‘When therefore the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptising more disciples than John (although Jesus himself did not baptise, but his disciples) he left Judea and departed again into Galilee.' ‘When therefore the Lord knew --'. The use of ‘the Lord' by John when s... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And he had to pass through Samaria.' The road through Samaria lies between Judea and Galilee, and although some Jews would take the long way round through Transjordan because they saw Samaria as an unclean land, and they wanted to avoid the danger of becoming ‘unclean' as a result of the failure o... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SAMARITAN WOMAN (JOHN 4:4). In this story of the Samaritan woman in John 4:4 Jesus depicts Himself as the Gift of God Who can give men living water (John 4:10), and can thus give men a spring of water within which will well up to eternal life (John 4:14). This is in line with the promise that in... [ Continue Reading ]
‘So he comes to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph, and Jacob's well was there.' Sychar is commonly identified with Askar, a village about one mile (one and a half kilometres) North East of Jacob's Well, on the Eastern lower slopes of Mou... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Jesus, therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well. It was about the sixth hour.' The demands of Jesus' ministry had caught up with Him, and on their journey through the heat of the sun Jesus grew weary. We are reminded here that He Who was the Word, the Creator of the world, w... [ Continue Reading ]
‘There comes a woman of Samaria to draw water.' The fact that she was alone is probably significant. Normally women would make sure they were in company with others when visiting a well outside the town. There is already a hint in this that she was not of the best reputation. But as we will learn,... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Jesus says to her, “Give me a drink”. For his disciples had gone away into the town to buy food.' The point of the second statement would appear to be that they had taken all their vessels with them with the purpose of filling them, leaving Jesus nothing to drink from. The statement may not, there... [ Continue Reading ]
‘The Samaritan woman therefore says to him, “How is it that you, being a Jew, ask drink of me who is a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.' Amazed the woman asks the pertinent question. Why should such as He have dealings with her? Why would a Jew ask for a drink at the han... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you ‘Give me a drink', you would have asked of him and he would have given you living water”.' Jesus' reply was significant. “If you knew the gift of God ---”. In the light of John 3:16 this must mean Himself a... [ Continue Reading ]
‘The woman says to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. From where then have you that living water?” ‘ The well was one hundred feet deep, and this man had no vessel to draw with. What on earth could He mean? From where could He obtain living water? Her mind was still fixe... [ Continue Reading ]
“Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself, and his sons and his cattle?” She was a little in awe and certainly felt that this man was something special. But surely not that special? So she asked Him whether He was claiming to be even greater than Jacob wh... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him, will never thirst, for the water that I will give him will become in him a well (pege as in John 4:6) of water springing up producing eternal life”.' Jesus mad... [ Continue Reading ]
‘The woman says to him, “Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, nor come all this way here to draw”.' The woman was intrigued and not quite sure what He meant, but His offer sounded delightful, an answer to many problems. She still did not realise that what was required was a spiritual transfo... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Jesus says to her, “Go, call your husband and come back here”.' The gift of living water could only be given if she turned from sin, so Jesus now began to probe her past life (John 4:16). ‘Go and call your husband and come here'. Such an innocent suggestion, and yet so deep in its significance. He... [ Continue Reading ]
‘The woman answered and said to him, “I have no husband”.' The woman felt a little disconcerted but tried to hide it from Him, she probably thought successfully. ‘I have no husband', she said guardedly. Her loquaciousness had turned into noticeable abruptness. This was a sore point with her.... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Jesus said to her, “You have well said that you have no husband. For you have had five husbands and he whom you now have is not your husband. This you have said truly”.' She soon learned better. Like a bolt of lightning the reply came, tearing into her heart as He replied, “You are quite right whe... [ Continue Reading ]
John 4:19 ‘The woman says to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet.” John 4:20 “Our fathers worshipped in this mountain, and you say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.”“Our fathers worshipped in this mountain, and you say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to w... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Jesus says to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem, will you worship the Father. You worship that which you know not, we worship that which we know, for salvation is of the Jews”.' Jesus did not reply that both religions were as good. He acknow... [ Continue Reading ]
. “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for such does the Father seek to be his worshippers. God is Spirit, and they who worship him must worship in spirit and truth”.' Jesus reply was that the essence of the matter was not to be... [ Continue Reading ]
