John 4:1-9

1 Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John 2 (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples), 3 He left Judea and departed again to Galilee. 4 But He needed to go through Samaria. 5 So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. 7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” 8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. 9 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.

You’re Asking Me For a Drink? Really?

Chapter 4 has already started off with a bang with the phrase “making and baptizing more disciples”. We need all the references to baptism we can get! 

Let’s think about verse 2 with common sense for a moment. The statement in parentheses confirms that Jesus did not actually baptize. His disciples did the actual baptizing while Jesus was probably overseeing them. So…..does this diminish the importance of baptism because Jesus didn’t baptize, but allowed His disciples to do the baptizing? This verse……believe or not…..has been used to try and say that baptism is not necessary for salvation. Read the commentary below that I found on another website below:

“The parenthetical note that Jesus Himself was not baptizing, but His disciples were is impossible to reconcile with the doctrine of baptismal regeneration, the false teaching that baptism is necessary for salvation. Surely the Lord Jesus Christ, who came to ‘seek and to save that which was lost’ (Luke 19:10), would Himself have done whatever was necessary to bring sinners to salvation.” (MacArthur New Testament Commentary)

First of all, this commentary literally calls Jesus a false teacher. Jesus commanded His disciples to baptize in Matthew 28:19 and Mark 16:16. But….according to this commentator, He was lying when He said, “He who repents and is baptized shall be saved.” Wow. Just wow. Second of all, it doesn’t matter who baptizes who. It is not the person who baptizes that matters. It is the reason behind being baptized that matters. Is the person being baptized doing it for the right reason? Do they understand the meaning of what they are doing? I mean…..if Jesus did baptize some of the people…..would the fact that He did it make it better than if Peter did it? Or Thomas? Or Judas? Would those baptized by Jesus be “more saved”? Obviously, we know that this is ridiculous. If Jesus had been baptizing along with His disciples, what might have happened? If you had a choice between being baptized by Thomas or Jesus, whose line would you be in? Everyone would flock to Jesus’ line. People would be bragging about being baptized by Jesus. Can’t you just hear them? “Who baptized you? Peter? Well, Jesus baptized me Himself! I’m so much luckier than you!” It would become more about the baptizer,  rather than the meaning of baptism. This same thing happened at Corinth in 1 Corinthians 1:14-17 when people were boasting about who taught them or maybe baptized them, and Paul said he was glad he hadn’t baptized any of them because of the way they were acting. He said later in 1 Corinthians 3:6-8 that it doesn’t matter who does what (“I planted, Apollos watered”), because it is God that gives the increase and gets the glory. 

Ok…..moving on to verse 3. It says that Jesus left Judea to go to Galilee. Verse 4 says that He needed to go through Samaria. This was no accident. He could have gone a different way to go to Galilee, and didn’t have to go through Samaria to get there. Jesus was supposed to meet a woman at a well, and not just any well…..Jacob’s well. In Genesis 33:19, Jacob bought the land that is spoken of here in verse 5 for 100 pieces of money for an inheritance for Joseph’s children. In Joshua 24:32, we read that Joseph’s bones were brought from Egypt and buried in this plot of land. 

It is significant and symbolic that Jesus sat down at Jacob’s well…..the well that Jacob dug to provide water to God’s people while they were living there. Another comparison between the physical and spiritual is coming! In verses 6 and 7, we see that Jesus is tired and thirsty. He sits down to rest, and asks for a drink. We get a glimpse of Jesus’ humanity in these verses. Jesus went through the same physical challenges as a human that we go through…..hunger, thirst, fatigue, etc. Jesus had to sleep. (Matthew 8:24) Jesus had to eat regularly. (Matthew 21:18) Jesus felt stressed and experienced extreme sorrow. (Matthew 26:37) Jesus felt severe pain. (Matthew 27:46) In Matthew 4:2, after Jesus had fasted for 40 days and nights, He was hungry, and probably not just hungry like we get hungry after a few hours of not eating……but completely famished and depleted. I think about how hungry Esau had to be to sell his birthright for a bowl of soup. His brother Jacob tempted him, and he fell to that temptation. I bet he wasn’t as hungry as Jesus was after 40 days with no food. Satan tempted Jesus to turn stones into bread after He had not eaten for 40 days, but Jesus did not fall to that temptation. Jesus was probably hungry on this day that He sat down at the well, since He sent His disciples to go buy food. But I suspect He had another reason for sending them ALL away to buy the food. He needed time to talk with this woman whom He was about to encounter with no distractions. Do you ever wonder why Jesus chose this particular woman? Well…..we can’t know the “why” behind all of Jesus’ choices, but we know that He knows the hearts of all people. And of all the people that came back and forth to that well…..He chose her. For one thing, He knew that this woman would spread His message to the nearby town. Maybe He also knew that she was searching for something……something to fill a void in her life. Why was the woman so shocked that Jesus spoke to her and asked her for a drink? Verse 9 tells us that the Jews would have nothing to do with the Samaritans. The Jews looked down on the Samaritans, because they were a mixed race of people. They were descendants of the Israelites that had intermarried with foreigners after the war between Assyria and the northern kingdom. They only followed the Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament), not the prophets’ writings. They had their own temple in which they worshiped on Mount Gerizim, instead of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. The Jews hated them mainly for their mixed race though. If they had tried to come to the temple to worship, would they have been accepted? No! This is why Jesus later teaches the parable of the good Samaritan…..to show that it is a person’s compassionate heart that truly matters, not their nationality. Again, we see a prejudiced way of thinking here. Jesus makes it plain with His actions in this account with this Samaritan woman that He is against such behavior. A person’s ethnic background is of no importance to Jesus. He sees past all that, and looks at the soul of each of us. And this is how we should look at others as well. We should look at others through the eyes of Jesus, and see a soul in need of a Savior. I also want to bring up the fact that He uses a woman to fulfill His mission in this account. This is a message to all of us, sisters……we are valuable to Jesus and to His kingdom. We are every bit as valuable as men, but in a different way. We are equally important in different roles. We should never let the world convince us that we are being treated unfairly because our role in the church is different from men’s roles. What we do is important and matters to Jesus, just like the woman at the well mattered to Jesus. 

God means for everyone to learn what the Bible teaches about how to be saved. It only takes an open heart for Jesus, and a willingness to put away what we’ve been taught in the past, and truly read what God’s Word says for ourselves…..and then accept what it says and obey it. If I can help you in any way, I would love to! 

Are you walking in the light? Are you in Christ? If you aren’t, I’d love to help you. Are you a member of the Lord’s church, but are struggling spiritually in your walk with Christ? If you are…..believe me, I’ve been there many times, and I’d love to help you. If you have any questions, please reach out. 

God’s Plan of Salvation

Below is the plan that God has set forth in His Word, for humankind to receive His grace that leads to salvation and an eternity with God in heaven. This plan is straight from the Bible. 

We have to hear His word. (Romans 10:17) 

Upon hearing the message of Jesus, we believe it. (Mark 16:16) 

Then, we confess Jesus’ name before men. (Matthew 10:32) 

Next, we repent of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19) 

Finally, we are baptized into Christ for the remission of our sins.  (Acts 2:38, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3-4, Acts 22:16, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:26-27) After baptism, God adds us to His church. (Acts 2:47)

Then, we remain faithful in our commitment to Christ until death. (Revelation 2:10, 2 Peter 2:20-22)