John 4:1 "When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John,"

Jesus heard how these Pharisees were starting to get this dispute started between John the Baptist and His Own disciples, over who was drawing the bigger crowds. Also there was even a bigger problem here.

John 4:2 "(Though Jesus Himself baptized not, but His disciples,)"

It would not have been proper for Christ to have baptized another person to Himself. Christ did not baptize anyone, for that was the work of His disciples.

John 4:3 "He left Jedaea, and departed again into Galilee."

John 4:4 "And He must needs go through Samaria."

"He must needs go...", or better translated; "It was necessary for Him to go". It is important that understand the past history about Samaria. The word "Samaria" means "Watch mountain" in the Hebrew tongue. It was the location where the ten tribes of the "house of Israel" lived, not the Jews; and about 722 B.C. Assyria made war against the House of Israel, and those ten tribes of Israel lost. Because of the sins of the House of Israel, God gave them into the hands of the Assyrians.

The Assyrians took the people of the House of Israel, and relocated all ten tribes in an area just north of Lake Van, in Iraq (of today). Then shortly there after, all of the ten tribes migrated and scattered. They came through the Caucasus Mountains, and spread out to settled throughout Europe, the Americas, and around the world. The group that went through the Caucasus Mountains became known as the "Caucasians" after the event that took place, and to this date, though the event has been forgotten, the offspring of those people still have the name attached to themselves. They think of it as a particular race [white race] of people.

Those people were dispersed as scattered sheep around the world. We are in the final days of this earth age, and the prophet Hosea addresses his book to the House of Israel living in the latter days. In Hosea 1:10; we are told how they will be recognized in the final days.

Hosea 1:10; "Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, 'Ye are not My People,' there it shall be said unto them, 'Ye are the sons of the living God."

The "children of Israel" are those ten tribes that were scattered, and this is addressing a time when they have greatly multiplied. Where ever these tribes are, the one thing that will be said of them is "they call themselves Gentile". The Gentiles are ones that are not of God, and outside of Israel. In other words, they simply do not know where they came from because they are "the lost sheep of the house of Israel".

However here we are told what they will be called; "Ye are the sons of the living God." Friend, the "living God" is Jesus Christ, He came out of the tomb, and He lives today. Those lost sheep of the old House of Israel will identify themselves as being of Christ, "Christians". Not Jews, but Christians.

Now when the old House of Israel was removed from their promised land, the Assyrians brought in people from five other lands that they had conquered, and they became the residents of the lands formerly held by the ten tribes of Israel, known as "the House of Israel". This is the reason that the two peoples did not mix after the House of Israel had been removed. One race was Gentile "Samarian", and the other of Jacob, the Jews. The Samarians were Gentile, and a mixture of five different peoples not of Israel descent.

John 4:5 "Then cometh He to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob have to his son Joseph."

God created and owns all land, however man passes it around, and occupies it for his own use. This land that Jesus came to was the place where Jacob first purchased over seventeen hundred years before the time of Christ. Jacob bought it from Hamor, Shechem's father. This is recorded in Genesis 33:19; "And he [Jacob] bought a parcel of a field, where he had spread his tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem's father, for an hundred pieces of money."

We see in Genesis 48:21, 22 where it was passed on from Jacob, to Joseph; "And Israel [Jacob] said unto Joseph, "Behold, I die: but God shall be with you, and bring you again unto the land of your fathers." [21] "Moreover I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow." Remember that all males in the whole town of Shechem were killed for their part in consent to the rape of Dinah, Jacob's daughter. This Sychar then is the parcel of Land where Jesus and His disciples were at.

John 4:6 "Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with His journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour."

This is the reason that Jesus came here; because Jacob's well was here. Jesus was tired from his journey, and He sat down on the well because this well was His destination. The sixth hour is noon time. The first hour of the day is 6: A.M.

This well was about nine feet across and about seventy five feet deep. This is a good size well that Jacob hand dug. This well was where the Jacob and his sons and their families came to water their cattle and provide the water for them before they grew into a nation.

John 4:7 "There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, "Give Me to drink."

Christ had sent the disciples into town to get something to eat and He remained at the well to rest, and we will now see Jesus start to teach. This woman lived in this town by the well, and when she came to draw water, Jesus asked her for a drink.

John 4:8 "(For His disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)"

John 4:9 "Then saith the woman of Samaria unto Him, "How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? (for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.)"

