Bible Commentaries
John 4

Verse 1

Joh 4:1

John 4:1

When therefore the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John—Baptism was the act in which the people declared themselves the disciples of John (Luke 7:30), and the baptism of Christ stood in the same relation to Christ and discipleship. It is thought that this leaving Judea was to avoid conflict with the Pharisees.

Verses 1-26

Joh 4:1-26

Jesus Talks With a Samaritan Woman - John 4:1-26

Open It

1. *How do people satisfy their hungers and thirsts in life?

2. Why are the messages in TV commercials so appealing and persuasive?

3. In what ways are people you know prejudiced?

Explore It

4. What had the Pharisees heard about Jesus? (John 4:1)

5. What did Jesus do when he heard what the Pharisees were saying about Him? (John 4:3)

6. Through what place did Jesus have to travel? (John 4:4-5)

7. *Why did Jesus sit down by Jacob’s well? (John 4:6)

8. What did Jesus say to the Samaritan woman? (John 4:7)

9. Where were Jesus’ disciples? (John 4:8)

10. Why was the Samaritan woman surprised that Jesus spoke to her? (John 4:9)

11. How did Jesus answer the Samaritan woman’s question? (J 4:10)

12. What did the Samaritan woman think Jesus was talking about? (J 4:11-12; John 4:15)

13. *What did Jesus say would be the result of drinking the water He offered? (John 4:13-14)

14. Whom did Jesus tell the Samaritan woman to go and get? (John 4:15)

15. How did Jesus respond to the Samaritan woman’s answer to His request? (John 4:17-18)

16. How did the Samaritan woman respond to Jesus’ statements about her situation? (J 4:19-20)

17. *How did Jesus say people would worship God? (John 4:21-23)

18. What kind of worshipers does God seek? (John 4:23)

19. What did Jesus say about God? (John 4:24)

20. Who did Jesus say He was? (J 4:25-26)

Get It

21. What groups of people do you feel uncomfortable being around? Why?

22. How might a person feel put off by another’s background, nationality, or race?

23. How can prejudice affect a Christian’s witness?

24. *How have you responded to Jesus’ invitation to receive His living water?

25. How is Jesus’ gift of salvation different from what the world offers?

26. *How is the world’s need for salvation and eternal life like thirst?

27. In what other ways besides thirst might you describe eternal life?

28. How can we worship God in spirit and in truth?

Apply It

29. *How can you encourage others to quench their spiritual thirst this week?

30. What are some prejudices you will ask God to help you overcome?

Verse 2

Joh 4:2

John 4:2

(although Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples),—What the disciples did by the command of Jesus, Jesus did through them. The disciples baptized the people in obedience to Christ, and the Holy Spirit said that Jesus baptized them. Jesus was in his disciples teaching and baptizing persons during his lifetime. If those baptized by his disciples were baptized by Jesus, all acts performed by the disciples by direc­tion of Jesus were performed by Jesus. Jesus was in his disciples working for the salvation of the world from sin. Just as God the Father was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself so was Christ in the disciples teaching and en­treating the world to be reconciled to God through Christ.

Verse 3

Joh 4:3

John 4:3

he left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee.—He left Judea where the Pharisees chiefly controlled and went back to Galilee where the religious parties were not so bitter.

Verse 4

Joh 4:4

John 4:4

And he must needs pass through Samaria.—Samaria lay between Judea and Galilee. In going from one to the other Samaria must be passed through or the person must cross the river Jordan, go on the east side, and cross over to Judea below the southern boundary of Samaria. This greatly in­creased the distance.

Verse 5

Joh 4:5

John 4:5

So he cometh to a city of Samaria, called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph:—Sychar was near the city of Samaria, in the land of Ephraim, the son of Joseph. Jacob had bought this land of Hamor, Shechem’s father. (Genesis 33:18-20). He gave this to Joseph and Joseph’s bones were brought up from Egypt and buried near to Shechem. (Joshua 24:32-33).

