Bible Commentaries
John 4

Verses 1-18

25 Ceremonial cleansing is the true definition of baptism, Before this, baptisms were a common feature of the Jewish ceremonial system, but were usually connected with the temple and the laver and were done by the person himself. John was called "the baptist" because he introduced the new method of doing it for others, This created a new unity. All baptized by John were distinguished from the rest of the nation by their cleansing. Now, however, the Lord's disciples baptize and John's disciples are going to Him, thus forming a new group and threatening to absorb John's disciples. So John defines his relation to Christ. He is simply a forerunner. He is glad to have his disciples leave him for the Messiah, his Master.

29 Christ is the Bridegroom. The baptized Israelites are the bride, John the baptist is the friend. Israel of old was the wife of Jehovah, having been espoused to Him in the wilderness ( Jer_2:2 ; Jer_31:32 ). She treacherously departed from Him ( Eze_16:3 ; Eze_16:15 ; Eze_16:59-60 ). He divorced her ( Jer_3:8-6 ). Though the law does not allow it ( Deu_24:1-4 ) , yet He will invite her back again ( Jer_3:1-14 ). She will yet marry Him under the new covenant ( Jer_31:31-37 ). Meanwhile He has pledged Himself to keep her for Himself ( Hos_3:5 ). Babylon is the false bride, for it will be an imitation of the true. The new Jerusalem, containing the twelve tribes of Israel, will be the bride of the Lambkin ( Rev_21:2-9 ). The nations are outside ( Rev_21:24 ). So far as we are aware, marriage is confined to the earth, It is not a figure of heavenly realities, but of earthly bliss. It is for the faithful in Israel. We have a nearer and dearer place, as members of Christ's body. So close are we that He cannot hate us, but nourishes and cherishes us as we do the members of our own body ( Eph_5:29 ).

31 John the baptist was of the earth like other men: the Lord came from above.

36 This must be left to the time in which John was speaking, God is conciliated now, since Christ has died and Israel has been set aside, so that His indignation is not against the stubborn now. He is beseeching all to be conciliated ( 2Co_5:19 ) .

4 He must come through Samaria. This is the compulsion of grace, for Samaria had small claim upon His consideration. The seventeenth of second Kings shows us what a mongrel race they were, and how incurably idolatrous. They never had conformed to the divine ritual. The

Jews had no intercourse with them. We do not wonder, then, that the Lord meets an outcast woman at Jacob's spring. Nicodemus was too proud to visit the Lord during daylight. The woman was too shamed to visit the spring in the evening, when all other women came. So she endures the heat of the midday sun to avoid their insults. Nicodemus offered the Lord no refreshment. The woman thought she could give Him none. But it is from sinners, not the selfrighteous, that God derives joy. This scene suggests a marvelous thought. The Lord first presents His need, and then hers. This is the true order. It is God Who is thirsty, first of all. He needs and desires the affectionate fellowship of His creatures. He would not condescend to make His desires known to a haughty Pharisee, but to the humiliated outcast He does not hesitate, even though it was considered a disgrace to talk to a woman in such circumstances.

11 Like Nicodemus, she fails to fathom the figure of speech. As physical life is dependent on water, so spiritual life is sustained by the Spirit and word of God. We are so accustomed to a plentiful supply of water that the force of the figure is largely lost with us. In the arid East, the thirsty traveler knows something of the delight of a drink of pure water. There the professional water seller carries a porous clay jar, which keeps the water cool by evaporation, and two tinkling cups, in which he serves it to customers, as he goes along shouting ( Isa_55:1 ). A spring was a prized possession. They often cost enormous labor, and were very deep. A whole town depended on this spring for its very life. But a physical figure of spiritual realities always falls short. Jacob's spring was a deep well. There was no windlass or bucket. Travelers were expected to carry their own long leather buckets. But the Lord and His disciples were not equipped with comforts. This was well, for it gave Him a good excuse to break the stringent etiquette which forbade a man speaking to a strange woman. How different is the spirit He imparts! It is an artesian spring welling up and overflowing with blessing to all around. No need to draw, or a bucket to lift a scant supply! No need to walk a long distance with huge water jars! The spirit is within and becomes a stream surging forth to others.

Verses 19-45

19 The ancient controversy between Jerusalem and Samaria was most bitter in connection with the proper place of worship. Of course Jerusalem was right and Samaria was wrong, for God had chosen the city of David for His dwelling place. Yet now we are confronted with the strange contradiction that, whereas He found idolatry in the temple at Jerusalem, He finds true adoration in Samaria! We would go to the magnificent ritual at Jerusalem to find pure worship. We would go to the rebellious unauthorized shrine at Samaria for idolatry. Not so

He. The same is true of our Lord's message. We would have demanded anew birth from the moral outcast and discussed the nature of God and worship with the religious Jew. But He, with wisdom from above, insists on regeneration when dealing with the respectable religionist, and reveals His spiritual secrets to the moral leper of Samaria.

24 True worship is not a matter of place or of ritual, but must correspond with its Object, Who is spirit. In the present era of grace, we worship Him wherever and whenever we please, and He deigns to dwell in us. Heartfelt adoration is hindered by forms and set ceremonies. Prayer that flows forth freely; praise that pours forth spontaneously; beseeching that breaks the bands of convention and precedent, mean more to God than petitions repeated like a prayer wheel and supported by custom or habit. The religious "exercises" of Christendom are like the sacrifices of old, which He could not bear. Let us not draw near with our lips when our hearts are far from Him.

