John 4:16-26

Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”  The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’;  for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”  The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.  Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.”  Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.  You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.  But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.  God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”  The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.”  Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

John 4:16-26

Now that she is interested enough to want what Jesus is offering, what does Jesus do?  Jesus yet again speaks in an unexpected way.  He says to her, "Go, call your husband and come here."  Why is he all of a sudden asking her to bring her husband?  It seems as if he is revealing more about himself to her.  She may only be interested in the water, but she should be interested in who he is as well.  He is someone who knows her even without even meeting her before.

The woman says, "I have no husband." Jesus then reveals the truth.

The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”

John 4:17-18

Jesus knows her.  Jesus knows what she may not want other people to know about her.  Having had 5 husbands and being with a man who is not your husband was probably not well looked upon at that time.  Actually, it probably is still not well looked upon in our time, but probably moreso back then.  What will she do now that is it revealed that Jesus knows this about her?  Now it is the woman's turn to say something somewhat unexpected.

The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.”

John 4:19-20

In some ways this response is not all that odd.  When backed into a corner, one may lash out in defense.  Instead of talking about the living water or about Jesus himself who knows this or about the fact that she has had 5 husbands and is currently with a man who is not her husband she brings up a debate between Jews and Samaritans.  She asks, "Where is the place that people ought to worship".  Is this an important question?  Is this even an important question for this woman?  Either way, Jesus has a lengthy answer.

Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
John 4:21-24

Jesus tells her that a time is coming where the place of worship will not matter.  I guess this debate isn't really all that important.  Next, Jesus lays down an important truth.  Samaritans worship what they do not know, but Jews worship what they do know.  The truth is that salvation is from the Jews and they know the Father, as opposed to the Samaritans.  I guess the Samaritan's views on God were inaccurate or incomplete.  Perhaps they went on their own way and did not come out with the right one.  In any case, the place of worship will not matter, but truth does matter.  Unfortunately, the Samaritans don't have the truth.

This seems quite heavy but I guess it's a truth that she needs to hear.  Jesus moves on to explain true worshipers.  "true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him."  Truth matters when it comes to worship.  In the Doxology Intro, Shai Linne puts it this way:

Theology is the study of God and it's very important;
Doxology is an expression of praise to God
So, the point here is that all theology should ultimately lead to doxology
If theology doesn't lead to doxology, then we've actually missed the point of theology
So if you have theology without doxology, you just have dead, cold orthodoxy;
Which is horrible, right?
On the other side, we have people who say: "Ugh! Forget theology; I just wanna praise!" Right?
But, if we have doxology without theology, we actually have idolatry!
Because it's just a random expression of praise; but it's not actually informed by the Truth of who God is
So, God is concerned with both!
He's concerned with an accurate understanding of Him;
And that accurate understanding of Him, leading to a response of praise, adoration and worship towards Him

Doxology Intro, Shai Linne

So, truth matters and that is important in worship.  However, what does Jesus mean when he says "spirit"?  Perhaps this is explained by what Shai Linne says about Doxology.  The AMP adds a note with regards to the word "spirit" in verse 23:

But a time is coming and is already here when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit [from the heart, the inner self] and in truth; for the Father seeks such people to be His worshipers.

John 4:23 (AMP)

So, worship needs to be from the heart and needs to be based on truth.  However, if that is the case then what does it mean in the next verse when Jesus says "God is spirit".  Is this "spirit" the same "spirit" mentioned in the previous verse?  What does that even mean and what is the purpose of saying that "God is spirit"?

Maybe we need to backup a bit.  Does worship in "spirit" refer to the Holy Spirit?  In some ways I guess that would make sense.  However, I get the feeling that Jesus is slightly more clear than that when speaking to this woman.  As in, he wouldn't hide the meaning of the Holy Spirit by saying "spirit" like that.  Also, the Holy Spirit mentioned later in the book of John is referred to as the Helper.  Okay, then the question remains focused on what is meant by "God is spirit"?  I don't know how wise it is to keep asking AMP, but let's take a quick look to see.

God is spirit [the Source of life, yet invisible to mankind], and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

John 4:24 (AMP)

That's all I got.  Maybe God will illuminate the truth as we meditate on his word and study it.

The last thing Jesus says here is that "those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth".  Even though this is in line with something that is coming, it is actually a requirement.  Worship of God needs to be in spirit and in truth.  This is very important and actually so important that it is a necessity.

The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.”

