John 4:1-42: The Woman at the Well

4:1

Therefore as Jesus knew [3S 2 Aor Act Indic ginosko] that the Pharisees heard [3P 1 Aor Act Indic akouo] that Jesus is making [3S Pres Act Indic poieo] more disciples and baptizing [3S Pres Act Indic baptizo] than John 2(although Jesus himself did not baptize [3S 1 Aor Act Indic baptizo] but his disciples), 3 he left [3S 1 Aor Act Indic aphiemi] Judea and departed [3S 2 Aor Act Indic aperchomai] into Galilee. 4 Now it was necessary [3S Impf Act Indic dei] for him to go through [Pres Mid Inf dierchomai] Samaria. 5 Therefore he comes [3S Pres Mid Indic erchomai] into a city of the Samaritans called [Acc MS Pres Pass Part lego] Sychar, near to the region that Jacob gave [3S 1 Aor Act Indic didomi] to Joseph his son. 6Now Jacobs well was [3S Impf Act Indic eimi] there. Therefore Jesus, having become wearied [Nom MS Perf Act Part kopiao] from the journey, sat down [3S Impf Mid Indic kathezomai] thus on the well: it was [3S Impf Act Indic eimi] about the eighth hour.
7

A woman comes [3S Pres Mid Indic erchomai] from Samaria to draw [1 Aor Act Inf antleo] water. Jesus says [3S Pres Act Indic lego] to her, Give [2S 2 Aor Act Impv didomi] me to drink [2 Aor Act Inf pino]. 8 For his disciples had gone away [3P Perf Act Indic aperchomai] into the city in order to buy [3P 1 Aor Act Subj agorazo] food. 9Therefore the Samaritan woman says [3S Pres Act Indic lego] to him, How is it that you, being [Nom MS Pres Act Part eimi] a Jew, of me to drink [2 Aor Act Inf pino] you are asking [2S Pres Act Indic aiteo], being [Gen FS Pres Act Part eimi] a Samaritan woman? For Jews do not associate [3P Pres Mid Indic sugchraomai] with Samaritans. 10Jesus answered [3S 1 Aor Pass Indic apokrinomai] and said [3S 2 Aor Act Indic lego] to her, If you knew [2S Perf Act Indic eido] the gift of God and who is [3S Pres Act Indic eimi] speaking [Nom MS Pres Act Part lego] to you, Give [2S 2 Aor Act Impv didomi] me to drink [2 Aor Act Inf pino], you would have asked [2S 1 Aor Act Indic aiteo] him, and he would have given [3S 1 Aor Act Indic didomi] to you living water. 11The woman says [3S Pres Act Indic lego] to him, Lord, you have [2S Pres Act Indic echo] nothing to draw with, and the well is [3S Pres Act Indic eimi] deep. From where, then, do you have [2S Pres Act Indic echo] the living water? 12Are [2S Pres Act Indic eimi] you greater than our father Jacob, who gave [3S 1 Aor Act Indic didomi] to us the well, and he from it drank [3S 2 Aor Act Indic pino], and his sons and his cattle? 13 Jesus answered [3S 1 Aor Pass Indic apokrinomai] and said [3S 2 Aor Act Indic lego] to her, Everyone who drinks [Nom MS Pres Act Part pino] from this water will thirst [3S Fut Act Indic dipsao] again. 14But whoever drinks [3S 2 Aor Act Subj pino] from the water that I shall give [1S Fut Act Indic didomi] to him, he shall never thirst [3S 1 Aor Act Subj dipsao] forever, but the water that I shall give [1S Fut Act Indic didomi] to him shall become [3S Fut Mid Indic ginomai] in him a well of water springing up [Gen MS Pres Mid Part allomai] unto eternal life. 15The woman says [3S Pres Act Indic lego] o him, Lord, give [2S 2 Aor Act Impv didomi] this water, that I might not thirst [1S Pres Act Subj dipsao], nor come [1S Pres Act Subj dierchomai] here to draw [Pres Act Inf antleo].
16

