbidden and abhorred. The woman wonders that a Jew should ask but a drink of water from a Samaritan. Yet the spirit of the Lord, escaping from the oppressive self-righteousness of Jewish Pharisaism, finds room to expand in hostile Samaria; and here it is that He is fed with more than common food, and has before Him a view of whitening harvest-fields which we do not hear of elsewhere.
This connects clearly with the Lord’s theme with the woman of Sychar, of living water springing up within the soul, which the evangelist, as we have seen, interprets elsewhere of the Spirit to be received in a new way after Jesus should be glorified (Joh 7:38-39). Thus we are, in fact, on a line of truth characteristically Christian and Gentile; the Lord looking forward, as is plain, and speaking in the parabolic manner usual with Him in such connection; and yet so as to convey as much as could be conveyed of the blessing with which His heart overflows -of that abundant life which He is come to communicate (Joh 10:10).
1. (1) The Lord Himself calls and prepares the messenger by whom He is going to reach the men of Sychar. Such a messenger He chooses! But it is not exceptional with Him to take up the beggar from the dunghill, so that, as we know, the publicans and sinners followed Him habitually. But here was one not following, but sought out, -a weary and jaded, not conscience-stricken sinner, whose wakening into life is a story which has wakened how many others! May God in His goodness tell it out once more, so that it may still be fresh in repetition, and some like her be attracted by it yet.
How suited that it is in His withdrawal for awhile from the self-righteous legalism of the Pharisees that the Lord comes into Samaria, to sow a new field with the Word of life! He withdraws even, as it would seem, from that baptism of disciples in which He has been rather accrediting John’s testimony than giving voice to His own. John’s voice was now hushed in prison, and his rejection had broken up that partial re-establishment of divine relationship with the people at large which the multitudes flocking around him might seem to have effected. It was gone, that dream of pious hearts in Israel: the shepherd was smitten and the sheep were scattered. And though the Chief Shepherd still remained, the open gathering was for the time given up, save of immediate followers needed for the maintenance and carrying on of the divine testimony, until it could be resumed on other ground.
With His back thus turned for the time upon Jerusalem, and His face turned toward Galilee, the place connected, typically at least, with Israel’s restoration in the latter days, the two days, testimony in Samaria comes into its place morally, as a picture of the present interval of divine grace to the Gentiles. We shall find, in fact, when we come to the healing of the nobleman’s son in Capernaum, that we have in this a real foreshadow of Israel’s restoration when this interval is at an end. All is therefore in complete harmony.
We find, therefore, the Lord now at Sychar ("purchased") which took its name from the piece of land purchased by Jacob from the sons of Hamor, and given to Joseph, who was buried there. All that Jacob had purchased, therefore, (though he meant it otherwise,) and all that he could give to his best-loved son, was the place of a grave: a good place in which to speak of another gift and another purchase, free to all who desired and sought it, a spring of life instead of a place of death, and of which Jacob’s spring could be at once the type, and (what all types must be) the instructive contrast also. To this spring, which as we learn directly was not free-flowing but shut up in a well, the Lord came, a wearied man, and sat Him down there.
It was the sixth hour, under a noon-tide sun, and there a Samaritan woman came to draw water.
She too was weary, as her words presently indicate; alone, as He was alone, but only to make the essential contrast greater: she in the sin that isolates necessarily, shamefully, condemningly; He in the unique glory of His Person, of His quest, of His estrangement from the spirit of a world, in which were yet the objects that in love He sought. They were at opposite extremes, -in opposite paths, -and yet they met; not of her will or care, nor knew she what was before her; on His part, of the love which had in it its own necessity: "He must needs pass through Samaria."
Samaria had its name from the city which was its capital, "conservative," as it may be freely rendered, but in the interests of division. Alas, this went much further than they knew, and was but the expression of a deeper alienation, which could be healed only by Him who should cast Himself into the breach of human revolt from God, and bring back from it. "Give Me to drink" is here the first word of reconciliation, to the woman’s wonder. "How dost Thou, being a Jew, ask drink of me, who am a woman of Samaria?" At once He brings before her God whom she knew not, and Himself in some way identified with the "gift of God" of which He speaks. Had she known, she would have taken the place of the needy one, which she truly was, and have sought of Him as having power and grace. He would not have refused her: He would have given her living water.
She does not understand, and His words are veiled as yet, for the water of such a springing well as that by which they were was in common phraseology "living" water. But this from Him in some mysterious way, with no visible means of drawing from that deep well, but as a "gift of God" telling out Him she had not known, in a way how different from her imaginings. The evident intention in all this, however much the terms may be discussed, is to make God in His love shine into her darkened soul, and to draw her by that love to Himself as the representative of God there for need on her part. Her wonder rises, and her eyes are fixed upon Him. She would learn from Himself, who is He? greater than her father Jacob, as it would seem, who himself depended with all his household upon this well alone! And still He draws her on, as He speaks now of the gift that He will give, not such water as she is thinking of; from the well there: "Every one who drinketh of this water shall thirst again, but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall thirst no more for ever; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a spring of water springing up unto eternal life."
A marvellous advance, and a great miracle surely. Eternal life she knows in some sense. It is not a mere endless condition, but the life of the blessed. And this water, a perennial spring of refreshment within the man himself, springs up to eternal life! How her eyes would brighten and enlarge and fix themselves upon the wondrous Speaker! And yet she seems still to have grasped how little of that of which He is speaking: "Sir," she says, "give me this water, that I thirst not, nor come hither to draw."
Dull she is, indeed; and little, we may think, has been gained so far. After all, she is thinking still of bodily thirst and of literal water. Yet instructive it is to see the Lord’s way of dealing with such an one. The enigmatic language, -common indeed among the children of the East, yet evidently misunderstood, and left at last without such explanation as (it would be natural to say) a soul like this would require: it is plain that it is not so much the mind as it is the heart at which He is aiming; grace and truth are found in it all, and in this order: both together, and yet grace leading and characterizing; dealing with the heart even before the conscience, which is never indeed forgotten, yet never attacked. How different the manner in all this from that with Nicodemus, a man with so many things in his favor compared with the woman here, and yet with whom the appeal to the conscience is so earnest, so immediate, so seemingly abrupt. Yet after all, the underlying principle is the same, and the very thing which at first seems against Nicodemus is, in reality, in his favor. The woman had yet to be drawn; the teacher of Israel with all his Pharisaism and stiff prejudice, was yet already drawn: the latter could bear to have the conscience searched as the other at first could not.
