Gospel John Chapter 4 -- John Karmelich

This week’s text… (New King James Version)

4:1 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.

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.

23 "But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.

24 "God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."

25 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.

  1. This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.

Outline Notes: Gospel John Chapter 4 -- John Karmelich

  1. Chapter 4 focuses on two stories,
      1. The Woman at the Well
      2. And the Healing of the Nobleman’s Son
      3. My suggestion to you, is that both of these stories is about healing
      4. Jesus welcomes all who come to him
        1. Be it the most despised person you can think of
        2. Or be it a wealthy influential person
  2. The opening three verses give the background to the story
      1. 4:1 Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John
      2. 4: 2 (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples),
      3. 4: 3 He left Judea and departed again to Galilee.
    1. Jesus was avoiding a confrontation.
      1. The Pharisees realized that the focus of their problem was not John the Baptist
        1. But this guy, Jesus
      2. Jesus had a specific ministry to fill
        1. To reach certain people, at certain times
      3. There will be a time for confrontation with the Pharisees
        1. But it wasn’t right now.
        2. Right, now, he had a date with a woman in Samaria…
        3. Verse 4…
  3. But He needed to go through Samaria
    1. In my Bible, I underlined the word "needed"
    2. We will read later in Verse 23 that "The Father is seeking such to worship Him"
    3. For those who don’t know their Israel geography,
      1. Samaria is a land between the region of Judea (where Jerusalem was)
      2. And the Galilee region
    4. Samaritans were a "half-breed" of Jewish believes and paganism
      1. They believed the first five books of the Bible (those Moses wrote)
        1. Were from God
      2. They don’t believe in the other books of the Jewish Bible
    5. The Samaritans were despised by the Jewish
      1. They were lower than low, even lower than Gentiles
      2. Imagine having a strong bigotry against a group of people
        1. A bigotry that was in-grained in your mind since childhood
        2. And you could imagine how the disciples felt about Samaritans
  4. Verse 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.
    1. There is a pun here, you may not see
      1. Sychar means "purchased"
      2. Just like we were purchased with the blood of Christ (See Acts 20:28)
  5. Verse 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.
    1. There are a couple of things to note about this verse
    2. First, the humanity of Jesus is shown
      1. Jesus was wearied from his journey
      2. This shows that Jesus was fully human
        1. And had human needs the same way we do!
  6. Verse 7 & 8: A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give Me a drink." For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.
    1. Jesus needed to be alone in order to talk to her
    2. Given the Jewish religious background of the Disciples
      1. It was forbidden for a Rabbi to talk to woman alone
      2. Especially a Samaritan
    3. Jesus had to work with religious prejudices in order to witness to other people
      1. Sometimes our pre-conceived notions of other religions or races gets in the way of our witnessing
      2. We make the same mistakes
        1. When I talk to a person who is a Jehovah Witness or a Mormon
          1. I can’t look at them as "just a member of this group"
          2. They are people just like you & me
          3. With personal life problems to contend with..
    4. The focus of Jesus’ conversation with this woman is on her needs, not her background
      1. Although she focuses on the differences between Jews and Samaritans
      2. Jesus focuses on the bigger picture, the need for salvation
    5. One more thing before moving on to the next verse..
      1. Notice Jesus sent the disciples into the city to buy food
      2. Jesus never uses his miracles powers for his own personal benefit
        1. It is always for other’s needs
        2. For his own needs for food, he sent his disciples to buy bread
        3. This realization actually convicted me in my prayer life
          1. We are all guilty of focusing our prayers too much
            1. On our personal needs
            2. And not enough on the needs of others…
  7. Verse 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.
    1. You can fell the cynicism from this Woman coming off the pages
      1. This woman knew how Jews felt about Samaritans
      2. To paraphrase her response, she is saying:
        1. Well, you Jews, despise us,
        2. but if you need something, like a drink of water
        3. You ask for help!
  8. Verse 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."
    1. The first thing Jesus does is take the focus off the "Jews vs. Samaritan" issue
      1. And onto a bigger issue of salvation
    2. Jesus uses the technique of appealing to her curiosity
