Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John 2 (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples), 3 He left Judea and departed again to Galilee. 4 But He needed to go through Samaria. 5 So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. 7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” 8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. 9 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. 10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” 11 The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? 12 Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?” 13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” 15 The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.” 19 The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”
Commentary
Commentary
Vs. 1-3 1 Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus
made and baptized more disciples than John 2 (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His
disciples), 3 He left Judea and departed again to Galilee.
As the Lord Jesus Christ’s Ministry increased Johns decreased, and so
the Pharisees focus shifted from John, to now closely watching the Lord Jesus
Christ. For they were after all the “guardians” of their own faith and
practices, and anyone who posed a “threat” to them and their established order
they were immediately going to set themselves against. Now here we learn that
it was not the Lord Jesus Christ who was water baptizing those people coming to
Him, but His disciples, which is something that still takes place today. Now
that Jesus left the region of Judea and departed again to Galilee in many ways
is a judgment against them. For Judea was the epi-center of the Jews religion
and practices; kind of like the “Bible belt” of its day; and yet this region
would only become most hostile towards Him, for it would be the people there
who would later Crucify Him. And so, once Jesus baptized all His disciples
there, He left for Galilee. Now Galilee was generally considered by those of
Judea as an “unclean” land because of the large Gentile population that was
dispersed amongst the Jews dwelling there. And so, when the Pharisees heard
that Jesus returned there, their immediate reaction would be to cease following
Him, though they would not cease to be antagonistic and hostile towards Him,
instead they would recruit others to continue on in this, both to observe and
follow Him, and thus try to induce Him into doing or saying something so that
they can now accuse Him, and render judgment against Him. None of which will
succeed, but all of which will only lead to their own (and those who obey them)
total blindness to just who He is, and all the good that He does towards Israel
and towards all!
Vs. 4-5 4 But He needed to go through Samaria. 5 So He came to a city of Samaria which is called
Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
Now on His way to Galilee, Jesus needed to pass through the region of
Samaria (vs.4), that is the ancient territory that formed when northern Israel
rebelled against the southern kingdom established in Judea. And so, when they
did so, they set up their own religious practices there. Now later when the
Northern Israelites were taken into captivity because of their ongoing idolatry
against and disobedience towards God, by the Assyrians, the Assyrians resettled
the land with the Gentile peoples from the various nations which they had
conquered, who then adopted some of the Samaritans basic beliefs and practices.
And so, for every Jew, Samaria and the native Samaritans who remained there,
because of their long antagonistic history towards each other, became a land
that was only regarded by them as an apostate land and people, and so Jews had
no dealings with them. However, Jesus needed to pass through Samaria;
not that He had to pass through it to get to Galilee, for He could’ve made His
way around it as the Jews in Judea always had done. Instead Jesus needed to
pass through it. For as we will see, there He will find a certain woman and
some true disciples. And so, Jesus will not shun going to Samaria, or anywhere
else, when He knows that there is someone who will believe in Him. Now the
place that Jesus came to was the city (better translated village) of Sychar
which was near the plot of ground that Jacob (i.e. Israel) gave to his son
Joseph (Gen. 48:22). Thus, this place was first established and founded by the
Israel himself!
Vs. 6 “Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore,
being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was
about the sixth hour.”
That Jacobs well was there only adds to the historical backdrop (see
Gen. 33:18-20), and that Jesus was wearied by His journey shows that though the
Son of God, He was still in every way the Son of Man! Thus, Jesus truly does understand
what is like to be cold, or hunger, or thirsty, or physically or emotionally
exhausted. Thus, Jesus needing to rest sat down by Jacobs well.
Vs.
7-8 7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” 8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to
buy food.
And so, it was while Jesus was sitting at the well that a certain woman
of Samaria came to draw water. Now it was the sixth hour of the day (about
noon, vs. 6), thus it was most unusual for someone to be drawing water in the
heat of the day, since this was usually done in the early morning hours.
