Question
True Worshipers
John 4:1-26
Key Verse: John 4:23
Yet a time is coming and has now come
when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth,
for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
1. Read verses 1-6a. Why did Jesus leave Judea and go back to Galilee? (1-3) Where did Jesus have to go through? (4) Where did Jesus arrive and what was his physical condition? (5-6)
2. Read verses 6b-10. Who came to the well? (7a) What did Jesus do? (7b) What was the woman’s response? (9) What did Jesus want her to know? (10) What does the gift of God refer to? (10, Rom 6:23) What is the living water? (10, Jn 7:38-39)
3. Read verses 11-14. What did she think was the living water? (11) How is the living water different from the water of Jacob’s well? (13-14) What will ‘the water’ that wells up become in us? (14b) Where can we get this ‘living water’? (14)
4. Read verses 15-18. What was her response? (15) Before answering her request, what did Jesus first ask her to do? (16) Why? How did she reply? (17) Even though she told the partial truth, why did Jesus gently expose her shameful private life fully? (Jn 3:19-21)
5. Read verses 19-26. Why did she ask about the place of worship? (19-20) What did Jesus teach her about true worship? (21-23) What does it mean to worship the Father in spirit and truth? (23-24; Jn 1:14, 3:5-6) Whom was she waiting for to come? (25) Who did Jesus reveal himself as? (26)
Manuscript
Message
I WHO SPEAK TO YOU AM HE
John 4:1-26
Key verse 4:26
Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he."
In today’s passage Jesus revealed himself to the woman as the Messiah. The word “Messiah” is used only twice in the entire bible. The first one appears in John chapter one when Andrew told his brother Simon, “We have found the Messiah.” The second one appears in today’s passage when the woman said, “I know Messiah is coming.” When we look at the two times when the word “Messiah” was used we can see the difference in context. The first one when Andrew said, “We have found the Messiah” he was talking about how he and his friend have found the Messiah. He was not talking about how Jesus revealed himself as the Messiah to him. But in today’s passage Jesus revealed himself to the woman as the Messiah. Jesus declared to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
So we want to know through the message how Jesus revealed himself as the Messiah to her. We also want to know if Jesus can reveal himself as our Messiah to us. When Jesus appeared to the woman he had body. But now Jesus does not have body. Can Jesus reveal himself as our Messiah to us as well? These are two questions that we want to think about. ”How Jesus revealed himself as the Messiah to the woman?” “Can Jesus reveal himself as our Messiah?”
Today’s passage starts with the Pharisees. The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John although it was not Jesus who baptized but his disciples. At that time two baptism ministry was going on, one run by John the Baptist and another by Jesus. And Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John. Then the Pharisees became uneasy. When John was popular they were unhappy. So the sent investigating team and they asked John, “Why do you baptize people if you are not Christ nor Elijah nor the Prophet?” They could do the same thing to Jesus. So when the Lord learn of this he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.
“Now he had to go through Samaria”. (v.4) This is very interesting expression. Can Jesus have any other alternative way to go to Galilee instead of going through Samaria. Yes, there are. But the bible says ‘He had to go through Samaria.” Probably it says so because Jesus’ meeting with the Samaritan woman did not happen by chance but it was done by God’s will and providence. Now Judea was in the south like Los Angeles, and Galilee was in the north like San Francisco.
Jesus came to a town in Samaria called Sychar near the plot of ground Jacob had given his son to Joseph. About 1800 years before Jesus came Jacob bought the plot of the ground from a man named Hamor, And Hamor was the father of Shechem. So the name of the land was called Schechem or Samaria. Sychar was a town in Samaria. Jesus, tired as he was from the journey sat down by the well. He wore the same body like us. And it was at the sixth hour which is probably like noon time.
Now when a Samaritan woman came to draw water Jesus asked her, “Will you give me a drink?” There is nothing wrong with a tired and thirsty traveler to ask a cup of water from a woman who was going to draw water. But she said, “"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. Jews did not like Samaritans because they had mixed blood and mixed religion. What happened was once the land of Samaria was conquered by Assyrian empire. Then the Assyrians exported people in Samaria to their land and implanted Assyrian people to Samaria. When Assyrian people came to Samaria they came with their own pagan gods and worship. So the Samaritans had mixed blood and mixed religion. So the Jews in Judea did not like them. So when the Jews wanted to go to Galilee they went around Samaria spending twice of time.
So when the woman said, “You are Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me a drink?” Jesus did not argue with her about who is right between Jews and Samaritans. But he simply told 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."
It is very interesting that Jesus did not use the word ‘I’ but ‘he’. “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that ask you for a drink you would have asked him and he would given you the living water.’ The woman sensed that Jesus was trying to give her something called ‘living water’. So she changed her tone from ‘you’ to ‘sir’, and said, “"Sir, 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 flocks and herds?"
Jesus also did not argue with her who is greater between Jacob and him. He also did not tell her whether he had a bucket or not. Rather he told her, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, [14] but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
She did not understand all of spiritual meaning of the living water. But she caught one very practical benefit from the living water. It was ‘she wouldn’t be thirsty and she did not need to keep coming to draw water.’ So she told him, “"Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water." She was ready to take the living water.
