John 4)
1 When therefore the Lord (this is the rendering of 2 Greek words: Kurios, and Despotes; and 1 Aramaic, Rabboni. = Kurios. Means owner. It expresses the authority and lordship arising from and pertaining to ownership. Hence, while it is used of each Person of the Trinity, it is similarly used of the lower and human relationship of "master". Her used by the Holy Spirit frequently in the narrative of the Evangelists) came to know how the Pharisees (see Acts 15:5. John never refers to the Sadducees by name) had heard that Jesus is making and baptizing more disciples than John, (The Lord knows trouble makers before you do and nips them in the bud)
2 (And yet Jesus Himself baptized not (it was not the practice of Jesus to baptize), but His disciples,)
3 He left Judea,
N L1 -3-27-. The woman of Samaria. L2 -27-42. The Disciples and the Samaritans L3 43-54. The second sign.
L1 M1 -2-7-. The Circumstances.
M2 -7-27-. The Colloquy.
and departed again into Galilee.
4 And it was necessary for Him to pass through Samaria. (See Josephus, Life, 52. Ant. xx. vi. 1. A necessity not only geographically, but including the Divine counsels.)
5 Therefore comes He to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar (translated = intoxication. Now 'Askar. A village on the slope of Mount Ebal and north of Jacob's well.), near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. (Cp. Gen. 33:19; 48:22. Josh. 24:32)
6 Now Jacob's spring was there (Cp. Gen. 49:22). Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus on (or by) the well: and it was about the sixth hour. (of the day, i.e. noon)
7 There comes a woman out of Samaria to draw water:
M2 N u -7. The Lord. Request. I.
v 8. Disciples. Gone away.
O w1 9. The woman. "How?"
x1 10. The Lord. "If you knew." II
w2 11,12. The woman. "Where."
x2 13,14. The Lord. "I will give." III
w3 15. The woman. Give me."
x3 16. The Lord. "Go call." IV
w4 17-. The woman. "I have no husband."
x4 =17,18. The Lord. "Well said." V
w5 19,20. The woman. "Where to worship."
x5 21-24. The Lord. "Believe Me." VI
w6 25. The Woman. "Messiah comes."
N u 26. The Lord. Declaration. "I am He." VII
v 27-. Disciples. Come back.
Jesus saith to her, "Give me to drink." (The 1st word. See the seven times the Lord spoke to the woman, and the gradual assent to the final declaration in v. -26. The number 7 in Biblical numerics = spiritual perfection. This was not necessarily Biblical. This was a little out of the ordinary, because men usually didn't speak women when alone, but, He was the Messiah.)8 (For His disciples were gone away in to the city in order that they might buy meat.) (Fig. put for foods of all kinds)
9 Then said the woman of Samaria to Him, "How is it that You, being a Judean, asks drink from me, being a woman of Samaria? (for the Jews have no familiar intercourse with the Samaritans.)"
10 Jesus answered and said to her, "If you had known the gift of God, and Who it is that says to you, 'Give Me to drink;' you would have asked of Him, and He would have given you living water." (i.e. perennial unfailing. Understood all of Judah, from. Jer. 2:13; 17:13. Zech. 14:8. See Isa. 12:1-3.)
11 The woman said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well dug out is deep (In 1869 it was 105 feet, and had 15 feet of water): from where then have You that living water?
12 Are You greater than our father Jacob (Israel), which gave us the well, and drank out of himself, and his sons, and his cattle?" (She's implying "Can You offer better water than this?")
13 Jesus answered and said to her, "Everyone who is in the habit of drinking of this water will thirst again:
14 But he who may have drunk of the water that I shall give him shall by no means thirst for ever; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a fountain of water welling up into everlasting life." (When you accept the truth, it will flow through you.)
15 The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither (come all the way here [through, or across the plain) to draw."
16 Jesus saith 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 he whom you now have is not your husband: that said you truly." (Only a supernatural entity could know this. See Jer. 3:8)
19 The woman said to him, Sir, "I perceive that You are a prophet.
20 Our fathers worshiped in this mountain (they were "religious" people . The mountain is Gerizim. The well was at its foot [Deut. 27:12.]); and You say, that in Jerusalem is the place where it is necessary to worship."
21 Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe me, the hour comes, when you shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. (You can worship Him anywhere, doesn't have to be geographical.)
22 You worship you know not what (see 2 Kings 17:24-34. cp v. 33): we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. (The people had a lot of "isms")
23 But the hour is coming, and is now on its way (its coming depended on the repentance of the nation, when all the prophecies would have been fulfilled. See Acts 3:18-26.), when the real worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship Him. (Spirit is something difficult to describe. You can't see it or smell it; however, some can sure feel the Spirit. Truth is somethin unveiled or revealed. It is a reality. Truth is factual, accurate and documented. Truth is our Father's Word. God seeks those out that that worship Him in this manner. He is able to utilize those that worship Him in spirit and in truth. Has Father sought you out lately?)
