The next significant event in Jesus’ public ministry is Jesus’ meeting with the Samaritan woman found in John 4:4-26. In previous lessons Jesus had been in Galilee (in Cana for the marriage feast, John 2:1, then to Capernaum, John 2:12). He then traveled back to Jerusalem in Judea (first purification of the temple, and his conversation with Nicodemus, John 2:13). Now He will go back to Galilee, John 4:3. John 4:4 then tells us it was necessary for Him to go through Samaria. This was not the normal route most Jews would take, since they had no dealings with the Samaritans (John 4:9). However, there are probably two reasons why Jesus chose to go this way. The first is that it is three days closer. The other is that it was probably in obedience to the Father, so we could have an account of this conversation.
It would no doubt be helpful if we stop here and look at a little information as to why the Jews and Samaritans were at odds with one another. I’ll break it down for you and will try to be brief. In the third century BC there was a division among the priests in Jerusalem and some of them relocated in Samaria. Their areas of disagreement can be seen in the resulting differences in what they followed. There are three major ones: the Samaritans believed the temple should not be on Mt. Zion in Jerusalem, but on Mt. Gerizim near Sychar in Samaria; they believed their priests were the only legitimate priesthood; and they accepted only the writings of Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy) as divinely inspired and rejected the prophets and other writings in the Jewish Old Testament. Given these differences, there was ample reason for the animosity that existed.
So, Jesus arrives in Sychar and Jacob’s well at about the sixth hour or 12:00 noon (John 4:5-6). Again, we need to look at Jacob’s well. It exists today in the Palestinian city of Nablus on the West Bank. We don’t have to rely on history to know that this well is hewn out of solid rock about 105 feet deep and 9 feet in diameter. It has consistently had about 15 feet of water at the bottom for over 2,000 years.
Then the conversation begins. Jesus makes 7 statements to the woman that lead up to the last in verse 26 when He declares Himself to be the Christ. The first is “Give Me a drink” (verse 7), to which the woman expresses some surprise that a Jew would talk to a Samaritan for the reasons given earlier (verse 9).
Jesus answers, “If you had only recognized God’s gift and Who is saying to you, Give Me a drink, you would be asking Him for living water.” (Verse 10) To which she respectfully answers, “Sir, you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep, how then can You give me this living water?” (Verse 11)
Now Jesus is going to get down to business. “All who drink this water will just get thirsty again. But whoever takes a drink of the water I can give will never, ever be thirsty again. And the water I will give him will be a spring of water flowing continually within him unto eternal life.” (Verses 13-14) At this point I don’t think she particularly believes what Jesus is saying, but is sufficiently interested to continue the conversation, “Sir, give me this water, so I will never get thirsty and will not have to come here to draw.” (Verse 15)
This is the mid-point of the conversation, statement number 4, and it’s going to get personal. Jesus tells her, “Go get your husband and bring him back here.” (Verse 16) To which she answers, “I have no husband.” And Jesus says, “You’re telling the truth when you say, I have no husband”. (Verse 17) Then He continues to her amazement, “For you have had five husbands, and the man you’re living with now is not your husband. In this you have told the truth”. (Verse 18) This goes back to John 2:24-25 that tells us Jesus “knew” all men, that is, He understood their human (sinful) nature and could read their thoughts (compare Matthew 9:4, 12:25; Luke 5:22, 6:8, 11:17).
Then she answers, “I understand now that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but the Jews say Jerusalem is the proper place to worship.” (Verses 19-20) Here is where I can sympathize with this woman. Jesus has just exposed her sin. And in the conviction she has just felt, her first reaction is to try to change the subject, lest even more of her sinful past be revealed. And what is the natural, safe subject to use in diverting the conversation? Now she wants to talk about the religious conflict between the Samaritans and the Jews.
But Jesus is undeterred, and uses her attempt to change the subject. His next statement gets right to the heart of the matter. “Woman, believe Me, the time is coming when you will worship the Father not just in this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not understand; we do know what we are worshiping, for salvation comes from the Jews. A time will come, in fact it is already here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for that is the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is a Spirit and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.” (Verses 21-24)
Jesus’ statement here explains one of the greatest principles in Scripture: true worship is a matter of the individual’s heart and has nothing to do with a particular place. It is here I must mount my soapbox. “Worship” is from proskuneo, to prostrate oneself in homage, to reverence, by implication it is an act of submission. It has nothing to do with singing songs in a congregational meeting; it has everything to do with a personal, individual act of submission to God.
And what does it mean to “worship in spirit and in truth”? The word translated “spirit” is pneuma and refers to the immaterial part of man, his soul and spirit. When we worship God, we submit our mind, will and emotions to Him and open our spirit to Him, so He can reveal His mind, will and emotions to us. As we experience that and submit to it, He is able to begin changing us from who we are to Who He is. Jesus expresses the end result of this process of deliverance in John 17:21-23 – that we may be one with God!
“Truth” is aletheia, reality as opposed to falsehood or error. The Samaritan woman tried to draw Jesus into a religious debate. Who is right, who is wrong. But like He always did, Jesus avoids the opinions of men and speaks the mind of God. True worship has nothing to do with man-made controversies or disagreements regarding places, rituals, ceremonies, institutions or belief systems. It is a personal matter that involves only the individual and God.
This, then, brings us to the end of the conversation when the woman says, “I know the Messiah is coming, He Who is called the Christ. And when He comes, He will tell us everything we need to know.” To which Jesus replied, “I Who now speak with you am He.”
You can read verses 27-42 to see what happened next. Verse 39 tells us “many” of the Samaritans in that city believed in Him because of what the woman said about Him (here, “believed” means the same thing it did in the lesson on Nicodemus). Jesus spent two days there (verse 40) and “many more” believed in Him (verse 41). This is one of those places I wish John (or the Holy Spirit) would have been a little more specific. I would like to know what Jesus said to those Samaritans that convinced them He was the Christ (verse 42).