Lesson of John 4:27

And upon this came His disciples, and marvelled that He talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her? John 4:27

"So that blessed interview was broken up by Christ’s own disciples,
What a set of blunderers we are!

We sometimes come in between Christ

and poor sinners whom He is going to bless." 

Charles Spurgeon

Gleanings for Your Soul at the Well

"Then she thought of a theological question that had troubled her ever since she was a little girl. 

---All her life she had heard the arguments about where was the proper place to worship. 

It was a question that defined her as a Samaritan, competing as they

were with the Jews in Jerusalem. 

People that she knew and respected insisted that Samaria was the place where God where God was focused. 

It had convinced her that all that was needed to please God was the right location. Worshiping in the “right” place and drinking from this special well had become an empty tradition, unable to purge her guilty conscience.

So she posed this question to Jesus. “Where is the right location to worship?” She leaned forward slightly to hear the answer.
Jesus fixed His truthful, gentle eyes on her. “Woman, true worship is not about having the right place; it is about having the right heart.”

Q: How is it with you? 

Q: Has your ecclesiastical tradition become just another hole in the ground that sustains your existence but hinders eternal life?

Lessons From This Story:
God is looking for you (But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship Him. John 4:23).

His Word cuts into our soul (For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly. The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that Thou art a

prophet. v. 18-19).

You look up towards heaven, and say “I need a Savior” (The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. v. 25).

He reveals Himself and accepts you (Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am He. v. 26).

Your priorities change (The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ? v.28,29).

There are no human solutions 

to the deep needs of our life." 

Gerry Waggoner

Christ's longing at the well

"John 4:7,9 There came a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus said unto her, Give Me to drink. Then said the woman of Samaria unto Him, How is it that you, being a Jew, ask drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.

Not a very encouraging opening, but beneath the exterior of

superstition and ignorance, Christ recognized the spiritual need and longed to open to this benighted soul the treasure of the Father’s love. 

He did not ask her to come again when He would be feeling rested and refreshed, or suggest that, if she could get together a sufficient congregation to make it worthwhile, He would speak to them on some very important truths, but to this single individual He proceeded to make known His work and character." 

E.J. Waggoner

Woman at the Well SERIES PAGE

 Woman at the Well SERIES PAGE

 Sir, the woman said, I can see that you are a prophet.

John 4:19

 

Picture the Scene

https://master1844-dc.blogspot.com/2023/07/woman-at-well-series-picture-scene.html

Emblem of the Gift of the Holy Spirit 

http://master1844-dc.blogspot.com/2023/07/woman-at-well-series-emblem-of-gift-of.html

The Husbands

http://master1844-dc.blogspot.com/2023/07/woman-at-well-series-husbands.html

The Spiritual 

https://master1844-dc.blogspot.com/2023/07/woman-at-well-series-spiritual.html

Proof of His Divine Authority 

https://master1844-dc.blogspot.com/2023/07/woman-at-well-series-proof-of-his.html

Object of Worship

https://master1844-dc.blogspot.com/2023/07/woman-at-well-series-object-of-worship.html

"I Am He" 

https://master1844-dc.blogspot.com/2023/07/woman-at-well-series-i-am-he.html

Spread of the Living Water 

https://master1844-dc.blogspot.com/2023/07/woman-at-well-series-spread-of-living.html

Make the Inquiry

https://master1844-dc.blogspot.com/2023/08/woman-at-well-series-make-inquiry.html

Contrasted with Nicodemus 

https://master1844-dc.blogspot.com/2023/08/woman-at-well-series-contrasted-with.html

Our Duty 

https://master1844-dc.blogspot.com/2023/08/woman-at-well-series-our-duty.html

Woman at the Well SERIES: Our Duty

"Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am He. (John 4:26).  

He gave evidence here that He was the Messiah. 

This was the design of John in writing this gospel. 

He has therefore recorded this narrative.

--We see our duty. 

It is to seize on all occasions to lead sinners to the belief that Jesus is the Christ, and to make use of all topics of conversation to teach them the nature of religion. 

*There never was a model of so much wisdom in this as the Savior, and we shall be successful only as we diligently study His character."

Barnes Notes

Woman at the Well SERIES: Contrasted with Nicodemus

"There are too many similarities and differences that seem very
purposeful. 

Last week was Nicodemus; this week is the Woman at the Well. 

(The interlude with John the Baptist in John 3 connects these two stories. When you read it, think of both Nicodemus and the Woman at the Well.)