24 God is Spirit (i.e. not flesh, or material substance. Not "a" Spirit): and they that worship Him must (note this absolute condition) worship Him (see Rev. 7:12) in spirit and in truth." (Your spirit should seek the Holy Spirit. He's your Father. He wants you to come to Him. He is in a different dimension than we are. That is the reason we must worship Him in spirit. You can't see Him, but those who love and reverence Him can sure feel Him. Our Father is very real to those who worship Him in spirit and truth. People must stop playing church. We have allowed prayer to be removed from our schools, and look what has become of our children. The church must become stronger. After all, our leader is the Power of all powers. The current situation cannot stand. It certainly cannot stand amongst God's election.)
25 The woman said to him, "I know that Messiah comes (= the Anointed One), which is called Christ: when He is come, He will tell us all things." (He's going to come and explain all thing and make it clear to us.)
26 Jesus said to her, "I am He that is speaking. (This is the 7th and last of the Lord's 7 utterances, and marks the climax. 7=spiritual perfection.)
27 And upon this came His disciples,
and were wondering that He was talked with a woman (one of the 6 things forbidden to a Rabbi by the Talmud; and she being a Samaritan caused the greater wonder. Not Biblical however): yet no man said, "What do you seek?" or, "Why do you talk with her?"
28 The woman then left her water pot (this was expensive and a necessity), and went her way into the city, and said to the men,
29 "Come, see a man, which told me all things whatsoever I did:
can this be the Christ?" (She was excited, vivacious)
30 Then they went out of the city, and were coming to Him.
31 In the mean while his disciples were asking Him, saying, "Master, eat." (Gr. Rabbi)
32 But He said to them, "I have meat to eat that you know not of." (Spiritual & truth - meat from the Word. Do you let your tummy get in the way to do the work of God? Don't go to extremes though, you must sustain yourself.)
33 Therefore said the disciples one to another, "Has any man brought Him anything to eat?"
34 Jesus said to them, "My meat is in order to do the will of Him that sent me, and to finish His work. (He was in that process)
35 Say you not, 'There are yet four months, and then comes harvest'? behold, I say to you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. (The woman planted a seed, the Disciples cultivate it, Christ harvests it.)
36 And he that reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit unto life eternal: that both he that sows and he that reaps may rejoice together. (One does not have to do all the work. The harvest is ready, keep harvesting.)
37 And in this is true saying, 'One sows, and another reaps.'
38 I sent you to reap that whereon you bestowed no labor: other men have labored, and you are entered into their labors." (i.e. the prophets)
39 And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on Him (Some churches would miss out in this.)
on account of the saying of the woman (a divorced woman), which bore witness, "He told me all that ever I did."
40 So when the Samaritans were come to Him, they asked Him that He would tarry with them: and He abode there two days. (He doesn't discriminate.)
41 And many more believed because of His own word; (That's faith!)
42 And were saying (i.e. as one and another spoke) to the woman, "Now we believe, no longer because of your saying: for we have heard Him ourselves, and know that this is truly the Christ, the Savior of the world." (i.e. of the Gentiles as well as Judah and Israel. All peoples)
L2 T 43-46-. Departure from Judea to Galilee.
U V a -46,47. The father. Request.
b 48. The Lord. Answer.
a 49. The father. Request.
b 50-. The Lord. Answer.
W -50. Belief.
U V c 51-. The father. Return.
d -51. Servant's report.
c -52. The father. Inquiry.
d -52. Servant's reply.
W 53. Belief.
T 54. Departure from Judea to Galilee.
43 Now after the two days He departed from there, and went into Galilee.
The nation's only hope was in Messiah, the great Life-giver. He would raise it again from the dead, according to Ezek. 37. There is a reference here to Hos. 13:14. Can there be a reference also in the "two days" (4:43 and 11:6) to Hos. 6:1-3?
46 So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, where He made the water wine.
And there was a certain royal officer (Prob. belonging to the court of Herod Antipas), whose son was sick at Capernaum.
47 When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judaea into Galilee, He went to Him, and besought Him that He would come down, and heal his son: for he was about to die. (Not the same miracle as that of the centurion's servant recorded in Matt. 8:5-12 and Luke 7:1-10. The two miracles differ as to time, place, person, pleading, plea, disease, the Lord's answer, and the man's faith, as may easily seen by comparing the two as to these details.)
48 Then said Jesus to him, "If you do not see signs and wonders, you will in no wise believe."
49 The nobleman said to Him, "Sir, come down before my child die." (He didn't need to see a miracle, he had faith and believed.)
50 Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your son lives."
And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken to him, and he went his way.
51 But already as he was now going down, his bond-servants met him,
and told him, saying, "Your boy lives."
52 Therefore inquired he of them the hour in which he began to get better.
And they said unto him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour 1 o'clock p.m. 7 = spiritual completeness. [also 1st day of Millennium dispensation.) the fever left him."
53 So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said to him, "Thy son lives:" and himself believed, and his whole house.
54 This is again a second sign that Jesus did (thus begun to number the signs in this Gospel, we may continue to do so, and complete the whole 8.), when He was come out of Judaea into Galilee.