He says [3S Pres Act Indic lego] to her, Go [2S Pres Act Impv hupago], call [2S 1 Aor Act Impv phoneo] your husband and come [2S 2 Aor Act Impv erchomai] here. 17The woman answered [3S 1 Aor Pass Indic apokrinomai] and said [3S 1 Aor Act Indic lego] to him, I do not have [3S Pres Act Indic echo] a husband. Jesus says [3S Pres Act Indic lego] to her, You have said [2S 2 Aor Act Indic lego] well, that A husband I do not have [1S Pres Act Indic echo]. 18For five husbands you have had [2S 2 Aor Act Indic echo], and now the one you have [2S Pres Act Indic echo] is [3S Pres Act Indic eimi] ot your husband. This you have spoken [2S Perf Act Indic lego] truly. 19The woman says [3S Pres Act Indic lego] to him, Lord, I perceive [1S Pres Act Indic theoreo] that you are [3S Pres Act Indic eimi] a prophet. 20 Our fathers on this mountain worshiped [3P 1 Aor Act Indic proskuneo]; but you say [3P Pres Act Indic lego] that in Jerusalem is [3S Pres Act Indic eimi] the place where it is necessary to worship [Pres Act Inf proskuneo]. 21Jesus says [3S Pres Act Indic lego] to her, Believe [2S 1 Aor Act Impv pisteuo] me, woman, that the hour is coming [3S Pres Mid Indic erchomai] when neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, you will worship [2P Fut Act Indic proskuneo] the Father. 22You worship [2P Pres Act Indic

proskuneo] what you do not know [2P Perf Act Indic eido]; we worship [1P Pres Act Indic proskuneo] what we know [1P Perf Act Indic eido], for salvation from the Jews is [3S Pres Act Indic eimi]. 23But the hour is coming [3S Pres Mid Indic erchomai] and is [3S Pres Act Indic eimi] now, where true worshipers will worship [3P Fut Act Indic proskuneo] the Father in spirit and truth. For the Father is seeking [3S Pres Act Indic zetao] such worshipers [Acc MP Pres Act Part proskuneo] of him. 24God is spirit, and those who worship [Acc MP Pres Act Part proskuneo] him in spirit and truth it is necessary to worship [Pres Act Inf proskuneo]. 25The woman says [3S Pres Act Indic lego] to him, I know [1S Perf Act Indic eido] that Messiah is coming [3S Pres Mid Indic erchomai], who is called [Nom MS Pres Pass Part lego] Christ; when that one comes [3S 2 Aor Act Subj erchomai], he will tell [3S Fut Act Indic anaggello] us all things. 26Jesus says [3S Pres Act Indic lego] to her, I am [1S Pres Act Indic eimi], who speaks [Nom MS Pres Act Part laleo] to you.
27

And on this his disciples came [3P 2 Aor Act Indic erchomai] and marveled [3P 1 Aor Act Indic thaumazo] that with a woman he was speaking [3S Impf Act Indic laleo]; nevertheless, no one said [3S 2 Aor Act Indic lego], What are you seeking [2S Pres Act Indic zetao], or Why are you talking [2S Pres Act Indic laleo] with her? 28Then the woman left [3S 1 Aor Act Indic apiemi] her waterpot, and she departed [3S 2 Aor Act Indic aperchomai] into the city and she says [3S Pres Act Indic lego] to the men, 29 Come, see [2P 2 Aor Act Impv eido] a man who told [3S 2 Aor Act Indic lego] me everything that I ever did [1S 1 Aor Act Indic poieo]. Is [3S Pres Act Indic eimi] not this the Christ? 30They went out [3P 2 Aor Act Indic exerchomai] from the city and they were coming [3P Impf Mid Indic erchomai] to him.
31