Verse 6

Joh 4:6

John 4:6

and Jacob’s well was there.—This well was noted and had the reputation of having been dug by Jacob or his serv­ants. Lieutenant Anderson in 1866 descended to the bottom, found it seventy-five feet deep, walled with stones, and dry at the time. [McGarvey says: “Jacob’s well is still there, about one hundred yards from the foot of Mt. Gerizim, which rises high above it to the west. The well is a perfect cylinder, seven and a half feet in diameter, and it is walled with stones of good size, smoothly dressed, and nicely fitted together. It is an excellent piece of masonry. Its depth was stated by the earliest modern who visited it (Maundrel) at one hundred five feet, and it then contained fifteen feet of water. In 1839 it was found to be seventy-five feet deep with ten or twelve feet of water. All visitors of more recent date have found it dry and gradually filling up from the habit of throwing stones into it to hear the reverberation when they strike the bottom. (This accounts for its depth at different times). When the writer was there in 1879 his tapeline struck the bottom at sixty-five feet. The top of the well is arched over like a cistern and a circular opening is left about twenty inches in diameter. Another opening of irregular shape has been broken through the arch, and when you look into one of these the light admitted by the other enables you to exam­ine the walls.”]

Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus by the well.—Jesus sat upon the stone at the well while his disciples went to the town of Sychar to buy food.

It was about the sixth hour.—The sixth hour was most prob­ably twelve o’clock, though some place it at six in the evening.

Verse 7

Joh 4:7

John 4:7

There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.—The Samaritans were a mongrel race that had grown up in Samaria from the im­portation of Assyrians after the deporting of the Israelites from the land. (2 Kings 17:24). These imported Assyrians mar­ried with the poorer classes of the Israelites that remained in the country. At first they gave only a formal worship to the God of heaven while still worshiping the gods of Assyria. The Jews persistently refused all association with them as equals or as worshipers of their God. The Samaritans kept up the worship at the same places at which the ten tribes who forsook the house of David in the days of Jeroboam, that is, Bethel and Dan.

Verse 8

Joh 4:8

John 4:8

For his disciples were gone away into the city to buy food.—The Jews, while refusing all social and religious associa­tions or intercourse, traded with them so the disciples had gone to this Samaritan city to buy provisions.

Verse 9

Joh 4:9

John 4:9

The Samaritan woman therefore saith unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, who am a Samaritan woman?—The Samaritans would have been pleased to associate with the Jews, so when Jesus asked a favor of the woman and spoke in a kindly social way she was sur­prised and asked him how he could do so.

(For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans).—They re­garded them as unclean and would not accept courtesies at their hands, although they bought from and sold to them. She did not refuse the water, but expressed a surprise that he asked it of her. Jesus came to break down all these partition walls, national and race prejudices, and to unite all who would follow him into one brotherhood.

Verse 10

Joh 4:10

John 4:10

Jesus answered and said unto her,—The answer Jesus made to her shows that his purpose was to introduce the ques­tion of her spiritual condition and to direct her mind to his mission to make known the will of God to the world.

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,—The gift of God spoken of here meant the offer of eternal life to the world and that he was their Messiah to bring salvation to the world.

and he would have given thee living water.—He meant the spiritual blessings he could give to the world. Jesus did not explain his course, or argue the matter with her, but at once laid before her the great end for which he came into the world—his gift to the nations. The water of life, or living water, represents the life-giving blessings to which the teach­ing of Jesus leads men.

Verse 11

Joh 4:11

John 4:11

The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: whence then hast thou that living water?—The woman failed to understand his mean­ing and suggested the difficulties of his getting water out of the well. Her mind was fleshly, sensual, and material. She could think of nothing but literal water, and knew of none better than that in Jacob’s well. [See comments, verse 6.]

Verse 12

Joh 4:12

John 4:12

Art thou greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his sons, and his cattle?—She gives the tradition concerning Jacob’s digging and using and giving the well to his descendants. How much of this is real, how much tradition we can never tell, as the traditions never grow less as time passes concerning such things. They had come to reverence Jacob as a saint, second only to Abraham as the father of the Israelites. She felt it was presumptuous for any one to promise more in the way of water than that found in Jacob’s well, which had slaked the thirst of their fathers for nearly two thousand years.

Verse 13

Joh 4:13

John 4:13

Jesus answered and said unto her, Every one that drink­eth of this water shall thirst again:—Jesus tries again to direct her mind away from this material water to the water of spir­itual life. This water gives temporary relief.

Verse 14

Joh 4:14

John 4:14

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 water that he offered would abide with him who drank it and would give eternal life. He draws the contrast. The water which I give him will never let him thirst again. It shall be a perpetual fountain, or spring, of water within his soul, not only preventing thirst, but giving everlasting life. He is seeking to impress her with the truth that he promises not literal water, but spiritual water that gives eter­nal life. The blessings that bring spiritual life are frequently represented as living water. (John 7:38-39). And then in the New Jerusalem is “a river of water of life, bright as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.” (Revelation 22:1).