Another thing, however, to be taken into account is just this Pharisaism of the one, while the other, though her conscience needed also to be wakened by the truth, had no false refuge under which to hide itself, and which had to be torn away. Here the advantage was on the side of the woman, the evil of whose life made it a simpler thing to turn away from it all than it was for Nicodemus with his pseudo-saintly one. Hence the one comes quickly into blessing; the other struggles and is held back.
But let us look now, apart from all question of the dealing with the woman’s soul, at the truth which is brought before us here. The living water is interpreted for us in the seventh chapter as spoken of "the Spirit which they that believed on Him should receive: for the Holy Spirit was not yet, because Jesus was not yet glorified." We have, of course, no reason to interpret the same figure differently here from there: so that the living water speaks of the Holy Spirit as come down from heaven, the characteristic of the present or Church-period. The Lord therefore is anticipating a then future time, and hence, no doubt, we find a certain reserve as to the way in which it is spoken of, the veil being more lifted as the time of the fulfilment draws nearer. The figure combines what in the statement as to new birth we had separately, the water and the Spirit. The water as the Word is that through which the Spirit of God works, and the Spirit is thus the life of the Word. The figure of the "spring" gives additional force to this, and especially with the addition "springing up." Power, freshness continually maintained, are in the spring; and the spring springs up -or "leaps," a strong expression -"unto eternal life."
What is the connection here between the spring -the Spirit of God in the believer -and the life? It is not surely merely an endless flow that is intended by the expression. Nor is it that the presence of the Spirit of God in the believer is needed for the commencement of life in the soul. Unhappily there is a lack of knowledge among Christians as to the true character of that gift of the Spirit which is characteristic of Christianity. We shall have it all fully brought out by the Lord Himself in His closing words to His disciples in the present Gospel. Here all this is anticipated, as already said, in these pregnant figures; and we must therefore anticipate what is there said, sufficiently to understand what is here before us. It should take little to convince us that the gift of the Spirit, that indwelling which the Lord promises His disciples there (Joh 14:17) -"He shall be in you," -did not precede life in their case, nor bring it by this personal indwelling, but followed it. They were already in possession of life when the Lord promised this, and of eternal life, for there is no other spiritual life: it is eternal life or no life (see Joh 6:53-54). He declares also that it is eternal life to know the Father, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He had sent (Joh 17:3), that He had manifested the Father’s name to them, and they had received His words, and believed that the Father had sent Him (6, 8). Thus they had eternal life already, when this promise was given. It could not be for them the result of a gift which was to come afterwards.
The indwelling of the Spirit necessarily supposes a house in which He could dwell; and it is not until new birth that such a house is formed. Christ received by the soul must be the foundation of it; and where Christ is, the Spirit of Christ can be. He witnesses to Christ, and thus the living waters begin to rise up in the soul, which shall henceforth be its perpetual satisfaction.
But how then "unto eternal life"? The water (the Word) and the Spirit have united to produce the life already. The gushing spring of living water has the same elements. The life is in the water; the Spirit is in the Word; but now it is the Spirit personally present, the Divine Witness Himself in permanence. Here all figures must fail to express the fulness of the blessing, infinite as the glorious Person. But it is plain that if eternal life is the product of the Word through the Spirit in the soul, then the satisfying fulness now must be in result to produce the abundance of the life itself in practical experience and power: the spring leaps up unto eternal life. Here eternal life is an experience, an application of "life" which we are all accustomed to distinguish from "life" as vital power, -the life we live from the life by which we live. But this is eternal life; and, as another has said, "to be complete, it must pour itself into the objective eternity: the eternal rests not till it comes to eternity."
After all, as interpreted by experience, the promise may seem too large. "Shall thirst no more for ever": what an assurance this is! But how little oftentimes does it seem to justify itself in actual realization. Here comes in the sad reminder for us of how we with our unbelief limit the glorious largeness of the divine promises, and often seem bent upon making falsehood of eternal Truth. Christ speaks according to the fulness of the gift bestowed. As to our enjoyment of it, it is always conditional upon the way in which faith entertains it. We are not to "grieve the Holy Spirit of God whereby we are sealed to the day of redemption." But Christ is not going to draw in, in His picture of the Christian, things which are only blots and disfigurements. Alas for the unchristianity of Christians! but the shame of it is all our own. Eternal life is in us derived and dependent, needing the constant ministry of divine grace to maintain it in its manifestation in us, to develop and perfect it according to God. The full perfection of it is set before us to provoke our longing after it, and the boldness of faith to claim it from God. We are not to expect that it will be realized without the activity of faith and the diligent use of what God has given us as means to its attainment.
(2) Let us go back now to the woman. Attracted, wondering, faith in this mysterious Speaker beginning to awaken in her soul, she asks for this gift, pledged to her for the asking. "Sir," she says, "give me this water, that I thirst not, nor come hither to draw." She asks, but indeed knows not the gift of God, nor who it is that says to her, "Give Me to drink." But divine grace that is at work with her will not leave her thus, nor despise the day of small things which is nevertheless that work begun. Her heart is touched, desire awakened, her soul turning towards God; now she must have her conscience reached, that she may realize what her need is and find the satisfaction of it. But with what a gentle hand does He touch the sore that He is going to heal! the worse the sore the more gentle must be the handling. As if He would have her but bring another to share the gift for which she has asked, He says, "Go call thy husband and come hither." At once her life is bare before her. She shrinks and would cover it: "I have no husband." True, He says: I know it: "thou hast well said, I have no husband: for thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly."
So it is out. Put into few brief words, no lingering upon it, no upbraiding with it, there it yet lies before her in the light, never to be covered up again. He knows it, has known it, knew it when approaching her at first He had told her of God as she had never known Him. Now it is out, it seems like a confession He has made for her who had not courage to make it for herself. Said plainly indeed, yet not severely, but gently, pitifully, the words are like a pleading for her, a revelation of Himself. Is she not glad to be with Him upon these terms? nothing kept back, as indeed nothing could be kept back, from Him?
(3) "Sir," she says, "I perceive that Thou art a prophet:" that is her seal set to the truth of His words; and then, with that desire which He has awakened, to be (as even she, it seems, may be,) with God -therefore to be right with God, to approach Him in His own way, she puts the question of questions for a Samaritan: Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say that Jerusalem is the place where one must needs worship."