In the meantime the disciples were asking [3P Impf Act Indic erotao] him, saying [Nom MP Pres Act Part lego], Rabbi, eat [2S 2 Aor Act Impv esthio]. 32But he said [3S 2 Aor Act Indic lego] to them, I have [3S Pres Act Indic echo] food to eat [2 Aor Act Inf esthio] that you do not know [2P Perf Act Indic eido]. 33Therefore the disciples were saying [3P Impf Act Indic lego] to one another, Did someone bring [3S 1 Aor Act Indic phero] him to eat [2 Aor Act Inf esthio]? 34Jesus says [3S Pres Act Indic lego] o them, My food is [3S Pres Act Indic eimi] that I do [1S Pres Act Subj poieo] the will of the sending-meOne [Gen MS 1 Aor Act Part pempo] and that I finish [1S 1 Aor Act Subj teleioo] his work. 35Do you not say [2P Pres Act Indic lego] that, Yet four months there are [3S Pres Act Indic eimi] and the harvest comes [3S Pres Mid Indic erchomai]? Behold I say [1S Pres Act Indic lego] to you, lift up [2P 1 Aor Act Impv epairo] your eyes and see [2P 1 Aor Mid Impv theaomai] the fields, for they are [3P Pres Act Indic eimi] white for harvest already. 36The reaping-one [Nom MS Pres Act Part therizo] wages receives [3S Pres Act Indic lambano], and he gathers [3S Pres Act Indic sunagei] fruit unto eternal life, that the sowing-one [Nom MS Pres Act Part speiro] together may rejoice [3S Pres Act Subj chairo] and the reaping-one [Nom MS Pres Act Part therizo]. 37For in this the word is [3S Pres Act Indic eimi] true, that One is [3S Pres Act Indic eimi] the sower [Nom MS Pres Act Part speiro] and another the reaper [Nom MS Pres Act Part therizo]. 38I have sent [1S 1 Aor Act Indic apostello] you to reap [Pres Act Inf therizo] that for which you have not labored [2P Perf Act Indic kopiao]: others have labored [3P Perf Act Indic kopiao] and you unto their fruit have entered [2P Perf Act Indic eiserchomai].
39

Now from that city many believed [3P 1 Aor Act Indic pisteuo] in him of the Samaritans through the word of the woman, who testified [Gen FS Perf Act Part martureo] that He told [3S 2 Aor Act Indic lego] me everything that I did [1S 1 Aor Act Indic poieo]. 40So when the Samaritans came [3P 2 Aor Act Indic erchomai] to him, they were begging [3P Impf Act Indic erotao] him to remain [1 Aor Act Inf meno] with them; and he remained [3S 1 Aor Act Indic meno] there two days. 41And many more believed [3P 1 Aor Act Indic pisteuo] because of his word, 42and to the woman were saying [3P Impf Act Indic lego] that, No longer because of your speaking we believe [1P Pres Act Indic pisteuo], for ourselves we have heard [1P Perf Act Indic akouo] and we have believed [1P Perf Act Indic eido] that this one is [3S Pres Act Indic eimi] truly the Savior of the world.

Homiletical Angle: From my blog post dated January 31, 2011: Isaac, Jacob, and Moses all find their wives through interactions at a well. The parallels are fascinating: So that Isaac does not marry one of the daughters of the Canaanites, (Gen. 24:3), Abraham sends out his servant to find Isaac a wife, and the servant prays that he would recognize the right woman by her offering to water not only him, but his camels as well. Rebekah does just that, and so she becomes Isaacs wife. So that Jacob will not marry one of the Hittite women, over whom Rebekah loathes her life (Gen. 27:46), Rebekah pleads with Isaac to send Jacob to her own family for a wife, instead of marrying one of the pagan women in the land. (This is convenient, since Esau is seeking to kill Jacob at this time.) Jacob, then, upon learning that Rachel is the daughter of his mothers brother (his cousin), voluntarily waters Rachels animals. Only fourteen short years later, Rachel becomes Jacobs wife. When Moses is fleeing Egypt after killing an Egyptian (Ex. 2), he saves the seven daughters of a Midianite priest from shepherds who try to drive them from a well. Jethro, the priest, gives Zipporah to Moses as a wife. Based on Ex. 19, it seems that Jethro is a priest of Yahweh, not a pagan priest.