Verse 15

Joh 4:15

John 4:15

The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come all the way hither to draw.—The woman takes in the truth that the effects of the water he promised were permanent, but she thought it relieved from the fleshly thirst, and its possession would relieve her from coming to the well for water again.

Verse 16

Joh 4:16

John 4:16

Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither.—He has failed to reach her spiritual nature by the figure of the living water so he seeks to reach her in a different way. He knew her condition and character and opened a way to impress her with his divine knowledge by telling the plain facts of her life. He suited his instruction to her capacities.

Verse 17

Joh 4:17

John 4:17

The woman answered and said unto him, I have no hus­band. Jesus saith unto her, Thou saidst well, I have no hus­band:—She promptly replied, “I have no husband.” Jesus accedes to this and tells her important facts concerning her former life and present relations not creditable to her. She recognizes that only superhuman power could have made this known to him.

Verse 18

Joh 4:18

John 4:18

for thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: this hast thou said truly.—This with his former speech and demeanor impressed her that he pos­sessed more than human knowledge. He shows his knowl­edge of her past and present life and lays bare her present sinful state.

Verse 19

Joh 4:19

John 4:19

The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.—The promptness of the confession shows the can­dor and readiness of the woman to accept the truth. His bearing and conversation, although she failed to take in the points of his instruction, had impressed her with his sincerity and high character. When he showed his knowledge of her past life, she saw and owned he was a prophet. This was the same kind of testimony he used to convince Nathanael. (John 1:43-50). He knew things without learning them in the ordinary way, and it at once directed the woman’s mind to the subject of worship, and, as he was a Jew, to the difference between the Samaritans and the Jews.

Verse 20

Joh 4:20

John 4:20

Our fathers worshipped in this mountain;—“Our fa­thers” were the ten tribes that broke away from the house of David under the lead of Jeroboam. These Samaritans claimed these as their fathers, although they were a mixed race de­scended from them. Jeroboam set up two altars and made

two calves—one in Bethel, the other in Dan. Mount Gerizim is the mount here spoken of.

and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.—That he was a prophet and a Jew brought to her mind at once the difference between the Jews and the Sa­maritans. The Jews had persistently charged the Samaritans with forsaking God in leaving Jerusalem and the temple in which God had recorded his name and where he promised to meet his people at the mercy seat, and had made a calf at Bethel and met to worship at Mount Gerizim instead of Jeru­salem. Moses says, “But unto the place which Jehovah your God shall choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, even unto his habitation shall ye seek, and thither thou shalt come.” (Deuteronomy 12:5). He selected Jerusalem. Solomon built the temple, and God promised there to meet his chil­dren. “Jehovah said unto him [Solomon], I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, that thou hast made before me: I have hallowed this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and mine eyes and my heart shall be there perpetually.” (1 Kings 9:3). From this time forward to go elsewhere to worship than to Jerusalem was to forsake God. So the prophets taught and the woman refers to this teaching.

Verse 21

Joh 4:21

John 4:21

Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, shall ye worship the Father.—Jesus had come to supplant and swal­low up this work of a merely local nature of both Jews and Samaritans and to substitute the spiritual worship of which the Jewish law and order was a material type. Jesus did not mean that in the future persons might not worship God either in Jerusalem or in this mountain. He meant that hereafter the worship of God would not be confined to either of these places, but that all who would could worship God wherever they might be. Whoever worships God according to the truth would be accepted of him. The time had come when the true spiritual temple of God should be opened to all the nations of the earth, and when the worship should not be confined to Jerusalem nor to this mountain. Jesus came to introduce this era and says, “The hour cometh,” or is now coming, when this shall be done. The local and external shall give way to the spiritual and eternal.

Verse 22

Joh 4:22

John 4:22

Ye worship that which ye know not: we worship that which we know;—He kept before her the truth that in for­saking God’s appointments they ceased to worship God. They did not know who they were worshiping. Jesus, while seek­ing to open the mind of the woman to the truth, condemns the sin of the Israelites in forsaking Jerusalem and the temple worship. In doing so they forsook God, and worshiped they knew not what. They claimed to worship God, but to reject his order is to turn from him.

for salvation is from the Jews.—Salvation was to come through the family of Abraham of whom the Jews were the representatives. Salvation comes through the Jews that were true to the worship of God.