It surely is not a putting off from her the first question of her sins. Had He not, with full knowledge of them, yet encouraged her to seek from God that gift of His, which she could see better now that He as the representative of God could offer to her? And in drawing near to God was there not a provision for sin, of His own establishment? Little she knew about the meaning of that yet. Little, as yet, did His own disciples know, even though the Baptist had pointed to the "Lamb of God." Was there not, however, in her heart something beginning which could make her better understand about that spring within the heart, of living water? And here was One who could resolve her doubts, and give her questions a divine answer! He does; but in a way how different from her expectations, when He sets aside both Gerizim and Jerusalem! To her the poor Samaritan, He makes known what those in closest companionship with Himself were as yet not prepared for. Yet He does not leave the question of Samaritan worship unsettled either; rather it assumes a more serious character: but first He tells her of the transcendent hour at hand which should abolish all outside worship and let men into the sanctuary of God, as children to worship the Father. What a revelation to this woman of shameful life, to whom just a moment before that life had been shown out without a remnant of a veil to hide it! Yet who among the mere children of men was better fitted than she, upon any title in himself, to draw near? And, if God were showing grace, to whom rather than to such as she would that grace manifest itself in more glory?
And now it was the Father seeking worshippers. Could it be kept back, the spring of happiness which in her also was beginning to well up, interpreting that former perplexing figure, and already seeking outflow? True, she had worshipped she knew not what; coldly, indifferently, or with spasms of dread in the gloom of the supernatural. And all the while in Israel, though even there the mass might know it as little as she, was the river of salvation. "Salvation" was "of the Jews": a stream which as yet indeed ran low and narrow between its banks, which the lowly and the thirsty alone knew of, but which was there: soon to burst forth in copious refreshment; salvation, by which men came to know God! And the hour was coming, and now was, -how that announcement must have woke the echoes in her heart! -when the true worshippers (not righteous, not self-approved, yet true) -when the true Worshippers should worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father was seeking such to worship Him in the only way in which God, as a Spirit, could be acceptably worshipped.
Yes, she knew it, or, at least, approved it as He spake it, but too wonderful it seemed; the rush of many thoughts too great. Then as she yet believed not for joy and wondered, the cry arose in her heart for the full Interpreter of all, Messias! was He at hand? Then indeed would all perplexity be ended, all anxiety at rest: "when He is come," she says, "He will tell us all things."
And He who saw divinely all her heart, as He had seen her life, -seen the craving of her heart, seeking the good that came not, saw His work was done. For her there was but one satisfying good remaining: One for whom now the joy that had arisen in her soul waited as its justification, whom the expected longing of her heart forewitnessed as at hand: Messias, the Christ. There was but one thing more to do: and with His own heart full (as presently He bears witness that it is) yet with the quiet of that supreme contentment in His words, He completes her blessedness: —
"I that speak to thee am HE."
Thus is the living water reached for her, if not yet the Spirit of God had come to be the indwelling Spring of it within her. Doctrinally, the connection of the whole is plain; as indeed the Lord’s words carry us on to the day of an opened sanctuary and of Christian worship. Without this the fulness of life in the Spirit could not be expressed, the living water could not spring up. We see clearly also how anticipative, how Christian, in the truth contained in it, the Gospel of John is. We shall notice this more and more as we go on in it.
2. The stream of blessing widens: the woman becomes the messenger of Christ, to tell out in the city the blessedness she has received. The Man who had told her all things that she ever did is One to whom she can freely invite others. She has left her water-pot behind to carry the news of living water; and her tale procures many listeners who come out of the city to find the One who has lighted up with His love this heart so dark.
Meanwhile His disciples have come back from the city, where they had gone to buy provisions, and find Him refreshed and independent of the food. In answer to their astonishment, He tells them that His food is to do the will of Him that sent Him and to finish His work. And then He speaks to them of fields that He sees already ripening to a spiritual harvest, and of the common joy of sower and of reaper. In fact, they were to enter into the labors of previous generations, of the prophets who had prepared the way for them, Himself above all the unwearied Worker for the salvation of men. Israel might reject Him, and His labor seem vain in this respect, but here, outside of Israel, He sees the incoming of the Gentiles, while the tardy fields of Judea yet showed no sign.
Of this the Samaritans here are now the first-fruits, and there follow two days of fruitful testimony, in which at their solicitation He abides with them; many believing through the woman’s witness to Him, and yet more through His own word; while their faith owns Him as the Saviour, not of Israel only, but of the world. All this shows plainly what is foreshadowed here.
F. W. Grant, The Numerical Bible (4th ed., 1903) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On vv6, 7, 10, 14, 26, 32 Joh 4:6, Joh 4:32.
John
THE WEARIED CHRIST
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Joh 4:6, Joh 4:32.
Two pictures result from these two verses, each striking in itself, and gaining additional emphasis by the contrast. It was during a long hot day’s march that the tired band of pedestrians turned into the fertile valley. There, whilst the disciples went into the little hill-village to purchase, if they could, some food from the despised inhabitants, Jesus, apparently too exhausted to accompany them, ‘sat thus on the well.’ That little word thus seems to have a force difficult to reproduce in English. It is apparently intended to enhance the idea of utter weariness, either because the word ‘wearied’ is in thought to be supplied, ‘sat, being thus wearied, on the well’; or because it conveys the notion which might be expressed by our ‘just as He was’; as a tired man flings Himself down anywhere and anyhow, without any kind of preparation beforehand, and not much caring where it is that he rests.
Thus, utterly worn out, Jesus Christ sits on the well, whilst the western sun lengthens out the shadows on the plain. The disciples come back, and what a change they find. Hunger gone, exhaustion ended, fresh vigour in their wearied Master. What had made the difference? The woman’s repentance and joy. And He unveils the secret of His reinvigoration when He says, ‘I have meat to eat that ye know not of’-the hidden manna. ‘My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work.’
Now, I think if we take just three points of view, we shall gain the lessons of this remarkable contrast. Note, then, the wearied Christ; the devoted Christ; the reinvigorated Christ.