Remember back in verse four, the Samaritans were a mixture of five different peoples from Babylon, and many other areas that had been brought in hundreds of years prior. These Samaritans were Gentile people. The Jews did not mix with them, and avoided them even when passing them on the road. If you had some property next to your brother, and outsiders [foreigners] came in and took over your brother's land, houses, and well, only your brother was moved out of the country. You would not be to friendly with these people that took your brother's land. This is how it was with between the Jews and the Samaritans. This is why this woman could not understand why Jesus would ask her for a drink.

John 4:10 "Jesus answered and said unto her, "If thou knewest the gift of God, and Who it is That saith to thee, 'Give Me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of Him, and He would have given thee living water."

Jesus was teaching here and these words must have been very surprising to this woman. The Prophet wrote of this well of Salvation, in Isaiah 12:1-3; "And in that day thou shalt say, "O Lord, I will praise Thee: though Thou wast angry with me, Thine anger is turned away, and Thou comfortedst me." [1] "Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for The Lord YHVH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation." [2]

Isaiah 12:3 "Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation." [3] Friend, Jesus is that well of salvation. That is Jesus name, "God's savior".

Isaiah 12:4; "And in that day shall ye say, "Praise the Lord, call upon His name, declare His doings among the people, make mention that His name is exalted."

Isaiah 12:5 "Sing unto the Lord; for He hath done excellent things: this is know in all the earth."

When Jesus Christ came, He spread His salvation not only to Jerusalem, but to all the earth; to all peoples of the earth that will listen, repent and believe on His Name.

So this is taking place here, as Jesus is offering this woman of Samaria His living water of Salvation, if she will but ask. Just as the physical water comes from this well of Jacob, so also does the living spiritual water come from the spiritual well that is Jesus Christ. The subject in this chapter here, is that Christ is the well that the living water of salvation comes from.

John 4:11 "The woman saith unto Him, "Sir, Thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: for whence then hast Thou that living water?"

Remember this well is seventy five feet deep, and Jesus doesn't have a water bucket. This woman still thinks Jesus is talking about the water from the well of Jacob, and not in reference to the Living Waters that He can give. This is why she in honesty is asking, "From where then does this living water that you offer come from?"

John 4:12 "Art Thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?"

Though this woman was not a descendent of Jacob, the name "father Jacob" is a title in reference to the name of the location. She is saying, we have had this well since Jacob dug it, and it has satisfied us and our cattle, how can you offer me any better water.

John 4:13 "Jesus answered and said unto her, "Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again:"

Jesus is reminding her that when she takes the water, and drinks it, she will be right back tomorrow for more water. This water from Jacob's well just doesn't last.

John 4:14 "But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life."

What well is this? We just read it above, Isaiah 12:3. It is the well of salvation. This word "springing up" in the Hebrew means "bubbling over". It is so active that it spills over the sides and saturates everything around you. When the Spirit of Christ enters into a person, and you take the waters of salvation, which come into you when you study His word, you can't contain it within you, but you just have to tell others. It bubbles, and spills out your soul and into the minds of those around you.

From that living water of His Word, we know what the future brings, and where we will be. We know that the Love of our Father, and His gifts to us are forever, and you just cannot contain this knowledge. The water of salvation is a gift from God.

John 4:15 "The woman saith unto Him, "Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw."

After this woman heard Jesus telling Her of the water that He can give, she was still thinking in the physical realm. She was thinking that if she had that water, she would not have to keep making this trip over to this well. So she has asked for the water.

John 4:16 "Jesus saith unto her, "Go, call thy husband, and come hither."

The custom of the time was that a teacher or stranger was not to speak to a woman alone, much less, a Samaritan woman. That was the custom of this time, and Jesus is following the custom.

John 4:17 "The woman answered and said, "I have no husband." Jesus said unto her, "Thou hast well said, I have no husband':

John 4:18 "For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly."

Jesus is telling her that she sure has told the truth. In many of the churches of this modern church world, they would not let her even work in the church. She can sit in the back, but she simply could not take part. They would allow her to be humble before all the other folk, as they looked down their self-righteous noses at her. They brand a woman that has been divorced.

Friend, Jesus is about to convert an entire town by using this woman that has been divorced five times. She has had five husbands, and now she is living with the sixth. Jesus could see fit to use her, even though most churches of today would reject her. It just doesn't seem that our Lord is quite as concerned with divorce as some of these Bible thumpers of today.