Then Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” It sounded like Jesus was saying to her, “The living water that I am giving you is very heavy. So go, call your husband and come back.” Then she said, “I have no husband.” She had a boy friend but she did not say that she had a boyfriend.
Then Jesus said, “"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."
She felt very good because the first word she heard from Jesus is “You are right” and the last word she heard was, “What you just said is quite true.” “right” and “true”. In between Jesus said, “The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband.” Jesus did not accuse her or condemn her. He just displayed the fact. So she felt very good. And she was amazed at him because Jesus was talking about five husbands which she did not share. So she said, “19] "Sir," I can see that you are a prophet. [20] Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem."
What’s going on and what is right. Then Jesus declared to her, “Believe me, woman, 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 spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. [24] God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."
When the woman heard Jesus’ explanation she could not ask any more questions at all. It was a complete explanation. So she said to him, “I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us."
Then Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
Now how did Jesus reveal himself as the Messiah to her in today’s passage? Jesus revealed himself as the Messiah to her in three ways.
First, Jesus revealed himself as the Messiah by offering the living water to her. She was thirsty and she did not know that she had a gift of God which is living water. We like gift. We like gift because we do not need to pay anything and still we receive it. But there is no free gift in the world. They say ‘free gift’ but everything called as ‘free gift’ in the world is not free. Everything has strings attached. But the gift of God is completely free and it is the living water. Jesus said, “"Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, [14] but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." How did Jesus give the living water? First he gave the living water by becoming a thirsty man. In the land of Samaria he was thirsty and tired. He asked, “Will you give me a drink?” On the cross he was thirsty. So he said, “I am thirsty.” Jesus understands our thirst because he went through our own thirst. That is the reason why Jesus offered the living water. The living water Jesus offered. Do you know how Jesus offered the living water? “The water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The living was probably refers to the Holy Spirit. How could Jesus gives us the living water? He was crucified and rose again on the third day and he offered the living water for us. The good thing about the living water is ‘it never dries out’ because it becomes a spring of water. Also the good thing about the living water is ‘it is inside of a man who drinks.’ You do not need to go anywhere to drink the living water because it is inside of you.
There is a woman called Madam “Guyon” in French. She was seeking God very intensively at her young age. But she could not find him. One day she met a monk. And she confessed her trouble saying, “I am really seeking God but I am not able to find him.” The monk told her, “You have what you are seeking for inside of you.” At that very moment she was born again. She could pray unceasingly. Indeed the living was inside of us and it wells up to eternal life. From that moment she was enjoying the living water and share it with others.
Secondly, Jesus revealed himself as the Messiah by revealing her ‘husband’ problem. When the woman was ready to drink the water she said, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water”. She was ready to drink. But Jesus said, “Go, call your husband and come back.” We know that Jesus did not ask her to call her husband because the living water was heavy. Why did he talk about her ‘husband’? It was because her husband was her old well. Her husband is the place where she would go and drink from. But unless she changes the well she cannot drink the water from Jesus. If she wants to drink the living water from Jesus and from her husband at the same time it would be like her drinking pure milk and contaminated milk at the same time. She will be sick. So Jesus talked about ‘husband’. Who is ‘husband’? I don’t have a husband. I am a husband. And many of us even do not have our first husband or wife because we did not marry yet. But who is ‘husband’? Now when we had a group bible study about a couple of weeks ago. When missionary Isaac Kim explained about ‘husband’ God spoke to me, ‘Your husband is ‘eating late at night.’ “Eating late at night?” I developed bad habit of eating late at night like 10 pm or 11 pm for the last twenty years. Now when I eat I am comforted and satisfied and I can even sleep better. When your stomach is full you are sleepy. So you can sleep better. But why did Jesus say, “Your husband is eating late at night?” when I have far more serious weaknesses and sin problems? It’s not a big problem. Looks like. Later it dawned on me that everything and everyone from which and from whom I receive comfort and satisfaction can be my ‘husband.’ So if you want to know what is your husband think about what you do when are under distress or in trouble. Going to moive. Surfing internet, going to someone and talk? Drinking? One person told me that he played a computer game with a bag of chips and he does not know when he ate all the chips. So we have all developed our own way of quenching our thirst, the way of comforting and satisfying our thirst. And it was not a new thing. In the old testament God had already knew. So he said in Jeremiah 2:13 "My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.”
The broken cistern should be mentioned before the woman should drink the living water. “Husband” and “wives” and ‘man’ and ‘woman’, this is eternal topic for all human being. When I was at night grader I was craving for girls. But Korean society does not allow any man to date girls until you go to college. I honored it. So at the age of 9th grader I had such a craving for girls. So I wrote a letter to my school principle. “Dear Sir, bla blab la.” He wrote me back. I don’t remember anything but I remember a couple of sentences because it was so painful to me. He said, “Half of whole human race is women. And we live our whole lives with women.” And I cried out in my heart, “Why are you talking about living our whole lives with women. You are fifties and sixties. So you can talk about living the whole life with women. But I am only night grader! I cannot imagine that I can grow and marry. It looks like a fairy tale. So I cried out in my heart. Now forty years have passed. I married and I went trough adolescent age and I got a daughter and she became even the age of marriage. Do I agree with what my principle said? Yes. What about the fantasy about girls? Did it go away? No, it is still left at the back of my mind. The fantasy about romantic relationship between men and women is so strong. If you look at movies, songs, literatures and Youtube and stories it is very hard to find any songs or stories or movies that does not talk about romantic relationship between man and woman. Even in the stories and movies for children there is romantic relationship many times. I see so many young men and women suffer from all kinds of wounds and scars because they are seeking for romantic relationship. They say they are seeking for ‘soul mates’ for their marriage partners. But what they are seeking is more like, ‘physical mate’ or ‘emotional mate’ or ‘financial mate’ or ‘psychological mate’ because the only soul mate is Jesus. So Jesus had to mention her husband which is like broken cistern in order to give her living water practically. In order to give the living water practically Jesus had to talk about ‘husband’ practically. Just thinking about ‘living water’ doesn’t help you. You all know the living water Jesus offers. But why are you still thirsty? It is because you did not drink the living water practically. Why can’t you drink the living water practically? Because you did not touch your husband problem practically. Do you want to drink the living water practically? Then you have to take care of your husband problem practically.