Clearly then this woman did not expect to encounter anyone when she went to
draw water. Now when Jesus saw her, that she had a vessel in her hand to draw water
with, being wearied with thirst, He said to her, “Give
Me a drink.” “For His disciples had gone away into
the city to buy food.” Vs. 8
Vs. 9 Then
the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink
from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.
Initially the woman is less than cordial towards Jesus, for she only
responds to His request by saying, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a
drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.”
And so she only expresses the ancient animosity that existed between Samaritans
and Jews, for having been shunned even by her own
people (for that would be why she would be drawing water in the heat of the
day), it’s easy to see why she would ‘ve initially responded to Jesus this way.
Now that she knew Jesus was a Jew would be simply by His robe, since Jewish men
wore tassels on their robes (Deut. 22:12).
Vs. 10 Jesus
answered and said to her, “If you knew the
gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have
asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
Even though the woman is initially callous towards Him, this in no way
dissuades Jesus, for He now says to her, “If you knew the gift
of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked
Him, and He would have given you living water.”
Jesus then takes a rather ordinary encounter with a woman and turns it
into a moment of revelation about Himself and the gift of God that He offers to
one and to all, using the metaphor of living water to describe the gift of God
of eternal salvation to all who believe in Him (Isaiah 12:3). Thus, if she knew
who Jesus was her only response to Him would have been to ask Him for living
waters!
Vs. 11 The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing
to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water?
The woman though is only confused by Jesus’ response and revelation to
her, and so she says to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well
is deep. Where then do You get that living water?
Vs. 12 Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us
the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his
sons and his livestock?”
Returning then to her ancestral roots (since
the Samaritans claimed their ancestry from Jacob) who dug the well and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his
livestock? She now questions Jesus Person, since He had gone far beyond just
claiming to be a Jewish rabbi, but Someone who could give her living waters.
Vs. 13-14 13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst
again, 14 but
whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the
water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up
into everlasting life.”
Jesus now makes it
clear that whoever drinks of this water, that is literally the water from
Jacobs well; but more importantly the water from any sort of religious belief
or practice that is not of Him; will thirst again (vs. 13). That is, they will
not be satisfied with it. For only the living water that Jesus Christ gives us
satisfies the eternal thirst of our souls! That said not only does His living
water satisfy our souls, but it becomes in us a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life. Thus,
from being nourished replenished and refreshed to then becoming nourishers
ourselves is how salvation works itself out through us all who believe in
Christ.
Vs. 15 The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst,
nor come here to draw.”
Upon hearing this, the woman now has her true
hearts and souls desire awakened to its need, and so she says to Jesus, “Sir,
give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.”
Vs. 16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”
The woman then
having just asked for the living waters that Jesus gives, Jesus now changes the
conversation and asks the woman to, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” Vs. 16 The reason being she herself like all
people everywhere can very easily say they want the living waters that Christ
gives to all who believe in Him, but if they do not first see that what they
have been doing in trying to satisfy that thirst themselves has only been
sinful they may very well just return to it. For only repentant sinners truly
see that Christ alone satisfies their deepest needs and desires!
Vs. 17-18 17 The woman answered and said, “I have no
husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one whom
you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.”
Now when Jesus
told the woman to go and get her husband and come here, she responded to Jesus
saying, “I have no husband.” However Jesus knew otherwise, and so He now says
to her, “You have well
said, ‘I have no husband,’ 18 for
you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband;
in that you spoke truly.” Thus, the woman
had been living a very promiscuous life, going from man to man as each
relationship failed, and yet for all that her soul was never satisfied, for she
as Jesus said, only thirsted again and again.
Vs. 19-20 19 The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You
are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say
that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.”
The woman upon
hearing Jesus reveal to her just how she had been living promiscuously, now
says to Him, “Sir, I
perceive that You are a prophet.” That is, You are one sent by God with the
Words and Message of God. And so, she now says to Him, “Our fathers worshiped
on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the
place where one ought to worship.” Vs. 20 Now in saying as
much she may have been testing Jesus about His and her forefathers’ beliefs and
practices. For Samaritans had made Mount Gerizim the place where God was to be
worshiped, while the Jews rightly maintained that Jerusalem and the Temple
established there by God was where mankind was to seek and worship Him.
