John 4
Introduction
John 4 is the longest single conversation recorded in any of the four Gospels, and its setting is deliberately scandalous. Jesus speaks with a Samaritan woman — crossing two boundaries simultaneously: Jews and Samaritans had centuries of ethnic and religious enmity, and Jewish men did not speak publicly with unaccompanied women. Yet this is the first person in John's Gospel to whom Jesus explicitly reveals himself as the Messiah (v. 26), and she becomes the first evangelist, bringing an entire village to faith.
The chapter has a carefully constructed shape. It opens with Jesus' withdrawal from Judea through Samaria (vv. 1–6), then the long dialogue at the well moves in two phases — first about living water (vv. 7–15), then about worship and identity (vv. 16–26). After the disciples return (vv. 27–38), the Samaritans come out in force and confess Jesus as "Savior of the world" — the climax of the first half of the chapter (vv. 39–42). The chapter closes with a second sign, the healing of the official's son, where faith is tested and confirmed (vv. 43–54). Throughout, John plays themes from chapter 3 in a new key: just as Nicodemus misunderstood spiritual birth, the woman misunderstands living water — but where Nicodemus went away in silence, she runs to tell the town.
The Weary Traveler at Jacob's Well (vv. 1–6)
1 When Jesus realized that the Pharisees were aware He was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John 2 (although it was not Jesus who baptized, but His disciples), 3 He left Judea and returned to Galilee.
4 Now He had to pass through Samaria. 5 So He came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Since Jacob's well was there, Jesus, weary from His journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
1 When Jesus knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John 2 (although Jesus himself was not baptizing, but his disciples were), 3 he left Judea and went away again into Galilee.
4 And it was necessary for him to pass through Samaria. 5 So he came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob's spring was there, and so Jesus, worn out from the journey, sat down by the spring just as he was. It was about the sixth hour.
Notes
The word ἔδει — "it was necessary" — is the same verb of divine compulsion used in John 3:14 ("the Son of Man must be lifted up") and John 9:4 ("we must work"). Jesus does not merely choose to pass through Samaria — it is theologically necessary. Jews typically went around Samaria via the Jordan Valley to avoid contact with Samaritans. John's use of ἔδει signals that this detour is part of the divine plan, not mere geography.
The narrator's description of Jesus as κεκοπιακὼς ἐκ τῆς ὁδοιπορίας — "worn out from the journey" — uses the perfect participle of κοπιάω, which denotes exhausted labor. This is one of John's strongest assertions of Jesus' genuine humanity: he is truly tired, truly thirsty, sitting down "just as he was" (οὕτως, "thus/as he was" — possibly meaning without ceremony or without sitting up properly). The sixth hour was noon — the hottest part of the day, an unusual time to draw water.
The well is called πηγή, a "spring" or flowing source. The woman later uses the word φρέαρ, "cistern/dug well" (v. 11). This distinction matters: Jesus' "living water" (ὕδωρ ζῶν) will play on both senses — a flowing spring (real running water) and spiritual life. The connection to Jacob and Joseph anchors the scene in the patriarchal inheritance the Samaritans shared with Israel.
Living Water (vv. 7–15)
7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Give Me a drink." 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
9 "You are a Jew," said the woman. "How can You ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
10 Jesus answered, "If you knew the gift of God and who is asking you for a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water."
11 "Sir," the woman replied, "You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where then will You get this living water? 12 Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock?"
13 Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again. 14 But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a fount of water springing up to eternal life."
15 The woman said to Him, "Sir, give me this water so that I will not get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water."
7 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." 8 (His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.)
9 The Samaritan woman said to him, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?" (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)
10 Jesus answered her, "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."
11 The woman said to him, "Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, and his sons and his livestock."
13 Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again. 14 But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
15 The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I will not thirst and will not have to come here to draw."
Notes
Jesus' request — "Give me a drink" — is a deliberate vulnerability. He, the giver of living water, approaches this encounter by asking. The reversal will deepen: the one who asks for a drink will offer an inexhaustible spring.
The phrase ὕδωρ ζῶν — "living water" — had two meanings in Greek: literally, "running water" (a spring or stream, as opposed to standing water in a cistern), and metaphorically, "water that gives life." The woman hears the first meaning and is rightly confused: where will he get running water in this place? Jesus means the second. This misunderstanding follows the same pattern as Nicodemus with ἄνωθεν.
Her challenge — "Are you greater than our father Jacob?" — is meant to be dismissive, but John's reader knows the answer is yes. Jacob the patriarch gave his descendants a physical well. Jesus will give something that makes physical wells unnecessary. The comparison with Jacob, Isaac's wells in Genesis, and Moses' water from the rock (Numbers 20:11) is implicit: each was a sign pointing forward to the one who provides living water directly.
