John 4

Jesus left Judea and departed to Galilee by going through Samaria. There He met the Samaritan woman at the well and asked her for water. She was astounded that a Jew would speak to her because the Jews "have no dealings with Samaritans."

Jesus said, "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." 

She replied, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with,...and where do you get that living water?"

He answered: "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I give him will never thirst. But the water that I give will become a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life." 

She then asked for this water, and Jesus told her to call her husband. But she had no husband (she had divorced five times) and was shack-ing up with the current man. She admitted that she had no husband, and Jesus told her her life story. 

The woman perceived Jesus was a prophet. He told her the hour was coming when true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. The woman knew that Messiah was coming, and Jesus told her, "I who speak to you am He."

The woman than ran into the city and told others to Come and see the Man who told her all things that she ever did. Could this be the Christ?? Meanwhile, the disciples encouraged Jesus to eat food, and He told them that His food is to do the will of Him who sent Him, and to finish His work. The fields are already white for harvest. 

Now the Samaritans came to Jesus and believed in Him because of the woman's testimony. The people urged Him to stay and He remained in Samaria two days. They called Jesus the Christ, the Savior of the world. 

Next, Jesus went to Galilee, and the people received Him because they remember all He did at the Feast. In Cana, a nobleman begged Jesus to come and make his son well because he was dying. Jesus said that "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe." So He told the man to go because his son lives. 

On his return home, his servant met him and told him that his son was alive. When the nobleman asked the hour his son got better, the servant told him. And the nobleman knew it was the hour Jesus told him that his son lived. And the whole household believed.

COMMENTARY

Why did Jesus go through Samaria to get to Galilee? Because it was His Father's will. It was His Father's will to meet the Samaritan woman at the well. The Water of Life asked this low-level woman for water! The way the Lord spoke to her is a lesson for those of us who speak to others. He spoke "forcefully, faithfully, and factually." He "created a desire in this woman's heart for the spiritual water." He made her aware of her thirst, her need, for truth, that she was a sinner and needed a Savior. He showed her her sin. 

Then she wanted to argue religiously with Him. Jesus did not avoid her distraction from her sin. He did tell her that it did not matter where one worshipped (on the mountain or at the temple in Jerusalem), because one day those will all be gone. It matters how one worships in his heart. True worship is in spirit and truth. 

The Samaritans knew the Messiah was coming, and this woman realized now that she was face to face with her Savior. She ran to tell the men of her city, and because of her witness, these men believed. They came to the living Water and drank. 

One last thing: notice in the story about the nobleman, Jesus stated that unless these people saw signs and wonders, they will not believe. This was how it was and is. People want to see a sign in order to believe, but over and over again, Jesus pointed out how dull their eyes and deaf their ears because the signs were still not enough. We do not want to believe because we love our sin more. 

That is why, in this day of blind faith, we need a little help. We need the Holy Spirit to help us believe. When Jesus was living right before them, many still had hard hearts and would not believe. Now it should be even more difficult to believe because we no longer have signs and miracles. We have the Word of God as a witness. We need faith. And our faith is given to us by God. We could not do it on our own. We love our sin much more.