Jesus and the Samaritans
4TH and 1
Part 9: Jesus and Samaritans
1 The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John, 2 although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3 When the Lord learned of this, he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee. 4 Now he had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. 7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
1. At this point, Jesus transitions his ministry to Galilee.
2. The Jews and Samaritans had a long history of conflict.
3. Jesus, by talking to a Samaritan woman, was breaking 2 social conventions.
4. This story may also continue the bridegroom/bride theme.
10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” 11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?” 13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” 16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” 17 “I have no husband,” she replied.
Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”
1. Jesus agrees with the woman that it is odd for him to ask her for water, but for a different reason. She should be asking him for water! He is, of course, speaking in a spiritual sense.
2. This passage, again, shows the superiority of Jesus to Old Covenant characters and rituals.
3. Jesus continues to speak in spiritual terms, establishing the woman’s spiritual need for the water he can provide.
19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” 21 Jesus declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” 25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” 26 Then Jesus declared, “I who speak to you am he.”
1. At this point the woman clearly understands that Jesus is someone special, but that only prompts her to ask about the religious differences between them.
2. Jesus states that the debate between Jerusalem and Gerezim (as the centers for worship) will soon be rendered unnecessary. God would soon be revealing that what matters to Him is not that worship is done in a particular place, but that it is done from the heart and with integrity.
3. Jesus confesses to be the promised Messiah of Samaritan religion. He was generally more ambiguous when speaking to Jews about this b/c they had so much of their own baggage attached to the term Messiah.
27 Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?” 28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him. 31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” 33 Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?” 34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”
1. Leaving the water jar behind showed the woman’s understanding, excitement, and desire to come back! She still had questions, but she was an effective witness for Jesus.
2. The disciples tended to take Jesus’ words in an overly literal manner just as the woman had (though this time it was about food instead of drink).
3. More important than a meal was the fact that the disciples could share in the harvest of souls. The Samaritan townspeople were on their way. This was the promised age when sowing and reaping would occur at the same time (Amos 9:13).
4. It is important for God’s workers to understand the role that others have played in preparing any fruit that they see.
39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers. 42 They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”
1. Many Samaritans believed b/c of this woman’s witness, despite the fact that her witness couldn’t have been overly informed in areas of doctrine. Her witness was effective b/c it was a personal testimony most likely told with a large dose of excitement.
2. The woman’s testimony was effective in drawing people to Jesus, but they were even better off hearing from Jesus Himself. They recognized Him as Savior of the world.
Part 9: Jesus and Samaritans
1 The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John, 2 although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. 3 When the Lord learned of this, he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee. 4 Now he had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. 7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
1. At this point, Jesus transitions his ministry to Galilee.
2. The Jews and Samaritans had a long history of conflict.
3. Jesus, by talking to a Samaritan woman, was breaking 2 social conventions.
4. This story may also continue the bridegroom/bride theme.
10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” 11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?” 13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” 16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” 17 “I have no husband,” she replied.
Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”
1. Jesus agrees with the woman that it is odd for him to ask her for water, but for a different reason. She should be asking him for water! He is, of course, speaking in a spiritual sense.
2. This passage, again, shows the superiority of Jesus to Old Covenant characters and rituals.
3. Jesus continues to speak in spiritual terms, establishing the woman’s spiritual need for the water he can provide.
19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” 21 Jesus declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” 25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” 26 Then Jesus declared, “I who speak to you am he.”
1. At this point the woman clearly understands that Jesus is someone special, but that only prompts her to ask about the religious differences between them.
2. Jesus states that the debate between Jerusalem and Gerezim (as the centers for worship) will soon be rendered unnecessary. God would soon be revealing that what matters to Him is not that worship is done in a particular place, but that it is done from the heart and with integrity.
3. Jesus confesses to be the promised Messiah of Samaritan religion. He was generally more ambiguous when speaking to Jews about this b/c they had so much of their own baggage attached to the term Messiah.
27 Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?” 28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him. 31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” 33 Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?” 34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”
1. Leaving the water jar behind showed the woman’s understanding, excitement, and desire to come back! She still had questions, but she was an effective witness for Jesus.
2. The disciples tended to take Jesus’ words in an overly literal manner just as the woman had (though this time it was about food instead of drink).
3. More important than a meal was the fact that the disciples could share in the harvest of souls. The Samaritan townspeople were on their way. This was the promised age when sowing and reaping would occur at the same time (Amos 9:13).
4. It is important for God’s workers to understand the role that others have played in preparing any fruit that they see.
39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers. 42 They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”
1. Many Samaritans believed b/c of this woman’s witness, despite the fact that her witness couldn’t have been overly informed in areas of doctrine. Her witness was effective b/c it was a personal testimony most likely told with a large dose of excitement.
2. The woman’s testimony was effective in drawing people to Jesus, but they were even better off hearing from Jesus Himself. They recognized Him as Savior of the world.
posted by matthew at 1:25 PM
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