John 4 New American
Standard Bible (NASB)
Jesus Goes to Galilee
4 Therefore when the Lord knew that the
Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples
than John2 (although Jesus Himself was not baptizing, but
His disciples were), 3 He left Judea and went away again into
Galilee. 4 And He had to pass through Samaria. 5 So He *came to a city of Samaria
called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son
Joseph; 6 and Jacob’s well was there. So Jesus, being wearied
from His journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about [a]the sixth hour.
The Woman of Samaria
7 There *came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus
*said to her, “Give Me a drink.” 8 For His disciples had gone away
into the city to buy food. 9 Therefore the Samaritan woman *said to Him,
“How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan
woman?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If
you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you
would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” 11 She *said to Him, “[b]Sir, You have nothing to draw with and
the well is deep; where then do You get that living water? 12 You are not greater than our father
Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons
and his cattle?” 13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who
drinks of this water will thirst again; 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I
will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will
become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”
15 The woman *said to Him, “[c]Sir, give me this water, so I will
not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw.” 16 He *said to her, “Go, call your husband
and come here.” 17 The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.”
Jesus *said to her, “You have correctly said, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the
one whom you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly.” 19 The woman *said to Him, “[d]Sir, I perceive that You are a
prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and
you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men
ought to worship.” 21 Jesus *said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an
hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you
worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what
we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But an hour is coming, and now is,
when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for
such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. 24 God is [e]spirit, and those who worship Him must
worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman *said to Him, “I know that Messiah
is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all
things to us.” 26 Jesus *said to her,“I who speak to you am He.”
27 At this point His disciples came, and they
were amazed that He had been speaking with a woman, yet no one said, “What do
You seek?” or, “Why do You speak with her?” 28 So the woman left her waterpot, and
went into the city and *said to the men, 29 “Come, see a man who told me all
the things that I have done; this is not[f]the Christ, is it?” 30 They went out of the city, and were
coming to Him.
31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging Him, saying,
“Rabbi, eat.”32 But He said to them, “I have food to eat that
you do not know about.” 33 So the disciples were saying to one another,
“No one brought Him anything to eat, did he?” 34 Jesus *said to them, “My food is
to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work. 35 Do you not say, ‘There are yet four
months, and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up
your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest. 36 Already he who reaps is receiving wages
and is gathering fruit for life eternal; so that he who sows and he
who reaps may rejoice together. 37 For in this case the saying is
true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you have not
labored; others have labored and you have entered into their labor.”
The Samaritans
39 From that city many of the Samaritans believed
in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all the
things that I have done.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to Jesus,
they were asking Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. 41 Many more believed because of His word; 42 and they were saying to the woman, “It
is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for
ourselves and know that this One is indeed the Savior of the world.”
43 After the two days He went forth from there
into Galilee. 44 For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has
no honor in his own country. 45 So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received
Him, having seen all the things that He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for
they themselves also went to the feast.
Healing a Nobleman’s Son
46 Therefore He came again to Cana of Galilee where
He had made the water wine. And there was a royal official whose son was sick
at Capernaum. 47 When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea
into Galilee, he went to Him and was imploring Him to come
down and heal his son; for he was at the point of death. 48 So Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see [g]signs and wonders, you simply
will not believe.” 49 The royal official *said to Him, “[h]Sir, come down before my child dies.” 50 Jesus *said to him, “Go; your son
lives.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started off. 51 As he was now going down, his slaves
met him, saying that his [i]son was living. 52 So he inquired of them the hour when he
began to get better. Then they said to him, “Yesterday at the [j]seventh hour the fever left him.” 53 So the father knew that it was at
that hour in which Jesus said to him, “Your son lives”; and he himself believed
and his whole household. 54 This is again a second [k]sign that Jesus performed when He had come
out of Judea into Galilee.
John 4
V 1–6: WEARY AT THE WELL Jesus leaves Judea for
Galilee, having seen the pressure from the Pharisees upon Him because His
disciples baptised more people than John. He goes through Samaria. Wearied, He
sits by Jacob’s well around midday.
V 7–18: WATER FOR THE WOMAN A Samaritan woman is
asked by Jesus to give Him a drink, but she remonstrates on the basis that
Samaritans have no dealings with Jews, and in any case she is a woman. Jesus
reveals Himself as the well of living water, which quenches thirst forever. His
water springs to eternal life. The woman asks for the water and Jesus points
out her sin by outlining both her past and her present immorality. Eternal life
is only available to those who are willing to turn from their sin, and for that
to occur, a person has to be conscious of his or her sins.
V 19–26: WAY
TO TRUE WORSHIP The woman compares Samaritan worship with Jewish worship. Jesus
reveals that true worshippers worship God, who is Spirit, in spirit and truth
through the work of God the Holy Spirit. He also reveals Himself as the
Messiah.
V 27–38: WHITENESS OF THE WHEAT The disciples come
back from having found food and are surprised to see Jesus talking with the
woman. She goes into the city with the water pot and tells what has happened.
Because of this, many come out from the city, probably mainly dressed in white,
and Jesus tells His disciples that the fields are white for harvest. He
encourages sowing and reaping.
V 39–42: WITNESS OF THE WOMAN Many Samaritans
who hear her testimony come to believe in Christ. Later, their trust is
confirmed through the word of Jesus. A true testimony will often lead someone
to receive God’s word and accept Christ as Saviour.
V 43–54:
WONDERS OR THE WORD? Jesus returns to Galilee, where He teaches that a prophet
is not honoured by his own people, and goes to Cana where the first miracle had
been performed by Him. The second one follows, as, from a distance, He heals
the dying son of a nobleman. Some come to seek signs, but the nobleman believes
the word of God, through Jesus.
The Bible Panorama
The Bible Panorama. Copyright © 2005 Day One
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