Now Jesus does not have physical body as he had with the woman. How can Jesus reveal himself as a Messiah for us? Whenever I studied about today’s passage especially Jesus’ remark, ‘The fact is you have had five husbands and the man you now have is not your husband.’ I feel that I am a little bit unhappy because I don’t have such a supernatural power like Jesus. Why do I study Jesus’ supernatural power? Is it just because I need to know Jesus is the Son of God? But I don’t have it. So I cannot apply it to anyone. But then it dawned on me that the way Jesus reveals himself as the Messiah is to us the same way using his supernatural power. It happens when he answers our prayers. You know I have sought a smart phone from last December for a couple of months, and I needed a smart phone. Then I ended up having craving for I phone. So I told my daughter Mary, “Wow! I did not have any thing craving for the last 55 years but now I am craving for the I phone.” I talked to missionary Jacob Chang too. Then Mary told me “I will give you as father’s day gift’ which is like September. Jacob Jang said, “why don’t you have it?” But there are so many things that I need to consider for my phone. The first things is low radiation rate because I hurt my left ear. It is because I used my left ear listening and talking through cell phones. I talk about 1900 minutes a month on an average. So I was looking for low raditation rate. But most of popular smart phones have radiation rater of 1.10 or 1.20. I phone is 1.17. Then among popular phones I found one smart phone which has 0.57. Wow it was a miracle and I know it was a miracle. It was God’s answer. Then I wanted to have phone that is better than I phone because I could get the I phone. I was a T mobil customer and T mobil does not have I phone. So I prayed to God “I want to find a phone better than I phone.” Then one day I went to T mobil store and I found one phone that has a larger number on dial pad and it is easier for me to call because my main function that I am using is dialing and calling rather than taking pictures or using internet. Then battery life comes. This phone had a very short lived battery life. But I found that I can change battery to new battery even two times a day if I want to. When I think about it Jesus performed four or five times of miracles in order to help me to choose one smart phone.
I heard from one person that he wanted to spend more time to God. But his working hours are too many. So he prayed to God. “Lord, I want to spend more time for you but my working hours are too long.” Then the very next day his company called him and offered a part time job. Jesus answered within 24 hours. It was a miracle. One of my bible students told me. He did not believe the bible. He did not believe in Jesus. But one day he made a decision to try and believe. Then he was talking a bicycle from North Hollywood to USC during the night. And he told me that he never had to stop even once because of traffic light. It never happened to him. And he knew it was a miracle. And we met next day. He told me because it was a miracle. And Jesus is revealing himself as the Messiah through many miracles answering our prayers.
You know that the woman was so amazed when Jesus said, “The fact is you have had five husbands and the man you now have is not your husband.” You know why? She went to her towns people later and said, “come, see a man who told me everything I ever did.” She said, ‘come see a man who told me everything I ever did.” Jesus did not tell her everything she ever did. He only talked about husbands. But she said, “come, see a man who told me everything I ever did.” She said it because that was how she felt. And that was the miracle that opened her heart and she was convinced that he was the Christ. So she told her people, “Could be the Christ”. Indeed Jesus can reveal himself through miracles.
Thirdly, Jesus revealed himself as the Messiah to her by explaining about ‘true worship’. The woman asked about the place of worship. Then Jesus declared to him, “Believe me woman a time is when you will worship the Father neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem.” The place does not matter. “Yet, a time is coming and has come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.” God is spirit. What does it mean that God is spirit. “God is spirit” means God is not limited by time and space. You can worship God any time and any place especially because Jesus has come. Through Jesus we can worship the Father in spirit and truth anytime and any place. There was a man named brother Lawrence. He was a cook in monastery. His job was a cook. He confessed that “I can worship God better when I am cooking than the set up time for worship and prayer”. Did you hear it? “I have set up time in the morning for worship and prayer. But I confess that I can worship God better while I am cooking.” What does it mean? It means I can worship God better while I am studying at school, and I can worship God better while I am working in my company, and I can worship God better while I am driving. I can worship God better while I am taking shower. All because a time is coming and has come. It is all because Jesus has come. Jesus opens a door for everyone and any place to worship the Father in spirit and truth without any limitation at all.