Verse 23

Joh 4:23

John 4:23

But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true wor­shippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth: for such doth the Father seek to be his worshippers.—Jesus came to introduce this worship that was spiritual. The heart of man was to be enlisted. Man’s spirit must lead to the service. This worship must be regulated by the truth of God. In this new covenant God said, “I will put my laws into their mind, and on their heart also will I write,” and all the service must be from the heart. The introduction of it was future, now at hand. Jesus was even now introducing it. He more clearly tells them the hour now is when the true worshiper shall worship the Father in spirit and truth. This means the wor­ship shall not be formal, local, and mechanical as it had been greatly among the Jews, but it should be from the heart. The heart shall be enlisted and the spirit molded by the truths of God, and that henceforth God will seek only the worship of those who worship him from the heart. This was bringing out the contrast between the worship under the law of Moses and of Christ.

Verse 24

Joh 4:24

John 4:24

God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth.—He is not flesh and blood as men are. He is a Spirit and unseen by mortal eyes. The natural and seen are temporal and must pass away. The Spirit is unseen and eternal. God is Spirit and the spirit of man must worship God not simply an outward fleshly conformity to his law that seems to have satisfied the demands of the law of Moses. Although under the law of Moses a higher life of faith was possible and was accomplished by many. They who worship God must worship with the spirit or the soul and in truth. A spiritual being like God can be pleased with worship only when it comes from the heart and all worship to him must be guided by truth.

Verse 25

Joh 4:25

John 4:25

The woman saith unto him, I know that Messiah cometh (he that is called Christ): when he is come, he will declare unto us all things.—This thought seems to have been rather beyond the comprehension of the woman and she evades a direct reply. The Samaritans, in common with the Jews, looked for a coming Savior. They still maintained a nominal worship of the true God while refusing to follow his laws. He is called in the scripture Messiah. Messiah is Hebrew; Christ, Greek; Anointed, English. Both the Jews and the Samaritans looked for the prophet to come that would make known the full and perfect law of God. The bearing of Christ and the revelation that he had made to her reminded her of this promise—not that she was ready to acknowledge him as Christ, but her mind had been led out to think of Christ by what he said to her.

Verse 26

Joh 4:26

John 4:26

Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he.—This is the most direct declaration made by Jesus to one he was teaching that he was the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God, the Prophet that was to come. He more frequently called himself the Son of man and left his works and teaching to declare him to be the Son of God. But this woman was a Samaritan, in many respects mentally and socially and in knowledge of the scriptures inferior to the Jews. She was fleshly, sensual, dull of perceiving spiritual truth, but frank and candid, simple-hearted, ready to receive the truth, and Jesus met her in the same spirit of open and direct declaration of the truth suited to her wants. The pains and patience of Jesus to reach this woman with the stains on her character ought to be an assurance to his followers that such are open to salvation and frequently the first to be reached. Another thought worthy of consideration is when Jesus would reach the people of Samaria he did not seek the great, the noble, the intellectual. He met the humble, ignorant woman, who lived with a man not her husband and brought the truth to her heart and through her reached others. It is much more easy to reach the poor, simple-minded, open sinners than the self-righteous, who pride themselves upon their wealth, social position, or learning, and who cover and hide their sins. All who can be really reached by the word of God can be much more readily reached by Christians of this class than by those in what is called the higher circle of life. Man looks at the outward appearance; God looks at the heart. When the heart is right, God uses the person, and works his own ends.

Verse 27

Joh 4:27

John 4:27

And upon this came his disciples; and they marvelled that he was speaking with a woman;—[Christ’s disciples had left him at the well while they went to the town of Sychar to buy food.] This conversation had occurred during their absence in the city. On their return they were surprised to find him talking with the woman because of the antipathy the Jews cultivated toward the Samaritans.

yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why speakest thou with her?—But they have learned enough of him to know remonstrance would be vain. Jesus never had a doubt or feeling of uncertainty in what he did.

Verses 27-38

Joh 4:27-38

The Disciples Rejoin Jesus - J 4:27-38

Open It

1. *What must a farmer do in order to enjoy an abundant harvest?

2. When have you ever been so consumed with a task that you forgot to eat?

Explore It

3. How did the disciples respond when they saw Jesus talking to the Samaritan woman? (John 4:27)

4. What did the Samaritan woman do after she had spoken to Jesus? (John 4:28)

5. What did the Samaritan woman tell the townspeople? (John 4:29)

6. How did the townspeople respond to what the Samaritan woman said? (John 4:30)

7. What did the disciples urge Jesus to do? (John 4:31)

8. *What did Jesus tell the disciples? (John 4:32)

9. How did the disciples respond to what Jesus told them about food? (John 4:33)

10. *What did Jesus say was His food? (John 4:34)

11. What did Jesus say about the fields? (John 4:35)

12. *What kind of crop did Jesus say "the reaper" was harvesting? (John 4:36)

13. What did Jesus send the disciples to do? (John 4:38)

Get It

14. What barriers keep us from talking to other people about Christ?

15. How does spending time talking to Jesus affect your life?

16. *What tasks in life tend to consume your attention?