 

SIMILARITIES

• Neither understand “the gift of God” (John 4:10)
• Both stories feature water and the Spirit[1] (the John the Baptizer interlude features water and an explanation of the Spirit)
• They are confused about terms (birth/water/bread)
• Both initially see Jesus as a prophet (believe about rather than believe in)

DIFFERENCES

• Male vs. female
• Jewish vs. Samaritan
• Signs and wonders vs. no signs and wonders
• Nicodemus leaves confused; she leaves converted
• He leaves covertly; she leaves loudly and brings people back."
  HarmonyOfTheGospels 

Woman at the Well SERIES: Make the Inquiry

"A man who told me all things that ever I did (John 4:29) - Our Lord
had told her but a few things. 

*But His words awakened her conscience, which soon told her all the rest. 

Is not this the Christ? (John 4:29) - She does not doubt of it herself, but incites them to make the inquiry."

John Wesley

Woman at the Well SERIES: Spread of the Living Water

"Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at the well. 

*He is the first person in the story to name His desire—He is thirsty. 

So, He asks the Samaritan woman for a drink. 

She imitates His desire by declaring her thirst as well; she wants “living water.” (John4:1)

Desire then goes viral, and spreads exponentially. She shares her desire with the town, many of whom identify their own desire by borrowing hers. As a result, “many believe.” (John 4:41)

What’s being described here is the process of social contagion. 

This is how the Gospel spreads. 

Jesus and the Samaritan woman show us the way to spread a friendly virus of God’s affection."

Kris Rocke/HyattMoore

Woman at the Well SERIES: "I Am He"

"Jesus saith unto her, I - am He (John 4:26) - Our Lord never spoke in such direct terms concerning Himself to His own countrymen; nor

even to His own disciples, till a little before His death. 

The reason given by Pearce is the following: The woman being alone when Jesus said it, and being a Samaritan, He had no reason to apprehend that the Samaritans, if they knew His claim, would disturb His ministry before the time of His suffering came; which seems to have been the reason why He concealed it so long from His own countrymen."

Adam Clarke

Woman at the Well SERIES: Object of Worship

"...worship the Father (John 4:23)— She had talked simply of
"worship"; our Lord brings up before her the great OBJECT of all acceptable worship—"THE FATHER."

Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown

Woman at the Well SERIES: Proof of His Divine Authority

"The woman saith unto Him, 

Sir, I perceive that thou art a
prophet. (John 4:19) The woman acknowledged Christ to be a prophet. 

*The power of His word in searching the heart, 

*and convincing the conscience of secret things, 

--is a proof of Divine authority. 

*It should cool our contests, to think that the things we are striving about are passing away."

Matthew Henry

Woman at the Well SERIES: The Spiritual

"When Jesus mentioned her marital situation, the woman at the well changed the subject, which is understandable. After all, who among us hasn’t changed the subject when a conversation got awkward? 

But possibly because it dawned on her that the conversation had turned sharply spiritual, the woman at the well asked Jesus a question she always wanted the answer to — a question about worship.

“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”

“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.

Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”  

John 4:19-24 (NIV)

She wanted to know the right way to worship the God she served.

Instead of automatically assuming her people were correct, she questioned the truth of what she was taught. 

Before her sat a Jewish prophet who had come to Samaria. Perhaps He had come to tell them to worship in Jerusalem. 

Or maybe He had come to worship at Mt. Gerizim. 

Or perhaps He was there for some other reason. 

Whatever the reason, this prophet could help her worship rightly. He would be able to direct her to the location where God wanted her and her community to worship.

Jesus, though, never truly answered her question. He began by pointing to a future time where the location of human worship will not matter (John 4:21). Then His response in 4:22 suggests that since the Jews worship what they know, Jerusalem is the correct location. Still, Jesus never condemns Samaritan worship on Mt. Gerizim."

PJMedia

Woman at the Well SERIES: The Husbands

"One of those twists in the conversation came when Jesus asked the woman about her husband — she’d had five husbands and was currently living with a man she wasn’t married to.

He told her, 

“Go, call your husband and come back.”  

“I have no husband,” she replied.

Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.” John 4:16-18 (NIV). 

It’s easy to assume that Jesus was calling her out for her sin or demonstrating that He knew a lot about her, and both of those interpretations are valid. 

Because this strange man sitting by the well knew things about her grief-filled life that no one could have possibly guessed, [the woman at the well] finally recognized that He was no mere man — He was a prophet. (Later she realizes that he is much more than a prophet; He is the Messiah.)."