In conclusion, Jesus revealed himself as the Messiah to the woman. Jesus revealed himself as the Messiah by offering the living water. The living water will be inside of us and it becomes a spring of water welling up to eternal life. Jesus revealed himself as the Messiah by touching her husband problem. In order to drink the living water practically she has to repent practically. Thirdly Jesus revealed himself as the Messiah by explaining how to worship the Father in spirit and truth. The same Jesus can be our Messiah by doing the same thing. He can give us the living water through his death and resurrection. He can reveal himself as the Messiah by performing many miracles and answering our prayers. And he can explain to us how we can worship the Father in spirit and truth anytime and any place.
One word: I who speak to you am he.
Manuscript
Biblenote
True Worshipers
John 4:1-26
Key Verse: John 4:23
Yet a time is coming and has now come
when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth,
for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
In this passage, Jesus revealed himself to a Samaritan woman as the Messiah and explained about true worship. We are made to worship God. When we worship him, we can be truly happy and fully satisfied. When we become true worshipers, God will be really pleased and glorified through us. How can we worship God? How can we become true worshipers? Jesus will give us tremendous truth about worship in this passage. May God open our hearts and minds to understand what the truth worship is all about so that we may become true worshiper and worship the Father the way God accepts!
1. Read verses 1-6a.
ANSWER:
Jn 4:1-6 The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John, 2 although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3 When the Lord learned of this, 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 the sixth hour.
Why did Jesus leave Judea and go back to Galilee? (1-3)
ANSWER:
Jn 4:1-3 The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John, 2 although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3 When the Lord learned of this, he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.
According to the Gospel of Matthew, when Jesus heard that John the Baptist had been put in prison, he returned to Galilee (Mat 4:12). But here we learn that Jesus also went back there to avoid confrontation with the Pharisees at the beginning of his ministry. He may also have wanted to shelter his fledgling disciples from attack. He was the Prince of Peace and a peacemaker (Isa 9:6; Mat 5:9; Heb 12:14).
Where did Jesus have to go through? (4)
ANSWER:
Jn 4:4 Now he had to go through Samaria.
Samaria: Historical background:
In 722 B.C. the northern kingdom of Israel was conquered by Shalmaneser V, King of Assyria, and most inhabitants were deported to Assyria (2Ki 17:6). The kings of Assyria then brought non-Israelites into Samaria and settled them in the towns of Samaria (2Ki 17:24; Ezr 4:2,10). These pagans eventually intermarried with what was left of the Israelite population so that they lost their racial purity. After the Jews returned from exile in 538 B.C., the Samaritans opposed them. They disrupted the rebuilding of the temple (Ezr 4:1-5) and the rebuilding of the city of Jerusalem (Ezr 4:7-16; Neh 4:7-8). Hostility between the Jews and Samaritans continued even in Jesus’ time (Luk 9:52-53). The Jews despised the Samaritans even more than Gentiles and the mere term "Samaritan" was one of scorn on the lips of Jews (8:48). The Jews, therefore, avoided the road going through Samaria.
Jesus had to go through Samaria, because
One: Jesus had a divine appointment to save one soul (7).
Two: There were many people who needed to hear the gospel (Jn 4:42).
Where did Jesus arrive and what was his physical condition? (5-6)
ANSWER:
Jn 4:5-6 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 the sixth hour.
Jesus came to a town in Samaria called Sychar. (The plot of ground in verse 5 is possibly the one in Gen 33:19 or Gen 48:22.)
Jesus was tired and wearied.
This shows that he had a physical body and it refutes the Gnostic teaching that Jesus was spirit and did not take on a physical body which they considered to be evil.
Though he was physically tired, Jesus did not rest from his redemptive work but rather ministered to the Samaritan lady (and we see in verse 34 how he was actually strengthened through having done so).
Apostle John was on a mission to prove the deity of Jesus from the very beginning (Jn 1:1-2) but at the same time, he described the humanness of Jesus. Jesus is the God-Man. (Jn 1:14) (It is a mystery but not contradictory.)
2. Read verses 6b-10.
ANSWER:
Jn 4:6-10 Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. 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.) 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."
Who came to the well? (7a)
ANSWER:
Jn 4:7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?"
A Samaritan Woman: Who was She?
Outwardly:
A Samaritan: racially impure; despised by the Jews.
A woman: women were men’s possessions at that time; was not even worthy to be counted.
Inwardly:
Immoral: five divorces (18) was a serious sin in that religious, legalistic society
She was looked down on by her own people (Samaritans) due to her immoral life.
She could be the most miserable, despised person.
She was lonely (social outcast)
Drawing water and chatting at the well was the social highpoint of a woman’s day but she came alone and in the middle of the day. Something was seriously wrong with her.
Spiritually:
One: Spiritually thirsty: She was thirsty for true love (true joy, true happiness)/ true husband/ true worship for God.
Two: Spiritually ignorant. She was:
Ignorant about herself -- of her need to be a child of God and bride of Jesus, married to Jesus spiritually..
Ignorant about true love -- that it is from God (1Jn 4:8); sacrificial, humble, obedient (Jn 14:21); not just emotional (1Co 13:4-5,7).
Ignorant about her true husband, Jesus Christ, who is her true bridegroom (Jn 3:29).
Ignorant about true worship -- what it is to worship God in spirit and truth (24).
Ignorant about true salvation which is by grace, by faith (Eph 2:8), by Jesus alone (Jn 14:6), for God’s glory (2Pe 1:3; Eph 2:9), by the scripture (Jas 1:18).
