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JOHN 4Haystack Bible Commentary"Stacks and stacks of commentary...."
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==John 4:1-8:
Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John
2 (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples),
3 He left Judea and departed again to Galilee.
4 But He needed to go through Samaria.
5 So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
6 Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.”
8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.
2 (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples),
3 He left Judea and departed again to Galilee.
4 But He needed to go through Samaria.
5 So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
6 Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.”
8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.
==John 4:9-22:
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9 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.
10 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 Him, and He would have given you living water.” 11 The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? 12 Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?” 13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” 15 The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.” 19 The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews |
March 27, 2026: The Hoya reported: In the Book of John, Jesus approaches a Samaritan woman at a well. She asks him why a Jew would associate with her, given that Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Later, Jesus reveals to her that he is the Messiah. On a surface reading of the passage, Christians should take note that Jesus makes an effort to reveal himself to one of the people most reviled by his society. On campus, we should extend this kindness in the same way by reaching out to those who do not share the same background. Upon deeper exploration, one realizes that this woman is the first person to whom Jesus reveals his divinity. This is no mistake: He who Christians are called to follow not only made an active effort to reach out to those outside of his mainstream society, but he did so first. He even stayed in their community and lived among them. This passage has clear implications. Rhetoric that calls for the marginalization of people on the grounds of religious difference is not just anti-American — it is anti-Christian. Jesus did the opposite of these posts and so should every person who claims to follow him. |
=John 4:23-24:
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But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him
24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” |
Jesus words in conversation with the woman of Samaria. John 4: 19-26 reveals that the woman of Samaria asks the “where” of worship. Jesus responds by rejecting the “where.” Worship is not simply a time of praise, singing, prayer & ritual slotted into a church service but rather it’s a life style of total surrender of self so that God can be glorified through my life. Worship is not through ritual or good deeds or use of symbolism but through the Messiah who is the Truth being lived out in my life. True worship is self sacrifice but many distractions lurk about as friends, enticements, pain, hurt, anger, revenge, divisions & unforgiveness make it easy to crawl off the altar of sacrifice into a self seeking, arrogant mind set. None of these represent the Truth of the Messiah & a Spirit of unity with the One who deserves all praise & honor. He is worthy of our praise! Let’s worship Him in our life style.
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“To worship is to remember Who owns the house.” — Walter Wink
“Divine judgment is intended not to destroy but to awaken people to the devastating truth about their lives." — Walter Wink |
Our worship does not benefit God but it does change us. Worship establishes a Divine relationship that quenches our thirst for His presence.
Praising God, giving thanks and obeying Him are all aspects of worship that heal us. Our bowing and prostration show our humility and submission. Such sincere adoration produces a dynamic response deep within our heart that strengthens us. Our affirmation of faith is a continuing vow to obey, worship and trust God, in exchange for security, for an anxiety-free life and, ultimately, for salvation. Spiritual healing starts by correcting a temporary mental disorder, but continues into treating a human condition we all suffer. The spiritual foundation upon which we lean provides constant therapy that sustains and maintains us. It is in the process of being worshipped that God communicates His presence to men. [C. S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms, p. 93]. Our dedicated worship serves to exercise our spiritual muscles while fortifying our psychological fragility. These exercises shape the pattern of our devotional life and provide a psychological structure for our relationship with the Divine. It is the LORD your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him. [Deuteronomy 13:4]. The error-ridden mind cannot return to childish innocence. It can, however, regain its confidence and direction through the spiritual healing offered by God’s mercy. By connecting to the Divine Reality through sincere worship, we restore contact with God, and we resume the sacred relationship that we, ourselves, severed. |
One of our first lessons in the school of prayer must be to understand what it is to pray in spirit in truth, and to know we can attain it. It is only through Him that the worship of God will be in spirit and truth. Because God is Spirit, we must worship in spirit. As God is, so is His worshipper. And so worship in spirit is worship in truth; actual living fellowship with God, a real correspondence and harmony between the Father, who is a Spirit, and the child praying in the spirit. This is the new and living way Christ opened up for us. To have Christ the Son, and the Spirit of the Son, dwelling within us, and revealing the Father, this makes us true, spiritual worshippers. --From the writings of Andrew Murray
=John 4:1-25-54:
The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.”
26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”
27 And at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Why are You talking with her?”
28 The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men,
29 “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?”
30 Then they went out of the city and came to Him.
31 In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.”
32 But He said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.”
33 Therefore the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?”
34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.
35 Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!
36 And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.
37 For in this the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’
38 I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors.”
39 And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all that I ever did.”
40 So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days.
41 And many more believed because of His own word.
42 Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.”
43 Now after the two days He departed from there and went to Galilee.
44 For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.
45 So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they also had gone to the feast.
46 So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.
47 When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.
48 Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe.”
49 The nobleman said to Him, “Sir, come down before my child dies!”
50 Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your son lives.” So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.
51 And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, “Your son lives!”
52 Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better. And they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.”
53 So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, “Your son lives.” And he himself believed, and his whole household.
54 This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.
26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”
27 And at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Why are You talking with her?”
28 The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men,
29 “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?”
30 Then they went out of the city and came to Him.
31 In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.”
32 But He said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.”
33 Therefore the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?”
34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.
35 Do you not say, ‘There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!
36 And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.
37 For in this the saying is true: ‘One sows and another reaps.’
38 I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors.”
39 And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all that I ever did.”
40 So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days.
41 And many more believed because of His own word.
42 Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.”
43 Now after the two days He departed from there and went to Galilee.
44 For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.
45 So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they also had gone to the feast.
46 So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.
47 When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.
48 Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe.”
49 The nobleman said to Him, “Sir, come down before my child dies!”
50 Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your son lives.” So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.
51 And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, “Your son lives!”
52 Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better. And they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.”
53 So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, “Your son lives.” And he himself believed, and his whole household.
54 This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.