In all of these cases, God ordained that these great men should meet their wives (none of whom were foreigners, or at least not pagan foreigners) at a well. Imagine, then, that Jesus meets a foreign, apostate Samaritan at the well. Moreover, she is not a candidate for marriage, since 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 (John 4:17-18). While the brides of the patriarchs were necessarily pure, in order to establish a holy nation through their offspring, the bride of Jesus is a whore whom he makes pure by the washing of water with the word. Jesus does go to the well to seek a bride, but goes to the well also to offer his bride better waters: the living waters of which he himself is the fount. (http://www.towardrealliberty.com/2011/01/wives-wells-and-jesus/) Comment: 4:1-3: Upon learning that the Pharisees had heard that the ministry of Jesus had begun to grow beyond the ministry of John, Jesus left Judea for Galilee. The Pharisees had been deeply concerned about the validity of Johns ministry, and they had questioned the Baptist accordingly in chapter 1. Jesus apparently desired to avoid that line of questioning at this point, and so he left Judea in order to go to his home region of Galilee. John the Evangelist also mentions at this point that Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples (4:2). This is a bit curious, as the discussion concerning Jesus ministry of baptism happened in the previous chapter, which was the reason for Johns disciples to become jealous for their master because [Jesus] is baptizing, and all are going to him (3:26). It is fascinating that Jesus has always had other men perform baptisms on his behalf. He blesses baptism through his own reception of the sacrament, and he ordains its use for all of his disciples, but he himself never performs a water baptism.

The Evangelists reason for pointing this out might be to highlight the statement of John the Baptist in chapter 1: where the Baptist of himself says, I baptize with water (1:26), of Jesus he says This is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit (1:33). Where others baptize with water, Jesus alone baptizes with the Holy Spirit. We should neither think that Jesus baptized with water, nor that we have any ability ourselves to baptize with the Holy Spirit. 4:4-6: The route of Jesus journey took him through Samaria, and specifically through a town called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph (4:5). The Samaritans were half-breeds to the Jews, as the Samaritans descended from the intermarriages of Israelites from the northern tribes and nations from all over the world whom the Assyrians had conquered and transported to Samaria. The Assyrian method for keeping subjugated peoples down was to separate them from their own, sending a few here, a few there, and a few everywhere else. Physically divided people could not unite to rebel against their oppressors. But because of this, the Israelites had intermarried with an unknown amount of nations, something that had been forbidden to them. This was why the Jews of Judah looked down on themthey were seen as those who had cut themselves off from the promises, originally because of their disobedience (the reason the Assyrians were sent to judge them), and then because of their intermarriage. There is an interesting theme throughout this passage, though, in the common ancestry of Jews and Samaritans with Jacob, who was renamed Israel. The town Sychar is near the field that Jacob gave to Joseph, and Jacobs well was there (4:6). John almost seems to be making an extra effort to remind his readers that the Samaritans have a common origin, history, and ancestry with the Jewsand that Jesus is restoring that commonality in this simple conversation with an outcast woman. Commentators frequently note that only a woman trying to avoid the crowds would draw water at the sixth hour, or about noon, during the heat of the day. Lenski, for example, writes: How came this woman to draw water at this hour? While we are not told and cannot make a positive statement, a conjecture such as, having worked in the fields and passing near the well, she desired to refresh herself, is a mere guess. We must not forget that she brought a waterpot, which indicates that she came from her home to obtain water. Johns mention of the hour of the day seems to refer particularly to this womans coming at such an hour. She also comes alone, no other women are with her, whereas oriental women like to go in companies to draw water for their homes. Piecing these observations together and joining them to what is revealed of this womans character, we may take it that she was a social outcast. The other women would not [page] tolerate this woman who now lived in open adultery after a checkered career with five husbands. The more must we marvel at the condescension of Jesus who stoops to ask a favor of such a woman, and this with a love that longs to save even her miserable soul.1 Intentional, Yet Practical Beginnings 4:7-9: Jesus initiates this conversation with the simplest of starting points: Give me a drink. But though Jesus request is simple, it is brimming with intentionality. First, we read that his disciples had gone into the city for food. Could they not have given him a drink before they left? Moreover, couldnt he get himself a drink from the well? But more than that, Jesus will shortly begin speaking of living water (4:10), where whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again (4:14). The

1 R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of John's Gospel (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961), 301-02.