Ignorant about God who sent Jesus and God as revealed in Scripture (22).
Application questions for us:
Do you know who you are? Do you know what true love is?
Do you know who your true husband is? Do you know whom to worship, how to worship him?
Do you know how to be saved? Do you know who God is?
What did Jesus do? (7b)
ANSWER:
Jn 4:7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?"
He initiated the conversation with her:
How did he initiate that? By asking for help (a humble attitude approach).
Jesus humbled himself before her and asked help from her.
Evangelism 101: A humble attitude is effective; we should ask for help: "What time is it?" or, "Do you know where the physics building is?"
How could he do that? By overcoming multiple barriers.
Man vs. Woman: In that legalistic society, a man does not talk to a woman in public.
Jews vs. Samaritans: Jews do not talk to Samaritans (9).
Holy God vs. Dirty sinner: A holy God cannot be with dirty sinners.
What was the woman’s response? (9)
ANSWER:
Jn 4:9 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.)
She was shocked because it was against the culture, etiquette; How can you ask me for a drink?
She may have simply referred to the age old hostility between Jews and Samaritans (explained previously).
The NIV text note on verse 9 reads, “do not use the dishes Samaritans have used”. As a Samaritan woman, she was considered unclean by the Jews. Thus, Jesus was prohibited from making physical contact with anything she touched, like her water jar; otherwise he too would become unclean.
Her response was not gentle or kind. Rather, it was defiant and rude.
What did Jesus want her to know? (10)
ANSWER:
Jn 4:10 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."
Jesus draws the woman into conversation, wanting her to know:
What is the gift of God? (Jesus)
Who is Jesus? (He is the Messiah who can give living water)
What can Jesus give her? (Living water)
What is the living water? (the Holy Spirit)
What does the gift of God refer to? (10, Rom 6:23)
ANSWER:
Jn 4:10 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."
Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
In this text specifically: The gift of God is Jesus.
Jesus is the gift of God (2Co 9:15) freely given (Jn 3:16; Rom 8:32; Eph 1:5-6)
Eternal life is the gift of God (Rom 6:23)
Faith is the gift of God (Eph 2:8; Heb 12:2; Php 1:29; Act 13:48)
Salvation is the gift of God (Eph 2:8)
The Holy Spirit is the gift of God (Act 2:38)
Generally, everything we have is a gift of God (Jn 3:27):
- Our salvation, our new life, faith, spiritual gifts belong to God (Rom 12:6).
- Our physical life, talent, material, fame, education, money, family, neighbors, knowledge (1Ch 29:12).
We do not deserve salvation (Eph 2:3). We cannot earn salvation (Gal 3:10; Mat 19:26). We did not earn it (2Ti 1:9).
- Everything for our salvation is from God (it is a gift of God).
- Everything that belongs to us is a gift of God. Nothing belongs to us (1Co 4:7).
Therefore, we thank God for our salvation and take no credit. We thank God for everything. All the glory belongs to him, who is worthy of all (Rev 1:5-6)
- Are you thankful to God for all these gifts?
- Are you giving all the glory to God who is worthy of all?
What is the living water? (10, Jn 7:38-39)
ANSWER:
Jn 4:10 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."
Jn 7:38-39 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
Literal meaning: Living water is spring water.
In ancient times, they called ‘spring water’ ‘living water’ because spring water bubbled up from the ground, so it looks alive.
Spiritual meaning: Living water represents the Holy Spirit.
At first glance, it might seem that Jesus tells this woman about a nearby active spring.
Jesus did not mean physical water but spiritual water.
Jesus can give us the Holy Spirit who quenches our spiritual thirst and gives eternal life.
OT references to living water: Jer 2:13, 17:13; Isa 55:1; Psa 36:8-9, 42:1-2.
3. Read verses 11-14.
ANSWER:
Jn 4:11-14 "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 flocks and herds?" 13 Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
What did she think was the living water? (11)
ANSWER:
Jn 4:11-12 "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 flocks and herds?"
She thought the living water was physical water.
She compared Jesus with Jacob: “Are you greater than our father Jacob...?” (12)
To her, Jacob was the greatest man who ever lived because of his faithful love for Rachel and his faithful provisions of the well for future generations. She was looking down on Jesus.
How is the living water different from the water of Jacob’s well? (13-14)
ANSWER:
Jn 4:13-14 Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
The water from Jacob’s well.
The water from Jacob’s well represents the worldly things which seem to give us joy, pleasure, and satisfaction such as Human love, money, sex, illegal drugs, political power, knowledge and fame.
When you drink this water, you will be satisfied only temporarily. It quenches our thirst temporarily but we will be thirsty again very soon.
The water from Jacob’s well cannot solve our thirst.
What a painful truth (we all experienced it and are still experiencing it.). It happens because we are made for God (1Co 10:31) and for eternity (Ecc 3:11).
The Living Water. The living water represents the Holy Spirit.
When we drink this living water, we are satisfied and will be continuously satisfied.
With the living water, we will never be thirsty again. It quenches our thirst continuously and eternally because of the knowledge he imparts of God's love (Ro 5:5) and the joy he gives (Jn 15:11) and other fruits of the Spirit within us (Gal 5:22-23).
The living water will become a spring of water (welling up to eternal life).
