- He next went to the city of Shechem in Samaria, at the foot of Mt. Gerizim, adjacent to the parcel of ground which Joseph inherited from his father Jacob, which is the place where Jacob’s well was located. Jesus was tired from the journey, it being about midday, and he sat down on the wall of the well. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus asked her, Could you give to me a drink?
- His followers were not with him, but had left to buy food in the city and therefore he was alone. The Samaritan woman replied to him, I do not understand why a Jew would ask me as a Samaritan to give you a drink. Jews look down on us as unclean, so why would you ask me such a thing?
- Jesus replied, I have been sent by God, and if you recognized who now asks you to give a drink of water, you would gladly do so and ask me in turn for the gift of living water. The woman responded to him, Sir, you have nothing to reach the water, and the well is deep, so how can you suggest you could offer living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, to whom God gave this well, who drank here with his children, and he watered his cattle from this source? Jesus answered her, Whoever drinks water from this well will thirst again, but whoever drinks from the living water which I shall give him shall live from eternity to eternity, for the Source in me will be the power to rise upward forever, worlds without end.
- The woman said unto him, Sir, give me of the water that I no longer will thirst nor need to come here to draw from this well. Jesus said unto her, Go, get your husband and I will teach you together. The woman replied, I have no husband (she spoke of herself). Jesus said to her, You are right, even though you have had five husbands (he meant this of both her and also the Samaritans whose Israelite blood was mixed with five other nations), and the man you live with presently has not married you (meaning both her and her province). So you are correct saying you have no husband. The woman said unto him, Sir, you speak like you are a prophet. Our fathers, the patriarchs, were visited by God on this mountain, where later the first tabernacle was set up. But the Jews claim that God’s only temple is in Jerusalem. Jesus said to her, Woman, remember this saying: The time will come when neither on this mountain nor at Jerusalem will be the place to worship. Worship the Father through me.
- You Samaritans do not understand God, although you claim to worship Him. Those who follow me know how to worship. Salvation does not belong to the Jews, but instead will come from a Messiah rejected by the Jews. The hour has arrived when the true worshipers are being taught how to worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father wants mankind to know Him. The Father will share his Spirit with those who know him. His Spirit is truth and light. And they who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.
- The woman said to him, I know that a Messiah is prophesied to come, and when he comes he will restore all that has been lost since the time of Adam. Jesus responded, I am he: I am come to restore, to repair, to redeem, and I am come to gather.
- As he was talking with the woman his followers arrived and were surprised to see that he talked with this Samaritan woman, but no one questioned him about why he would teach and testify openly to her. The woman then abandoned her waterpot, and quickly went into the city to proclaim to them about who was at the well. She testified to the men, Come see a man who spoke as a seer. I testify that he is the Messiah and ask you to come hear him for yourselves. Because she was influential, a great crowd went out to investigate the woman’s testimony of him.
- In the meantime, his disciples brought food and told him that he ought to eat. But seeing the approaching crowd he said, I have food to eat you do not see. His companions asked one another, Has someone brought him food while we were gone? Jesus clarified, My strength comes by obeying the will of God who sent me to do his work. Doing that sustains me by his Holy Spirit, and protects me until I finish his work. Do not make the mistake of thinking there are four months still before the harvest. I want you to look at the approaching crowd. They are the field I have been sent to harvest; they are prepared and ready. For this reason I have come to this place. These people will accept a new dispensation and the truth. Anyone who helps me with the Father’s work in harvesting souls will likewise save their own soul. The harvest saves both the planter and gatherer together. Remember the expression: One plants and another harvests. I send you to help with the harvest, but others have prepared this field. The prophets planted and these people have responded, and you join the labor of the prophets by now teaching these prepared people.
- Many of the Samaritans from Shechem accepted him because of the woman’s testimony that he was a seer who prophesied to and about her. So when the Samaritan crowd came to hear him, they implored him to stay and teach them. And he stayed and taught for two days. Then many more believed because of what he taught. Then others said to the woman, Now we no longer depend on your testimony, but we have heard him teach us, and recognize that this is indeed the Messiah, the Savior who has come to rescue the world.
- Jesus stayed two days with them teaching, worshipping, and having them baptized before he departed to return to Galilee. On the way home Jesus repeated the parable: A prophet is never honored in his home town. But when he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans were excited to see him because many of them had been at Jerusalem during the Passover and told the others about the miracles he did there.
- Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, where he earlier had turned water into wine. There was a wealthy and respected man there whose son lay sick at Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had come back from Judea to Galilee, he traveled to Galilee to beg him to come to his home at Capernaum and heal his son because the young man was near death. Jesus responded to him, Like other Jews who seek signs, you want me to physically travel to him and put on a display, but all that is necessary is for you to have faith in the power to heal. But the father begged, Sir, please come to my house so that my child does not die. Jesus replied, Go to your home without me, for your son will recover and live — I have faith this will happen even if you do not. And the man wanted to believe what Jesus said, and trusting it may be possible, he left to return home. While he traveled back to his house, his servants were hurrying to meet him, and said, Your son has recovered and is not going to die! The father asked them when his recovery began. The servants told him it was the day before, just after midday. The father knew this had been the very moment when Jesus spoke the words that his son would recover and live, and he realized Jesus was a messenger of God. And his entire family likewise shared this belief in Jesus. This was the second miracle Jesus performed when he returned from Judea to Galilee.
- After this came the Feast of the Tabernacles, and Jesus made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the feast.
Chapter 4