​THE UNKIND SAMARITAN

In John 4, our Lord helps a lot of people: the sinful Samaritan woman, His own disciples, the many Samaritans who believed in Him, and finally, a nobleman and his family. What did these things have in common? Belief in Jesus Christ. John's gospel was meant to show his readers how different types and groups of people came to believe that Jesus was the Son of God.

Let's get to know these different people and find out how their faith started, how it grew, and what it did for them and other people.

First Group: The Woman from Samaria (4:1–30)
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The Pharisees wanted to make Jesus and John the Baptist fight (John 3:25–30), so Jesus left Judea and headed north to Galilee. He could have gone one of three ways: along the coast, across the Jordan and up through Perea, or straight through Samaria. Orthodox Jews stayed away from Samaria because they and the Samaritans had a long history of hatred for each other.

The ten northern tribes were taken captive by the Assyrians in 727 BC, and the Samaritans were a mix of Jews and Gentiles. The Jews turned them down because they couldn't prove their ancestry. So the Samaritans built their own temple and held religious services on Mount Gerizim. This only made the hate worse. The Pharisees hated the Samaritans so much that some of them prayed that no Samaritans would be raised from the dead. They called Jesus a Samaritan when they wanted to insult Him (John 8:48).

Jesus had to go through Samaria because it was part of God's plan. Why? He would meet a woman there and help her find true faith, the kind of faith that would change the whole village. Our Lord didn't care who you were. He had already talked to a moral Jewish man (John 3), and now He was going to talk to an immoral Samaritan woman!

He got to Jacob's well at six o'clock in the evening, which is when women usually come to get water. The disciples went to the town nearby to get food, and Jesus stayed at the well on purpose. He was worn out, hungry, and thirsty. John shows that Jesus is not only the Son of God but also a real person. Our Lord can relate to all the normal things that happen in our lives.

While you read the interview with this woman, pay attention to how her understanding of Jesus grows until she admits that He is the Christ. There were four parts to this experience.

He is “a Jew” (vv. 7–10). Back then, it was not polite for any man, especially a rabbi, to talk to a strange woman in public (John 4:27). Our Lord, on the other hand, ignored social norms because the eternal salvation of a soul was at stake. She was very surprised when He asked for a drink of water. She mistakenly believed Him to be a Jewish rabbi, perhaps attempting to decipher His request for a different meaning. What was He really looking for?

The information in John's parentheses (John 4:8) was meant to help his Gentile readers. It is clear that the Jews did have some "dealings" with the Samaritans because the disciples went into the city to buy food. This means that John was not trying to make things sound worse than they were. The phrase can mean either "don't ask the Samaritans for favors" or "don't share vessels with the Samaritans." Why would Jesus, who was Jewish, want to use her "polluted" cup to get a drink?

Of course, our Lord's request was just a way to start the conversation and tell her the truth about "living water." Jesus didn't use a "sales talk" that He changed to fit every situation when He told people about Himself. He told Nicodemus about being born again, but He told this woman about living water.

Jesus told her that she didn't know three important things: who He was, what He had to offer, and how she could get it. God, who is eternal, was speaking to her and offering her eternal life. The Samaritans were just as blind as the Jews (John 1:26). But what our Lord said piqued her interest, so she kept talking.

"Greater than Jacob" (vv. 11–15). Jesus was talking about spiritual water, but she thought He meant real water. Once again, we see how easy it is for people to mix up the physical and the spiritual. Also, this woman was worried about how He would get the water instead of just asking Him for a drink.

Of course, Jesus is better than Jacob and even better than the well! To put it another way, He said, "Anyone who keeps drinking this water (or anything else the world has to offer) will be thirsty again." But whoever drinks the water I give them will never be thirsty again" (John 4:13–14). It's so true that the things of this world never fully satisfy. People in hell are crying, "I thirst!"

We have said before that life is one of John's main ideas. He says it at least thirty-six times. People need food, water, air, and light to live. Jesus Christ gives us all of these things. He gives us the "breath" (Spirit) of God (John 3:8; 20:22). He is the Light of Life (John 1:4–5) and the Bread of Life (John 6:48). He also gives us the water of life (Rev. 21:6).

The woman asked for this gift right away, but she didn't know what she was saying. The Word's seed fell on shallow ground, and the plants that grew up didn't have roots (Matt. 13:20–21). She had made some progress, but she still had a long way to go, so Jesus was patient with her.