‘The woman says to him, “I know that Messiah is coming, who is called the Christ. When he is come he will tell us all things”.' Such words led the woman to speculate about the possible coming of the Messiah, the Christ. It is possible that she used the term ‘Messiah' to represent the hope because s... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Jesus says to her, “I who speak to you am He”.' Jesus had no hesitation in quietly letting her know that He was the promised One Who was to come. In Him the truth had come. Even if the term Messiah has been used there was no danger of a misunderstanding of the term in Samaria. They held completely... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And upon this came his disciples and they marvelled that he was speaking with a woman, yet no man said, ‘What are you looking for?' or ‘Why are you speaking with her?' At this crucial point the disciples returned with food. ‘They marvelled that he was talking with a woman'. It was not usual for wo... [ Continue Reading ]
‘They went out of the town and were coming to him.' Her hearers were so intrigued that they left the town and returned with her. ‘They were coming to Him.' Again we have a Johannine double meaning. They were coming to see the man she spoke of but they were also coming to Him as the One Who had brou... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Meanwhile the disciples begged him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” But he said to them, “I have meat to eat that you do not know about.” The disciples therefore said to one another, “Has any man brought him anything to eat?” ' The disciples meanwhile begged Jesus to eat. They could not understand His reluct... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Jesus says to them, “My meat is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Do you not say, ‘there are yet four months and then comes the harvest'? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields that they are already white for harvest.” Jesus patiently explained His a... [ Continue Reading ]
‘He who reaps receives wages and gathers fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For in this the saying holds true, ‘one sows and another reaps'. I sent you to reap that for which you did not labour. Others have laboured, and you have entered into their labour.' Jesus... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And from that town many of the Samaritans believed on him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all things that I ever did.” The woman's testimony had convinced the townspeople that here might be the Taheb. It was a time of great expectation in Palestine, and there are special... [ Continue Reading ]
‘So when the Samaritans came to him they begged him to stay with them, and he stayed there for two days.' Their faith having been aroused they wanted to know more, and they wanted their fellow townsfolk to have the opportunity to hear Him. Jesus was happy to agree and spent the next two days with t... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And many more believed because of his word, and they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of your words, but because we have heard for ourselves and know that this is indeed the Saviour of the world”.' Jesus, considerably revived by the experience and no longer tired, taught them for ‘tw... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And after two days he went out from there to Galilee, for Jesus himself testified that a prophet has no honour in his own country. 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 to the feast.' After His su... [ Continue Reading ]
‘He came therefore again to Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine, and there was a certain high official of the king whose son was sick at Capernaum.' So He arrived back in Cana where He had turned the water into wine. The reference to the fact encapsulates the section from John 2:1 to this... [ Continue Reading ]
THE HEALING OF THE HIGH OFFICIAL'S SON (JOHN 4:46). We now come to John's ‘second sign' (the first being the turning of water into wine - John 2:11). This consisted of the healing of the High Official's son at a distance simply by a word from Jesus. The Word was giving life (John 1:4). It would res... [ Continue Reading ]
‘When he heard that Jesus was come from Judea to Galilee he went to him and begged him that he would come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.' ‘When he heard that Jesus was come from Judea to Galilee'. It was well known that Jesus had been very successful in His ministry in Jud... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Jesus therefore said to him, “Unless you (plural) see signs and wonders you will never believe”.' It does not really matter whether Jesus saw the man as a Jew or a Galilean, or as a courtier and politician. What mattered was that He saw him as one of the wonder-seekers. Whereas the common people s... [ Continue Reading ]
‘The high official says to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies”.' Again the official pleaded with Him. ‘Come down before my child dies'. It was the cry of a father's heart. He would not argue the point or excuse himself. He longed only that his son be healed, and he was confident that Jesus c... [ Continue Reading ]
‘Jesus says to him, “Go on your way, your son lives.” The man believed the words that Jesus spoke to him and he went his way.' So Jesus put his faith to the test. ‘Go your way, your son will live', He said. Compare, ‘Draw out now and bear to the ruler of the feast' (John 2:8). There too the drawers... [ Continue Reading ]
‘And as he was now going down his servants met him to say that his son lived. So he enquired of then the hour when his began to improve. They said therefore to him, “The fever left him yesterday, at the seventh hour.' As he went on his way the man was met by his servants who told him that his son h... [ Continue Reading ]
‘So the father knew that it was at that hour in which Jesus said to him, “Your son lives”, and he himself believed, and all his house'. There is a contrast here between differing forms of belief. Previously his faith had been that of those who saw signs and wonders, but gradually it had grown. Now... [ Continue Reading ]
‘This is again the second sign that Jesus did when He had come from Judea to Galilee.' Up to this point Galilee had not been the scene of His miracles. Judea had been given the first chance to respond to its Messiah. They had been His prime target, His own country. Indeed even as a young teenager H... [ Continue Reading ]