NLT Study Bible - Gospel of John - Flipbook - Page 16
John 4:47
1777
4:29
John 7:26
4:34
John 5:30, 36; 6:38;
17:4
4:35
Matt 9:37
Luke 10:2
4:37
Job 31:8
Mic 6:15
1 Cor 3:6
4:42
Luke 2:11
1 Jn 4:14
asoter (4990)
Acts 5:31
4:43-54
//Matt 8:5-13
//Luke 7:1-10
4:44
Matt 13:57
Luke 4:24
4:45
John 2:23
4:46
John 2:1-11
her water jar beside the well and ran back
to the village, telling everyone, 29“Come and
see a man who told me everything I ever
did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?”
30So the people came streaming from the
village to see him.
31Meanwhile, the disciples were urging
Jesus, “Rabbi, eat something.”
32But Jesus replied, “I have a kind of food
you know nothing about.”
33“Did someone bring him food while we
were gone?” the disciples asked each other.
34Then Jesus explained: “My nourish
ment comes from doing the will of God,
who sent me, and from finishing his work.
35You know the saying, ‘Four months be
tween planting and harvest.’ But I say, wake
up and look around. The fields are already
ripe for harvest. 36The harvesters are paid
good wages, and the fruit they harvest is
people brought to eternal life. What joy
awaits both the planter and the harvester
alike! 37You know the saying, ‘One plants
and another harvests.’ And it’s true. 38I sent
you to harvest where you didn’t plant; oth
ers had already done the work, and now you
will get to gather the harvest.”
Many Samaritans Believe
Samaritans from the village be
lieved in Jesus because the woman had said,
“He told me everything I ever did!” 40When
they came out to see him, they begged him
to stay in their village. So he stayed for two
days, 41long enough for many more to hear
his message and believe. 42Then they said
to the woman, “Now we believe, not just be
cause of what you told us, but because we
have heard him ourselves. Now we know
that he is indeed the aSavior of the world.”
39Many
Jesus Heals a Government Official’s Son
the end of the two days, Jesus went
on to Galilee. 44He himself had said that a
prophet is not honored in his own home
town. 45Yet the Galileans welcomed him, for
they had been in Jerusalem at the Passover
celebration and had seen everything he did
there.
46As he traveled through Galilee, he came
to Cana, where he had turned the water
into wine. There was a government official
in nearby Capernaum whose son was very
sick. 47When he heard that Jesus had come
from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged
43At
Living Water (4:10-14)
John 7:38-39
Lev 14:5-6, 50-51;
15:13
Num 19:17-19
Song 4:15
Jer 2:13; 17:13
Jas 3:11-12
In Israel, a land that frequently experienced drought, people were keenly aware of water
sources and water quality. Springs and rivers that ran all year were few, so the land relied
on cisterns to catch and store the winter rains and wells to tap underground water tables. In
Jewish culture, “dead water” referred to standing and stored water. “Living water” referred to
moving water, as in rivers, springs, and rainfall. Such water was precious because it was fresh.
Because it came directly from God, it was used for ritual washings (see Lev 14:5-6, 50-51;
15:13; Num 19:17-19).
The distinction between “dead” and “living” water explains why the woman of Samaria was
so perplexed when Jesus offered her living water (4:12). Samaria has no river. If Jacob had to
dig a well there, how could Jesus offer superior water?
Jesus mentioned living water again in Jerusalem at the autumn Festival of Shelters (7:3739). The festival, which fell during a dry time of year, included an emphasis on water. In this
setting, Jesus stepped forward and made an extravagant claim: Anyone looking for living
water should come to him and drink. Jesus is the source of living water; he came directly
from God and brought divine renewal.
4:32-34 While Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman, the disciples were gone
buying food (4:8); now they urged Jesus
to eat. Jesus continued to speak symbolically, but they did not understand
him (4:33). Later, when the disciples
received the Spirit, they understood
(2:22). Jesus received his nourishment
from doing what his Father told him
to do (see 5:30; 6:38; 7:18; 8:50; 9:4;
10:37-38; 12:49-50).
4:35 Four months between planting and
harvest: Jesus cited a local parable to
contrast the natural harvest with his
own. It was harvest time in Samaria,
and the fields were ripe (literally white).
Jesus, however, had planted seed at the
well and now was already reaping the
harvest of belief among the Samaritans
(4:39-42).
4:38 others: Jesus might have meant
John the Baptist, or he might have been
referring to the work he had just done
with the Samaritan woman.
4:39-40 Many Samaritans: The religiously sophisticated “chosen people” in
Jerusalem did not respond to Jesus with
faith (ch 3). By contrast, many believed
in Jesus because of the testimony of this
outcast woman.
4:42 The Samaritans had experienced
for themselves that Jesus was true. Their
name for Jesus, Savior of the world
(also used in 1 Jn 4:14), demonstrated
that the Samaritans were keenly aware
of their distance from Judaism. Jesus’
ministry was not simply for Jews, but
for all people (1:4-12; cp. 12:20-26).
4:44-45 Unlike Jesus’ fellow Jews, the
Galileans welcomed him, but their
welcome was based on awe of Jesus’
miracles (cp. 2:23-25), not true faith.
