The general object aimed at in the relation of the story of Nicodemus in chap. 3 is pursued in the account given us in this section of the interview of Jesus, first with the Samaritan woman, and then with the inhabitants of Sychar, who are brought by her to listen to His teaching. The subordinate pa... [ Continue Reading ]
John 4:1-3. WHEN THEREFORE THE LORD PERCEIVED THAT THE PHARISEES HAD HEARD, JESUS MAKETH AND BAPTIZETH MORE DISCIPLES THAN JOHN, (THOUGH JESUS HIMSELF BAPTIZED NOT, BUT HIS DISCIPLES,) HE LEFT JUDEA, AND DEPARTED AGAIN INTO GALILEE. The object of these verses is to explain the reason why Jesus now l... [ Continue Reading ]
John 4:4. AND HE MUST NEEDS GO THROUGH SAMARIA. The natural route from Judea to Galilee lay through Samaria. The other route, through the country on the east of Jordan, was so much longer that no one would choose it unless desirous of avoiding Samaria. The necessity here spoken of, therefore, may si... [ Continue Reading ]
John 4:5. HE COMETH THEREFORE TO A CITY OF SAMARIA WHICH IS CALLED SYCHAR. ‘From the hills through which the main route of Palestine must always have run the traveller descends into a wide plain, the widest and the most beautiful of the plains of the Ephraimite mountains, one mass of corn unbroken b... [ Continue Reading ]
John 4:6. NOW THERE WAS A FOUNTAIN THERE, JACOB'S FOUNTAIN. The distinction between the natural spring and the artificial well is usually maintained with great care in the language of Scripture. Now and then, however (as is very natural), a well, fed as it is by springs, is itself called a spring or... [ Continue Reading ]
John 4:7. THERE COMETH A WOMAN OF SAMARIA TO DRAW WATER. By Samaria here we are of course to understand the country not the city of Samaria. The woman belonged to Sychar; by race and religion she was a Samaritan, and it is to this fact, as is shown by the preposition employed in the original, that t... [ Continue Reading ]
John 4:7-8. JESUS SAITH UNTO HER, GIVE ME TO DRINK. (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy food.) The departure of the disciples had left Jesus thus dependent on the woman's kindness; for they had left no vessel by which the water could be drawn from the deep well It has been conject... [ Continue Reading ]
John 4:9. The Samaritan woman therefore saith unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a Samaritan woman? for Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. It is evident that Jesus was at once recognised as a Jew, probably through some difference of accent, or language, or d... [ Continue Reading ]
John 4:10. JESUS ANSWERED AND SAID UNTO HER, 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, AND HE WOULD HAVE GIVEN THEE LIVING WATER. We may well believe that there was something in the manner of Jesus, when uttering His first w... [ Continue Reading ]
John 4:11. SHE SAITH UNTO HIM, SIR, THOU HAST NOTHING TO DRAW WITH, AND THE WELL IS DEEP: FROM WHENCE THEN HAST THOU THAT LIVING WATER? In the answer of Jesus there was much to cause surprise, especially in the emphatic reference to Himself; but there was nothing in the actual terms used that compel... [ Continue Reading ]
John 4:12. ART THOU GREATER THAN OUR FATHER JACOB, WHICH GAVE US THE WELL, AND DRANK THEREOF HIMSELF, AND HIS SONS, AND HIS CATTLE? It was from Joseph that the Samaritans were wont to claim descent; all the district around belongs! to his children. But Jacob here receives special mention as the give... [ Continue Reading ]
John 4:13. JESUS ANSWERED AND SAID UNTO HER, EVERY ONE THAT DRINKETH OF THIS WATER SHALL THIRST AGAIN. The question receives no direct reply: the greatness of the Giver must be learnt from the quality of the gift. Even the living water from Jacob's well has no power to prevent the return of thirst.... [ Continue Reading ]