Vs. 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe
Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in
Jerusalem, worship the Father.
Now the Lord Jesus Christ in responding to her now
seeks to move the woman’s focus from Temples and their importance and
significance back to the salvation (i.e. living waters) He is offering her,
because now in the Gospel age (or New Covenant era) which He was ushering in,
the Temple and its central importance to the Jews faith and practices was no
longer going to be relevant, for the Lord had come to His people and He was
going to make His dwelling Place amongst us all who believe in Him! For by His
Holy Spirit dwelling in us He has made us, His people, His Temple! (consider
Acts 7:44-50; 17:24-25; 1 Cor. 3:16; 6:19; 2 Cor. 6:16 etc.). Therefore worship
of God does take place exclusively here or there, rather it first takes place
in one’s heart, and thus maybe felt and expressed anywhere, but most especially
where two or more are gathered in Jesus Christ’s Name!
Vs. 22 “You
worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the
Jews.”
Though the Samaritans had similar beliefs to the
Jews (they held to the Law of Moses), yet because they had long ago rejected
God’s Temple and Throne at Jerusalem, they were essentially worshiping what
they did not know, that is by holding to their own religious beliefs and
practices, and especially Mount Gerizim as the place to worship the Lord, they
were neither knowing Him, nor worshipping the Lord God Almighty. Something that
is not unique to them. For when people seek to follow their own ideas and
practices, they cease to worship God the Father. Now that salvation is of the
Jews does not mean that salvation is only for the Jews, rather by saying as
much Jesus is pointing to the fact that with the Jews keeping and holding to
the entire Old Testament Scripture, they were in effect preserving the way for
God’s salvation to come to all of mankind. That said, those same Scriptures and
sacrificial worship practices at Jerusalem should’ve pointed them all to the
Lord Jesus Christ as the Fulfilment of them.
The Lord Jesus Christ now foretells of when His
Spirit is poured out on believing humanity, and thus the true worshipers of God, who are all of us who
now believe in His Son, will worship Him in spirit and truth, for God is
seeking such worship, for only that is genuine worship of Him, because it is
not born out of trying to keep the law; that is mankind’s self-efforts to make
themselves approved before God; nor is it born out of trying to keep the
doctrines and commandments of men, who either corrupt it, or just add more
weight to the load, rather it comes from within us, because His Spirit now
dwells in us, who has brought us to Spirit life simply by faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ. And so, being born again, that is born from on High, we can by
His Spirit and by His Word, worship Him in spirit and truth!
Vs. 24 “God is Spirit, and those who
worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
God is Spirit, that is the Eternal Nature of God,
therefore those who worship Him must also first be born-again by His Spirit, so
as to not only bear the Spiritual likeness of God, but also to have union with
God we must come to Him through Jesus Christ alone. For that is the beginning
of worship with God in Spirit. And so once one is Spiritually alive, now united
to God through Christ, they can be led by His Spirit and guided by His Word to
worship Him in Spirit and truth! For the Spirit always works in complete
harmony with God’s Words truth. And so, by saying as much Jesus is not only
affirming the Nature of God, but He is shelving all of mankind’s attempts at
worship and religion of Him. For it must be God Himself who first brings us to
life by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and then by His Word and by His Spirit,
He guides our spirits to worship Him in Spirit and truth.
Vs. 25-26 The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called
Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to
you am He.”
The woman then begins to understand that neither
the traditions of her own Samaritan people, nor even following the traditions
of the Jews, will lead her or anyone else, to worship God in Spirit and truth.
And so, turning away from the traditions of the Samaritans and the Jews to what
revelation of the Scripture that she has, she now says to Jesus, “I know that
Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all
things.” By saying as much then she reveals that her heart was now open to
hear and learn from Him, and so with that Jesus now plainly reveals Himself to
her, saying, “I who speak to you am He.”
Continued on next blog post
No comments:
Post a Comment