A Samaritan Woman Meets Her Messiah

Why did the knowledge of the Lord about the Pharisees hearing about His success cause Him to leave Judea? Given that the Pharisees saw anybody who gained favor with the people as enemies, the Lord might have avoided conflict at that time. Though we read about Him confronting them fiercely on other occasions, it must have been the best option to leave this time. Whatever the motive was, the peace of God was His perfect guard (Phil 4:7). Where are Judea, Galilee, and Samaria located? Judea is South of Galilee and Samaria, bordering the North-West side of the Dead Sea. Galilee is North of Judea and Samaria, bordering the West side of the Sea of Galilee. Samaria is in between, bordering Judea on the South and Galilee on the North. Why had the Lord to pass through Samaria? It would be the shortest way, is the simplest answer. It was also possible to avoid Samaria by travailing East through Perea and Decapolis. There were racial conflicts between the Jews and Samaritans. For this reason, Jews avoided Samaria and were willing to take the longer path through neighbor provinces. Why does it say "He had to" - leaving no other option? The Lord knew (supernaturally: made known by His Father in heaven) about this poor woman in search for true satisfaction and that could be the reason for going through Samaria.

notes

V. 5-6 History of Sychar

What is known of Sychar, it's surrounding, and Jacob's well? Sychar was a city of Samaria, Verse 5. At the beginning of new testament times, Sychar was a small village close to the abandoned but famous old testament city of Shechem (today known as Tell Balata). Jacob bought a lot in that area from the sons of Hamor. Later Joseph's bones were buried there and the lot became an inheritance of Joseph's sons. (Genesis 33:19, Joshua 24:32) One of Jacob's wells was there. Verse 5,12 Jacob camped there peacefully among the sons of Hamor till Jacob's sons killed in revenge all males in the city of Shechem. Hamor's son, Prince Shechem, seduced Jacobs daughter Dinah, which upset her brothers and ended in a terrible bloodbath (Gen 33:18-35:5). The city was in a fruitful valley between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal. Once God brought Israel into the Promised Land, they were instructed to proclaim the blessings of serving God toward Mount Gerizim and the curse of serving gods to Mount Ebal (Deut 11:26-29). We read of the fulfillment of that gathering in Joshua 8:30-35.

V. 7-9 A Jew asks water from a Samaritan

Why was the woman surprised that Jesus asked her for water? Because Jews did not interact with the Samaritans. Verse 9. Why did the Jews not interact with the Samaritans? The racial conflict between Jews and Samaritans began about 700 BC when the 10 tribes of Israel were deported by the Assyrians. The people that were not deported married non-Israelites, who worshiped idols, which was clearly forbidden for Israel. With these marriages, the Samaritans mixed the worship of the true God with idol worship. The hostility grew when the Samaritans were denied to help to rebuild the Tempel in Jerusalem under Cyrus the Great's decree (Esra 4:2). The Samaritans built their own temple on Mount Gerizim. Why did the Lord Jesus break that racial boundary? There was no reason to stay in that racial bound from God's perspective. He was thirsty, His disciples were away, so He asked that woman for a drink. Verse 7-8. Because the Lord did not come to condemn, but to save the lost (John 3:17). The Lord was by no means happy about the choices of the Samaritans. They had disobeyed His commandments and were as a result in bondage to their idols. But how would they be helped if the Lord would act as the other Jews? They wouldn't, so He interacts with her and reveals Himself to her and with that, offers the solution to her core problem of idol-worship.

Jesus in a human body

The Lord experienced the weaknesses of our bodies, yet without the natural tendency to rebel against the will of God the Fathers. In this story we see the Lord being tired and resting at a well. Naturally, people are more vulnerable when they are tired. Some get grumpy, short-tempered, and complainers because of the weakness of our bodies . But look at what the Lord did when He was tired. He knew the spiritual truth of which we read in Verse 34: “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.” Food satisfies a basic need of every human being. It strengthens the body to perform live sustaining tasks. How can the will and the work of the Father be food? The Lord is saying that the will and the work of the Father satisfy and strengthens spiritual needs that are of greater value than physical needs. So, when the Lord was exhausted from the travel and saw that woman, He thought of the One who sends Him and about the work He was entrusted to accomplish. The Lord is showing how to honor the Father in our bodily weaknesses by remembering God’s amazing love for us, and the joy of His presence. His love assures our acceptance and His joy is our strength to go about His work.

Christ and Women

Not only could it be that the woman looked for satisfaction at the wrong places, but it may also be that this woman was mistreated by men except by a perfect man who valued and treated her with dignity. This woman was divorced 5 times. So, it could be that at some point she was on the receiving-end of selfish, and abusive men. Back then, women were often more dependable on men for survival and there were, as there are today, plenty of people that take advantage of the weak and vulnerable. Those men would take her without returning faithfulness support and commitment. She found in Jesus what no other man could offer - Eternal Life. The example and teaching of Christ about women has shaped western civilization to some significant extent . Biblical Christianity should transform the way women are treated in any culture that oppresses them . It seems to me though that the feminist movement went beyond their initial plea for equality. Some admitted to seeking not only equality but superiority over men. Slogans like "Women are the future!" are no surprise and challenging it is unacceptable. Fact is, a culture needs men just as it needs women to have a future. It needs strong marriages and families to be sustained. Western civilization is putting itself deep into trouble by removing the significance of marriage between one man and one woman for life. Many children are deprived of the security of growing up in a stable family. Some live through the trauma of divorce and are raised by one parent only. They don't see the complete example of a faithful father and a loving mother. These kids usually mature at a slow pace and with many insecurities. They might end up living in a virtual world on a computer because they were not trained properly to accomplish things in the real world to support themselves and our communities. Some cultures treat their women as property and like animals even to this day. Biblical Christianity teaches a clear obvious difference between women and men and their roles yet they are of the same value. No Men, nor women are superior in value but equal in the sight of God and therefore should be seen as such by all people.