The image of v. 14 is striking: the water Jesus gives will become in the believer a πηγὴ ὕδατος ἁλλομένου — "a spring of water leaping up." The verb ἅλλομαι means to leap, spring, or jump — it is used in Acts 3:8 of the lame man leaping after Peter heals him. The indwelling Spirit is not a passive pool but an active, upwelling, leaping source. It carries the person upward toward ζωὴν αἰώνιον, "eternal life" — the same phrase that governed John 3:16.
Worship in Spirit and Truth (vv. 16–26)
16 Jesus told her, "Go, call your husband and come back."
17 "I have no husband," the woman replied. Jesus said to her, "You are correct to say that you have no husband. 18 In fact, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. You have spoken truthfully."
19 "Sir," the woman said, "I see that You are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews say that the place where one must worship is in Jerusalem."
21 "Believe Me, woman," Jesus replied, "a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such as these to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship Him in spirit and in truth."
25 The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When He comes, He will explain everything to us."
26 Jesus answered, "I who speak to you am He."
16 Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband and come here."
17 The woman answered him, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You are right to say, 'I have no husband'; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you said is true."
19 The woman said to him, "Sir, I see that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship."
21 Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe me — the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But 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. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth."
25 The woman said to him, "I know that Messiah is coming — the one called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us."
26 Jesus said to her, "I am he — the one speaking to you."
Notes
Jesus' knowledge of the woman's personal history — five husbands, and a current relationship outside marriage — is an act of prophetic omniscience that mirrors his knowledge of "what is in a man" from John 2:25. She is right to say "you are a prophet." But the point is not her moral failure; it is that Jesus knows her fully and speaks to her anyway. The conversation is not interrupted by moral recrimination but continues to its theological climax.
The woman's pivot to the Gerizim-Jerusalem controversy is natural — a Samaritan encountering a prophetic Jewish teacher would immediately raise the central dispute between the two communities. Mount Gerizim was the Samaritan sacred mountain, where the Samaritans had built their own temple (destroyed by the Hasmonean John Hyrcanus in 128 BC). Jerusalem was the Jewish claim. Jesus cuts through the geographic dispute entirely.
The phrase ἐν πνεύματι καὶ ἀληθείᾳ — "in spirit and truth" — has been understood in two main ways: (1) the new mode of worship is spiritual (not tied to physical locations) and sincere; (2) "Spirit" refers to the Holy Spirit and "truth" refers to Jesus himself, who is the truth (John 14:6). The second reading is supported by John's consistent use of both terms — Spirit (the Paraclete) and Truth (Jesus) — as characterizing the new covenant. To worship "in Spirit and truth" may mean: through the Spirit, who reveals the truth who is Jesus.
The declaration of v. 26 is the first explicit ἐγώ εἰμι claim in John — "I am he, the one speaking to you." ἐγώ εἰμι echoes both the LXX of Exodus 3:14 (God's self-declaration "I AM") and the repeated self-declarations in Isaiah 40-55 ("I am he," אֲנִי הוּא). That Jesus first reveals this to a Samaritan woman — not to the Jerusalem religious establishment — is one of John's characteristic subversions.
My Food Is to Do the Father's Will (vv. 27–38)
27 Just then His disciples returned and were surprised that He was speaking with a woman. But no one asked Him, "What do You want from her?" or "Why are You talking with her?"
28 Then the woman left her water jar, went back into the town, and said to the people, 29 "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" 30 So they left the town and made their way toward Jesus.
31 Meanwhile the disciples urged Him, "Rabbi, eat something."
32 But He told them, "I have food to eat that you know nothing about."
33 So the disciples asked one another, "Could someone have brought Him food?"
34 Jesus explained, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work. 35 Do you not say, 'There are still four months until the harvest'? I tell you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are ripe for harvest. 36 Already the reaper draws his wages and gathers a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may rejoice together. 37 For in this case the saying 'One sows and another reaps' is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for; others have done the hard work, and now you have taken up their labor."
27 Just then his disciples came back. They were surprised that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, "What do you want?" or "Why are you talking with her?"
28 So the woman left her water jar and went away into the town and said to the people, 29 "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" 30 They went out of the town and were coming to him.
31 In the meantime the disciples were urging him, "Rabbi, eat."
32 But he said to them, "I have food to eat that you do not know about."
33 So the disciples said to one another, "Has someone brought him something to eat?"
34 Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to complete his work. 35 Don't you say, 'There are still four months, then comes the harvest'? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes and see the fields — they are already white for harvest. 36 Already the reaper is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may rejoice together. 37 For here the saying holds true: 'One sows and another reaps.' 38 I sent you to reap what you did not labor for. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor."