I. The wearied Christ.
How precious it is to us that this Gospel, which has the loftiest things to say about the manifest divinity of our Lord, and the glory that dwelt in Him, is always careful to emphasise also the manifest limitations and weaknesses of the Manhood. John never forgets either term of his great sentence in which all the gospel is condensed, ‘the Word became flesh.’ Ever he shows us ‘the Word’; ever ‘the flesh.’ Thus it is he only who records the saying on the Cross, ‘I thirst.’ It is he who tells us how Jesus Christ, not merely for the sake of getting a convenient opening of a conversation, or to conciliate prejudices, but because He needed what He asked, said to the woman of Samaria, ‘Give Me to drink.’ So the weariness of the Master stands forth for us as pathetic proof that it was no shadowy investiture with an apparent Manhood to which He stooped, but a real participation in our limitations and weaknesses, so that work to Him was fatigue, even though in Him dwelt the manifest glory of that divine nature which ‘fainteth not, neither is weary.’
Not only does this pathetic incident teach us for our firmer faith, and more sympathetic and closer apprehension, the reality of the Manhood of Jesus Christ, but it supplies likewise some imperfect measure of His love, and reveals to us one condition of His power. Ah! if He had not Himself known weariness He never could have said, ‘Come unto Me, all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.’ It was because Himself ‘took our infirmities,’ and amongst these the weakness of tired muscles and exhausted frame, that ‘He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might He increaseth strength.’ The Creator must have no share in the infirmities of the creature. It must be His unwearied power that calls them all by their names; and because He is great in might ‘not one’ of the creatures of His hand can ‘fail.’ But the Redeemer must participate in that from which He redeems; and the condition of His strength being ‘made perfect in our weakness’ is that our weakness shall have cast a shadow upon the glory of His strength. The measure of His love is seen in that, long before Calvary, He entered into the humiliation and sufferings and sorrows of humanity; a condition of His power is seen in that, forasmuch as the ‘children were partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same,’ not only that ‘through death He might deliver’ from death, but that in life He might redeem from the ills and sorrows of life.
Nor does that exhausted Figure, reclining on Jacob’s Well, preach to us only what He was. It proclaims to us likewise what we should be. For if His work was carried on to the edge of His capacity, and if He shrank not from service because it involved toil, what about the professing followers of Jesus Christ, who think that they are exempted from any form of service because they can plead that it will weary them? What about those who say that they tread in His footsteps, and have never known what it was to yield up one comfort, one moment of leisure, one thrill of enjoyment, or to encounter one sacrifice, one act of self-denial, one aching of weariness for the sake of the Lord who bore all for them? The wearied Christ proclaims His manhood, proclaims His divinity and His love, and rebukes us who consent to ‘walk in the way of His commandments’ only on condition that it can be done without dust or heat; and who are ready to run the race that is set before us, only if we can come to the goal without perspiration or turning a hair. ‘Jesus, being wearied with His journey, sat thus on the well.’
II. Still further, notice here the devoted Christ.
It is not often that He lets us have a glimpse into the innermost chambers of His heart, in so far as the impelling motives of His course are concerned. But here He lays them bare. ‘My meat is to do the will of Him that sent Me, and to finish His work.’
Now, it is no mere piece of grammatical pedantry when I ask you to notice that the language of the original is so constructed as to give prominence to the idea that the aim of Christ’s life was the doing of the Father’s will; and that it is the aim rather than the actual performance and realisation of the aim which is pointed at by our Lord. The words would be literally rendered ‘My meat is that I may do the will of Him that sent Me and finish His work’-that is to say, the very nourishment and refreshment of Christ was found in making the accomplishment of the Father’s commandment His ever-impelling motive, His ever-pursued goal. The expression carries us into the inmost heart of Jesus, dealing, as it does, with the one all-pervading motive rather than with the resulting actions, fair and holy as these were.
Brethren, the secret of our lives, if they are at all to be worthy and noble, must be the same-the recognition, not only as they say now, that we have a mission, but that there is a Sender; which is a wholly different view of our position, and that He who sends is the loving Father, who has spoken to us in that dear Son, who Himself made it His aim thus to obey, in order that it might be possible for us to re-echo His voice, and to repeat His aim. The recognition of the Sender, the absolute submission of our wills to His, must run through all the life. You may do your daily work, whatever it be, with this for its motto, ‘the will of the Lord be done’; and they who thus can look at their trade, or profession, and see the trivialities and monotonies of their daily occupations, in the transfiguring light of that great thought, will never need to complain that life is small, ignoble, wearisome, insignificant. As with pebbles in some clear brook with the sunshine on it, the water in which they are sunk glorifies and magnifies them. If you lift them out, they are but bits of dull stone; lying beneath the sunlit ripples they are jewels. Plunge the prose of your life, and all its trivialities, into that great stream, and it will magnify and glorify the smallest and the homeliest. Absolute submission to the divine will, and the ever-present thrilling consciousness of doing it, were the secret of Christ’s life, and ought to be the secret of ours.
Note the distinction between doing the will and perfecting the work. That implies that Jesus Christ, like us, reached forward, in each successive act of obedience to the successive manifestations of the Father’s will, to something still undone. The work will never be perfected or finished except on condition of continual fulfilment, moment by moment, of the separate behests of that divine will. For the Lord, as for His servants, this was the manner of obedience, that He ‘pressed towards the mark,’ and by individual acts of conformity secured that at last the whole ‘work’ should have been so completely accomplished that He might be able to say upon the Cross, ‘It is finished.’ If we have any right to call ourselves His, we too have thus to live.
III. Lastly, notice the reinvigorated Christ.
I have already pointed out the lovely contrast between the two pictures, the beginning and the end of this incident; so I need not dwell upon that. The disciples wondered when they found that Christ desired and needed none of the homely sustenance that they had brought to Him. And when He answered their sympathy rather than their curiosity-for they did not ask Him any questions, but they said to Him, ‘Master, eat’-with ‘I have meat to eat that ye know not of,’ they, in their blind, blundering fashion, could only imagine that some one had brought Him something. So they gave occasion for the great words upon which we have been touching.
Notice, however, that Christ here sets forth the lofty aim at conformity to the divine will and fulfilment of the divine Work as being the meat of the soul. It is the true food for us all. The spirit which feeds upon such food will grow and be nourished. And the soul which feeds upon its own will and fancies, and not upon the plain brown bread of obedience, which is wholesome, though it be often bitter, will feed upon ashes, which will grate upon the teeth and hurt the palate. Such a soul will be like those wretched infants that are discovered sometimes at ‘baby-farms,’ starved and stunted, and not grown to half their right size. If you would have your spirits strong, robust, well nourished, live by obedience, and let the will of God be the food of your souls, and all will be well.