17. What are some of the sayings of Jesus that surprise you?

18. In what way has God surprised you by what He’s done in your life?

19. What unique work has God given you to do?

20. *How would you describe today the fields Jesus described to His disciples?

21. What role can you play in the reaping and harvesting of lives for Christ?

Apply It

22. What obstacle will you ask God to remove so you can help bring someone to Christ?

23. *In what way can you be involved in reaping and harvesting for God’s kingdom today?

Verse 28

Joh 4:28

John 4:28

So the woman left her water-pot, and went away into the city, and saith to the people,—The return of the disciples seems to have interrupted the conversation, and the woman at once bethought her of the people in the city, and in the intensity of her feeling she seems to have forgotten her mis­sion to the well and in her haste she left the water-pot she brought and hastened to the city.

Verse 29

Joh 4:29

John 4:29

Come, see a man, who told me all things that ever I did:—She told as she went that she had found a man who could tell her all she had ever done. [He had told her some things about her life and doubtless conscience had told her the rest. She felt all was known to him and naturally exaggerates by saying, “He told me all about my life.”]

can this be the Christ?—This question was suggestive and led them to believe what Jesus had directly told her. [She did not say he is the Christ—“Can this be the Christ?” Had she asserted he was the Christ probably they would not have believed her, but her modest manner excited their curiosity and made them willing to see and hear.]

Verse 30

Joh 4:30

John 4:30

They went out of the city, and were coming to him.—This aroused enough interest or curiosity to cause the people to go out and see and talk with this newly-found prophet. [Her success was immediate. I take it they were not skeptical people, but were waiting for the Deliverer.]

Verse 31

Joh 4:31

John 4:31

In the mean while the disciples prayed him, saying, Rabbi, eat.—While she was going and the people were coming from the city, the disciples prepared the food and asked him to eat. [While the woman was spreading the news, the dis­ciples were preparing and pressing upon the Master to eat the food they had secured.]

Verse 32

Joh 4:32

John 4:32

But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not.—[“Man shall not live by bread alone.” He had been lifted above hunger by the eagerness of his success.]

Verse 33

Joh 4:33

John 4:33

The disciples therefore said one to another, Hath any man brought him aught to eat?—They had left him when they went into the city wearied and no doubt hungry. They had returned, prepared food, and now he declines to eat. Jesus told them he had sources of strength and satisfaction of which they were ignorant.

Verse 34

Joh 4:34

John 4:34

Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to accomplish his work.—[“Meat” in the scriptures means not only flesh, but any kind of food.] The doing the will of his Father supplied the place of food and refreshed and strengthened him in body as well as spirit. Here are two persons becoming so interested in spiritual truths presented that they forgot their fleshly wants and external demands. One in teaching the truth of God, and the other forgets the water for which she had gone to the well. Jesus forgets his weariness and hunger in the desire to save a soul and accomplish the work unto which he was sent.

Verse 35

Joh 4:35

John 4:35

Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh the harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, that they are white already unto harvest.—[In Palestine harvesting began about the middle of April. Jesus spoke about the middle of December.] It is thought that this was four months before the harvest time; whether or not, it was an admonition that the spiritual harvest was always ready for the reaping. It teaches, too, that Jesus in his wisdom chose an humble, lowly sinner, one ready to con­fess her sins, rather than the rich and learned and self-right­eous through whom to reach and influence a whole commu­nity. This is so unlike the wisdom of men which seeks the wealthy, the learned, the respectable through whom to reach communities. It teaches too that we ought to improve all openings and opportunities to preach the gospel no matter how unpromising they may appear. These lowly candid sin­ners are much more easily reached than the self-righteous, self-satisfied classes. They are also much more effective in carrying the truth to others.

Verse 36

Joh 4:36

John 4:36

He that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal; that he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.—One who improves all opportunities, who does not despise the day of small things, who is constant about the work of the Father will receive wages and in his work will bear fruit unto eternal life, both he who sows and the fruit he bears will enjoy eternal life. [They who reap a harvest of souls will receive spiritual wages; not earthly pay in money, such as reapers in harvest fields reap, nor of fame, or position, but the happiness of doing the greatest work on earth and a crown that fadeth not away in the world to come. “Gathereth fruit” means souls that are gathered as the sheaves in the heavenly garner. There saved souls and the reaper rejoice together.]

