With the renewed mind, we come to the greatest Love story ever revealed with humanity at the heart of this mystery of GOD's Agope' Love story. For this adventure my own I am-ness having been restored within me and others of the heart of receptive manity, we will look first at John 4, where the Samaritan woman meats the prophet foretold by Moses in Deuteronomy 18:15-22 and spoken of in the Psalms and Prophets (the one still under the Law of Moses, Psalms and Prophets in it's and their last days, this we shall see as we move forward), is in the here and now, as in face to face. I will within the limits of each chapter's paragraph's, look first at the KJV and then the ESV and lastly the Mirror Study Bible as it comes closest to this blogs language in our posting over the past nine years. When we get to chapter 10 I will add in chapter 3 with Nicodemus.
John 4:1-6 "When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,) He left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee. And he must needs go through Samaria. Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour." (KJV)
John 4:1-6 "Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples), he left Judea and departed again for Galilee. And he had to pass through Samaria. So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour." (ESV)
John 4:1-6 "Jesus heard the rumors that were spreading among the Pharisees, supposing that he was baptizing more people than John. The fact was, he didn't baptize anyone himself, his disciples were. He then decided to leave the area and go back to Galilee. This meant that he had to travel through Samaria. (At this time the land of Palestine was divided into three parts; Galilee on the north; Samaria in the middle; and Judea on the south.) En-route they approached Sychar, a Samaritan village bordering the field which Joseph inherited from his father Jacob. The well which Jacob dug was still in operation. Since it was already midday and Jesus felt exhausted and thirsty from their day and a half walk, (40 miles from Aenon) he decided to wait at the well while his disciples would go into the village to buy food. (Having left the Place of Springs, Aenon early the previous morning, one can only imagine how Jesus' mind drifted to the fountain theme!) (The Mirror)
John 4:7-14 "There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? Jesus answered and said unto her, 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." (KJV)
John 4:7-14 "A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, 'Give me a drink.' (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?" (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 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.' The woman said to him, "Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock." Jesus said to her, 'Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.'" (ESV)
John 4:7-15 "When a local Samaritan woman finally arrived to draw water, Jesus immediately asked her for a drink. There was still no sign of the disciples. The woman obviously anticipated this request and was ready with her response, "You are a Jew, aren't you? So why would you expect to get anything for free from a Samaritan woman?" Within politics of the day, Jews looked down upon Samaritans and had no dealings with them. (She knew very well how strategically en-route this precious well was and what political leverage it gave her over weary Jewish travellers!) (Jesus was not at all intimidated or embarrassed by her political stance; he didn't allow his awareness of his weariness and desperate thirst, as well as an obvious opportunity to negotiate for a quick fix-drink, to distract from his Person and mission - instead of associating himself with the Jews as a mere Jew and endorsing the Samaritan's 'inferior' political identity, he immediately engaged her with a far superior conversation. He escaped the temptation to see himself or the lady reduced to a lesser identity. He knew who he was and what his mission was all about as the Messiah of humanity - by seeing himself he was able to see her in the same light. What he had to offer was not for sale!) He looked her in the eye and said, 'If you could see the generosity of GOD's grace gift, you would perceive who I am! (I am so much more than a Jewish man and you are so much more than a Samaritan woman!) So here I am asking you for a drink when you should be asking me and I would give you the water of life for free!' (Just like Nicodemus in the previous chapter, she struggles to determine which source Jesus was pointing to!) "Sir, you have nothing to dram with and the well is deep! How would you reach this living water? Whoever you are, [1] you are certainly not greater than our father Jacob who left us this well and its legacy as our inheritance? He bought this land and dug the well; he drank from it himself and it sustained his family and their livestock for centuries. How can you compete wit that?" ([1] mesu meitzon - The interrogative particle, me indicates that a negative answer is expected: Surely you are not superior....The ov, you, first in the sentence, is emphatic, and possibly with a shade of contempt.) Jesus answered her, 'This well cannot quench the thirst that I am talking about. Anyone drinking from it will thirst again! (In her encounter with Jesus her familiar religious and historic identity is drawn out and dramatically challenged. Everyone who drinks from the wells of religion and politics will thirst again! The business of religion desperately needs paying and returning customers! They crucified Jesus for this reason; their entire system of keeping people dependent on their hierarchy was challenged and condemned! So many sincere "Christian" ministries today fall into the same snare.) Whoever drinks from the source of this water that I shall give will never thirst again; because the water that I give becomes an artesian well bursting from within, [1] defining the life of the ages!' (The preposition [1] eis, into, indicating the point reached; conclusion; a defining moment. Unlike a man-made hole dug in the ground to access seepage water, Jesus speaks of a spring of water, an artesian well! In a later chapter this thought is reinforced when Jesus declares, 'To drink from me is to be persuaded that I am what the Scriptures are all about [then you will discover that you are what I am all about] and rivers of living water will gush out of your innermost being!' In John 7:37-38 Now this is economic and most effective ministry! In John 16:7 Jesus says, 'It is to your advantage that I go!' This is what Paul knew when he wrote, "Not only in my presence, but much more in my absence, discover the full extent of salvation in your own heart!" Then in Philippians 2:12, "There is something more beneficial to the individual than Paul's next epistle or even his next visit! It is discovering the foundation within your innermost being! The unveiling of Christ in you exceeds your every expectation!" Also Colossians 1:27 and 2:5 "My physical absence does not distance me from you spiritually!") (Again she did not understand!) "Sir, then this is what I want! It will save me the trouble of returning here again and again to bail out water for my thirst!"
Tomorrow we will pick up with verse 15 through 21 and a little more, the LORD willing.
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