Souls thus fed can do without a good deal that others need. Why, enthusiasm for anything lifts a man above physical necessities and lower desires, even in its poorest forms. A regiment of soldiers making a forced march, or an athlete trying to break the record, will tramp, tramp on, not needing food, or rest, or sleep, until they have achieved their purpose, poor and ignoble though it may be. In all regions of life, enthusiasm and lofty aims make the soul lord of the body and of the world.
And in the Christian life we shall be thus lords, exactly in proportion to the depth and earnestness of our desires to do the will of God. They who thus are fed can afford ‘to scorn delights and live laborious days.’ They who thus are fed can afford to do with plain living, if there be high impulses as well as high thinking. And sure I am that nothing is more certain to stamp out the enthusiasm of obedience which ought to mark the Christian life than the luxurious fashion of living which is getting so common to-day amongst professing Christians.
It is not in vain that we read the old story about the Jewish boys whose faces were radiant and whose flesh was firmer when they were fed on pulse and water than on all the wine and dainties of the Babylonish court. ‘Set a knife to thy throat if thou be a man given to appetite,’ and let us remember that the less we use, and the less we feel that we need, of outward goods, the nearer do we approach to the condition in which holy desires and lofty aims will visit our spirits.
I commend to you, brethren, the story of our text, in its most literal application, as well as in the loftier spiritual lessons that may be drawn from it. To be near Christ, and to desire to live for Him, delivers us from dependence upon earthly things; and in those who thus do live the old word shall be fulfilled, ‘Better is a little that a righteous man hath, than the abundance of many wicked.’
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. R. Dummelow 1909 · Public Domain On v1 The Samaritan Woman
The Samaritan Woman
1-42. Christ in Samaria. The ministry in Samaria is recorded because it is the author's design to exhibit Christ as the Saviour, not only of Israel, but of the world (Joh_4:42).
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The Samaritans were mainly an alien race, descended from the colonists planted in the land by the Assyrians (2Ki_17:6, 2Ki_17:24, 2Ki_17:26, 2Ki_17:29; Ezr_4:1, Ezr_4:9-10). They boasted, however, of being Israelites, and with some degree of justification, for there was probably a considerable Jewish element in the population. Their worship, originally a compromise with heathenism, was now purely Jewish. They kept the sabbath, and the Jewish feasts, and observed circumcision and other traditional ordinances. Of the OT. they accepted only the Pentateuch, which they interpreted as commanding the erection of a Temple on Mt. Gerizim. That Christ should have preached in Samaria is somewhat surprising in view of such passages as Mat_15:24 and Mat_10:5, but it must be remembered that He did not enter Samaria for this purpose, but simply to reach Galilee (Joh_4:3).
1. The Pharisees had been hostile to John's ministry; they were likely to be more so to the more successful ministry of Jesus. Our Lord, therefore, left Judæa, the chief centre of Pharisaism, to avoid a rupture. 2. Our Lord did not baptise, because it was His work to baptise with the Holy Ghost (Joh_1:33), and He could not do this (fully at least) till after His Ascension (see on Joh_3:5; Joh_3:22).
4. Must needs go through] Jesus had just heard that Herod Antipas had cast John into prison (Mat_4:12). To escape this fate, He avoided Peræa, the seat of Herod's power, and passed through Samaria.
5. Sychar] now 'Askar, near Shechem. Jacob's well still retains its name. The parcel of ground, etc.] This is a Samaritan tradition, not expressly authorised by the OT., but based on a comparison of Gen_33:19 with Gen_48:22.
6. Thus] i.e. wearied as He was. For Christ's subjection to human infirmity, see also Joh_11:35, Joh_11:38; Joh_19:28.
The sixth hour] i.e. either noon or 6 p.m. The number of events which happened subsequently seems to require the earlier hour, but see on Joh_1:39.
8. The later rabbis declared that to partake of Samaritan bread was like eating swine's flesh, but in our Lord's time Samaritan food was accounted clean.
9. The Jews have no dealings, etc.] Some ancient authorities omit this statement, which must be taken to refer only to intimate dealings. Our Lord had broken down the barrier by asking a favour. He wished to encourage her to ask a favour of Him, and so to give Him an opportunity of leading her to the truth.
10. The gift of God] i.e. all the blessings offered to us in Christ, especially the gift of eternal life (see Joh_4:13-14). Living water] As Christ does not identify Himself with the 'water,' as He does with the 'bread' in John 6, the 'water' must be 'the grace and truth' of which He is full (Joh_1:14), and which are communicated to believers through the Spirit (Joh_7:39). Both the thirst and the hunger of the soul (and these are felt even by such outcasts as the Samaritan woman) are satisfied by Christ.
11. The woman takes 'living water' literally, as meaning the running water of a spring or stream as distinguished from the stagnant water of a cistern or well (Gen_26:19; Lev_14:5, etc.).
12. In spite of their mainly heathen origin, the Samaritans claimed Israelitish descent.
14. Shall never thirst] 'Every spiritual desire and aspiration of the soul shall be completely satisfied, and for ever, for the life which I give is eternal.'
15. These mocking words show that the woman was still unimpressed.
16. Finding her impervious to gentleness, our Lord uses stronger measures. He reveals Himself to her as a prophet, and with a prophet's authority reveals and rebukes her sin: cp. 2 Samuel 12.
18. Although this woman had apparently been divorced by five husbands for unfaithfulness, and was now living in sin, our Lord did not deal with her harshly. For other examples of His considerate treatment of fallen women, see Joh_8:1-11 and Luk_7:36-50.
20. The woman is ashamed, and seeks to change the conversation. Our Lord kindly permits it, knowing that the words He has spoken will bear fruit. She asks Him, since He is a prophet, to pronounce upon the main point in dispute between the Jews and the Samaritans. The Samaritans argued from Deu_27:4 that Grerizim was the one divinely appointed place of sacrifice, because there God had commanded an altar to be raised and the Law inscribed. The Samaritan text reads Gerizim in this passage instead of Ebal.