John 4:14. BUT WHOSOEVER HATH DRUNK OF THE WATER THAT I SHALL GIVE HIM SHALL NEVER THIRST; BUT THE WATER THAT I SHALL GIVE HIM SHALL BECOME IN HIM A FOUNTAIN OF SPRINGING WATER, UNTO ETERNAL LIFE. The living water of which Jesus speaks becomes in him who hath drunk of it a perennial fountain, a foun... [ Continue Reading ]
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. These are words of simple earnestness. In the mysterious words of the Jewish traveller one thing was plain, instead of the water she came to draw, water was offered that would sa... [ Continue Reading ]
John 4:16. HE SAITH UNTO HER, GO, CALL THY HUSBAND, AND COME HITHER. The promise Jesus has given is one of satisfaction, a promise, therefore, which cannot be understood or fulfilled till the want has been clearly apprehended and felt. These sudden words are designed to produce this effect He who ev... [ Continue Reading ]
John 4:17. THE WOMAN ANSWERED AND SAID, I HAVE NO HUSBAND. The effect is produced. The woman's words are a genuine confession, an acknowledgment, perhaps of wretchedness, certainly of guilt. JESUS SAITH UNTO HER, THOU HAST WELL SAID, I HAVE NO HUSBAND. He accepts the truthfulness of her statement,... [ Continue Reading ]
John 4:18. FOR THOU HAST HAD FIVE HUSBANDS. The ‘five' were no doubt lawful husbands, from whom she had been separated either by death or by divorce. AND HE WHOM THOU NOW HAST IS NOT THY HUSBAND: THIS THOU HAST SAID TRULY. In contrast with the lawful marriages is set the present unlawful union wit... [ Continue Reading ]
John 4:19. THE WOMAN SAITH UNTO HIM, SIR, I PERCEIVE THAT THOU ART A PROPHET. Nothing can be more misleading than the idea that she is seeking to turn the conversation from an unwelcome subject, or to lead it to other topics than herself. Her answer is rather a fresh illustration of her inquiring an... [ Continue Reading ]
John 4:20. OUR FATHERS WORSHIPPED IN THIS MOUNTAIN; AND YE SAY, THAT IN JERUSALEM IS THE PLACE WHERE MEN MUST WORSHIP. ‘This mountain' is of course Gerizim, near the foot of which they were standing. With this mountain was connected, as she believed, all the religious history of her nation; for in t... [ Continue Reading ]
John 4:21. JESUS SAITH UNTO HER, BELIEVE ME, WOMAN, AN HOUR COMETH, WHEN NEITHER IN THIS MOUNTAIN, NOR IN JERUSALEM, SHALL YE WORSHIP THE FATHER. The woman can hardly have doubted that the decision of a Jewish prophet would be in favour of Jerusalem, but the answer of Jesus sets aside all ideas of s... [ Continue Reading ]
John 4:22. YE WORSHIP THAT WHICH YE KNOW NOT: WE WORSHIP THAT WHICH WE KNOW. The two questions at issue between Jews and Samaritans were those of holy place and holy Scripture. The former, though of far inferior importance (as the Jews' themselves were by their ‘dispersion' being gradually trained t... [ Continue Reading ]
John 4:23. BUT AN HOUR COMETH, AND NOW IS, WHEN THE TRUE WORSHIPPERS SHALL WORSHIP THE FATHER IN SPIRIT AND TRUTH. This verse links itself with both the preceding John 4:21-22. To no place of special sanctity shall worship belong: though ‘the salvation is of the Jews,' this involves no limitation of... [ Continue Reading ]
John 4:24. GOD IS SPIRIT: AND THEY THAT WORSHIP HIM MUST WORSHIP IN SPIRIT AND TRUTH. Such worship as is described in the last verse is the only real worship that can be conceived. This verse does not say what men must do, in the sense of what men _ought to do._ It is the nature of worship in itself... [ Continue Reading ]
John 4:25. THE WOMAN SAITH UNTO HIM, I KNOW THAT MESSIAH COMETH (WHICH IS CALLED CHRIST). There is nothing surprising in her avowal that a Deliverer was looked for. We know from other sources that this was, and still is, an article of the Samaritan as of the Jewish faith; from age to age this people... [ Continue Reading ]