What a joyful truth. (All believers experienced it and are continuously experiencing it.)
What will ‘the water’ that wells up become in us? (14b)
ANSWER:
Jn 4:14 but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
a spring of water welling up to eternal life.
Here, eternal life does not just refer to an unlimited duration of life. It refers to the heavenly joy, true happiness, and complete satisfaction through our relationship with God (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit).
Here on earth, we experience a little bit of the true, complete, perfect joy, love, peace, and satisfaction through the Holy Spirit.
Here on earth, we also experience a little bit of the wonder of eternal life through the grace of the Holy Spirit
Where can we get this ‘living water’? (14)
ANSWER:
Jn 4:14 but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
From Jesus.
4. Read verses 15-18.
ANSWER:
Jn 4:15-18 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."
What was her response? (15)
ANSWER:
Jn 4:15 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."
She thought the living water was physical water. She still did not understand what the living water was. She was in total spiritual ignorance. Unregenerate people can never understand spiritual things; they have no ability to discern the spiritual truth (1Co 2:14).
Before answering her request, what did Jesus first ask her to do? (16) Why?
ANSWER:
Jn 4:16 He told her, "Go, call your husband and come back."
Why did Jesus bring up her husband issue?
Her husband issue is her sin of idol worship.
Her sin of idol worship had to be exposed and repented of.
What are your idols? (money, power, sex, pleasure, fame, reputation, knowledge, pride)
The biggest idol is often ourselves.
God wants us to repent of our idol worship.
God wants us to throw all our idols away.
God wants us to surrender to him and obey him and depend upon him only as our King and Lord so that we can worship him acceptably.
Jesus is our real husband.
Her ex-husbands were not her real husband.
Spiritually speaking, a human husband is not the real bridegroom of a believing sister.
Spiritually speaking, all believers are Jesus’ bride (even brothers).
Husbands can learn from their wives and practice how to be a good bride of Jesus in this world. If your wife is submissive to you even though you are not perfect, then...
- How much more we (brothers) should be submissive to him (our perfect bridegroom)
- How much more we should respect him, love him, obey him and worship him.
How did she reply? (17)
ANSWER:
Jn 4:17 "I have no husband," she replied. Jesus said to her, "You are right when you say you have no husband.
I have no husband.
She did not want to reveal her husband problem to Jesus.
She had been worshiping her husbands all her life.
She thought worshiping her husband would make her happy and joyful but it made her completely miserable. That’s why her life was thirsty.
Now, she realized that her ex-husbands and her roommate were not her object of worship, but she still did not know who her true object of worship was.
She did not know who her spiritual husband was.
She did not know whom she should worship and how to worship him.
Even though she told the partial truth, why did Jesus gently expose her shameful private life fully? (Jn 3:19-21)
ANSWER:
Jn 3:19-21 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."
He wanted her to repent of her secret, dark sins and come into the glorious light of the fellowship with him.
Jesus is full of grace and truth. (Jn 1:14,17)
Jesus spoke the truth in love; he did not condemn her. (Eph 4:15)
5. Read verses 19-26.
ANSWER:
Jn 4:19-26 "Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem." 21 Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, 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 spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in 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 who speak to you am he."
Why did she ask about the place of worship? (19-20)
ANSWER:
Jn 4:19-20 "Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem."
She asked because, ultimately, she was thirsty for God -- thirsty for worshipping God. Her real thirst was not for a human husband but for her spiritual husband, God.
Superficially, she was thirsty for true love, joy and happiness.
Inwardly, she was thirsty for her true husband.
She had thought that a human husband would give her the love and happiness she dreamed of, but she ended up not being satisfied at all; she was completely miserable.
Spiritually, she was thirsty for God.
She was thirsty for worshiping God.
People can only worship God only through the Messiah (Jesus).
The woman in verse 20 spoke of “this mountain,” referring to Mount Gerizim (el. 2,889 feet). This mountain was in plain view because the place where Jesus and the Samaritan woman now stood (Jacob’s well) was at the eastern foot of Gerizim.
The woman also said in verse 20, “Our fathers worshiped on this mountain...” She was referring again to the patriarchs. On Mount Gerizim, Abraham built his first altar, and Jacob his second (Gen 12:6-7; 33:18-20). The Samaritans claimed the patriarchs as their “fathers” (12).
Samaria religious background:
When the Assyrians conquered Samaria in 722 B.C., they deported most of the original inhabitants and brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath and Sepharvaim and settled them in the towns of Samaria to replace the Israelites (2Ki 17:24). These foreigners introduced elements of the worship practices of the gods which they brought with them and combined them with the worship of the LORD (2Ki 17:33).
The Samaritans renounced idolatry in 332 B.C. when Sanballat III, the governor of Samaria, established Manasseh as high priest of Samaria and built for him a temple on Mount Gerizim (destroyed by the Jews in 128 B.C.). Manasseh was the brother the Jewish high priest at that time. He taught the Samaritans to worship the true God according to the Torah (5 books of Moses). But the Samaritan Torah was deliberately changed to support their claim that Mount Gerizim was the rightful place of worship.