      1. "If you knew the Gift of God" Jesus said
      2. At this point, she doesn’t know what he meant..
        1. But it appealed to her curiosity and she was willing to listen
        2. That’s a great teaching technique to learn
        3. Appeal to someone’s curiosity, and they will be quiet and listen!
    3. A few words about "living water"
      1. The term "living water" means spring water
        1. Which is a lot more desirable than well-water
      2. In the Woman’s mind…
        1. Jesus was saying, I know a better source of water than this well
      3. Jesus was using this expression to get to his main point
  9. Verse 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?
    1. Notice the change in respect from this woman
    2. Jesus just went from being "A Jew" in Verse 9 to "Sir" in Verse 11
    3. This is often how Jesus works in people’s heart
      1. He goes from disdain, to one of respect, before he can become God to people
  10. Verse 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?"
      1. At this point, the Woman is asking "Who are You?"
        1. Are you greater than Jacob who gave both our races this well?
        2. I need you to explain further…
          1. What’s this "Living Water" your talking it
          2. She’s starting to get the point its not just spring water…
  11. Verse 13 ad 14: Jesus answered and said to her, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, "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."
    1. Jesus is trying to get her to think beyond the physical needs, like food and water
      1. And get your mind on spiritual needs
    2. God did design us with physical needs (food, water air etc.)
    3. But God also designed us with spiritual needs
      1. We need to worship something
      2. And if we choose to ignore God, we will worship something else
        1. As the saying goes,
        2. If you want to see what a person worships,
        3. See where he or she spends their money and free time
    4. The point of this conversational exchange is God is
      1. first concerned with our spiritual needs
      2. Once we have that straighten out
        1. Then we can focus on our material needs
      3. Jesus himself is an example of this later in the text
        1. Jesus was not concerned with feeding himself (Verse 32)
        2. His first priority is leading others on the right path
          1. "Spiritual food" is first priority over "Physical food"
    5. Jesus also talks about where this "Living Water" comes from within
      1. As one commentator put it..
        1. When we get born-again, God installs indoor plumbing in our hearts!
        2. The Well of Living Water springs up from within
        3. And this water is an ever-increasing, never ending source
        4. Revelation 21:6 Jesus says I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.
      2. For an Old Testament Prophecy about Living Water
        1. Read Ezekiel Chapter 47 sometime…
        2. It talks about the never-ending, ever- increasing water from the Temple of God
  12. Back to the Woman at the well, at this point, Jesus has gotten her attention and She asks for the water in Verse 15,
    1. But notice Jesus’ response in Verse 16:
    2. Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here."
      1. There is a saying in the Christian world:
        1. There is no conversion without conviction
      2. If you are not convicted of your sins
        1. You won’t see the need for a savior
      3. Before Jesus could tell her about the way to salvation
      4. First, he had to call to mind her sins.
  13. Verse 17 & 18: The woman answered and said, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You have well said, 'I have no husband,' "for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly."
    1. Notice the diplomacy of Jesus
      1. He did mention her sins
      2. But he didn’t try to make her feel more guilty than she already was
    2. In fact, Jesus pays her two compliments in these two Verses
      1. Verse 17… You have said well
      2. Verse 18… You spoke truly
      3. Jesus complimented her honestly
    3. There is a lesson for us here when we want to convict someone of their sins
      1. Try to find a compliment to throw in…even if its something as simple as respecting her for telling the truth
      2. Most people feel guilty enough about their sins
      3. It’s not our job to rub it in!
      4. But our job is to show them the way to salvation!
        1. Our job, is to show them how God will forgive them of their sins
        2. No matter what it is
        3. No matter how many times they have committed that sin
  14. Verse 19 The woman said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.
    1. Jesus has just progressed from "Jew" to "Sir" to Prophet"
    2. A lot of people are truly stuck on this 3rd description of Jesus
      1. That is the word "Prophet"
        1. They will say Jesus was a great man,
        2. They will say Jesus was sent from God
        3. They will say he was a Prophet
        4. But they will not take the next step and proclaim him as God
  15. Verse 20 "Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship."
    1. At this point, the Woman believes Jesus is a prophet..