Phrase

editing

John 4:1-42

nasb

Setting

Therefore

Ground

when the Lord knew

Temporal

that the Pharisees had heard

Content

that Jesus was making ... more disciples than John

and baptizing

(although Jesus Himself was not baptizing,

Concessive

but His disciples were),

Substitution

He left Judea and went away

again into Galilee.

Locative

And He had to pass

through Samaria.

So He came to a city of Samaria

called Sychar,

Distinction

near the parcel of ground

that Jacob gave

to his son Joseph;

Destination

and Jacob’s well was there.

Accompaniment

being wearied

Manner

from His journey,

Source

So Jesus, ... was sitting thus

by the well.

It was

about the sixth hour.

Natural Water and Spiritual Water

The Reality of desires. And the Greater Reality of God who meets ultimately all desires

There came a woman of Samaria

to draw water.

Purpose

Jesus said to her,

“Give Me a drink.”

For His disciples had gone away

into the city

to buy food.

Therefore the Samaritan woman said to Him,

“How is it that You, ... ask me for a drink

being a Jew,

Agency

since I am a Samaritan woman?”

Context

(For Jews have no dealings

with Samaritans.)

Standard

Jesus answered and said to her,

“If you knew the gift of God,

Condition #1

and who it is who says to you,

Condition #2

‘Give Me a drink,’

you would have asked Him,

Result #1

and He would have given you living water.”

Result #2

She said to Him,

“Sir, You have nothing to draw with

Condition #1

and the well is deep;

Condition #2

where then do You get that living water?

You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You,

who gave us the well,

and drank of it himself

and his sons

and his cattle?”

Jesus answered and said to her,

“Everyone who drinks of this water

Condition

will thirst again;

Result

but whoever drinks of the water

Condition #1

that I will give him

shall never thirst;

Result #1

but the water

Condition #2

that I will give him

will become ... a well of water springing up

Result #2

in him

to eternal life.”

The woman said to Him,

“Sir, give me this water,

so I will not be thirsty

Purpose #1

nor come all the way here to draw.”

Purpose #2

God Alone can Fully Satisfy. Man cannot Satisfy

The Woman's Idol addressed

He said to her,

“Go, call your husband and come here.”

The woman answered and said,

“I have no husband.”

Jesus said to her,

“You have correctly said,

‘I have no husband’;

for you have had five husbands,

Ground #1

and the one whom you now have is not your husband;

Ground #2

this you have said truly.”

Who and How you Worship matters, not the Place you Worship

Worship God in spirit and truth

The woman said to Him,

“Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.

Our fathers worshiped in this mountain,

and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place ... to worship.”

Separation

where men ought

Jesus said to her,

“Woman, believe Me,

an hour is coming

when neither in this mountain

Locative #1

nor in Jerusalem

Locative #2

will you worship the Father.

Advantage

You worship what you do not know;

Disadvantage

we worship what we know,

for salvation is from the Jews.

But an hour is coming, and now is,

when the true worshipers will worship the Father

in spirit and truth;

for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.

God is spirit,

and those who worship Him must worship

in spirit and truth.”

The Messiah is speaking

"I am" The everlasting sufficient Creator, Sustainer, and Savior

The woman said to Him,

“I know

that Messiah is coming

(He who is called Christ);

when that One comes,

He will declare all things

to us.”

Jesus said to her,

“I who speak to you am He.”

Disciples arrive

At this point

His disciples came,

and they were amazed

that He had been speaking with a woman,

yet no one said, “What do You seek?”

or, “Why do You speak with her?”

Woman's witness of Christ

So the woman left

her waterpot,

and went

into the city

and said

to the men,

“Come, see a man

who told me all the things that I have done;

this is not the Christ, is it?”

They went ... to Him.

out of the city,

and were coming

Reference

Meanwhile the disciples were urging Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.”

But He said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.”

So the disciples were saying to one another, “No one brought Him anything to eat, did he?”

Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.

Answer

Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest’?

Ground #1

Behold, I say to you,

lift up your eyes and look on the fields,

that they are white for harvest.

Ground #2

Already he who reaps is receiving wages and is gathering fruit for life eternal;

Ground #3

so that he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.

For in this case the saying is true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’

I sent you to reap

that for which you have not labored;

others have labored and you have entered into their labor.”

From that city

many of the Samaritans believed in Him

because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all the things that I have done.”

So when the Samaritans came to Jesus,

they were asking Him to stay with them;

and He stayed there two days.

Many more believed

because of His word;

and they were saying to the woman,

“It is no longer because of what you said that we believe,

for we have heard for ourselves

Ground #1

and know that this One is indeed the Savior of the world.”

Ground #2

The Lord would've asked His disciples to draw water had they been with Him. This conversation rose out of

phrasing

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