The Church of Divine Guidance Sunday morning Adult Bible Study is embarking on an exhaustive study of the book of John. Of the four gospels, John’s gospel presents Jesus as God most forcefully. John explicitly declared Jesus to be God who brought all things into existence. John’s gospel confirmed that Jesus was YHVH of the Jews . He is light and life . These are the notes of that study. Be sire to listen to the audio of the study at then end of these notes.
Last Week
Last week Jesus ended the conversation with Nicodemus when He told him that he had to experience a new spiritual birth by telling him what would result from that new birth. Just like when the Israelites looked up at the bronze serpent that Moses attached to a pole would be healed after bitten by poisonous snakes, people who looked to Jesus and were reborn would be saved from the penalty of sin which is death.
A bite poisons our bodies. And sin ruins our lives. But God has provided a way to cure us. He has provided a way to save us from sin and death. Jesus said that people would lift him up, like the metal snake. He was referring to the time when they would put him on the *cross. They would lift him up on the cross for everyone to see.
John 3:14-15 (NKJV)14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
He also told Nic that God loved him and all mankind so much that He sent His Son and if then believed on Him they would have eternal life.
John 3:16-17 (NKJV)16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
But he had the choice to accept and believe those things or not. If he believed in Jesus he would not be condemned to death but not he was already condemned.
John 3:18-21 (NKJV)18 He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.19 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God."
Because the number of Jesus’ followers was rapidly increasing while He was in Judea John the Baptist’s disciples took notice and told John what was happening because it seemed more people were following Jesus than John who still had his ministry of repentance. John reminded them that his job of preparing the way for Jesus was ending and he was happy about it.
John 3:29 (NKJV)29 He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled.
John 3:30 (NKJV)30 He must increase, but I must decrease.
Today Chapter 4
John 4:1-54
John says very little about Jesus' contact with the multitudes like the other Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. . But long sections of the Gospel are devoted to conversations Jesus had with individuals. Jesus was open, warm and vitally interested in people.
In John 4 we see Jesus reach out first to a woman, then to his disciples, and finally to a grieving father. Watching Jesus give himself to people with love and compassion will help us care for those God puts in our paths.
When have you been able to turn an ordinary conversation into a discussion about Christ?
John 4:1-3 (NKJV)1 Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John2 (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples),3 He left Judea and departed again to Galilee.
The growing popularity of Jesus, while He was in Jerusalem during Passover got the attention of the Pharisees. To avoid trouble with them at this time, Jesus determined to leave the area and go into Galilee. Success not failure led Jesus to leave Judea. This is where most of his work was done, according to the Synoptic records.
John 4:4-6 (NKJV)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.
Why do you think Jesus "had to go through Samaria" on his way to Galilee (John 4:4)? (Jews normally went around Samaria to avoid contact with the hated Samaritans.)
The most direct route to Galilee was through Samaria.
In Roman times, the country was divided into Judea, Samaria, Perea and Galilee, which comprised the whole northern section of the country, and was the largest of the three regions under the tetrarchy.
He must go through Samaria. Ordinarily in John this word points to a divine necessity, and it may do so here, indicating the need of dealing with the Samaritans and opening to them the gateway to life. Along with this may be the more evident need of reaching Galilee by the most direct route. - The Wycliffe Bible Commentary.
Hatred between Jews and Samaritans was fierce and long-standing. In some ways, it dated all the way back to the days of the patriarchs. Jacob (or Israel) had twelve sons, whose descendants became twelve tribes. Joseph, his favorite, was despised by the other brothers , and they attempted to do away with him.
Before his death, in Egypt, Jacob gave Joseph a blessing in which he called him a “fruitful bough by a well”
Genesis 49:22 (NKJV) "Joseph is a fruitful bough, A fruitful bough by a well; His branches run over the wall.
The blessing was fulfilled, as the territory allotted to the tribes of Joseph’s two sons, Ephraim (“doubly fruitful”) and Manasseh, was the fertile land that eventually became Samaria.
Remember after the death of Solomon Israel divided into two kingdoms. The northern kingdom, called Israel, established its capital first at Shechem, a revered site in Jewish history, and later at the hilltop city of Samaria.
In 722 B.C. Assyria conquered Israel and took most of its people into captivity. Then the Assyrians then brought in Gentile colonists “from Babylon, Cuthah, Ava, Hamath, and from Sepharvaim” to resettle the land.
2 Kings 17:24 (NKJV)24 Then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Ava, Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel; and they took possession of Samaria and dwelt in its cities.
The foreigners brought with them their pagan idols, which the remaining Jews began to worship alongside the God of Israel.
2 Kings 17:29-33 (NKJV)29 However every nation continued to make gods of its own, and put them in the shrines on the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in the cities where they dwelt.30 The men of Babylon made Succoth Benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima,31 and the Avites made Nibhaz and Tartak; and the Sepharvites burned their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim.32 So they feared the LORD, and from every class they appointed for themselves priests of the high places, who sacrificed for them in the shrines of the high places.33 They feared the LORD, yet served their own gods--according to the rituals of the nations from among whom they were carried away.