drink Jesus asks for is an intensely practical request, yet it intentionally serves Jesus purposes in the conversation. What is also interesting from a strategic standpoint, as we witness Jesus methods for evangelism, is that Jesus does not begin by offering somethinghe begins by requesting something. Intuitively, we imagine that we should give something away before evangelizing people to Jesus. Typically, this approach makes all the sense in the world. Our Lord, however, does the opposite, asking for a favor in order to initiate a conversation. Finally, we should not miss that Jesus has broken down impenetrable walls through his simple request indeed, the woman doesnt miss this fact, for she asks How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria? (4:9). The Evangelist offers the parenthetical note about how the Jews have no dealings with Samaritans, and apparently he believed that Jesus outrageous boldness in speaking with a woman was too obvious to mention. Broaching the Spiritual 4:10-15: Jesus almost instantly moves beyond the practical and shallow (Give me a drink) to the deepest theology: 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. Jesus names three elements in his response to the womans initial rebuff: 1. Jesus speaks of the gift of God. 2. Jesus hints at his own importance (...and who it is that is saying to you, Give me a drink...). 3. Jesus relates the water he requested to the living water that he is able to provide. Lenski helpfully explains: The figure of water, which connotes drinking, intends to show that this life is a vital necessity for us and yet that it may be received so easily. But even as Jesus, physically thirsty and in need of water, remained so although Jacobs well had plenty of water, as long as no one drew and gave him of that water: so this woman, dead in sin and in need of life, would remain so although Jesus, the very fountain of life, sat there before her, as long as she would not desire, ask, and accept this life when Jesus, unlike herself with regard to the common water, unasked offered this heavenly lifewater to her.2 Certainly, this must have been a very confusing statement to a woman who had thought only of avoiding seeing other people as she drew water for the day at Jacobs well. At this point, she has no idea that each of these elements refers to Jesus himself. Indeed, she has no idea who it is that is speaking to her, nor what exactly he is offering her, nor even what he might actually want from her. Her response, then, is to be expected:
11

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? 12Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock. She doesnt quite understand that Jesus is speaking about a spiritual living water rather than a physical living water. Since Jesus has no water bucket, she doesnt quite understand where he would get this gift
2 R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of John's Gospel (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961), 306.

of God to provide her with the waterif he is going to receive water that day, it would have to come from her, right? And yet, she understands that Jesus is making some kind of claim to greatness, even if she doesnt grasp all that he is saying yet. She questions him directly: Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock. In other words, she is asking Jesus whether he is placing himself above the patriarch as he promises to provide her with this new, living water that she should ask from him to replace the water she had drawn from Jacobs well. In fact, Jesus is placing himself above Jacob. The dialogue continues like this:
13

Jesus said to her, Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14but 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. 15The woman said to him, Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water. Still, the woman does not understand that Jesus is contrasting physical water (of which people drink, but become thirsty again) with his spiritual, living water (of which people drink, and never become thirsty again). Her response can only be construed as sarcastic, but it is difficult to blame her at this point. This was certainly not a conversation she expected to have that day, and at this point she would still have no idea what she should make of this man and his living water. The promise, though, of this mans living water is that it will become in [the recipient] a spring of water welling up to eternal life. Jesus is not using the living water as a direct metaphor for eternal life itself, but as a metaphor for the joy and satisfaction in him that wells up to eternal life. Eternal life speaks to the quantity of life (unending days) as well as the quality of life (unbounded joy), and we can only gain eternal life in Christfor, as the last verse of the previous chapter stated, Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life (3:36). As we begin to learn to love and delight in Jesus, he draws us deeper into his eternal life. So, I take the living water as a reference to our satisfaction in Christwhen we develop a taste for his living water, and seek all of our joy and satisfaction in him, we find our joy welling up to eternal life, because we can only find eternal life in Christ. That our delight, desires, and will all point to Christ is vital to finding and enjoying the eternal life that he has to offer us. Lenski, on the other hand, takes the water as a reference to life, and the drinking of the water as a reference to faith: Jesus accepts the challenge of every man, no matter who he may be and what he may have to offer. And the test shall be only this: the true and permanent quenching of the thirst of the heart. But not in theory, not in argument; on the contrary, in actuality, in actual experience, whosoever shall drinkactually shall drink, shall in no way thirst foreveractually never thirst.... Jesus retains the figure throughout. As the water is life, so the drinking is faith, i.e., its inception. The interpretation that the drinking is the continued use of the Word and the Sacraments goes beyond the words of Jesus when he says that the one act of drinking removes the thirst forever.3 Moreover, Lenski points out the skill with which Jesus is leading the conversation beyond a mere discussion of thirst (whether physical or spiritual) to a discussion concerning himself:
3 R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of John's Gospel (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961), 310.