Jesus knows what true forgiveness is, when someone sins and they repent. The true Christian forgives all and not just in part, when their is true repentance through confession and you turn your life over to Christ. When repentance takes place, you start out a new creature, and are accepted as the new creature you are. If you do not allow that dear soul that has repented of their sin and desires, to have a start fresh. Then you are not a Christian in the Eyes of God, for you are going against God Word.

John 4:19 "The woman saith unto Him, "Sir, I perceive that Thou art a prophet."

This woman knew that there was no way that Jesus could have known what He just said to her, unless He was a prophet. Her spiritual eyes are beginning to open.

John 4:20 "Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship."

Remember that she is a Gentile, and it was in Samaria where calf worship took place; yes that was the downfall of the House of Israel. The old priests of the House of Israel even took part in this form, and it was common to the people of Samaria not to worship in Jerusalem. The Jews let them know that the Temple was for the Jews only, and not the Gentiles.

The house of Israel did not want to worship as the Lord instructed them to worship, but they desired to make their worship something easy to perform. It is similar to what many do today, with all their short-cuts in worship and trimming the Word of God. So this woman is calling the attention of Jesus that her people do not go to Jerusalem to worship, but stay right there in the mountain and worship.

John 4:21 "Jesus saith unto her, "Woman, believe Me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father."

John 4:22 "Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews."

Jesus is telling her that there is a time coming when you will not go to a location to worship God the Father, for you worship will come by repentance. The Samaritans worshipped many things, in fact their worship from the past came from a combination of five different religions.

The expression "salvation is of the Jews", or "from Jerusalem" is in reference to the place where Jesus would be crucified. It would not be until after that crucifixion takes place in Jerusalem that this salvation would go forth to the whole world. Once Jesus would go to the cross, then it would not matter where you worshipped, for the Temple of God would be in your very heart.

When we cry out to God in repentance in Jesus name, then that well of living water would enter into our hearts, and the salvation of our souls would become eternal.

To find out exactly what happened to Samaria when the Assyrians took it over, it is recorded in II Kings 17: 24-34.

II Kings 17:24; "And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof."

As we saw earlier, the ten tribes of Israel were taken captive, and the Assyrians moved in people from five other lands with five different forms of worship.

These people practiced all forms of idolatry and wickedness, and "the Lord sent lions among them, and slew some of them." [25] After many of them were killed, the Samaritans went to the King of Assyria that ruled over them, and asked him to do something about the lions. In turn the King of Assyria told them that the lions were there, "because they knew not the manner of the God of the land", and the solution for their safety lie in their "learning of the God of the land from the priests of the Israel". So the king went to where he placed the Israelites and got priests to give to these Samaritans. The different forms of worship are listed in verses 29-31.

II Kings 17:29; "Howbeit every nation made gods of their own, and put them in the houses of the high places which the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities where in they dwelt."

These are the mountain places where the Samaritans worshipped. This took place seven hundred years before Christ birth.

II Kings 17:30-31; "And the men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, and the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima," [30] "And the Abites made Nibhaz and Tarkak, and the Sapharvites burnt their children in fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim." [31] There are five different religious forms here, all forms of idolatry. The priest taught them the ways of God, and they followed those ways until the lions left, then they reverted back to their old pagan forms.

II Kings 17:34; "Unto this day they do after the former manners: they fear not the Lord, neither do they after their statutes, or after their ordinances, or after the law and commandment which the Lord commanded the children of Jacob, whom He named Israel;"

With this background, we can see their spiritual nature of the woman that Jesus talked to, and those in the community where she lived. These were Gentile people that in the past had the teaching of the law and the commandments, but reverted back to their old paganism. She knew of the coming Messiah from her ancestors, who were taught from the true Levitical priests.

This is also why Jesus told this woman that she didn't even know what they worshipped, for the Samaritans had the mixture of those five religious forms, along with the teaching of the law, and now centuries later, she has come to worship a mixture of traditions and religious forms.

John 4:23 "But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him."

John 4:24 "God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth."

The "Truth" is the "Word of God". It is the Word that God handed to you and I through His prophets, and we call it our "Bible".

John 4:25 "The woman saith unto Him, "I know that Messias cometh, Which is called Christ: when He is come, He will tell us all things."

This woman has been taught enough of the old tradition from the teachings of that Levitical priest that saved them from the lions, for they were aware of the Christ that will come, and reveal all things to them. She now realizes that Jesus, the man that she has been talking with and told her everything about her is that Messiah.