Meanwhile, the southern kingdom of Judah fell to Babylon in 600 B.C. Its people, too, were carried off into captivity. But 70 years later, a remnant of 43,000 was permitted to return and rebuild Jerusalem. The people who now inhabited the former northern kingdom—the Samaritans—vigorously opposed the repatriation and tried to undermine the attempt to reestablish the nation. For their part, the full-blooded, monotheistic Jews detested the mixed marriages and worship of their northern cousins. So walls of bitterness were erected on both sides and did nothing but harden for the next 550 years.
After the return from the Captivity, the Jews in Jerusalem refused to allow them to take part with them in rebuilding the temple, and hence sprang up an open enmity between them. They erected a rival temple on Mount Gerizim, which was, however, destroyed by a Jewish king (B.C. 130). They then built another at Shechem. The bitter enmity between the Jews and Samaritans continued in the time of our Lord: the Jews had "no dealings with the Samaritans"
Apparently the Samaritans had similar feelings.
Luke 9:51-53 (NKJV)51 Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem,52 and sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him.53 But they did not receive Him, because His face was set for the journey to Jerusalem.
With that background;
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| Jesus and the Samaritan Woman at the Well |
John 4:7-9 (NKJV)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.
What is surprising about Jesus' question to the Samaritan woman?
By asking for water, Jesus was deliberately crossing three cultural barriers. The first barrier was sexual—he talked to a woman. Jewish men were advised never to talk to any woman in public. The second barrier was moral—the woman was living in an immoral situation with a man to whom she was not married. The third barrier was racial—the woman was a Samaritan. Jews felt that they would become ceremonially unclean if they used a drinking vessel handled by a Samaritan since they said that all Samaritans were “unclean”. Jesus was willing to cross these barriers in order to reach a woman who needed to believe in him.
What present-day situations might arouse the same racial, religious and sexual prejudices?
John 4:10-15 (NKJV)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."
How does Jesus' offer of "living water" contrast with what the woman thinks he means?
The woman said, you do not even have a bucket! The well is very deep. Where would you get this water that gives life? Our ancestor Jacob made this well for us. He, his sons and his animals all drank from it. Are you saying that you can provide better water than this?’ The woman probably thinks that when Jesus said “living water” Living water normally referred to running water, such as would be found in a river or stream. It was greatly preferred over still water, especially for ritual purification. Jesus was talking about the kind of refreshing and continuous flowing water exemplified by the Holy Spirit. The “living water” that the woman thought Jesus was talking about refreshes but the “living water” Jesus was talking about produces eternal life.
John 7:38-39 (NKJV)38 He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
What does this offer of "living water" mean in your life and experience?
John 4:16-18 (NKJV)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."
Suddenly, Jesus changed the subject. The conversation became personal. The woman had to think about her past and also her present situation.
Why do you think Jesus brings up the woman's long list of past marriages and her present adulterous relationship?
Before the woman could receive the gift of living water, she had to be made to realize how desperately she needed it. This gift was for the inner life, which in her case was empty indeed. The dreary history of her marital life was unfolded by Jesus' penetration and by her own admission. It is probable that divorce entered into at least some of the five relationships which preceded the final illegitimate status. Morally, the woman had been going downhill for some time. - The Wycliffe Bible Commentary.
John 4:19-20 (NKJV)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."
Now the woman changes the subject. Why does the woman suddenly change the subject and begin talking about the controversy over the proper place of worship?
Perhaps it had become too personal for her!
She started to talk about the correct place to worship God. The Jews and the Samaritans both worshipped God, but there were differences between their religions. The *Samaritans’ scriptures consisted of the first 5 books of the Bible, which contained the Law. The Jewish scriptures included many other books: the whole of the Old Testament. The Samaritans believed that the mountain called Mount Gerizim in Samaria was the correct place to worship God. But the Jews worshipped God in the Temple in Jerusalem.
She may have really wanted to know why He (Jesus) and the Jews and they (Samaritans) worshiped the same God but in different places and different ways.
John 4:21-24 (NKJV)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."
How does Jesus handle her question about this Samaritan-Jewish controversy?
The Samaritan religion is an offshoot of Judaism. Their four principles of faith are: One God, the God of Israel; One Prophet, Moses ben Amram; The Belief in the Torah; and One Holy Place - Mount Gerizim. The Samaritans believe the same as Jews concerning final judgment, rewards, punishments, circumcision, Sabbath, dietary laws, and the ceremonial and judicial laws. However, they study only their version of the Torah and solely observe the religious feasts laid down in the Torah. The contrast between the Samaritan and the Jewish worship lay in its history, its state at that time, and its rejection of the fuller teaching of the prophetic books of the Old Testament.
It did not matter where people worshipped God. It was their attitude that mattered. The important thing is that we worship the Father.