This repetition, that I myself shall give him, involuntarily raises the question, And who art thou to give such water? It is the question Jesus wants to raise, the question that must be rightly answered, or we shall after all thirst forever. Whoever heard of a gift of a drink which, on being drunk, forms a living spring within the person, so that he never needs to drink again!4 Speaking Truth in Love 4:16-26: In order to jolt the woman into paying attention to what he was saying, Jesus demonstrates his knowledge of the woman and her life by suddenly asking, Go, call your husband, and come here. He knew that she has no husband, and that none of her past six husbands has actually been her husband, but he wants her attention. Moreover, he wants to point out the womans need of the living water and the eternal life that he has to offer. Her life is a mess, and it is beyond question that she needs Jesus. The history of six non-husbands is likely the reason that this woman comes to the well at noon, and that history is likely the cause of deep pain in her life. Yet, she is obviously unable to change, but rather returns again and again as a dog to her vomit. Jesus, however, wants her to have his living water and his eternal life instead. Lenski, a Lutheran, draws our attention to the Law/Gospel distinction in Jesus preaching: The entire conversation on Jesus part is misunderstood when it is not observed that up to this point Jesus is using the gospel and that from now on he employs the law. This means that Jesus knew that the woman could not yet believe and he did not expect her to believe so soon. The law must first crush the heart in contrition, then faith can enter in, and not till then. So both law and gospel must be preached, and Jesus preaches both; the two appear here most plainly marked. Either may be offered first, or both may be intertwined, though each always remains distinct, likewise the proper effects of each. Here Jesus uses the gospel first. It is a mistake to imagine that in doing this he failed and then tried something else. Not one word of the gospel was lost upon this woman; its effect presently comes with a rush when the law begins to take hold upon her heart and to show her her sins and her tremendous need of the gospel.5 In sermons and commentaries on this passage, people frequently argue that the woman is quickly sidestepping her personal issues through her response: 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 (4:19-20). My reading is that this would be part of the reason for her response, but I also think that she is suddenly captivated to realize that this man is an actual prophet, and she has a question of genuine curiosity that she asks here. Are you Jews right, or are we Samaritans right, in the way we relate to God? More than that, I sense that Jesus is finding a crack in her foundationthis is a genuinely religious woman, and Jesus has exposed her sin. Jesus inquiry into her husband(s) lays bare the chasm between her religious beliefs and her moral conduct. In other words, I think Jesus brings up the womans sin so that he can begin to talk with her about worship, because this is a woman who genuinely wants to get right with God but does not have the first clue about how to do it. My evidence is that Jesus does not respond to her question by pointing out that she is dodging his question, and he never brings up the subject of her sin again. Instead, he goes right along with her line of questioning, and he spends the majority of his discourse with her addressing the very issue of worship. If she is merely grasping at straws to avoid

4 R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of John's Gospel (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961), 311. 5 R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of John's Gospel (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961), 313.

talking about her past, wouldnt Jesus bring the conversation back on track? By addressing the issue of worship, Jesus demonstrates that the subject of worship is the desired track for his conversation. Lenski makes the same point: What now follows has again been misunderstood....that the woman with quick wit here turns the conversation away from these delicate and painful personal matters to a question that Jews and Samaritans argued; that she makes a tricky dialectical evasion. But then Jesus would never have answered as he did, carefully and to the point, the very question the woman raises. He would have rebuked her and have driven in more deeply the hook of the law she would thus be evading.6 Jesus approaches her question regarding worship in this way:
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Jesus said to her, Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23But 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. 24God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. Jesus answer is fascinating: at once, he affirms the reliability of the Jewish witness (You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews), but also charts for worshipers a way beyond the question of where to worship (i.e., beyond, on which mountain?). Salvation is indeed of the Jews, for the Jews are the recipients of the covenantal promises of God; moreover, the King of Israel, Jesus Christ, is no less than the only begotten Son of the Most High Himself. He was not born a Samaritan, but a Jew. Nevertheless, Jesus tells the woman that salvation is bound up not in physical criteria such as ancestry and the place of worship, but in spiritual criteriathe Father is seeking worshipers who will worship him in spirit and in truth. The words spirit and truth are marvelous words, and we will consider them apart for a moment; however, both times Jesus uses this phrase in this verse, he uses them dually, in-spiritand-truth, not in spirit and in truth. Both words are in the dative, relating to the single en preposition. By in spirit, Jesus refers to spiritual worship, in contrast with formulaic, ritualistic worship where the sole goal is to dot all the is and cross all the ts. For such a worshiper, the job is completed as long as the rites are performed in the correct manner, the right words are spoken, and the priest conducts him/herself with dignity. For a spiritual worshiper, however, the outward form is important (to some degree, at least), but not nearly so important as the heart of the worshiper. Neither the beauty or correctness of the service, nor the poetry of the words spoken, nor the impressiveness of the building make any difference so long as the worshipers heart is estranged from God. In truth has a related meaning, namely that we are cannot lie about our spiritual condition. Hypocrisy in worship is fine for the ritualistic worshiper, whose only goal is to perform well within the worship service, but hypocrisy invalidates the worship of the worshiper in truth. In truth has another meaning, though, which is that someone who worships in truth must worship according to truth. In other words, such a worshiper must be concerned to worship the True God according to the truth revealed by that God. Any other worship would never be considered meaningful or spiritual, but false and deceptive.