PJMedia

Woman at the Well SERIES: Emblem of the Gift of the Holy Spirit

"Living water (John 4:10) - By this expression, which was common to
the inhabitants both of the east and of the west, is always meant spring water, in opposition to dead, stagnant water contained in ponds, pools, tanks, or cisterns; and what our Lord means by it is evidently the Holy Spirit, as may be seen, John 7:38, John 7:39.

As water quenches the thirst,  

refreshes and invigorates the body, 

 purifies things defiled, 

and renders the earth fruitful, 

so it is an apt emblem of the gift of the Holy Ghost, which so satisfies the souls that receive it that they thirst no more for earthly good: it purifies also from all spiritual defilement, on which account it is emphatically styled the Holy Spirit; and it makes those who receive it fruitful in every good word and work."

Adam Clarke

Woman at the Well SERIES: Picture the Scene

"Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well” (John 4:6)—that is, in a thoroughly exhausted condition, He sat down as if He could go no further, could do no more, and there it was that the Samaritan woman found Him. How perfectly human all this proves our Lord to have been!

Because He was perfectly and supremely God, His Godhead did not take away from Him His power to suffer and to be wearied. 

He was quite worn out, and thoroughly weary, and so, while they

went into Sychar to purchase provisions, He sat down on the well. 

When our Lord was in the wilderness forty days, He hungered. 

Why did He not turn the stones into bread? He certainly could have done so, but to do so was evidently quite out of order with Him who had come to be a servant, and to suffer as a man, the devil tempted Him to do it, which proves to us that it would have been wrong for Christ to do it.

Oh, I never imagined how strong Christ was till I saw His love hold back His deity! 

PAINT A PICTURE, 

and that picture is the portrait of a wearied Savior, a Savior wearied by you, worn out by you, wearied, not with His journey, but wearied with your sin.... the Lord has said it in Isaiah, “Thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities.” 

You have wearied Christ by doing wrong, and doing it again and again, and sinning against conscience and against light.

Now I want you to  

STUDY THAT PICTURE 

of the wearied Christ.

I like the picture so, it seems to comfort me as I look at it, for albeit that He is very weary, yet I perceive that He is waiting. The woman will be here soon, Jesus is very weary, but He still waits on. Sinner, that is just the attitude of my Lord towards you.

Now I want to 

ALTER THE PICTURE ON THE CANVAS

A woman must be put into the picture now, Mr. Painter.
There she is, and the Master is saying to her, “Give me a drink.” (John 4:7). 

Oh, to think that you and I can give satisfaction to the heart of Christ for all the anguish that He bore when He poured out His soul unto death!"

Charles Spurgeon

SDA Issues- Will we Follow "Woman at the Well" Story or "Francis at the Well" Story?

 "On March 22, 2021, Pope Francis celebrated the United Nation’s World Water Day by calling attention to “sister water” and the

devastating effects that “climate change” has brought to our world in the form of “floods, droughts, rising temperatures, sudden and unpredictable variability of rainfall, thaws, diminishing river flows and depletion of groundwater.”

 

Seventh-day Adventists have also joined the call to labor for the natural water that will leave men and women thirsty. Adventists are collaborating with the UN and the Vatican to give the world the natural water that can never satisfy the body or the soul, but will only quench the thirst for a time, as the need for more soon returns. Adventist News Network, the official news source for the General Conference, published the following in 2019: “World Water Day, established by the United Nations (UN) in 1992, is recognized every year on March 22nd. Students from the Itaboraí Adventist College in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, took to the streets to promote awareness of water conservation.”

 

Ecology (pantheism) is fast becoming our new religion, a religion that cares more about “sister water” than the Living Water, Christ, who is the only one who can wash away the sins of humanity. Our world is exalting “sister water” every March 22 as we, along with Pope Francis, come together to promote the natural water that Jesus said will make men and women thirsty again. A remarkable phenomenon is taking place in today’s political and religious world. Churches are lining up to promote Rome’s new green gospel. Under the leadership of Pope Francis, the world is working together to save Mother Earth, even as the spiritual life in society is diminishing.

 

---Any gospel that does not seek to reconcile sinners to God is a false gospel. 

---Today’s church only wants to talk about water pollution while neglecting the moral pollution of sin in people’s lives.

We too must abandon the water pots of the world and instead seek to give the Living Water to our fallen world:

“Christ neglected no opportunity of proclaiming the gospel of salvation. Listen to His wonderful words to that one

woman of Samaria. He was sitting by Jacob’s well, as the woman came to draw water … ‘Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life’ (John 4:7-14) … When the woman heard them, she left her waterpot, and went into the city, saying to her friends, ‘Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?’ ” (Ministry of Healing, pp. 27, 28)." AdventMessenger