In Jesus’ day, the religion of the Samaritans was very similar to Judaism. They were extremely exact in their observance of the ceremonies prescribed by Moses. They also awaited the Messiah (see verse 25). The difference was that they recognized only their edition of the Torah as the written Word of God and rejected the rest of the OT writings and regarded Mount Gerizim as the place chosen by God to worship him.
What did Jesus teach her about true worship? (21-23)
ANSWER:
Jn 4:21-23 Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, 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 spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.
Object of Worship: God.
Samaritans did not know who they worshiped because they rejected the revelation of the Jewish prophets and worshipped on Gerizim.
The Samaritan woman was worshiping a human husband as an idol.
God is the only one who is worthy of our worship.
We are created for worshiping God.
Location of Worship: Everywhere
The Samaritans worshiped in the wrong place:
Moses only commanded the Israelites to pronounce blessings on Mount Gerizim (Deu 11:29) – that was all. The place of worship was not yet chosen by God in Moses’ day (Deu 14:24). Not until 400 years later in David’s time was Jerusalem (Mount Moriah) chosen by God as the place of worship (2Sa 7:12-13; 2Ch 3:1). Although the Samaritans worshipped in the wrong place, it was now irrelevant anyway because...
The new place of worship is the human heart:
On the cross, Jesus would die for the sins of the world. The barrier between the holy God and sinful man would, thereby, be torn asunder (Mat 27:51; Heb 10:19-22). God can now establish human hearts as his temple and place of worship (Jn 14:23; Php 3:3) and, thus, his children are free to worship him anywhere.
Method of Worship: in spirit and truth.
God does not accept outward formal animal sacrifices. God desires a heart which has accepted, by faith and repentance, the Lamb he has established (Jn 1:29).
God does not accept any worship without spirit and truth.
Jesus is the only sacrifice acceptable to God (Heb 10:5-7).
Now, we are able to worship God because of what Jesus had done for us on the cross.
What does it mean to worship the Father in spirit and truth? (23-24; Jn 1:14, 3:5-6)
ANSWER:
Jn 4:23-24 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."
Jn 1:14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
Jn 3:5-6 Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.
True worshipers are those who worship the Father in spirit and truth.
They are the complete, real, genuine worshipers whom the Father seeks to make (23).
There are also incomplete, fake, false worshipers whom God despises.
Worshiping the Father: True worshipers must be children of God.
In order to worship the Father, worshipers must be his children because only children of God can call on God as their Father (Rom 8:15-16).
And all children of God are born of God (Jn 1:13). Therefore, all true worshipers are born of God (Jn 1:13).
Worshiping the Father in spirit.
In order to worship God the Father,
One, their spirits must be alive in order to worship the Father who is spirit.
Only children of God who are born again can worship him in spirit because only their spirits are alive (Eph 2:5; Col 2:13)
Those who are not born again cannot be true worshipers.
Unbelievers cannot worship the Father in spirit because their spirits are dead. (Eph 2:1; Col 2:13). They might look as though they worship God but it’s not acceptable to him (Mat 7:22-23; 2Ti 3:5).
Two, they must have the Holy Spirit inside in order to worship God who is spirit.
Only children of God who have the Holy Spirit inside can worship the Father in spirit (Php 3:3).
The Holy Spirit will help our spirits to worship the Father.
The Holy Spirit prays for us, encourages, guides, strengths our spirits. (Rom 8:26)
Worshiping the Father in truth. Jesus is the truth. God’s word is the truth.
One: We can only worship God in Jesus who is the truth. (Jn 14:6)
Without Jesus, outside of Jesus, any worship is not acceptable to God.
Are you worshiping God in Jesus and Jesus only? or
Are you worshiping God based on your pride and self righteous works?
Two: We can only worship God according to the Scripture who is the truth (Jn 17:17)
True worship should be in accordance with Scripture.
Worship service must be performed in obedience to the word of God or it is not acceptable to him.
Are you worshiping God according to the word of God? or
Are you worshiping God based on cultural traditions or your own ideas?
The Father seeks true worshipers, (not fake worshippers)
Worship which is not in spirit and in truth is not acceptable to God. In fact, it is detestable and abominable to God (Pro 15:8; Amo 5:21-22; Isa 1:13).
God seeks true worshippers. Fallen man is hostile to God and does not seek him (Rom 3:11, 8:7; Jn 3:19-20) but God has given of his Son to purchase from among men the true worshippers he seeks.
Whom was she waiting for to come? (25)
ANSWER:
Jn 4:25 The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us."
The Messiah who will explain everything about true worship.
The Samaritan name for the Messiah was Taheb, “One who returns” or “He who restores”. Since the Samaritans rejected the prophets and the psalms, they did not know the Messiah as a King but rather anticipated that he would be a prophet like Moses (Deu 18:18) who would teach them all things and restore right worship on Mount Gerizim.
Who did Jesus reveal himself as? (26)
ANSWER:
Jn 4:26 Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he."
I am the Messiah whom you are waiting for.
I am the Messiah who explained everything about true worship.
I am the Messiah, your true husband who is worthy of all your worship.
I am the Messiah, God the Son, who will give the Holy Spirit (Living Water).
Jesus is not simply asserting that he is the Messiah. A word for word translation of verse 26 is, "I am, the one speaking to you". The words “I AM” echo the name God used for himself in Exo 3:14. So, Jesus was referring to himself as God.