Verse 37

Joh 4:37

John 4:37

For herein is the saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth.—Jesus was now reaping what had been sown by others. He was reaping where Moses and the prophets had sown. Even this despised Samaritan woman had been pre­pared to look for the Messiah who would bring all things to their knowledge.

Verse 38

Joh 4:38

John 4:38

I sent you to reap that whereon ye have not labored: others have labored, and ye are entered into their labor.—Jesus sent his disciples to preach and reap what had been sown by others. This is the order of God in the natural and spiritual world. One sows; they who follow him reap.

[“Sent” is a verb past and refers to an event previous to the present incident. The disciples had baptized “more than John” (John 4:1), so many that John’s disciples reported that “all men come to him” (John 3:26). Christ’s disciples who had baptized all of these (John 4:2) were reaping the fruit of John’s sowing, to a great degree, supplemented by the labors of Christ. John had sown; they were reaping. While on earth Christ sowed and later at Pentecost, in Judea, and in Samaria, his disciples entered into his labors. See the reaping of what he had sown in Samaria. (Acts 8:5-8). This principle is true now.]

Verse 39

Joh 4:39

John 4:39

And from that city many of the Samaritans believed on him because of the word of the woman, who testified, He told me all things that ever I did.—The woman was a dull, but candid woman. She was living a life of adultery. This was probably so common among her people as not to incur the ostracism it has in later years. Her earnest and candid state­ment of what had passed between her and Jesus moved many to believe on Christ through her. The fervid earnestness of a candid person causes conviction frequently. [She had borne testimony of Christ as best she could. Though an humble woman, she had not preached Christ in vain. This demon­strates what one poor soul can do for Christ.]

Verses 39-42

Joh 4:39-42

Many Samaritans Believe - John 4:39-42

Open It

1. What people have had the biggest influence on your life?

2. *What are some things that we have believed based on someone else’s testimony?

3. What are some things that we can trust in because of our own personal experience?

Explore It

4. *What impact did the Samaritan woman’s testimony have on the townspeople? (John 4:39)

5. What did the woman tell the Samaritan people Jesus told her? (John 4:39)

6. What did the Samaritans urge Jesus to do? (John 4:40)

7. What did Jesus do in response to the Samaritan’s request? (John 4:40)

8. *What did Jesus rely on to convince more people to believe in Him? (John 4:41)

9. What impact did Jesus’ words have on the Samaritan people? (John 4:41)

10. Why did the Samaritan people originally believe in Jesus? (John 4:42)

11. What new basis did the Samaritans have for their belief in Jesus? (John 4:42)

12. What difference did hearing Jesus for themselves make to the Samaritans? (John 4:42)

13. *What did the Samaritan people believe about Jesus? (John 4:42)

Get It

14. What impact does your testimony have on other people?

15. *What impact have other people’s testimonies had on your life?

16. Who do most people think Jesus is and what is the basis for their belief?

17. Who do you think Jesus is? Why?

18. *What led you to believe in Jesus?

19. What people were influential in leading you to believe in Jesus?

20. How has believing in Jesus changed your life?

Apply It

21. Whom can you tell about Jesus? When?

22. *In what ways could you be a better testimony for Jesus today?

23. What can you do to help clear up other people’s misconceptions about who Jesus is?

Verse 40

Joh 4:40

John 4:40

So when the Samaritans came unto him, they besought him to abide with them:—To converse with the woman in a social, friendly way the willingness to accept a favor as small as a drink of water, the feeling of interest in her, was matter of surprise to her and the disciples and encouraged the people to insist on his remaining with them for a time.

and he abode there two days.—The remaining with them for two days as a teacher instructing them in the truth of God was no doubt a shock to the prejudices of the disciples and a surprise to the Samaritans. Yet the disciples submitted. The Samaritans felt flattered and induced them to hear him more readily. On the part of Jesus it was the beginning of breaking down the wall of separation between the different nations and peoples that would be completed in his death. [It was indeed a strange invitation for a Samaritan city to extend to a Jew, but no more strange than for a Jewish teacher to accept it.]

Verse 41

Joh 4:41

John 4:41

And many more believed because of his word;—The result of his stay was that many more believed in him through his teachings. [They heard for themselves his teaching re­garding water of life and they recognized in him a divine teacher. He worked no miracle as at Jerusalem, but how different the course of the self-righteous Pharisees!]

