John – Chapter 4:1-15
4:1-3 “But Jesus Himself did not baptize” – The theme of the Baptism that Jesus would give, begun with the witness of John the Baptist (1:29-34), continues with the discourse with the Samaritan woman concerning “living water” (4:10-11). The Samaritan woman and the Samaritan confession (4:42) confess the universal, inclusive scope of the new “begetting” and the new, Spiritual worship it gives (4:20-24). The Pharisees have gotten reports of Jesus, namely the wedding at Cana and his increasingly popular ministry of Baptism. That Jesus left Judea for Galilee suggests the potential threat and apprehension. 4:4-6 “It was necessary for Jesus to go through Samaria” – The route from Judea to Galilee through Samaria was the shortest one but not the only one. According to Josephus, some Galileans would travel through Samaria if haste was necessary, especially south to a Jerusalem festival. But here the necessity is to fulfill the mission from the Father. Samaria is a focus of the early Apostolic mission (Acts 1:8; 8:1-25; 9:31; 15:3). The climax of Jesus’ stay in Samaria is the confession of 4:42. Just as it is “necessary” that the Son of Man be lifted up (3:14) so it is necessity that the world, i.e. Samaria, would receive eternal life (3:15-17). 4:4–42 Outline: 4:4-6 Setting the scene 4:7-30 Jesus’ discourse with the Samaritan woman 4:7-8 The Samaritan woman comes; the disciples have exited 4:9-15 Jesus’ words concerning “living water” 4:16-26 Jesus’ words concerning worship in “Spirit and Truth” 4:27-30 Transition: the disciples return and the woman exits 4:31-42 Jesus’ coming as mission to the world 4:31-38 Jesus speaks to the disciples: the harvest is ready 4:39-42 The Samaritans arrive and confess: Jesus is the Savior 4:7–15 “Living Water” – The initial request of Jesus is refused on the basis of religious and ethnic antagonism. Jesus ignores her because the ethnic category “Jew” doesn’t identify him and is overcome in Him. See especially the noun “gift from God” (4:10), the language of grace without constraint from God the Father. The gift most frequently given in the OT is the Holy Spirit (Is 32:15; Ezek 11:19, 36:26-28, 37:6, 14) as in the book of Acts (2:36, 8:20, 10:45, 11:17, c.f. Rom 5:5). For the Rabbis the gift was the Torah, leading to new obedience (Ezek 11:19-20, 36:25-27). Ezekiel sees the gift of the Torah and the Spirit as together. Water is frequently…