John 4:25

I wish that I could tell what her disposition was.  I feel like I can't quite tell how she's feeling or what she's going through.  Is she defensive?  Is she vulnerable?  We can tell that she ends up convinced since a few verses later she goes to tell the people in the town about him.  However, she says this just before Jesus truly reveals himself.  What is going through her mind right at this moment?  Is she trying to justify what she knows and that she doesn't really need to listen to Jesus anymore?

Regardless of what she is feeling, Jesus reveals to the woman that he is in fact the Messiah.  At this, we don't read any more of this dialogue between the Samaritan woman and Jesus.  However, in this short time on a pit stop on his way to Galilee, Jesus has made an impact on this woman and will make an impact on the town.  Jesus looks pretty cool, I must say.

John 4:7-15

A woman from 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.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

John 4:7-15

This is such a fascinating interaction that we find here in John 4 between Jesus and this Samritan woman.  As the woman enters the scene to draw water, Jesus asks her for a drink.  We find out that Jesus is alone since his disciples had gone into the city to buy food.  Question: If Jews have no dealings with Samaritans, why would the disciples go into the city to buy food from the Samaritans?  I guess things like business and buying food do not count.  Instead, asking for a drink is a bit different.

Jesus asks her for a drink to which she questions his actions: “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?”  Why is he even talking to her?  Not only is she a Samaritan, but she's also a woman.  Not only is she a Samritan and a woman, but she is perhaps outcast from her society due to the fact that she comes to draw water at noon.  Perhaps she did this to avoid the rest of the people who would typically draw water when it wasn't quite so hot outside.  In any case, it is a surprise to her and probably to the reader that Jesus would even speak to this person.

Jesus raises the surprise by saying something else unexpected: “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”  How weird is that?  In response to her surprise that he is even talking to her, Jesus tells her that she should actually be asking him for a drink.  If she actually knew, she would ask him.  What is it that she is supposed to know?  Jesus's words are, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,'"  What she is to know in regards to asking Jesus is the gift of God and who he is.  AMP takes the liberty to interpret the gift of God as eternal life.  Who he is is revealed to her later when he tells her that he is the Messiah.  What Jesus would give her (as he refers to in what he says to her) is not just a drink, but living water.  If we jump ahead to what Jesus says next, we find that this living water is that which causes the drinker to never be thirsty again.  Instead, it will "become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life".

To what Jesus says she is still confused.  Where does this man even get this water from?  She shows her confusion in what she says next, seeing that he has nothing to draw water with and that the well is deep.  This seems to her as the only source of water, so if he were to give her a drink, it seems quite impossible for him to do so.  She obviously wonders, where does he get this water from?  She actually goes on to make another point about the well.  Jacob gave them this well and she wonders if he is greater than Jacob who gave them this well.  We know that the answer is "yes".  Jesus is most certainly greater than Jacob.  However, at this moment she still doesn't get it (and perhaps that's understandable).

Jesus still gives a somewhat odd response.  Wouldn't the typical response be to answer where he is getting this living water from?  Instead, Jesus simply tells her more about his living water in compared to regular water.  Drinking from regular water will only satisfy ones thirst for a period of time, but that person will eventually get thirsty again.  However, Jesus' living water will satisfy ones thirst forever.  The way he puts it is as follows: "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again."

Jesus doesn't stop there but adds to what he has just said: "The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."  I'm not entirely sure if this explains how someone would not thirst after drinking Jesus' living water or if this is something that happens in addition.  It would make sense that a spring of water would continue to satisfy ones thirst since it seems like a continuous supply of water.  AMP takes liberties to explain that this spring of water is "[satisfying his thirst for God]".  However, this may also be something in addition to satisfying ones own thirst.  This may be because Jesus tells us that this spring is "welling up to eternal life".  Perhaps it's both explaining and adding something.  Either way we get a picture of a spring of water within someone that is connected to eternal life for that person.

I guess at this point Jesus finally has her intrigued.  As impossible as it sounds, is it not intriguing to be offered water that will cause one to never be thirsty again?  I can imagine that some people would not be as keen to jump at this opportunity.  In fact, we know this to be true.  Since Jesus is actually speaking of more than just water, we know that many do not choose to accept Jesus' offer.  In any case, we see the woman who is now intrigued asking for this water.  She says that she doesn't want to have to keep coming to this well to draw water.