6 R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of John's Gospel (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961), 318.

Taken together, these words describe a worshiper who worships God wholeheartedly, according to the truth that God has revealed about his own worship. Thisand not any other issue about which mountain to use, or what rituals to observeis the heart of genuine worship. Lenski sums this thought up helpfully: Omit the spirit, and though you have the truth, the worship becomes formalism, mere ritual observance. Omit the truth, and though the whole soul is thrown into the worship, it becomes an abomination. Thus spirit and truth form a unit, two halves that belong together in every act of worship.7 In v. 25, the woman seems tentative as she indirectly poses the question she is certainly bursting to ask:
25

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. 26Jesus said to her, I who speak to you am he. (ESV) Could this be the Messiah? Is he telling us all things beginning with me? I almost wonder if she could barely get the words out as she breathlessly made such a statement and awaited Jesus response. For the life of me, I cannot understand why the ESV (and other translations) translate Jesus words here as I who speak to you am he. The Greek is very simple: I AM (ego eimi), the speaking-to-you-One (ho lalon soi). Jesus is simultaneously claiming to be the Messiah and to be the Great I AMYahweh himself. The conversation that began with a simple request for a drink of water has resulted in the unveiling of God in the Flesh, Jesus the Christ, the Messiah of YHWH! The Food and Harvest of Jesus 4:27-38: In v. 27-30, there is an interesting contrast drawn between the disciples and the woman. They marvel that Jesus was talking to a Samaritan woman (!!!), but the woman marvels that she has just spoken with the Christ. So overcome, she leaves her water jar at the well and goes into town to spread the news: Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ? Interestingly, she points not to Jesus theological insight, but to his insight into her sinful brokenness. There is a clear lesson to be drawn here: part of the fruit of genuine repentance and faith is to see the sinner coming to terms with their own sinfulness, and freely confessing their sin before Jesus. To such a person, the graciousness of Christ is so overwhelming that they do not worry about hiding their sin any longer. Her openness and proclamation gets the attention of the people, for they begin to go out of town to come to him. Meanwhile, the disciples were urging him, saying, Rabbi, eat. (4:31). The whole reason that they had left was to buy food (4:8). Now, however, Jesus is not hungry, but satisfied:
32

But he said to them, I have food to eat that you do not know about. 33So the disciples said to one another, Has anyone brought him something to eat? 34Jesus said to them, My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. 35Do you not say, There are yet four months, then comes the harvest? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. 36Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gather fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. 37For here the saying holds true, One sows and

7 R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of John's Gospel (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961), 323.