21-24. Speaking as a prophet, our Lord draws a sublime picture of the religion of the future. All that is transitory, national, local, and ceremonial about the religion of Jerusalem and Gerizim is to pass away, and God will accept for the future only the worship of the spirit and the heart. In the meantime, however, Jerusalem, not Gerizim, is the true centre of worship, there Jehovah has placed His name, there the Redeemer is to suffer, and there His religion is to be first established.
22. 'We Jews understand the nature of the God we worship: you Samaritans do not. We have the Psalmists and Prophets to teach us the meaning of spiritual religion: you reject all but the ceremonial Law of Moses. Moreover, you show your ignorance of God by setting up an unauthorised worship in a place which He has not chosen.' Salvation is of the Jews] alluding to the promises to Abraham (Genesis 12), and to David (2Sa_7:11-13, 2Sa_7:16, Psa_89:3-4; Psa_132:11), and to the historic fact that the gospel was to be preached to all nations 'beginning at Jerusalem' (Luk_24:47).
23. In spirit] i.e. with true inward reverence, as distinguished from mere outward observance. In truth] i.e. with true holiness of life. 'Truth,' in St. John, is not only correct belief, but also practical piety: see on Joh_3:21.
24. God is a Spirit] or, rather, 'God is spirit' (RM). 'Spirit' is the name, in the NT., of the highest and most god-like faculties of the soul. Our Lord means, therefore, that God is the supreme understanding, knowledge, reason, will, love, holiness, etc., and hence must be worshipped with the corresponding faculties of the human soul, which is also 'spirit,' as made in His image.
25. Messias cometh] An excuse for delay. There is no need (says the woman) to trouble about a more spiritual worship until that distant day when the Messiah comes.
26. The Samaritan idea of the Messiah was religious, not political, and hence Jesus could here proclaim Himself as the Messiah without causing a political ferment: contrast His action among the Jews (Joh_6:15; Joh_10:24, etc.).
Our Lord's teaching about worship in spirit and in truth (Joh_4:24), though general in form, had special reference to the woman's needs. Her religion was an external one of forms and ceremonies, and this accounted for her evil life. If she could but be taught that religion is the attitude of the heart towards God, all would be changed.
27. With the woman] RV 'with a woman.' In His high estimate of womanhood Jesus rose far above the ideas of His time, and taught lessons which are only now being learned (see on Mat_1:18-25). The contemporary rabbis refused to teach religion to women, and would not even speak to a woman in a public place.
34. My meat, etc.] Jesus meant that in the joy of seeking to save a sinful soul His fatigue and hunger had vanished, and He no longer needed the food which the disciples had brought.
35. Four months] Harvest began in April, so the date would be December, a.d.
27. The ministry in Jerusalem and Judæa (Joh_2:13 to Joh_4:3) must accordingly have lasted eight months. Lift up] At this moment Jesus sees the Samaritans coming through the cornfields.
They are white already] The literal harvest is four months distant, but the spiritual harvest of the souls of these Samaritans is ripe, and will be reaped this very day.
36, 37. Christ had sowed alone in converting the Samaritan woman, but the Apostles would share in reaping the harvest of Samaritan converts (cp. Acts 8). And this was a type of the future conversion of the world. Christ would sow the seed, but the Apostles would reap the harvest. The wages are simply the unselfish joy of saving souls.
38. Other men] In spite of the plural this means Christ Himself.
42. The Saviour of the world] They accepted Him as the world's Saviour, because they had experienced His saving power in their own case. It is an instance of the argument from Christian experience: see Joh_1:29; Joh_3:16-17; Joh_6:33; Joh_12:47; 1Jn_4:14.
43-54. Beginning of the ministry proper in Galilee, December, 27 a.d. Healing of the nobleman's son.
44. Our Lord's own country here is probably Judæa, where He was born, and which the ancient prophecies indicated as His true home. Others suppose that it is Galilee, and that He deliberately went there to suffer dishonour and rejection. In Mat_13:57 our Lord applies the same proverb to Nazareth, where He was brought up.
46-54. This miracle cannot be the same as that recorded Mat_8:5; Luk_7:2 the differences are too great. We have here a king's officer, there a centurion; here a father and son, there a master and servant; here a Jew (see Joh_4:48), there a Gentile; here a fever, there a palsy; here weak faith which is blamed (Joh_4:48), there strong faith which is commended; here Jesus is asked to come, there He is begged not to come; here He does not go, there apparently He does; here the healing words are spoken at Cana, there at Capernaum.
46. Nobleman] The word means 'one of the king's officials.' The 'king' is Herod Antipas, who was, strictly speaking, only a tetrarch, but was called king by courtesy.
48. Except ye see signs] Not too much must be made of this rebuke. Our Lord was trying his faith, as in the case of the Canaanitish woman (Mar_7:27). It answered the test, and was rewarded by the healing of his son. For 'signs and wonders,' see on Mat_12:38.
54. Translate, 'This again as a second sign did Jesus, after He had come out of Judæa into Galilee.' It thus clearly preceded all the Galilean miracles recorded by the synoptists.
The evangelist probably records this miracle to show that the effects of faith may extend beyond the person who exercises it; perhaps also to show that our Lord's power to heal could be exercised at a distance.
J. R. Dummelow, A Commentary on the Holy Bible (Macmillan, 1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain On vv1, 5 J. W. McGarvey's The Fourfold Gospel [XXVI. A. Reasons…
J. W. McGarvey's The Fourfold Gospel [XXVI. A. Reasons for Retiring to Galilee].
XXVI. JESUS SETS OUT FROM JUDÆA FOR GALILEE. Subdivision A. REASONS FOR RETIRING TO GALILEE. aMATT. IV. 12; bMARK I. 14; cLUKE III. 19, 20; dJOHN IV. 1-4.
