Thematic Bible: Visits sychar and teaches the samaritan woman
Thematic Bible
Jesus Christ » History of » Visits sychar and teaches the samaritan woman
[Now to get to Galilee] it required that Jesus travel through Samaria [Note: Samaria was the next country north of Judea]. So, He arrived at the Samaritan town called Sychar, which was near the piece of property that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's [spring-fed] well was there so Jesus, tired from His [long] journey, sat down beside the well just as He was [i.e., before doing anything else]. It was about six o'clock in the morning [Note: This would have been read more.
[About then] a Samaritan woman came [to the well] to draw water. Jesus said to her, "[Please] give me a drink." (Now Jesus' disciples had gone away to town to buy some food). Therefore, the Samaritan woman asked Him, "Why is it that you, being a Jew, would ask a Samaritan woman [like me] for a drink?" (For Jews do not have any fellowship with Samaritans). [Note: The reason for this stemmed from longstanding religious, cultural and ethnic prejudices]. Jesus answered her, "If you [only] knew the [real] gift of God, and who it is that said to you, '[Please], give me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water." The woman [then] said to Him, "Sir, you do not have anything to draw [water] with, and the well is deep. Where will you get that living water? noon if Jewish time were meant]. Are you greater than our forefather Jacob, who gave us this well? He himself and his sons and cattle [all] drank from it." Jesus answered her, "Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never get thirsty [again]. For the water I will give him will become in him [i.e., in his spirit] a spring of water, bubbling up and producing never ending life." [See John 7:38]. The woman [then] said to Him, "Sir, [please] give me [some of] that water, so that I do not get thirsty [again], or have to come all the way here to draw [water]." Jesus replied to her, "Go call your husband and [then] come here." The woman said to Him, "I do not have a husband." Jesus said to her, "You were right when you said, 'I do not have a husband,' because you have had five husbands, and the man you are now living with is not [really] your husband. So, you have told the truth." [Then] the woman said to Jesus, "Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our forefathers worshiped on this mountain [i.e., Mt. Gerizim, which was visible from where they were sitting]; but you say that Jerusalem is the place where people should worship [God]." miles away from Cana]. Jesus replied to her, "[My dear] woman, believe me [when I tell you], the time will come when you people will not worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. You [Samaritans] do not [really] know what you worship; we [Jews] know what we worship because salvation is from the Jews [i.e., through Jewish prophets, Jewish Scriptures and a Jewish Messiah]. But the time will come, and is now [actually] here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit [i.e., from the heart] and truth [i.e., according to God's revealed will], for these are the people whom the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is Spirit and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." [Then] the woman said to Jesus, "I know that Messiah is coming ([He is] the One who is called Christ). And when He does come, He will tell us everything." Jesus replied to her, "I, who am speaking to you, am [the Messiah]." Just about then Jesus' disciples returned [from town], and were surprised to find Him talking with a woman. [Note: It was not customary for a Jewish male to engage a woman in extended conversation in that day, much less a stranger, and certainly not a Samaritan], yet no one said [to Him], "What are you looking for?" or "Why are you talking to her?" So, the woman left her water jar and went back into town and told the people [there], "Come [and] see a man who told me everything I ever did. Can this be the Christ?" [So], the people went out from the town and came to where Jesus was. Meanwhile Jesus' disciples urged Him, saying, "Rabbi, [have something to] eat." But He said to them, "I [already] have food to eat that you do not know about." So, the disciples said to one another, "No one has brought Him anything to eat [have they]?" Jesus answered them, "My food is doing what God, who sent me, wants me to, and accomplishing His work. Are you not [always] saying, 'There are still four months before harvest time comes'? Look, I am telling you [disciples], lift up your eyes and look at the fields, that they are white and ripe for harvest [i.e., people are ready to make a spiritual response]. Already the person who is harvesting [the crop] is being paid for his work, and is gathering a crop for never ending life, so that the one planting and the one harvesting [the crop] may rejoice together. So, the saying is true that one person plants and another harvests [the crop]. I sent you [disciples] to harvest [a crop] that you did not work on; other people have done the work and you have reaped the results of their work." [Note: This is probably an allusion to the preliminary work of preaching done by John, the Immerser, with results occurring under the preaching of the apostles]. Then many Samaritans from Sychar believed in Jesus because of the testimony of the woman, who said, "He told me everything that I ever did." When the Samaritans came to Him, they urged Jesus to stay with them, so He remained there for two days. And many more people believed [in Jesus] because of His [own] words, and they said to the woman, "Now we believe, not just because of what you said, but because we have heard [it] for ourselves and know that this is truly the Savior of the world."