27 In the stringent etiquette of the East it was not proper for a man to speak to a woman. Only such an excuse as a drink of water made it possible for Him to address her at all.

28 The fruitfulness of God's grace shines forth in this narrative. Her need was great and it became the measure of her satisfaction. Nicodemus knew little lack and did not feel constrained to tell his joy to his friends and neighbors. We know of none who were reached through his efforts. But this poor woman is so filled with joy that she forgets how her message reflects on her own sad life. Here was a Man Who knew all her sordid past, and yet she did not shun Him! His grace had captured her heart and filled it overfull. She must share her joy with others. Her fervor was infectious. The men of the city did not murmur at the morals of the messenger, but marveled at her message. She did hot ask them to believe her, but constrained them to come and hear Him. Such are the blessed results when grace grows in the fertile field of sin.

31 Perhaps the most notable result of this marvelous meeting was the satisfaction which it brought to Christ. And this is still more marvelous when we reflect that it is the indirect result of the most sordid of sins. Throughout His ministry He emphasized the fact that sinners were a necessary complement to His message of love and grace, but this seems to be all unheeded in this self-righteous generation. Sin is a necessary factor in the revelation of God to man and indirectly essential to the satisfaction of His love. Love cannot be lavished on those who are deserving. But to be undeserving presupposes sin and all its train of evils. There can be no Saviour without a sinner, no Healer apart from sickness, no Justifier where there is no unrighteousness, no Reconciler unless first there be enmity. Let us enjoy the great satisfaction of knowing that the evil influences in the world are not merely beneath the control of God so that they cannot get beyond bounds but their limited exercise provides the most potent ingredient, not only in the ultimate bliss of His creatures, but in that of the Creator.

Verses 46-54

46 The first sign, at Calla, signifies the blessing of Israel in the kingdom. This, the second sign, is also at Calla, hence is also concerned with the coming kingdom. The wine prefigured the joy of the favored nation. This second sign foreshadows the healing of that nation. The effect of human government is aptly figured by a burning fever. Never was this more evident than after the great European conflict. The delirium, the weakness, the oppression, the dread of death, possesses the nations. It will be far worse at the time of the end. It will not be cured by human medicaments, but by the coming of Christ. The seventh hour is suggestive of the seventh seal, and the seventh trumpet which proclaims that the world kingdom became our Lord's and His Christ's. . . ( Rev_11:15 ). Christ is the Way and the Truth and the Life. He will assuage the pain and unrest which possesses Israel today. He will change their feverish delirium into a quiet, restful peace.

49 "Lord, descend! " is the only cure for the earth's political ills. The resort to arms has not healed but rather aggravated the sores which caused it. Instead of being the last war it seems to be the seed of further conflict. Even if the war weary world should patch up a truce, it would not last. There is no other cure but "Lord, descend!" This sign does not signify blessing to the nations now, during Israel's defection. At present the fever of the nations continues unabated and all our blessings are spiritual and celestial. The fact that the courtier was connected with the king, suggests that the rule of Israel over the nations is in view, and that they are included in the blessing. The Lord does not visit the son, but heals him at a distance. So He will deal with the nations in the millennial era. When He comes for us we are snatched away to meet Him in the air and enter His very presence, and remain with Him, and share His heavenly rule for the eons. The nations on earth in that day will not be so highly blessed.

52 Yesterday, that is, before sunset of the same day.

1 The third sign brings before us another picture of Israel before and after His advent. They are not only joyless, but weak, infirm through the flesh ( Rom_8:3 ), unable to put into practise the precepts of that holy law which had been given to them. They cannot walk in the commandments. The occasional presence of a prophet sent from God stirred them up and recalled them to righteousness. But it had been a long time since a prophet had risen in Israel and they became almost hopeless of such help. They lay in the portico, outside. Christ is the

Door. Here we have Israel under the old covenant, which they are powerless to fulfill. Their infirmity followed the breaking of its precepts (14). It was given to teach them the excessive sinfulness of sin, and, by transforming sin into transgression, show them their utter helplessness to fulfill His will apart from His enabling grace. The sign signifies that none other than Messiah had given strength to the infirm man, even as He will do for the whole nation when He confirms a new covenant with them, in the days of His coming. Then, like the infirm man, they will have a due sense of their own impotence, and will be looking for some one outside of themselves to introduce them into the sphere of God's healing power. But, as it will be in the future, His Word will be sufficient to turn their weakness into strength. He will put His law in their inward parts, and write it on their hearts. . . He will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more ( Jer_31:33-34 ).

2 "Bethesda", in Hebrew, signifies "House of Kindness," an apt designation. Israel abode under the law of Moses, with its five books.

In that day, instead of ineffectual efforts to fulfill the law, and being dispersed among the nations for their failure, He will gather them together from the peoples, and gather them from all of the lands in which they have been scattered and give them the land of Israel. And He will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them. He will take away their stony heart and give them a heart of flesh, to walk in His statutes ( Eze_11:17-20 ).