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c19 but Herod the tetrarch [son of Herod the Great, and tetrarch, or governor, of Galilee], being reproved by him [that is, by John the Baptist] for Herodias his brother's wife, and for all the evil things which Herod had done [A full account of the sin of Herod and persecution of John will be found at Mat_14:1-12, Mar_6:14-29. John had spoken the truth to Herod as fearlessly as to the Pharisees, publicans and soldiers], 20 added this also to them all [the sins of Herod, as a ruler, already outweighed [138] his virtues; (comp. Dan_5:27); but, with reckless abandon, Herod went on, adding to the weighty reasons which justified his condemnation], that he shut up John in prison. [In the fortress at Machærus, east of the Dead Sea, as we learn from Josephus. The duration of the ministry of John the Baptist is variously estimated at from fourteen to eighteen months.] b14 Now after John was delivered up [either delivered up by the people to Herod ( Mat_17:12), or delivered up by Herod himself to the warden of the castle of Machærus ( Luk_12:58), or by Providence to Herod himself-- Act_2:23], awhen he [Jesus] heard [he was in Judæa when he heard it] that John was delivered up [and], d1 When therefore the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John [We saw at Joh_3:26 how the Baptist heard about the number of Jesus' baptisms, being informed by his jealous friends. Like jealous friends, no doubt, informed the Pharisees. Jesus may have known of this information being given by reason of his supernatural powers, but it is more likely that he heard of it in a natural way] 2 (although Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples) [Jesus, as divine Lawgiver, instituted baptism, and his disciples administered it. We nowhere hear of the disciples of John administering baptism. In fact, the Baptist, like the disciples of Jesus, baptized under a divine commission, and could not delegate the power to others. It was the office of Jesus to commission others to this work, not to perform it himself. Had he done so, those baptized by him might have foolishly claimed for themselves some peculiar honor by reason thereof ( 1Co_1:14, 1Co_1:15). Jesus was the spiritual baptizer, in which baptism the efficacy lies in the administrant; but water baptism, the efficacy of which lies rather in the spirit of the one baptized than in the virtues of the administrant, Jesus left to his disciples], 3 he left Judæa, and departed again { awithdrew bcame dinto Galilee. [We have in these verses two reasons assigned for the withdrawal of Jesus into Galilee, namely: 1. The imprisonment of John the Baptist [139] 2. Knowledge of the Pharisees that Jesus was baptizing more disciples than John. The first gives us the reason why he went to Galilee, the second the reason why he left Judæa. Jesus did not go into Galilee through fear of Herod, for Herod was tetrarch of Galilee. The truth is, the absence of John called for the presence of Jesus. The northern part of Palestine was the most fruitful soil for the gospel. During the last six or eight months of John's ministry we find him in this northern field, preparing it for Christ's kingdom. While we can not say definitely that John was in Galilee (Bethabara and Ænon being the only two geographical names given), yet he certainly drew his audiences largely from the towns and cities of Galilee. While John occupied the northern, Jesus worked in the southern district of Palestine; but when John was removed, then Jesus turned northward, that he might sow the seed of the kingdom in its most fruitful soil. But if there was a reason why he should go to Galilee, there was an equal reason why he should depart from Judæa. His popularity, manifesting itself in the number of his baptisms, was exciting that envy and opposition which caused the rulers of Judæa eventually to take the life of Jesus ( Mat_27:18). The Pharisees loved to make proselytes themselves ( Mat_23:15). They no doubt envied John's popularity, and much more, therefore, would they be disposed to envy Christ. The influence of the Pharisees was far greater in Judæa than in Galilee, and the Sanhedrin would readily have arrested Jesus had he remained in Judæa ( Joh_7:1, Joh_10:39), and arrest at this time would have marred the work of Jesus. Therefore, since it is neither sinful nor unbecoming to avoid persecution, Jesus retired to Galilee, when he remained until his second passover. By birth a prophet of Judæa, he became, in public estimation, by this retirement, a prophet of Galilee. Though Jesus first taught in Judæa, the ministry in Galilee so far eclipsed the work in Judæa that it was spoken of as the place of beginning ( Luk_23:5, Act_10:37), and prophetically designated as the scene of the divine manifestation-- Mat_4:14.] 4 And he must needs pass through Samaria. [The province which [140] took its name from the city of Samaria, and which lay between Judæa and Galilee. Owing to the hatred which existed between Jews and Samaritans, many of the Jews went from Jerusalem to Galilee by turning eastward, crossing the Jordan, and passing northward through Peræa. This journey required about seven days, while the more direct route, through Samaria, only took three days. Galilæans often passed through Samaria on their way to and from the Jerusalem feast (Josephus' Ant. xx. 6, 1). The arrest of John would scatter his flock of disciples ( Mar_14:27), and Jesus, as chief shepherd ( 1Pe_5:1-4), hastened to Galilee, to gather together those which might else go astray and be lost.]
[FFG 138-141]
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv22, 23, 24, 27, 42 (See Scofield "Rom 1:16")
salvation
(See Scofield "Rom 1:16")
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Arno C. Gaebelein 1922 · Public Domain On v1 1. He Must Needs Pass Through Samaria. (Joh 4:1-5.)
CHAPTER 4
1. He Must Needs Pass Through Samaria. (Joh 4:1-5.)
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2. At Sychar’s Well; Jesus and the Samaritan Woman. (Joh 4:6-26.)
3. The Woman’s Witness and the Believing Samaritans. (Joh 4:27-42.)
4. His Return to Galilee. (Joh 4:43-45.)
5. The Second Miracle, the Healing of the Nobleman’s Son. (Joh 4:46-54.)
In the Gospel of Matthew the Lord told His disciples not to go into the way of the Gentiles and not to enter into any city of the Samaritans. (Mat 10:5). He sent them to preach the nearness of the Kingdom. Here He must needs go through Samaria. He had left Jerusalem and was on His way to Galilee and passing through Samaria He manifested His marvelous Grace. Tired on account of the way, an evidence of His true humanity, “He sat thus on the well.” There He rested in unwearied love, waiting for the poor, fallen woman, whose sad story He knew so well.
To follow the beautiful account of His dealings with the Samaritan woman in all its blessed details is impossible in our brief annotations. What mercy and grace He exhibited in seeking such a one! What wisdom and patience in dealing with her, bearing with her ignorance! And what power in drawing her to Himself and making her a messenger to bring others to Him! How different He treated her in comparison with Nicodemus in the preceding chapter.
The Lord speaks to the Samaritan woman concerning the living water, which He can give to all that ask Him. The central verse of His teaching is the fourteenth, “But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” The well or fountain of water in the believer is the indwelling Spirit. In Joh 7:37-39 the Lord speaks also of living water and there the interpretation of it is given. “This He spake of the Spirit, whom they that believe on Him should receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified.” The believer has therefore not only eternal life, but also the gift of the Spirit, Who dwells in him as the spring of living water.