John 4:26. JESUS SAITH UNTO HER, I THAT SPEAK UNTO THEE AM HE. She has sought and found the truth. The hope rising in her heart receives full confirmation; and a revelation not yet so clearly and expressly given by Jesus to Israel is granted to this alien, whose heart is prepared for its reception.... [ Continue Reading ]
John 4:27. AND UPON THIS CAME HIS DISCIPLES; AND THEY MARVELLED THAT HE TALKED WITH A WOMAN: YET NO MAN SAID, WHAT SEEKEST THOU? OR, WHY TALKEST THOU WITH HER? To talk with a woman in public was one of six things forbidden to a Rabbi. As the disciples were returning from the village, they wonderingl... [ Continue Reading ]
John 4:28. THE WOMAN THEREFORE LEFT HER WATER-POT, AND WENT HER WAY INTO THE CITY. ‘Therefore, ‘ because, the conversation being interrupted, there was nothing to restrain her impulse to make known the marvels she had heard. In her eagerness she leaves her waterpot behind: the ‘living water' has ban... [ Continue Reading ]
John 4:29. COME, SEE A MAN, WHICH TOLD ME ALL THINGS THAT EVER I DID. She fixes on the wonderful knowledge which the Stranger had displayed: what had impressed her must also convince them. Let them come for themselves, not rest on her testimony; and let them draw their own conclusions. CAN THIS BE... [ Continue Reading ]
John 4:30. THEY WENT OUT OF THE CITY, AND WERE ON THEIR WAY UNTO HIM. This verse is here introduced partly to show the immediate success of the woman's message (no slight evidence of the preparedness of Samaria for the gospel), and partly to make plain the words of Jesus in a later verse (John 4:35)... [ Continue Reading ]
John 4:31. IN THE MEAN WHILE THE DISCIPLES PRAYED HIM, SAYING, RABBI, EAT. Remembering His exhaustion with the journey (John 4:6), they begged Him thus to take advantage of this interval of rest.... [ Continue Reading ]
John 4:32. BUT HE SAID UNTO THEM, I HAVE MEAT TO EAT THAT YE KNOW NOT. Literally, I have an ‘eating' to eat. The word for ‘meat' is in John 4:34 is different from that used here, which rather denotes the meal, the partaking of the food, than the food itself. This ‘eating' the disciples ‘knew not. Th... [ Continue Reading ]
John 4:33. THEREFORE SAID THE DISCIPLES ONE TO ANOTHER, HATH ANY MAN BROUGHT HIM OUGHT TO EAT? Their perplexity is like that of the woman of Samaria in regard to the living water (John 4:11).... [ Continue Reading ]
John 4:34. JESUS SAITH UNTO THEM, MY MEAT IF THAT I SHOULD DO THE WILL OF HIM THAT SENT ME, AND ACCOMPLISH HIS WORK. This is the first of many similar sayings in this Gospel (John 5:30; John 6:38; John 7:18; John 8:50; John 9:4; John 12:49-50; John 14:31; John 15:10 [ Continue Reading ]
John 4:35. SAY NOT YE, Has not your language this day been, THERE ARE YET FOUR MONTHS, AND THEN COMETH THE HARVEST? As harvest began in the middle of April it was now the middle of December. LO! I SAY UNTO YOU, LIFT UP YOUR EYES, AND BEHOLD THE FIELDS, THAT THEY ARE WHITE FOR HARVESTING. As in this... [ Continue Reading ]
John 4:36. ALREADY HE THAT REAPETH RECEIVETH REWARD, AND GATHERETH FRUIT UNTO LIFE ETERNAL: THAT HE THAT SOWETH AND HE THAT REAPETH MAY REJOICE TOGETHER. The figure is continued and amplified. Not only are the fields ready for harvesting, but the reaper is even now at work, and receiving his reward;... [ Continue Reading ]
John 4:37. FOR HEREIN IS THE WORD TRUE, ONE SOWETH, AND ANOTHER REAPETH. For, in the spiritual field of which Jesus speaks, the familiar saying is true, has full reality (the word used signifying ‘true,' as opposed not merely to what is false, but to all that is partial and imperfect), that one has... [ Continue Reading ]
