John 4 - NIV Application Bible

4:1–5 By Jesus’ day, a smoldering tension existed between the regions of Judea and Samaria. A first-century reader would hardly expect Jesus and the woman to acknowledge each other’s presence, much less to speak.

4:6 Here the Greek word for “well” refers to a “spring,” a free-flowing water source or fountain. In this culture, water collection was the responsibility of women. In a world that isolated women socially, the task became an opportunity for women to meet and talk. This task took place either at early morning or dusk to avoid the Middle Eastern heat. This woman draws water when other women are absent. The implication is that she is a social outcast.

4:7 In this world men rarely spoke to women in public. Single men were never to speak to or touch women in public at any time. Above all, a rabbi would observe these ideals scrupulously.

4:9–10 The conversation between Jesus and the woman is a delightful, dramatic play. Woven through are two questions launched by Jesus in 4:10: Will this woman comprehend the gift of God and its giver? Will she ask for a drink?

4:11–12 “Living water” refers to moving water. Living water was precious and was the only water that could be used in ritual washings to make pure unclean worshipers. Shechem had no rivers or streams. How could a Jewish outsider who barely knew the terrain offer water that no one else had found? The woman is curious about the possibility of a nearby stream or spring, but Jesus wants her to look to the spiritual significance of what this water means. Living water is life nourished by God.

4:13–15 Jesus is talking about a new life that is available through the Spirit of God. But Jesus takes this promise a step further. He offers a dynamic experience that makes a life as living as the water itself. The water (or Spirit) will transform a life into water that “wells up” (v. 14), one that does not require reaching and dipping, but which gurgles with water until it spills over.

4:16–18 No doubt Jesus’ request that this woman summon her husband was a shock. She has sinned, and the reputation that has dogged her and made her an outcast now has surfaced again. But Jesus is not simply judging her. She sees that this knowledge could only come from a messenger from God, so she looks for a way to deflect the moral investigation of this stranger.

4:19 The Samaritans understood the expectation of Dt 18:18, which said a great prophet would follow Moses. But this was to be the messianic figure of the final day. With her statement, the woman has opened the subject of messianism for Jesus.

4:20–24 Here the woman refers to the historic religious division between Jews and Samaritans. Both groups had serious disagreements about the proper location for worship. The Samaritans rejected the traditional location in Jerusalem that had been established by King David. In the Pentateuch, Abraham had built an altar at Shechem beneath Mount Gerizim. Jesus is being invited to enter this historical-religious dilemma and comment. But once again, Jesus deflects her question.

Jesus comments on the inadequacy of Samaritan worship, stating that Judaism is the religious history through which God has been at work. Jesus then indicates that the debate between Gerizim and Jerusalem will soon be obsolete. A cataclysmic change will occur in worship when Jesus goes to the cross. Worship in “spirit and truth” is the key phrase that controls what Jesus means. It is tied to Jesus’ affirmation that “God is spirit” (v. 24). Jesus is describing something of the dynamic and life-giving character of God.

Worship in spirit is dynamically animated by God’s Holy Spirit. But it is more. This is worship empowered by God but also informed by the revelation of God and provided to humans by the One who is the truth, Jesus Christ. This is worship not tied to holy places but impacted by a holy person who will inaugurate the era in which the Holy Spirit will change everything.

4:25–26 The Samaritans believed the coming Messiah would explain everything to them. But the woman implies that both she and Jesus will have to wait. With simple dignity, Jesus accepts that title for himself.

4:27 Jesus’ disciples return and express amazement. They are likely thinking about the prohibitions forbidding a man to talk casually with a woman. But they may also have been intrigued that Jesus would engage a woman theologically. The rabbis taught that theological education was for men alone.

4:28–30 Much has been made of the woman leaving her jar behind to report to her neighbors. In her enthusiasm to share her discovery, she left anything that would hinder her.

4:31–34 Jesus’ claim to possess food baffles the disciples, since their assignment was to purchase food. Their misunderstanding enables Jesus to press their thinking to another level. Obeying the Father is Jesus’ more deeply satisfying task.

4:35–38 Jesus reminds his disciples of a farming proverb to point them to obedience. The fields are now ready for gathering. Jesus is in the world, God has planted the field with seed, and it is bearing fruit already.

4:39–42 The Samaritans reenter the scene, and the harvest is at hand. Their faith is based on the woman’s testimony, which underscores the value of human witness to the work of God.

4:43–54 This story provides a closing “frame” to the section of the Gospel that outlines Jesus and four institutions of Judaism (purification, temple, rabbi, a well).

4:44–45 John is writing with genuine irony in v. 45 when he talks about the Galileans’ welcome. As the next section in Galilee makes clear, they do not understand him. As a Jew, Jesus is commenting on his home culture, Judaism, which cannot provide one of its own prophets with honor.

4:46–54 A man asks Jesus persistently if he will come down to Capernaum to heal his son. Jesus heals the boy at a distance instead of traveling to Capernaum. A critical sentence in the story is v. 48. The attitude of the Galileans is the issue here. They want to see miracles; they do not want to try to discern what God is doing among them.

✜ 4:1–54 Not every Christian is comfortable with Jesus’ evangelistic strategy here. It is not until Jesus utters a word of prophecy that suddenly the woman’s eyes are opened in a new way. Jesus exhibits the power of the Spirit at work for her and thereby models the power of the Spirit that may someday be within her.

Jesus affirms that our abilities will imitate his (14:12), explaining that the gift of the Spirit given to the disciples following his glorification will equip them with abilities similar to his. But what does this mean for evangelism? Is a convincing testimony merely a presentation of belief or a persuasive presentation of the facts? It must be more. Those outside the kingdom deserve to see signs of the Holy Spirit in us before they will step closer to faith themselves.