The new worship is next revealed in answer to the question of the woman. Joh 4:21-24. The Samaritans worshipped on a mountain (Gerizim); the Jews in the temple, but the hour was coming when the true worshippers would worship the Father in the Spirit. No longer would true believers worship God as the God of Israel, but as Father. It is to be a worship in the Spirit and not confined to a locality. Christian worship has for its foundation the possession of eternal life; the indwelling Spirit is the power of that worship. Only true believers, such who are born again and possess the gift of the Spirit, can be worshippers. “For we are the circumcision who worship God in the Spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.” (Php 3:3). And such worshippers the Father seeketh. In Old Testament times the Jews worshipped in an earthly place. In the coming, the millennial age, nations will go up to Jerusalem to worship the Lord of hosts in the great millennial Temple. (Isa 2:1-4; Zec 14:16, etc.) This present dispensation is the dispensation of Grace, and the Father seeketh worshippers who worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. Thus we are brought in the Gospel of John altogether upon the ground of grace.
Then He revealed Himself to the woman. “Jesus saith to her, I that speak to thee am He.” She was face to face with the Messiah; she stood in the presence of Jehovah. She left her waterpot to tell others the good news of the living water. The earthly things were forgotten. And what a messenger she became! How her simple testimony was blessed in the conversion of souls! He abode there two days and is owned and proclaimed not alone as the promised Messiah but as the Saviour of the world. (Joh 4:42).
Once more we see Him at Cana of Galilee, and the nobleman’s son, who was sick at Capernaum, is healed by the Lord. The nobleman represents typically Israel. The word the Lord addressed to him fits that nation. “Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.” How different from Samaria, where He did no miracle and yet they believed. And as the nobleman and his whole house believed, so will Israel believe in a future day.
Arno C. Gaebelein, The Annotated Bible (1913–1922) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv1, 7, 11, 16, 19, 25, 31, 39 Christ and the Woman of Samaria.
Christ and the Woman of Samaria.
On the way to Galilee:
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v. 1. When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John,
v. 2. (though Jesus Himself baptized not, but His disciples,)
v. 3. He left Judea, and departed again into Galilee.
v. 4. And He must needs go through Samaria.
v. 5. Then cometh He to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
v. 6. Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus, therefore, being wearied with His journey, sat thus on the well; and it was about the sixth hour.
Even at this early day the Pharisees were watching the activities of the Lord with jealous eyes. His growing popularity gave them much uneasiness. And there was a disquieting factor also for Jesus in the situation. The testimony of John and His own teaching had their effect in bringing an ever-increasing multitude to His baptism, which He, however, did not administer in person, but through His disciples. While there was not the slightest intimation of unpleasantness on the part of John the Baptist, there was still the danger of invidious comparisons, and Jesus apparently had no intention of interfering with the ministry of John at this time or ever. But the Pharisees, as Jesus found out, had heard the news that He was making more converts than John. These self-righteous hypocrites were declared opponents of the truth and therefore also of John, the teacher of truth. Should they therefore hear that the baptizing of Jesus was having such extraordinary success, they might be constrained to assume that Jesus was acting in opposition to John. This result Jesus wanted to avoid, and therefore, with a fine tact, which deserves wide imitation, He left Judea and set out for Galilee. He was not so sensitive about contamination from contact with Samaritans as many Jews were, who, for that reason, usually took the road on the other side of the Jordan when traveling to Galilee. Jesus took the shortest route, and thus was obliged to travel through Samaria, the country between Judea and Galilee. Samaria took its name from the city Samaria, or Shomron, 1Ki 16:24. When Shalmaneser, in 722 B. C. , carried Israel away into Assyria, a small number of the inhabitants remained in the country. To these were added heathen from Mesopotamia, and the result was a mixed population, in whose midst Jehovah was still nominally adored, but who also worshiped the gods of the heathen. When the Jews returned from their captivity, the Samaritans made an attempt to join them, and when this effort proved unsuccessful, they built a temple on Mount Gerizim. Their religion, in which they accepted only the Pentateuch as the inspired Word of God, was a strange mixture of Judaism and paganism. The territory of Samaria at the time of Christ was included in the tetrarchy of Archelaus and was under the procurator Pontius Pilate. On the north and east was the country of Herod Antipas, Galilee and Perea.
On His journey north with His disciples, Jesus came to the little city of Sychar, which was located almost in the center of Samaria. Near this town there was a piece of land which the patriarch Jacob had given to his son Joseph in addition to his share of the country, Gen 48:22. It was on this piece of land that Joseph was buried. And here was also a well or cistern which Jacob had dug after his return from Mesopotamia. The well, which is now known as Jacob’s Well, is within ten minutes’ walk of the present village of Askar. It is about a hundred feet deep and is protected by a wall and a coping. Jesus, being a true man, had become very tired literally, tired out—by the long journey of the morning; for it was now high noon. So He sat down at the well, either on the low wall which served as a railing, or on one of the steps leading to the water’s edge.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 4, 6, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 28, 31, 34, 37, 39, 41 General Information:
General Information:
John 4:1-6 gives the background to the next event, Jesus' conversation with a Samaritan woman. (See: Background Information)
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Now when Jesus knew that the Pharisees had heard that he was making ... John (although ... were), he left ... Galilee
"Now Jesus was making ... John (although ... were), and the Pharisees had heard about the success he was having. He learned that the Pharisees had heard, so he left ... Galilee"
Now when Jesus knew
The word "now" is used here to mark a break in the main events. Here John starts to tell a new part of the narrative.
Jesus himself was not baptizing
The reflexive pronoun "himself" adds emphasis that it was not Jesus who was baptizing, but his disciples. (See: Reflexive Pronouns)
translationWords
Jesus
Pharisee
baptize
disciple
John (the Baptist)
Judea
Galilee
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 19, 20, 21, 24, 26, 27, 32, 35, 38, 39, 42 4:1-42 At a historic well in Samaria, Jesus offered…
4:1-42 At a historic well in Samaria, Jesus offered himself as living water. Jesus engaged and confronted people with the revelation of God, and they either followed or fell away. • The Samaritan woman contrasted with Nicodemus at every turn: a woman (not a man), a Samaritan (not a Jew), a sinner (not righteous), and an outcast (not one of Israel’s rabbis). While Nicodemus fell silent and never responded to Jesus’ challenges (3:1-21), this woman acknowledged Jesus as Lord, remained in the light, and exhibited signs of discipleship (see 1:35-51).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.