Verse 42

Joh 4:42

John 4:42

and they said to the woman, Now we believe, not be­cause of thy speaking: for we have heard for ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Saviour of the world.—The feel­ing of the people toward the woman is shown in their think­ing it more creditable to believe on Jesus from hearing him than from the report she gave of him. So they rather taunt her that they believed through the teachings of the Savior. But Jesus seems to have accepted the faith of both, and I cannot resist the feeling that he was better pleased with those who the more readily believed on him, even through the poor woman. Only one point was needed to fix the faith in Christ. That is, is God with him, does he talk and act in divine authority? If so, all he says or claims to be is to be believed. The readiness to believe, like Nathanael, the Israelite without guile, like this woman on the first clear evidence of super­human knowledge and of those who readily received her testi­mony, is the evidence of an artless and candid heart and soul and is more pleasing to God than those who are slower to accept the divine evidence or act on the simple instruction of the Savior.

Verse 43

Joh 4:43

John 4:43

And after the two days he went forth from thence into Galilee.—After the two days delay in his journey towards Galilee from Jerusalem he continued it.

Verses 43-54

Joh 4:43-54

Jesus Heals the Official’s Son - John 4:43-54

Open It

1. *What are some things that people believe in that they either haven’t seen or can’t see?

2. What celebrity would you gladly welcome as a guest in your home? Why?

Explore It

3. Where did Jesus go after He left Samaria? (John 4:43)

4. What did Jesus say about prophets? (John 4:44)

5. Why did the Galileans welcome Jesus? (John 4:45)

6. What had Jesus done in Cana? (John 4:46)

7. What did the royal official ask Jesus to do? (John 4:47)

8. *What did Jesus say about miraculous signs? (John 4:48)

9. How did the royal official respond to Jesus’ comment about miraculous signs? (John 4:49)

10. *What did Jesus say in response to the royal official’s renewed request? (John 4:50)

11. What was the royal official’s response to what Jesus said? (John 4:50)

12. When did the royal official’s son get better? (John 4:51-53)

13. *What impact did Jesus’ healing have on the royal official’s household? (John 4:53)

14. How many miracles had Jesus performed? (John 4:54)

Get It

15. For what reasons are people interested in Jesus today?

16. In what ways are we typically more interested in what Jesus can do for us than what we can do for Jesus?

17. What miracles have you asked Jesus to do in your life?

18. *When do we usually find ourselves asking God to help us?

19. Why is it sometimes hard to take Jesus at His word?

20. What are some things God has told us in His Word that are hard for you to believe?

21. How have you exercised believing—sight unseen—faith in Jesus?

22. What miraculous signs are people looking for today?

23. In what ways are we demanding of God in our relationship with Him?

24. *What impact would a miraculous event have in your life?

25. What are some miracles God has worked in your life?

Apply It

26. *What is something specific you can thank God for doing in your life?

27. How do you need to trust in God this week to handle a situation you can’t control or work out on your own?

Verse 44

Joh 4:44

John 4:44

For Jesus himself testified, that a prophet hath no honor in his own country.—Exactly what country he regarded as his own in this statement is difficult to determine. While born in Judea, he was generally regarded as a Galilean. It may possibly have been spoken to show his approbation of his reception in Samaria on his leaving it.

Verse 45

Joh 4:45

John 4:45

So when he came into Galilee, the Galileans received him, having seen all the things that he did in Jerusalem at the feast: for they also went unto the feast.—He had wrought miracles at the feast in Jerusalem. Many Galileans had been in Judea, saw the miracles he performed there and so were ready to receive him on his return to Galilee. They may have been the application of the adage stated above. These Gali­leans had gone to Judea to hear of his great works.

Verse 46

Joh 4:46

John 4:46

He came therefore again unto Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine.—Cana was not far from Nazareth where Jesus grew to manhood. There he had wrought his first miracle.

And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum.—[Probably he was connected in some way with royalty, though not certain.]

Verse 47

Joh 4:47

John 4:47

When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judaea into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down, and heal his son; for he was at the point of death.—[In some way he knew of the works of Jesus. His coming to Jesus shows that he was regarded as a prophet in Galilee.]

Verse 48

Joh 4:48

John 4:48

Jesus therefore said unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will in no wise believe.—The Jews generally sought signs and wonders. Jesus to call out a manifestation of the man’s faith said, “Except ye see these things ye will not believe.”

Verse 49

Joh 4:49

John 4:49

The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child die.—The earnestness of his entreaty and the anxiety for his son showed the sincerity and nobility of his faith.

Verse 50

Joh 4:50

John 4:50

Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth.—Jesus saw in his earnest entreaty the manifestation of an earnest and humble faith, and in response to this faith Jesus did more than he asked. He healed the son without going down.