John 4:26 "Jesus saith unto her, "I That speak unto thee am He."

Do you realize that this is the first time that Jesus has revealed his true identity to anyone in such a statement, other then to his disciples. He made this statement to a Samaritan woman.

John 4:27 "And upon this came His disciples, and marvelled that He talked with the woman: yet no man said, "What seekest Thou?" or, "Why talkest Thou with her?"

When the disciples came back with food from town, they were very surprised that Jesus was teaching this Samaritan woman. The point that should be brought here, is that when you teach someone of the Word of God, teach it with the authority that God has given you. There are very few around that have the nerve to ask you why you use such authority.

John 4:28 "The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men,"

This old gal is excited. She came to the well to get water and she left the pot and headed back to town without the water or the pot. She is excited about the news that she has to tell.

John 4:29 "Come, see a Man, Which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?"

She knew Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah because He told her so. Now watch how Jesus will use this woman divorced five times, who is living out of wedlock.

John 4:30 "Then they went out of the city, and came unto Him."

John 4:31 "In the mean while His disciples prayed Him, saying, "Master, eat."

When the woman headed into town, the disciples were dining and pleading with Jesus to eat. They knew that He was also hungry. See where their minds and attention is at.

John 4:32 "But He said unto them, "I have meat to eat that ye know not of."

Jesus is referring to the spiritual life giving strength, that the disciples were not thinking of.

John 4:33 "Therefore said the disciples one to another, "Hath any man brought Him ought to eat?"

Every one was then thinking that the other had slipped Jesus something to eat behind their backs.

John 4:34 "Jesus saith unto them, "My meat is to do the will of Him That sent me, and to finish His work."

This now is the teachings of Christ. Jesus meat is to do the will of the Father that sent Him. When Jesus started on that work, He didn't want other things to interfere with those duties at hand. Jesus knows that the woman was about to bring out the whole town and the teaching will begin.

John 4:35 "Say not ye, 'There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest?' Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest."

Jesus is telling the disciples that the woman is coming back and the whole town is on it's way with her. When you sow a seed into the ground, there is about four months until the harvest of the crop comes. What Jesus is telling us, is that when we plant the type of seed that Christ wants us to sow, expect and be prepared for the harvest immediately. You plant the seed, and the fruit of your planting is now. The spirit takes that seed, and makes it grow, but we are to nurture it through the teaching of the Word.

John 4:36 "And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together."

When you do the work for the kingdom of God, expect to receive wages for it. When we teach, or pray for the work of the Lord, or sing, or even usher, what ever you do for the harvest of the Lord, you will gather wages that will be collected throughout eternity. You have a part to do in the service of the Lord, and when the fruit of the harvest comes in, and the rewards come, and all will share in the harvest equally.

John 4:37 "And herein is that saying true, 'One soweth, and another reapeth.' "

John 4:38 "I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours."

What is this talking about? Lets break it down.

Who did the sowing? The prophets of old did the sowing, as they laid down the Words that the heavenly Father gave them to write. That seed was the Word, the Truth we call our Bible. The Prophets and the priests labored in the field, which is the world. Even the Levitical priest that the Assyrian King brought back to Samaria from Iraq, labored in the field, as he taught this mixture of peoples about the Word of God.

What Jesus is saying here is that the seed, the Word of God was planted centuries before, what are you waiting for. Jesus is telling them, go partake in the harvest and draw your wages now. Those wages are earned in this earth age, and they will stay with us through out eternity. Our rewards in the next life come by our works in this life. There are also many other rewards that we can take now. Happiness, peace of mind, and even security can come by following and studying God's Word. The "Word of God" is God's set of instruction that tells us how to operate these physical bodies, and live in peace and health.

John 4:39 "And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on Him for the saying of the woman, which testified, "He told me all that ever I did."

Here came the town people, following like a bunch of sheep after this excited woman that was leading them all the way to Christ.

John 4:40 "So when the Samaritans were come unto Him, they besought Him that He would tarry with them: and He abode there two days."

Jesus spent two days there teaching these people the way of the Lord.

John 4:41 "And many more believed because of His own word;"

This is important, "They believed because of His Word." They believed not because of what the woman said, but because of the teaching of God's Word. That is how you teach. You use that Word of God taught with understanding and not the traditions of men, nor the stories about your life.