Notes
The woman's departure is marked by a small but theologically charged detail: she left her water jar (v. 28). She came to draw physical water; she leaves having received something that made the jar irrelevant. The left-behind jar is a silent symbol of transformation.
The "food" exchange with the disciples mirrors the "water" exchange with the woman — both misunderstand a spiritual nourishment as physical. Jesus' food is to do the will of the one who sent him and to complete (τελειώσω), from τελειόω — to bring to completion/perfection) his work. The word τελειόω connects forward to Jesus' final cry from the cross: τετέλεσται, "it is finished/completed" (John 19:30). The work of the Samaritan mission is a foretaste of the completed work of the cross.
The harvest imagery (vv. 35–38) is vivid. The fields are already λευκαί, "white" — the Samaritans streaming out of Sychar toward Jesus are the white fields, ready to harvest. The theological point about sowers and reapers — that those who reap often reap what others have sown — is applied to mission: the disciples will reap in a harvest prepared by Jesus and by the prophets before him.
The Samaritans Believe (vv. 39–42)
39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in Jesus because of the woman's testimony, "He told me everything I ever did." 40 So when the Samaritans came to Him, they asked Him to stay with them, and He stayed two days. 41 And many more believed because of His message. 42 They said to the woman, "We now believe not only because of your words; we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man truly is the Savior of the world."
39 Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony: "He told me everything I ever did." 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of his word. 42 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 truly the Savior of the world."
Notes
The Samaritans' confession — σωτὴρ τοῦ κόσμου, "Savior of the world" — is one of the great christological declarations of the Gospel, and it comes from the lips of the people the Jewish religious establishment would have considered furthest from God. Nicodemus, the teacher of Israel, came by night and left without confessing. These Samaritans come in the full light of day and declare the fullest title. John's irony is consistent and pointed.
The progression of faith in this section is instructive: first, the woman's testimony generates initial belief (v. 39); then, after hearing Jesus directly, many more believe "because of his word" (v. 41). Testimony creates openness; direct encounter creates conviction. The Samaritans tell the woman that they have now moved beyond secondhand report — a gentle but significant distinction between πιστεύειν διά ("believing through/because of") someone and πιστεύειν in the direct sense.
The Official's Son: Believing the Word (vv. 43–54)
43 After two days, Jesus left for Galilee. 44 Now He Himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown. 45 Yet when He arrived, the Galileans welcomed Him. They had seen all the great things He had done in Jerusalem at the feast, for they had gone there as well.
46 So once again He came to Cana in Galilee, where He had turned the water into wine. And there was a royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. 47 When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged Him to come down and heal his son, who was about to die.
48 Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will never believe."
49 "Sir," the official said, "come down before my child dies."
50 "Go," said Jesus. "Your son will live." The man took Jesus at His word and departed. 51 And while he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was alive. 52 So he inquired as to the hour when his son had recovered, and they told him, "The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour." 53 Then the father realized that this was the very hour in which Jesus had told him, "Your son will live." And he and all his household believed. 54 This was now the second sign that Jesus performed after coming from Judea into Galilee.
43 After the two days he departed for Galilee. 44 (For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.) 45 So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast.
46 So he came again to Cana of Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And there was an official whose son was ill at Capernaum. 47 When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.
48 So Jesus said to him, "Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe."
49 The official said to him, "Sir, come down before my child dies."
50 Jesus said to him, "Go; your son will live." The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. 51 As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was going to live. 52 So he asked them the hour when he had begun to get better, and they said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him." 53 The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live." And he himself believed, and all his household. 54 This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee.
Notes
Jesus' apparent rebuke in v. 48 — "Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe" — is addressed in the plural (ὑμεῖς, you-all), suggesting it is directed to the Galilean crowd generally, not solely to the official. The official's response bypasses the rebuke entirely; he is past the question of signs and wonders — his child is dying. His petition "come down before my child dies" strips away all theological posturing.
The healing occurs by word alone — at a distance of roughly twenty miles from Capernaum. Jesus says ὁ υἱός σου ζῇ, "your son lives." The official believed τῷ λόγῳ, "the word" — not a sign, not a healing touch, not a physical presence. He believed a spoken word and walked home. This is the faith John has been calling for: faith that rests on Jesus' word itself, not on spectacular evidence.
The careful time correlation — the seventh hour of healing matched exactly to the hour Jesus spoke — confirms the sign's authenticity while also showing that faith preceded confirmation. The official believed first, then received the proof. This reversal of the expected order is exactly what Jesus called for in v. 48.