    2. So, she brings up the hot topic of that day:
      1. Are the Samaritans right or the Jews right?
    3. This is like us asking
      1. Is the proper way to worship God the Protestant Way or the Catholic Way?
      2. Example #2… Are we going to be raptured before the tribulation or after?
    4. Jesus does answer the question, but he sets her priorities right…
  16. Verse 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.
    1. Jesus is saying it’s not the physical location of where you worship
    2. But the Spiritual location of where you worship.
      1. God is not location driven, where you need to go
        1. to a particular "holy spot" or particular church
        2. This is another example of Jesus teaching
          1. It’s what’s on the inside that counts, not on the outside
    3. Jesus then goes on to answer her question comparing Judaism to Samaritanism
    4. The mountain that the Woman is referring to is the location of the Samaritan temple
      1. The Samaritans built their own temple in Samaria
      2. She was asking…Well, which is the correct temple,
        1. The Samaritan temple, or the Jerusalem temple
    5. Jesus took her to a higher level..
      1. Jesus is essentially saying, forget the two temples, it’s your heart that matters.
  17. Jesus goes on to say in Verse 22…
    1. "You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews.
      1. Jesus is a Jew
      2. The opening line of the New Testament says
        1. The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham: (Matthew 1:1 NKJV)
      3. Author Phillip Yancy stated:
        1. The Jews forget the fact that Jesus is the Son of David (A messianic title)
        2. The Christians tend to forget that Jesus is the Son of Abraham…
          1. We as Christians sometimes forget the "Jewishness" of Jesus
          2. That God brought Jesus to the world through the Jews
      4. Salvation does come through a Jewish Messiah…
        1. and that’s the point Jesus is making.
  18. Jesus goes on to say, the key to worshiping God is in Spirit and Truth…
    1. If you want a great study sometime, look up all the verses in the New Testament with the phrase "God is"… Here are some examples…
      1. God is Spirit, in Verse 29
      2. God is Light (1st John 1:5)
      3. God is Love (1 John 4:8)
      4. God is a Consuming Fire (Hebrews 12:29)
      5. It can be summarized by saying "And God became Flesh"
    2. Back to "God is Spirit". Most of us understand "The Spirit"
      1. This is the Spirit of God working in us
        1. Both to help us worship God
        2. And to help transform our lives
    3. But what does "The Truth"
      1. Jesus says in John 14: 6 I am the Way the Truth and the Life
      2. Do a study of the word "The Truth" through out the New Testament
        1. It refers just about every time to the Gospel message and Jesus himself
  19. Verse 26 Jesus states : I that speak to you am He
    1. The literal translation is "I that speak to you, I am"
    2. This is the first time Jesus publicly declares that He is God
    3. The statement "I am" is used many times in the Gospel of John
    4. It is first used of Jehovah God, when Moses asked the burning bush
      1. Who are You
      2. And God responded "I am that I am"
    5. Not only is this the first time Jesus reveals himself as God
    6. Notice the first person he picks is a Samaritan Woman!
      1. He didn’t reveal himself at the wedding at Cana
      2. He didn’t reveal himself to Nicodemus
      3. Why this Samaritan Woman…
        1. The answer is this is the first person who knew she was spiritual lost and needed a Savior
  20. Verse 28 and 29 The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men,: "Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?"
    1. Notice "she spoke to the men
      1. I suspect after five husbands, no woman in town would speak to her
      2. I further suspect every man in town knew about her reputation
      3. When she said "A man told me all the things that I ever did"
        1. Do you suspect some of the men in town got a little worried about their own reputation?
    2. Also notice the progression of the Woman’s view of Jesus
      1. Jesus has gone from being a "Jew" to "Sir" to "A Prophet" to "The Christ"
      2. She is now at the level of Spirit and Truth that God wants for all of us
      3. The Truth is not that Jesus is a Great Prophet, but Jesus is THE Christ
      4. And the Woman’s evangelism produced fruit…
      5. Notice the next verse
      6. Verse 30 "Then they (the Samaritans) went out of the city and came to Him!
      7. The Samaritan Woman just accomplished what God wants all people to accomplish
        1. 1. A personal relationship with Jesus
        2. 2. Go out and spread the Good News!
  21. The next set of verses is Jesus teaching the disciples a few lessons
    1. Remember that the disciples were still shocked to see Jesus
      1. 1. Talking to a Woman
      2. 2. Talking to a Samaritan Woman
    2. The disciples were now witnessing, a despised, low-life, five-time divorcee,
      living-in-sin, Samaritan, woman (how low can you sink?!!!)
      1. Being transformed into a new person..
    3. The disciples still didn’t get it…