The man believed the word that Jesus spake unto him, and he went his way.—It was another manifestation of his trust­ing faith that he was willing to accept this assurance and to return home without Jesus.

Verse 51

Joh 4:51

John 4:51

And as he was now going down, his servants met him, saying, that his son lived.—The change for the better in the condition of the child was so marked that servants were sent out to assure him that his son was much better and doubtless that Jesus need not come.

Verse 52

Joh 4:52

John 4:52

So he inquired of them the hour when he began to amend.—That he might be sure that the healing was due to the power of Jesus, he asked the time of the change.

They said therefore unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.—[Seventh hour is one o’clock—being the hour Jesus spoke and the fever left.]

Verse 53

Joh 4:53

John 4:53

So the father knew that it was at that hour in which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth:—They told the hour

at which the fever left him. It corresponded to the time at which Jesus said he lived.

and himself believed, and his whole house.—This gave as­surance to his faith, and his testimony caused the others of his household to believe with him.

Verse 54

Joh 4:54

John 4:54

This is again the second sign that Jesus did, having come out of Judaea into Galilee.—The miracle at Cana had occurred on his coming out of Galilee, and this was under the same conditions. [Jesus had worked miracles in Judea, but this was the second worked in Galilee. The first was in Cana; he was at Cana when he worked the second, but the bene­ficiary was at Capernaum.]

This was a physical not a spiritual healing. In spiritual healing the spirit, the soul, the heart, the inner man, must enter into the service, must be molded into the likeness of God. This is done by faith in God. Faith is the medium between the heart of man and God, who is a Spirit. Then the teacher of the word must come into, and be accepted and con­formed to by, the spirit in man before his influence can be brought to bear on the spirit of man to mold and influence the man’s spirit. The Spirit of God dwells in the church only to the extent that the word of God dwells in, is cherished by, and controls the heart of man. Being in the church, unless he cherishes the word of God, does not secure to him the presence of the Spirit of God. We are the temples of the Spirit of God only as the word of God dwells in and controls our hearts. The Spirit of God dwelling in the heart makes us Christians. When the Spirit of God dwells in the heart, we will obey the Lord Jesus Christ, not before. The truth saves by molding the heart, the soul, the character of man, into the likeness of Christ, into a fitness to dwell with him and his congenial spirits in the world of glory forever.

Questions on John Chapter Four

E.M. Zerr

1. What had the Pharisees heard?

2. Through what means did Jesus baptize?

3. Where was John baptizing?

5. What unselfish thing did Jesus do?

6. Through what section must he go?

7. To what city did he come?

8. Identify the location.

9. What was there?

10. State his condition.

11. At what time of day?

12. Who came to this place?

13. Where were the disciples?

14. Tell the character of this woman.

15. What did Jesus request of her?

16. State what astonished her.

17. What was it that she did not know?

18. Of what water did she think he spoke?

19. From whom had they received this well?

20. State the defect of this water.

21. What water is different?

22. Unto what will it spring?

23. State the woman’s request.

24. With whom did he bid her share the favor?

25. At this what did she state?

26. Was her statement admitted?

27. What was Jesus’ explanation of her situation?

28. Of what did such knowledge convince her?

29. Who are the "fathers" in John 4:20?

30. Why the two places of worship?

31. Tell what change Jesus predicted.

32. Of what nation did salvation come?

33. Why does God seek for spiritual worshipers?

34. To what prophesied person did she refer?

35. What favor did she expect from him?

36. Tell what he then said to her.

37. When the disciples returned why did they marvel?

38. Did they criticize him?

39. What did the woman then do?

40. How did she speak of Jesus?

41. What did the people then do?

42. Mean time what concerned the disciples?

43. State his declaration to them.

44. What did they think he meant?

45. Give the explanation he made to them.

46. What work did he say was on hand?

47. To whom does he promise reward?

48. Who might be reapers in this case?

49. Tell who were the "other men" in John 4:38.

50. What made believers of many Samaritans?

51. How did they show their appreciation?

52. What furlher fruits did his word produce?

53. Tell what they confessed to the woman.

54. Where did Jesus go in two days?

55. Where is a prophet honored?

56. What caused his good reception in Galilee?

57. To what city did he corne?

58. What had occurred here?

59. Who came to him now for a favor?

60. ’[’ell what showed his faith in J csus.

61. How did Jesus heal the son?

62. At what time did he begin to improve?

63. What effect did this deed have?

64. Which miracle numerically was it?