[About then] a Samaritan woman came [to the well] to draw water. Jesus said to her, "[Please] give me a drink." (Now Jesus' disciples had gone away to town to buy some food). Therefore, the Samaritan woman asked Him, "Why is it that you, being a Jew, would ask a Samaritan woman [like me] for a drink?" (For Jews do not have any fellowship with Samaritans). [Note: The reason for this stemmed from longstanding religious, cultural and ethnic prejudices]. Jesus answered her, "If you [only] knew the [real] gift of God, and who it is that said to you, '[Please], give me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water." The woman [then] said to Him, "Sir, you do not have anything to draw [water] with, and the well is deep. Where will you get that living water? noon if Jewish time were meant]. Are you greater than our forefather Jacob, who gave us this well? He himself and his sons and cattle [all] drank from it." Jesus answered her, "Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never get thirsty [again]. For the water I will give him will become in him [i.e., in his spirit] a spring of water, bubbling up and producing never ending life." [See John 7:38]. The woman [then] said to Him, "Sir, [please] give me [some of] that water, so that I do not get thirsty [again], or have to come all the way here to draw [water]." Jesus replied to her, "Go call your husband and [then] come here." The woman said to Him, "I do not have a husband." Jesus said to her, "You were right when you said, 'I do not have a husband,' because you have had five husbands, and the man you are now living with is not [really] your husband. So, you have told the truth." [Then] the woman said to Jesus, "Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our forefathers worshiped on this mountain [i.e., Mt. Gerizim, which was visible from where they were sitting]; but you say that Jerusalem is the place where people should worship [God]." miles away from Cana]. Jesus replied to her, "[My dear] woman, believe me [when I tell you], the time will come when you people will not worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. You [Samaritans] do not [really] know what you worship; we [Jews] know what we worship because salvation is from the Jews [i.e., through Jewish prophets, Jewish Scriptures and a Jewish Messiah]. But the time will come, and is now [actually] here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit [i.e., from the heart] and truth [i.e., according to God's revealed will], for these are the people whom the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is Spirit and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." [Then] the woman said to Jesus, "I know that Messiah is coming ([He is] the One who is called Christ). And when He does come, He will tell us everything." Jesus replied to her, "I, who am speaking to you, am [the Messiah]." Just about then Jesus' disciples returned [from town], and were surprised to find Him talking with a woman. [Note: It was not customary for a Jewish male to engage a woman in extended conversation in that day, much less a stranger, and certainly not a Samaritan], yet no one said [to Him], "What are you looking for?" or "Why are you talking to her?" So, the woman left her water jar and went back into town and told the people [there], "Come [and] see a man who told me everything I ever did. Can this be the Christ?" [So], the people went out from the town and came to where Jesus was. Meanwhile Jesus' disciples urged Him, saying, "Rabbi, [have something to] eat." But He said to them, "I [already] have food to eat that you do not know about." So, the disciples said to one another, "No one has brought Him anything to eat [have they]?" Jesus answered them, "My food is doing what God, who sent me, wants me to, and accomplishing His work. Are you not [always] saying, 'There are still four months before harvest time comes'? Look, I am telling you [disciples], lift up your eyes and look at the fields, that they are white and ripe for harvest [i.e., people are ready to make a spiritual response]. Already the person who is harvesting [the crop] is being paid for his work, and is gathering a crop for never ending life, so that the one planting and the one harvesting [the crop] may rejoice together. So, the saying is true that one person plants and another harvests [the crop]. I sent you [disciples] to harvest [a crop] that you did not work on; other people have done the work and you have reaped the results of their work." [Note: This is probably an allusion to the preliminary work of preaching done by John, the Immerser, with results occurring under the preaching of the apostles]. Then many Samaritans from Sychar believed in Jesus because of the testimony of the woman, who said, "He told me everything that I ever did." When the Samaritans came to Him, they urged Jesus to stay with them, so He remained there for two days. And many more people believed [in Jesus] because of His [own] words, and they said to the woman, "Now we believe, not just because of what you said, but because we have heard [it] for ourselves and know that this is truly the Savior of the world."