      1. Their focus was still on their stomach’s and Jesus stomach
    4. Jesus’ response… Verse 37
      1. "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.
      2. Do we need food?
        1. Of course we do
      3. But what is our primary focus
        1. How important is a meal versus seeing a new person come to Christ
        2. How important is a meal versus your ministry for Christ
        3. Jesus isn’t talking about starving
        4. Jesus is talking about getting your priorities straight!
  22. The next set of Verses deal with ministry..
    1. As I stated a few weeks ago… The best (simple) definition of Ministry is
      1. Talking to people about God
      2. And Talking to God about People
    2. Although we each have a different ministry, we are working as a team
    3. Verse 36: is a good summary of this mini-sermon when Jesus says:
      1. ""And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.
        1. It doesn’t matter what are particular role is in the Body of Christ
        2. Any role is just as important as any other…
        3. The important question is simply are you loyal to what God called you to do?
  23. The last set of verses in Chap. 4, (from 43-54) are mostly about Jesus curing a Nobleman’s son.
  24. Verse 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.
    1. From Capernaum to Cana is about 20 miles
    2. Think about the state of this Nobleman
      1. A Nobleman is a political leader
        1. Probably Non-Jewish, but were not sure
        2. Probably fairly wealthy
    3. Imagine having a son who was sick to the point of death
      1. Is there anything you wouldn’t do
      2. 20 miles on horse-back is still a good journey
        1. But your son is sick, would you even care?
    4. Jesus’ response sounds harsh…
  25. Verse 48: "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe."
    1. First of all, the word "You" in Greek is plural
    2. As in the Southern expression :You All"
    3. I think Jesus was first focusing on the crowd that was gathering
      1. They were all watching Jesus to see what he would do
      2. As we stated last week,
        1. Jesus wants us to come to Him, by faith,
        2. Not by "Signs and Wonders"
    4. If Jesus simply performed this miracle without making that public statement
      1. People wouldn’t believe He is the Messiah
      2. They would just be waiting for the next miracle..
  26. At this point, Jesus cures his son…Verse 50: Go your way, your son lives
    1. There are two miracles in Verse 50
      1. First is the healing of the Nobleman’s son
      2. Second, is the Nobleman believing in Jesus
        1. That is what Faith is all about
  27. In Verse 52 The Nobleman inquired about his son, as to when he got better:
    1. Verse 52, part two, "Yesterday, at the 7th hour, the fever left him.
    2. Remember it is a 20 mile journey from Cana to Capernaum
    3. If you took a horse, you could be there in an hour or two, tops
    4. Even by walking, you could make it in a full day
    5. The Nobleman had so much faith in Jesus
      1. It was not until more than 24 hours he inquired about his son!
      2. I have to admit, that is more faith than I would have
      3. If it were my son, I’d be there as fast I could!
      4. There is a lesson in faith for all of us in this verse…
  28. Before we wrap up, I want to make a great observation I heard about Verse 53:
    1. "And he (the Nobleman) believed, and his whole household
      1. Christians strongly believe that each man must seek out Christ individually
        1. You can’t be saved because another family member is saved..
      2. But an observation most pastors will tell you is:
        1. Show me a household where the Father is a strong Christian
        2. And I’ll show you a household where the Family are strong Christians!
        3. While this is not true in all cases,
          1. I would describe it as true in this case and most cases
          2. Let this be a lesson for us men to take the lead in responsibility!
  29. Last Verse (54): This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.
    1. What was the first sign?
      1. Jesus turning water into wine
    2. What was the second sign
      1. Jesus healing a Nobleman’s son
    3. The first sign was a family celebration
    4. The second sign was a family devastation
      1. In either case, Jesus is the answer
    5. Whether you a five-time divorcee, or a political leader with a good bank account
      1. In either case, Jesus is the answer
  30. Let’s Pray

Our heavenly Father, we thank you so much for showing us Jesus in every verse. Help us all to share Jesus with others and help people to see Jesus as "The Christ" and not any form of lower description. To not be concerned with rituals and locations, but to have a deep, yearning hunger to worship you in our hearts. For the father seeks such to worship Him in Spirit and Truth, and that is our call to you. Help us to make a priority of others in need before our own personal. And as we go through many trials in our lives, help us to remember that you are always there, watching over us in good times and in bad, and that in all cases, Jesus is the answer! We pray all these things, in Jesus name, Amen.