John 4:38. I SENT YOU TO REAP THAT WHEREON YE HAVE NOT TOILED: OTHERS HAVE TOILED, AND YE HAVE ENTERED INTO THEIR TOIL. The disciples are the reapers of this harvest; their commission including, however, that of the disciples of Jesus throughout all time was to reap a harvest which had not been prep... [ Continue Reading ]
John 4:39. AND FROM THAT CITY MANY OF THE SAMARITANS BELIEVED IN HIM BECAUSE OF THE WORD OF THE WOMAN, BEARING WITNESS, HE TOLD ME ALL THINGS THAT EVER I DID. The arrangement of the words shows the prominence which John would give to the thought that many _Samaritans_ believed in Jesus. Their faith,... [ Continue Reading ]
John 4:40. WHEN THEREFORE THE SAMARITANS WERE COME UNTO HIM, THEY BESOUGHT HIM THAT HE WOULD ABIDE WITH THEM: AND HE ABODE THERE TWO DAYS. Mark the contrast between Judea repelling and Samaria inviting: a dead and petrified orthodoxy may be more proof against the word of life than heresy.... [ Continue Reading ]
John 4:41-42. AND MANY MORE BELIEVED BECAUSE OF HIS WORD; AND THEY SAID UNTO THE WOMAN, NO LONGER BECAUSE OF THY SPEAKING DO WE BELIEVE: FOR WE HAVE HEARD FOR OURSELVES, AND WE KNOW THAT THIS IS INDEED THE SAVIOUR OF THE WORLD. Among those that heard the Saviour were evidently some who had first bel... [ Continue Reading ]
John 4:43-44. AND AFTER THE TWO DAYS HE WENT FORTH THENCE INTO GALILEE. FOR JESUS HIMSELF BARE WITNESS, THAT A PROPHET HATH NO HONOUR IN HIS OWN COUNTRY. The connection between these two verses is a question on which the most different opinions have been held. The latter verse evidently assigns a re... [ Continue Reading ]
This section of the Gospel brings Jesus before us in Galilee, in His intercourse with the Galileans, and in particular with the king's officer, who may be regarded as in a certain sense their representative. The object is still the same as that which we have traced from chap. John 2:12. Examples hav... [ Continue Reading ]
John 4:45. WHEN THEREFORE HE WAS COME INTO GALILEE, THE GALILEANS RECEIVED HIM, HAVING SEEN ALL THINGS WHATSOEVER HE DID AT JERUSALEM AT THE FEAST: FOR THEY ALSO WENT UNTO THE FEAST. The ‘feast' is no doubt the Passover of which we read in chap. 2; and the faith of these Galileans is precisely simil... [ Continue Reading ]
John 4:46. HE CAME THEREFORE AGAIN INTO CANA OF GALILEE, WHERE HE MADE THE WATER WINE. His coming revives the fame of that first miracle, and the report of His arrival quickly spreads. AND THERE WAS A CERTAIN KING'S OFFICER, WHOSE SON WAS SICK AT CAPERNAUM. This officer was probably in the (civil... [ Continue Reading ]
John 4:47. WHEN HE HEARD THAT JESUS WAS COME OUT OF JUDEA 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. The faith of this father rested' on the miracles of which he had heard. Would Jesus but come down from Cana to Caper... [ Continue Reading ]
John 4:48. Jesus therefore said unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe. The charge against the father is that his apparent faith is only thinly-veiled unbelief. The words seem most suitably addressed to a Jew (comp. Matthew 12:39; Matthew 16:1; 1 Corinthians 1:22): on the oth... [ Continue Reading ]
John 4:49. THE KING'S OFFICER SAITH UNTO HIM, LORD, COME DOWN ERE MY CHILD DIE. The answer of Jesus, which had seemed perhaps to imply cold neglect, calls forth an impassioned appeal for pity and help; there were no moments to be lost, even now the help may come too late. Jesus was but educating ref... [ Continue Reading ]
John 4:50. JESUS SAITH UNTO HIM, GO THY WAY; THY SON LIVETH. THE MAN BELIEVED THE WORD THAT JESUS SPAKE UNTO HIM, AND HE WENT HIS WAY.h an early hour of the day, and that day, too, a high festival, when it was not the custom even to touch food or drink till later.... [ Continue Reading ]