In Conclusion, Jesus is the promised Messiah who is the gift of God the Father and who will give us the living water (the Holy Spirit) welling up to eternal life. We are made to worship God. We can only worship God through Jesus. When we worship God, we will be truly joyful and fully satisfied. When we become true worshipers, God will be glorified. May God help us to worship him in spirit and truth.
"The Rabbinic precept ran: ‘Let no one talk with a woman in the street, no, not with his own wife.’ The Rabbis so despised women and so thought them incapable of receiving any real teaching that they said: ‘Better that the words of the law should be burned than delivered to women.’ They had a saying: ‘Each time that a man prolongs converse with a woman he causes evil to himself, and desists from the law, and in the end inherits Gehinnom..’ By Rabbinic standards, Jesus could hardly have done a more shatteringly unconventional thing than to talk to this woman. Here is Jesus taking the barriers down." (William Barclay, The Gospel of John , Pg 189)
"Jews do not use vessels together with Samaritans because, according to the Mishnah tractate, Niddah 4:1, “Samaritan women are deemed menstruants from their cradle.” According to rabbinic tradition, Samaritan women are stereotyped as being permanently polluted or unclean, and therefore any and every contact with them is proscribed in order to avoid defilement. It is that prohibition that the Samaritan woman is alluding to in her response to Jesus' demand for a drink." (Herman C. Waetjen, The Gospel of the Beloved Disciple: a work in two editions, Pg 164)
“At the eastern foot of Gerizim is "Jacob's Well," possibly the original well, but almost certainly the site of the conversation of Jesus with the Samaritan woman (Jn. 4:5-30).” (Arthur Samuel Peake, A commentary on the Bible, Pg 30)
Josephus in Antiq 11.8.2 places this event slightly before Alexander’s invasion of Palestine in 332 B.C. recorded in Antiq 11.8.5. He writes, "But the elders of Jerusalem being very uneasy that the brother of Jaddua the high priest, though married to a foreigner, should be a partner with him in the high priesthood, quarreled with him;...so they commanded Manasseh to divorce his wife, or not to approach the altar, the high priest himself joining with the people in their indignation against his brother, and driving him away from the altar. Whereupon Manasseh came to his father-in-law, Sanballat, and told him, that although he loved his daughter Nicaso, yet was he not willing to be deprived of his sacerdotal dignity on her account, which was the principal dignity in their nation, and always continued in the same family. And then Sanballat promised him not only to preserve to him the honor of his priesthood, but to procure for him the power and dignity of a high priest..." (Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, 11.8.2) Regarding the accuracy of this account: “Most scholars regard Josephus’s account as a garbled version of the situation in Nehemiah, though the discovery of the Samaritan papyri and the possibility of papponymy proposed by Cross open up the possibility of as many as three Sanballats, each separated by a generation. Daniel R. Schwartz, who has examined the parallels in great depth, concludes: Josephus combined stories about two different Sanballats, whom we may today call, with Cross, Sanballat I (the father-in-law) and Sanballat III (of Alexander’s day)" (John H. Walton, 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Pg 456)
"Among the Samaritan Pentateuch’s most notable features is its adaption to Samaritan theology, preeminently exhibited in the expansion of the Ten Commandments by incorporating the commands of Moses in Deut. 11:29-30; 27:2-7 after Exod. 20:17 in order to make worship on Mt. Gerizim the Tenth Commandment. Following this insertion, the Samaritan Pentateuch’s version of Exod. 20:24 reads, “in the place where I have caused my name to be remembered,” instead of “in every place where I will cause my name to be remembered” This adjustment (also made throughout Deuteronomy) effectively rules out Jerusalem as an acceptable place of worship. Other elements of Samaritan theology featured in this Torah include defending the honor of God (by removing anthropomorphisms and by incorporating an angel of God in place of a direct encounter between the deity and humans) and occasional legal differences rooted in Samaritan interpretation of the law." (David Noel Freedman, Eerdmans dictionary of the Bible, Pg 1159)
"Again, it is expressly stated in the Babylon Talmud, that the Samaritans observed the letter of the Pentateuch, while one authority adds, that in that which they observed they were more strict than the Jews themselves... Even in the Rabbinic tractate on the Samaritans it is admitted, that in most of their usages they resembled Israelites, and many rights and privileges are conceded to them, from which a heathen would have been excluded." (Alfred Edersheim, Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, Pg 773)
“A Messiah from the house of David could not be anticipated, as no evidence for such could be found in the Pentateuch. Rather, the Samaritans awaited a prophet like Moses based on Deuteronomy 18:15-18. This anticipated prophet was also designated the "Taheb" (the Restorer). In the last days he would restore proper worship on Mount Gerizim and bring the worship of the heathen to that site.” (Walter A. Elwell, Baker encyclopedia of the Bible: Volume 2, SAMARITANS)
“Jesus said, “ἐγώ εἰμι, ὁ λαλῶν σοι” ("I am, the One speaking to you"). In this spectacular sentence, Jesus not only answered the question by asserting His Messiahship, He virtually equated Himself with Yahweh, the God of the Old Testament.... To the woman of Samaria who said she understood that Messiah was coming, Jesus said, "I am that Messiah," but He also said, to those with sufficient sensitivity to understand His message, "I am the Self-Existent God"!” (David R. Dilling, The Gospel of John, Pg 42,43)