John 4

26 “I … am he,” Jesus said to the woman. “I myself am the Messiah.”

Jesus did not of ten reveal to Jews that He was the Messiah, because they would try to make Him a king (see Mark 5:43; 8:30 and comments). But among the Samaritans, He did not try to hide His identity.

27 The disciples had earlier gone to town to buy food (verse 8). They were surprised to see Jesus talking with a woman. In the Jews’ eyes, it wasn’t proper for a Rabbi (teacher) to converse with a woman. But they were embarrassed to ask Jesus why He was talking with her.

28-30 The woman now began to think that Jesus was the Messiah. His knowledge of her own life had amazed her. Even though Jesus had only spoken about her five “husbands,” she knew that He could have told her everything that she had ever done.

The woman could not keep these things to herself. She went and told the people of her town. Christ had made Himself known to her. Now she went to make Him known to others. The blessings we receive are to be shared. If we put a light under a bushel, it will go out (Matthew 5:15).

31-33 After the woman had gone to call the people of her town to see Christ, the disciples suggested that Jesus eat some of the food they had purchased in the town. But He told them that He had food they didn’t know about. They did not understand that He was talking about spiritual food (see Matthew 4:4).

34 Jesus’ food was to do God’s will. Jesus desired to do God’s will as much as a hungry man desires to eat. Jesus received satisfaction from obeying God. As He obeyed God, He received spiritual strength and nourishment. So it is with everyone who obeys God.

God had sent Jesus to save the world, to save sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). To do that, Jesus had to die (see Mark 10:45 and comment). Jesus not only had to do God’s will each moment, but He had to finish His work. He could not be fully satisfied until He had finished it. Jesus finished God’s work when He died on the cross.

35 When a farmer sows, he must wait a few months for the harvest. But the disciples of Christ are not like farmers. Those who sow spiritual seed do not have to wait four months to reap. They can at once begin to call men into God’s kingdom.

Jesus’ work was reaping. It was the disciples’ work too (see Mark 1:17). Perhaps, even as Jesus talked, the people from the Samaritan woman’s town were coming toward Him. They were the harvest! The seed had been sown in the mind of the woman, and now already the harvest had come!

Jesus’ main meaning was this. Harvest time is a busy time. It is also a short time. If the crop is not quickly harvested, it will be lost. Therefore, Christ’s disciples must work quickly and diligently. The task of harvesting is urgent (see Matthew 9:37-38 and comment).

36 For the disciples of Christ, sowing and reaping go together. The disciple sows the word (see Mark 4:14). But he also reaps; that is, he calls people to believe and to enter God’s kingdom. The Samaritans were coming toward them. Christ had sown; now He was about to reap. He was already drawing his wages.

The reaper will receive a wage, a reward. We each will be rewarded according to our work (Matthew 16:27). But not only will the reaper be benefited; others also will benefit from his work. The souls he “harvests” will receive eternal life. Thus the work of the reaper lasts for eternity.

37 Among farmers, usually the one who sows reaps his own crop. But with spiritual sowing and reaping, usually one man sows and another man reaps. Since spiritual sowing and reaping go on together, the sower and reaper will be glad together (verse 36).

38 Then Jesus reminded His disciples that others had worked before them, especially John the Baptist and his followers. These earlier workers had prepared the ground and planted the seed. They had done the hard work, but had not seen the harvest. Now Jesus and His disciples were about to reap the benefits of their labor.

Jesus here gives a principle that is true in all Christian work. We must not try to take credit for the success of any spiritual work. Usually someone else has gone ahead of us and prepared the ground. But that is not all. It is God alone who makes the seed grow. Paul wrote to the Corinthians: I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow (1 Corinthians 3:6-7).

39-41 Here we can see how a small work of Christ led to a great work. Jesus began by teaching one woman. He ended by teaching an entire town. Let none of us despise a small work; it will of ten lead to a greater one.

The Samaritan woman’s testimony caused many of the townspeople to believe. See how much fruit resulted from the testimony of an ordinary sinful woman! In the same way, our own testimony concerning what Christ has done in our life is very effective. Therefore, let us not be hesitant to share our testimony with others.

42 However, even though men and women may believe in Christ through the testimony of others—such as parents, preachers, and friends—their faith becomes strong only when they themselves have met Christ. We can witness to others, but they must themselves invite Christ into their lives. It’s not enough to learn about Christ with our minds; we must meet Jesus with our spirits if we are to have true faith.

This is what happened to the people of that Samaritan town. When they heard Christ’s words for themselves, their hearts and spirits were opened, and they then knew that He was the Messiah, the Savior of the world (see 1 John 4:14). He was the Savior not only of the Jews, but of the Samaritans also.

43-44 From Samaria, Jesus then went to Galilee, which was where he had been brought up (Luke 2:39-40). He knew that a prophet has no honor in his own country (see Mark 6:4 and comment). He went to Galilee knowing that He would be rejected (Mark 6:1-6; Luke 4:28-30).

45 At first, however, the Galileans welcomed Jesus. Many of them had gone to Jerusalem for the Passover festival, and had seen the miraculous signs Jesus had done there (John 2:23). But most of them didn’t really believe that Jesus was the Messiah, the Christ (see John 2:23-24 and comment).

46-47 In Cana, a royal official asked Jesus to heal his son. This incident is similar to the healing described in Matthew 8:5-13; but the healing described here is a different event.

48 Jesus knew that the official did not have true faith. He had come to Jesus only because he had heard about the miracles Jesus had performed. Jesus told him and those standing around, “You only believe when you see a miracle. That’s not real faith” (see John 2:18 and comment).

However, belief in miracles is of ten a first step to real faith. Christ did not reject people who believed in His miracles. His miracles were signs that He was indeed the Messiah (see John 14:11 and comment).

49-50 Jesus then healed the official’s son right then and there. The healing was instant and complete. Jesus didn’t even go to the village where the child was. Jesus was in Cana and the child was in Capernaum, sixteen miles away (see Matthew 8:13).

The father believed Jesus’ word and started for home. He believed without having seen any sign or miracle. He had accepted the rebuke Jesus gave him in verse 48.

51-53 On the journey home, the official learned that his son had been healed at the exact hour that Jesus had said, “Your son will live” (verse 50). As a result, the official and his family placed complete faith in Christ; that is, they became Christians. The miracle had produced true faith.

The sickness of the child had in the end brought great blessing upon his parent’s house. To those who love and believe God, God will bring good out of all their afflictions (see Romans 8:28 and comment).

54 This was the second miracle Jesus did in Galilee. The first miracle was turning the water into wine (John 2:11). Both times Jesus had just returned from a trip to Judea, where He had done other miracles which John has not recorded (see John 2:23: 4:45).