Jeremiah 31:33-34 (NKJV)33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.34 No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."
God had chosen the Jews to be his own special people. He had promised to bless the whole world by means of the Jews . In the Old Testament, the prophets had reminded the Jews that they belonged to God in a special way. The prophets had also written about the Messiah, who would come from King David’s family.
“In every way the Jews had much advantage, but chiefly that unto them were committed the oracles of God.” Little as they knew the treasure they possessed, they were the guardians of spiritual truth for the world, and in a sense deeper than they could fathom, “salvation was of the Jews.”
Genesis 12:3 (NKJV)3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."
Deuteronomy 14:2 (NKJV)2 For you are a holy people to the LORD your God, and the LORD has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.
In the Old Testament, the prophets had reminded the Jews that they belonged to God in a special way. The prophets had also written about the Messiah, who would come from King David’s family.
Jeremiah 23:5-6 (NKJV)5 "Behold, the days are coming," says the LORD, "That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.6 In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell safely; Now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
2 Samuel 7:12-13 (NKJV)12 "When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.13 He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
The Samaritan woman may have known these Jewish scriptures. But she did not realise that the Messiah was speaking to her! Jesus said that God was looking for people to worship him. But he wanted them to worship him sincerely. We can worship God anywhere. He is Spirit. This means that he is everywhere. It does not matter where we worship him.
But God sees inside our minds and our hearts. He knows if we are worshipping him with our spirits as well as with our bodies. He knows why we are worshipping him. Some people worship God for the wrong reasons. Perhaps they just want him to do something for them. Or perhaps they worship him because it is their duty. But they do not really want to worship him.
But God wants people to worship him because of who he is. The Holy Spirit helps us to worship God like this. So we need to ask for the Holy Spirit’s help.
What does it really mean to worship God in spirit and truth?
The “truth” part is plain enough — and with the coming of Jesus that truth centers on Him. He said about Himself that He is the Truth.
John 14:6 (NKJV) Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
The gospel is the word of truth about our salvation.
Colossians 1:3-8 (NKJV)3 We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints;5 because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel,6 which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth;7 as you also learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf,8 who also declared to us your love in the Spirit.
But what about “spirit”? Is this our spirit or God’s Spirit?
John 3:6 (NKJV)6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
So it’s both. Remember we must be born again and if we are born again not our physical bodies but our spirits. It’s a spiritual birth. So true worship, according to John Piper, a prolific Christian writer and evangelist, comes only from spirits made alive and sensitive by the qJohn
John 4:25-26 (NKJV)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."
The woman's knowledge about the Messiah was probably based on
Deuteronomy 18:15-18 (NKJV)15 "The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear,16 according to all you desired of the LORD your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, 'Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, nor let me see this great fire anymore, lest I die.'17 And the LORD said to me: 'What they have spoken is good.18 I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him.
Which was accepted by the Samaritans as Scripture. As that prophet par excellence, the Messiah would be able to tell... all things. The woman later on would actually refer to this when she told the people in the town that this man told her things that only the Messiah would know. It would have been dangerous for Jesus to announce himself in this fashion among the Jews, where ideas of Messiahship were politically colored. Here, apparently, he judged it to be safe. The seed was planted, and just in time, for the conversation was ended by the arrival of the disciples - The Wycliffe Bible Commentary.
John 4:27 (NKJV)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?"
Jesus’ disciples were surprised that Jesus was talking to a woman. This was because of the Jewish rules, we already talked about that. But the disciples did not dare to ask him about it. During their time with Jesus, he did many things that surprised them. And he often surprised other Jewish teachers too. He did not obey the rules that people made. He obeyed only God.
John 4:28-30 (NKJV)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.
From your reading of this passage, do you think the Samaritan woman genuinely believed?
Yes
What do you see in the passage that supports your position?
She went and told the men of the town, not just one man but it says men. She did not, as a woman, presume to teach them, but put a thought in their minds. The men were sufficiently impressed to go along with her to the well.
John 4:31-34 (NKJV)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.
How is the disciples' confusion about food similar to the woman's confusion about living water?
They were all hungry because of their long journey. So they were probably worried because Jesus did not want to eat. They were thinking about natural things and Jesus was talking about spiritual things.
Jesus was completely human. He needed to eat and to drink. But food was not the most important thing to him at that moment. He told them, ‘I have food to eat.’ He was not referring to actual food. He was referring to his work for God. This was the most important thing to him. This was what satisfied him more than anything.
But the disciples did not understand what he meant. They thought that he was talking about actual food. In John’s Gospel, often conversations that Jesus had were like this. Firstly, Jesus said something that the person or people misunderstood. For example, Nicodemus misunderstood what Jesus meant about a second birth. And the Samaritan woman thought that Jesus was talking about actual water. Then, Jesus slowly explained the real meaning until the person or people understood.
We’ll continue with Jesus’ conversation with His disciples next week when He talks about sowing seeds of the good news of the kingdom of God and reaping a harvest of souls.
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