Now the question is: will Jesus simply give it to her now that she wants the living water that Jesus is offering?  If what Jesus says in this chapter is any indication of what is to come, then he most certainly will not.  In fact, if you think about it, she really only wants the water because she will never be thirsty again.  She still doesn't know who Jesus is.  To put it another way, she merely wants the benefits but cares nothing for the giver himself.  Is this not typical?  John Piper puts it this way:

“The critical question for our generation—and for every generation—is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ were not there? ”

-John Piper

There is more to be said and more to be done.  We are only  half-way through this conversation.

John 4:1-6

Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. And he had to pass through Samaria. So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.

John 4:1-6

I have found that I really like the book of John.  It is so simple and it's simplicity makes it so approachable.  Yet, at the same time it is so wonderfully deep and complex.  I guess this could be said of just about all of scripture.

Taking a quick peek in the previous chapter, we have seen Jesus meeting up with Nicodemus by night and talking about being born again.  It is in this conversation that we get the famous John 3:16.  The second part of that chapter took a look at John the Baptist.  Once again, John the Baptist points away from himself and towards Christ.

So, picking up in Chapter 4, we read that "The Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John".  It is when Jesus learns this that he departs for Galilee.  Now, Jesus knows this already, does he not?  I guess the significance is that even if Jesus already knew this or that, from our point of view or for the purposes of those around him, we see an action and a reaction.  As those reading the story, we get an insight into Jesus' actions and what is causing him to do this or that.  In this case, we see that he departs for Galilee because the Pharisees hear that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John the Baptist.  This shows that though the Pharisees may have been interested in John the Baptist at the beginning of the book of John, there is a shift in popularity.  As a result, the Pharisees will probably begin to become more and more interested in Jesus.

What's interesting is that this reaction isn't necessarily what one would expect.  Isn't the typical reaction to a raise in popularity to embrace it?  Yes, because we know the end from the beginning, this may not be surprising.  However, just looking at life and celebrities and people by nature.  Jesus does the opposite of that by going away.

In his travels, Jesus passes through Samaria.  I'm not entirely sure, but I suspect that a typical Jew in that day would not have passed through Samaria.  Instead, a typical Jew would have traveled around Samaria instead of through it.  I suspect that this is true from the fact that later on int his chapter, the text explains the relationship between Samritans and Jews:

The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)

John 4:9

In any case, we also learn that the setting of this chapter is not just some random well in some random field in Samaria.  Instead, we read that it just so happens to be Jacob's well, which is "near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph".  What is the significance of this?  I am not sure...

Anyway, Jesus is tired and is sitting beside the well.  The time is also significant, being the 6th hour (noon).  An important question to ask is: why is someone coming to draw water at noon?  It would make more sense to come early in the morning to draw water.  At noon the sun is high and it is probably the hottest time of the day.  However, this may be because this woman is an outcast.  Regardless, Jesus is there and this meeting takes place.  One could even say that Jesus is there for this meeting.  I do not presume that our God does anything by accident or half-heartedly.  Instead, he means to do what he does and there is a reason.  If he decides and plans on something, he does it and is not late nor is he early.  Jesus is there to meet this woman.

James 3:13-18

Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

James 3:13-18

The wise should "show his works in the meekness of wisdom".  I am a bit perplexed by what this means.  I guess it seems that the wise should somehow show his or her good works.  This means that his good deeds are on display for others to see.  However, how are these good deeds shown "in the meekness of wisdom"?  If we look ahead, we see James bringing up "jealousy and selfish ambition", things that one should not have or do.  In addition, boasting and "being false to the truth" are also things that are not recommended.  It would seem that "the meekness of wisdom" does not bode well with jealousy, selfish ambition, boasting and "being false to the truth".  Even if we're not quite sure what "the meekness of wisdom" is, we know that it is not (or does not have) jealousy, selfish ambition, boasting and/or "being false to the truth".

So, wise people or wisdom does not have those things.  Does this mean that to be wise means to avoid or not engage in that sort of behavior?  As I reflect on these things, I have found that I am privy to these sorts of things.  It is a bit concerning since I want to be wise and I don't want to be foolish.  Perhaps you should examine yourself and make sure that you are not engaging in that sort of behavior?

In any case, James goes on to explain that those sorts of things does not equate with wisdom.  In particular, he notes that it is different from "the wisdom that comes down from above".  True wisdom is from above.  True wisdom is not of this earth.  Wisdom is from God.  I am reminded of Proverbs 3:7.

Be not wise in your own eyes;
    fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.

Proverbs 3:7

There are other things that James mentions in relation to wisdom.  He lists the things that Wisdom are.

But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.

v17

As we mediate on these verses from James, may God penetrate our hearts and teach us his truth.