John 4:42 "And said unto the woman, "Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard Him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world."

When the true Word of God is taught, the Holy Spirit will open minds and draw the listener to Him. We see that Salvation is now open even to the Samaritans, for as they heard the teachings of Christ, they believed in Jesus Christ.

John 4:43 "Now after two days He departed thence, and went into Galilee."

This is where his first miracle was performed.

John 4:44 "(For Jesus Himself testified, that a prophet hath no honour in his own country.)"

John 4:45 "Then when He was come into Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things that He did at Jerusalem at the feast: (for they also went unto the feast)."

Remember this time of Christ's teaching was recorded back in John 2:23.

John 4:46 "So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, where He made the water wine. and there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum."

This would be a royal officer of Herod's [Herod Antipas] court. More than likely he was a Gentile, for he was part of the Roman Government. Prior to this time there has only been one miracle preformed, that of Jesus turning the water into wine at the Cana wedding. This is the second, and it took place also in Cana.

John 4:47 "When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judaea into Galilee, he went unto Him, and besought Him that He would come down, and heal his son: for he was at the point of death."

The boy was about to die.

John 4:48 "Then said Jesus unto him, "Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe."

Jesus is telling this nobleman that for this healing to take place, there must be belief, and you are not able to believe unless you see signs and wonders to cause you to believe.

John 4:49 "The nobleman saith unto Him, "Sir, come down ere my child die."

This is faith. This nobleman told Jesus I don't need to see a miracle, just come with me, or my child will die. He is telling Christ, you don't need to prove anything to me, just come for I know you can do it. That is faith, action focused on the nobleman's belief in Christ. He knew that the anointing of the presence of God was there, and that was his faith.

John 4:50 "Jesus saith unto him, "God thy way; thy son liveth." And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way."

Those with strong faith do not require any form of proof.

John 4:51 "And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, "Thy son liveth."

This was not news to the nobleman, for he believed Christ when He said the words, "thy son liveth."

John 4:52 "Then enquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And they said unto him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him."

John 4:53 "So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, "Thy son liveth:" and himself believed, and his whole house."

Did you get that? The faith of the man, caused the boy to be healed, and from that faith the people whole house came to believe.

John 4:54 "This is again the second miracle that Jesus did, when He was come out of Judaea into Galilee."

In this chapter Jesus was dealing with Gentiles. In the first case, it was the Samarian woman at the well that heard Christ and believed. When she went to tell the others in town, they also believed and were saved. This event occurred before the time of the cross, but salvation, "the living water that flows from Christ" was given to her, and many others in the town repented and believed on Christ.

In the second part of this chapter, a Gentile nobleman of the court of Herod came to Christ to heal his son, and there was the second miracle that took place. the miracle took place in Cana, because the word of the first miracle more then likely spread to the ears of this nobleman.

Think now in terms of the seventh hour, as to dispensations. The seventh dispensation is the Millennium age of Christ's kingdom, the reign of Jesus Christ. In Biblical numerics, seven stands for spiritual completeness. In the seventh dispensation the entire world will be taught and bow to Jesus Christ as their King of kings and Lord of Lords. Though there is teaching now, it will be complete to all on the earth then. There will be healing then for all those that will receive it. All those that simply will not believe without signs and wonders will have their signs then, for they will also have the mental ability to know the truth. Because Jesus will be here with us, salvation will not be by faith, but strictly by works and obedience through the Millennium age. Faith is accepting something sight unseen, and having the confidence to act on it.

This then is a second witness in Cana to the power that Christ can give, and also the second advent of His coming. Did you get the witness Christ gave to us? First came the wine, and then came the healing. When we take the Communion, there are two parts to take, first the wine, which is the blood of Christ that was shed for all our sins, and secondly was the bread that was broken. The bread which is the body of Christ, which we take in remembrance of the suffering and stripes that He took, and in that broken bread of the body of Christ you find healing within yourself.

Isn't it interesting how through the first two miracles, Jesus gave us the lesson that we are to take until Jesus returns at His second advent. That is the most important spiritual moment in a Christians life, when he or she takes the cup and the broken bread, for it is our remembrance of Him, until we see Him face to face. As long as you are in these flesh bodies, we are to take the cup. Paul showed us in I Corinthians 15:50-54 that at the last trump, all flesh shall be changed from their corruptible flesh bodies into our incorruptible spiritual body that shall be with us for all eternity.