another reaps. 38I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor. (4:32-38) As with the story of the loaves (Mark 8:14-21), the disciples do not understand that Jesus food metaphors are, indeed, metaphorical. The food of Jesus is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. In the work of his Father, Jesus is satisfied and fulfilled. Dont miss the connection to the story, here: Jesus is saying that his conversation with the Samaritan is the will of the Father that Jesus was sent to accomplish. Yes, Jesus came to restore the lost house of Israel; however, Jesus also came to seek out the most wretched sinner of the most wretched race. And this work has satisfied him and fulfilled him. The Son of Man delights to seek and save sinners. Then Jesus turns to an agricultural metaphor, speaking of sowing and harvesting. We who live in the city should be careful not to miss this connection to the food metaphor above (which itself was connected to the story of the Samaritan woman): sowing and harvesting are the means by which food is made. Our grocery stores obscure that connection, because it is there that I get my food, right? Nothe farmers who sow seed and reap harvests are the ones who make the food. Jesus point here is that his food comes from reaping what others have sown. In other words, a long line of prophetic voices have come through Israel and Samaria, and those voices have pointed (in one way or another) toward the coming of the Messiah. Clearly, this Samaritan woman was ready for the Messiah, even if she wasnt expecting him to approach her at the well that day, asking for a drink of water. The seeds had been sown over the centuries, and Jesus had now come to reap the harvest. Lenski offers an important insight on the wages spoken of in this passage: ...the wages received are the fruit gathered unto life eternal (karpos, fruit of trees or of fields, here the latter). The wages of the spiritual reaper are the souls gathered for life eternalhere not necessarily only heaven but eternal life also as a present possession reaching unto heaven.... ...This appears partially now already: our true reward we feel and know are the souls saved through us, the holy joy we have in their salvation. It will appear perfectly in heaven, where the vanity of all other rewards fully appears, and where the joy is perfect and supreme. But this rejoicing is intended for both the sower and the reaper. Here we see that in spite of the present tenses of the participles and the verb the statement is not general with reference to the material and the spiritual but general only with reference to the latter. Materially a man may sow a field of wheat and never live to have the joy of reaping it; his laughing heir has that joy. Spiritually this cannot happen. The harvest never escapes the sower. It belongs to him as well as to the reaper.8 In fact, Jesus had now come to commission harvesters to go into the world and reap the harvest that others have been preparing. We were not the ones to prophesy; nor the ones to receive the Law from Sinai; nor the ones who witnessed David take his throne, nor Davids son Solomon consecrate the temple; we were not the ones to go into captivity. But we are the people who are privileged to see the one toward whom all of these things point: Jesus the Messiah. Here is how this needs to be preached: I must proclaim the breadth of evangelism. Evangelism is not only closing the deal. It is not only knocking on doors to do spiritual surveys, or handing out tracts at malls and on the streets. Evangelism is the breadth of sowing and reaping the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the reward of the harvest of souls. Lenski writes this well:

8 R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of John's Gospel (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961), 336.

Yet, looking at the work of those who preceded and who followed Jesus, we see that one set of men always enters into the labors of another set. The apostles reaped but they also sowed, from which their pupils again reaped, and so on down the ages. So we today have entered into other mens labors. Recount their long line, their blessed names, their great exertions! But let the reaper ever be humble and remember the Sower and the sowers and not attribute the success to himself. On the other hand, if called to sow, complain not; this hard work is just as necessary, just as blessed as the reaping. Both sower and reaper shall rejoice together. When the sheaves are brought in at last, when the reapers raise the great song of praise, the sowers who began the work that proved so successful shall lead the procession, and so even they shall enter [page] into other mens labor, even that of the reapers who harvested what these sowers sowed. But among them all we shall see not one who does not altogether enter into the labor of Christ.9 The Harvest 4:39-42: Jesus stays with the Samaritans for two days, and many from this small town believe because of the womans testimony of Jesus knowledge of her sin. Yet, They said to the woman, It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world. And so, beginning with the Samaritans, Jesus begins to bring in the great harvest that had been prepared for him from before the foundations of the world were laid. Lenski offers an interesting insight into the development of the faith of the Samaritans: Two kinds of faith are here distinguished: one, based on the true testimony of others; the other, based on ones own personal experience and firsthand acquaintance with the Word. The former is that of many beginners, especially also of children taught by parents and by others. It is true faith and has saving power but stands below the other and is more easy to destroy. This kind of faith should grow into the second kind, which believes without human mediators, by direct contact with Christ and his Word, and is thus far stronger than the other type of faith.10

9 R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of John's Gospel (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961), 339-40. 10 R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of John's Gospel (Minneapolis: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961), 341.