Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had
heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— 2 although in fact it was not Jesus who
baptized, but his disciples. 3 So he left Judea and went back once more
to Galilee.
4 Now he had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called
Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired
as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.
7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw
water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to
buy food.)
9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You
are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For
Jews do not associate with Samaritans.[a])
10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the
gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him
and he would have given you living water.”
11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing
to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob,
who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his
livestock?”
13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks
this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them
will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring
of water welling up to eternal life.”
15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me
this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw
water.”
16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and
come back.”
17 “I have no husband,” she replied.
Jesus said to her, “You are right when
you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands,
and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite
true.”
19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that
you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain,
but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a
time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in
Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not
know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come
when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth,
for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must
worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah”
(called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one
speaking to you—I am he.” John 4 ( NIV )
It is suggested by the opening verse that Christ left the
area because the Pharisees had shifted their eyes from John the Baptist to
Himself, yet the time was not now. John the Baptist was, by this point, in jail
at Herod's orders. (1)
It is not actually required in traveling to go through Samaria. The verb in verse 4 means that He had to go, in the sense that it was God's Will, not that He had to physically go through that countryside to reach the end goal. (1) It was, however, more dangerous to go through Samaria over the religious difficulties.(2) Of some interest is the notation that Joseph's grave was near Shechem, which is the nearby village. (Josh 24.32) (2)
Christ then stops at Jacob's Well, with the village about 1 mile away, considered to be beneath Mt Gerzim. Many have discussed the time (noon), and suggestions state that it may be related to Christ's thirst at His crucifixion, or, it may point to the unusual time to draw water, related to the woman's shunning from the other women based on her sins.. The heat at midday was an unpleasant thing. (1)(2) Christ engages in conversation with one, a women, second, a Samaritan, and third, a sinner. Samaritans are a group mixed with two people--the remains of the fallen Northern Kingdom and various peoples that wandered in from Media and Babylon. They called themselves the Bnei Israel, the Sons of Israel. It is believed that there were many more Samaritans than Jews. These people were disliked by the Jews based on theological thoughts, as Samaritans believed they were the true line of Israel, and lead more holy and correct lives than the Jews. The Samaritans refused to worship only in Jerusalem, believing that Mt Gerizim was the correct place to worship instead based on Dt 27.4, nd various skirmishes had broken out over this issue. (1)(2).
It is not actually required in traveling to go through Samaria. The verb in verse 4 means that He had to go, in the sense that it was God's Will, not that He had to physically go through that countryside to reach the end goal. (1) It was, however, more dangerous to go through Samaria over the religious difficulties.(2) Of some interest is the notation that Joseph's grave was near Shechem, which is the nearby village. (Josh 24.32) (2)
Christ then stops at Jacob's Well, with the village about 1 mile away, considered to be beneath Mt Gerzim. Many have discussed the time (noon), and suggestions state that it may be related to Christ's thirst at His crucifixion, or, it may point to the unusual time to draw water, related to the woman's shunning from the other women based on her sins.. The heat at midday was an unpleasant thing. (1)(2) Christ engages in conversation with one, a women, second, a Samaritan, and third, a sinner. Samaritans are a group mixed with two people--the remains of the fallen Northern Kingdom and various peoples that wandered in from Media and Babylon. They called themselves the Bnei Israel, the Sons of Israel. It is believed that there were many more Samaritans than Jews. These people were disliked by the Jews based on theological thoughts, as Samaritans believed they were the true line of Israel, and lead more holy and correct lives than the Jews. The Samaritans refused to worship only in Jerusalem, believing that Mt Gerizim was the correct place to worship instead based on Dt 27.4, nd various skirmishes had broken out over this issue. (1)(2).
He even asks for water, which
would have been considered unclean from a Samarian cup. This opens up a can of
worms for us, when we dislike speaking to people not in our social circle,
below or above, "weird", or any other descriptor. I think it is wise
to take care, utilizing careful words, when speaking to various kinds of
people. We do not have the skill of knowing the inside and outside of man's
heart, which makes speaking to anyone more difficult than it might have been otherwise.
Still, it is not us who works in the hearts of others, it is the Messiah. (1)
There is great confusion over the difference of water with the Woman of the Well. She thinks that Christ is speaking of regular water, while Christ is speaking of spiritual things--the Holy Spirit in particular. There is a big difference between the use of water words, with the Well and regular water being "cistern" and the rest of the water (Holy Spirit) being a true, free flowing water source. (Flowing water was what was used to purify in OT rituals). (1)
It is noteworthy to notice the following: "On the meaning of the living water we need to examine the phrase aJllomevnou eij" zwhVn aijwvnion. The verb is used of quick movement (like jumping) on the part of living beings. This is the only instance of its being applied to the action of water. However, in the LXX it is used to describe the “Spirit of God” as it falls on Samson and Saul [Judg 14:6, 19; 15:14; I Kingdoms 10:2, 10 LXX (= I Sam 10:6, 10 English text); and Isa 35:6 (note context)]." ( Bible.Org ). Also, it is a sign of the age of the Messiah, Ezk 39.29 (1).
At this point the woman has figured out that this Man is not an average Man, He said as much--and clarifies that it matters not where the people worship God, it matters more how the worship is done. (1)
The most important point is to note that Christ obviously cared for all types of people. This is the first foray into "unliked" people, such as the tax collectors and others. Christ was willing that all might hear and come to Him--not just one group of people. (3)
There is great confusion over the difference of water with the Woman of the Well. She thinks that Christ is speaking of regular water, while Christ is speaking of spiritual things--the Holy Spirit in particular. There is a big difference between the use of water words, with the Well and regular water being "cistern" and the rest of the water (Holy Spirit) being a true, free flowing water source. (Flowing water was what was used to purify in OT rituals). (1)
It is noteworthy to notice the following: "On the meaning of the living water we need to examine the phrase aJllomevnou eij" zwhVn aijwvnion. The verb is used of quick movement (like jumping) on the part of living beings. This is the only instance of its being applied to the action of water. However, in the LXX it is used to describe the “Spirit of God” as it falls on Samson and Saul [Judg 14:6, 19; 15:14; I Kingdoms 10:2, 10 LXX (= I Sam 10:6, 10 English text); and Isa 35:6 (note context)]." ( Bible.Org ). Also, it is a sign of the age of the Messiah, Ezk 39.29 (1).
At this point the woman has figured out that this Man is not an average Man, He said as much--and clarifies that it matters not where the people worship God, it matters more how the worship is done. (1)
The most important point is to note that Christ obviously cared for all types of people. This is the first foray into "unliked" people, such as the tax collectors and others. Christ was willing that all might hear and come to Him--not just one group of people. (3)
No comments:
Post a Comment