JOHN IV. 1-14

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.

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.

THIS fourth chapter of the gospel by John, interesting as it ever must be in itself, as containing the account of our Lord's interview with the woman at the well, is also exceedingly suggestive, when looked at in its relation to that by which it is immediately preceded. In that we are told of a sinner seeking Christ, and of the manner in which he was received; in this we have a description of Christ seeking a sinner, and of the means which he employed to lead her to himself. In that we read how the gospel was preached to a Pharisee of exalted station and stainless reputation, and how he stumbled over the assertion of the necessity of the New birth; in this we learn how the truth was set before the mind of a poor depraved woman, and how after her first prejudices were overcome she joy.fully received "the gift of God." And when we put them both together we are profoundly impressed with the per.fect adaptation of God's method of salvation to all classes of men, while at the same time we are led to ad.mire the unerring wisdom with which our Divine Redeemer dealt with individuals in every case, according to the character and circumstances of each. The discourse which he addressed to Nicodemus would have been, to a great extent at least, thrown away on the woman of Samaria; and, on the other hand, the conversation at the well would in its early stages at least have seemed trivial and undignified to the Pharisaic teacher; yet, as tested by the result, they were in each case just what was most appropriate and efficacious. He thus suited the pre.sentation of the gospel to the idiosyncrasies of those with whom he came into contact; and all alike found in him that which fitted into their individual requirements.

And that which was so marked a fea.ture of his personal ministry is retained still by these inspired records of his words. Men of all classes and cultures and tastes and pursuits are attracted by them to Christ, yet each discovers in him that which is peculiarly adapted to himself, and each can say, with as much truth as the woman of Samaria -- " he told me all things that ever I did, is not this the Christ "? Nor is this all; for it is still true that among the followers of the Lord, there are the two classes represented by Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman. Some like the former find him after anxious search and nights of enquiry; and others like the latter are found by him when they were not seeking him, but when they were going about their ordinary business, and were not apparently concerning themselves about spiritual affairs. Thus both the ancient oracles are fulfilled. To the one the promise is verified-- "they that seek me early," or earnestly, "shall find me;" and in the other the saying is illus.trated, " I am found of them that sought me not; I said, Behold me, Be.hold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name."

It is always a joy to the faithful minister to deal with those who are seeking for Jesus;" but my present intention is, from the study of this delightful chapter, to bring out some important truths which may perhaps be blessed in leading to the Lord, some who hitherto have had no serious con.cern for the salvation of their souls.

After the first passover of his public ministry, the Lord seems to have spent some eight months in Jerusalem or its neighborhood. But now he has determined to go northward to Galilee. His motive for changing the scene of his labors is not directly stated; but from the opening verse of the chapter it would appear to have been connected with his perception of the growing antagonism of the Pharisees. They had, latterly at least, been troubled considerably by the success of John the Baptist; and though now he had, most probably, been cast into prison, their minds were stirred by the recollection of the fact that he had borne special testimony to Jesus as the Messiah, and by their receiving information that the prophet of Nazareth had succeeded in gathering round him more disciples than the Baptist. So they transferred their animosity with added intensity from John to Jesus.

Baptism was a rite of initiation with them both, and so naturally enough the Pharisees regarded them as intimately connected with each other. It is true, indeed, that in the matter of the ordinance which I have just named there was a marked difference between them, for while John baptized as well as his disciples, "Jesus himself baptized not," but left the administration of the rite entirely to his followers. The reason for this procedure in the Lord's case is nowhere distinctly stated; but it may have been because, like Paul at a later date he viewed baptism as of smaller importance than the preaching of the gospel; or because those baptized by him might afterwards arrogate to themselves superiority to others on that account, or because, as it was his special prerogative to baptize with the Holy Spirit, he left it to others to deal with the symbol, and restricted himself to that which it symbolized. But in any case, his followers were baptized by his disciples, and their increasing numbers so aggravated the opposition of the Pharisees that he judged it wise to repair to Galilee.

Now to one going thither from Judea there was a choice between three pos.sible routes. One crossed the Jordan not far from Jericho, and went northward on its Eastern side through Perea, recrossing the river a little to the south of the sea of Galilee. Another lay along the coast of the Mediterranean, and thence passed through the valley of Esdraelon. The third and most direct was by way of Shechem, through the country of the Samaritans. The last would have been, on all ordinary occasions, rejected by the rigid Pharisees, because it would have brought them into contact with a people whom they hated. But Jesus deliberately preferred it, perhaps because in this incidental way he wished to give to his apostles an earnest of the success which his gospel was yet to have among an alien race. He had told them, when he sent them forth, not to enter into any of the cities of the Samaritans; and as the rule of his own ministry, he kept himself among the Jews.--but just as in the cases of the Syrophenician woman, and the Roman centurion, he let a few crumbs fall from the table that was spread, in the first instance, for the Jews; so here we have an incidental exception to the rule of his public life--an instance in which he let the branches of his ministry "run over the wall" of national exclusiveness, that others might pluck the fruit and be nourished and refreshed thereby. It was both a warning to the Jews, of their coming rejection at the hands of God, and a prophecy to the apostles of the success which they were yet to reap among the Gentiles.

The phrase "he must needs go through Samaria," is one of those suggestive sayings in which John delights, and is not to be narrowed down to the mere truism, that as Samaria lay between Judea and Galilee, he could not go from the one to the other without passing through the intermediate territory. Rather it seems to me to imply that the Lord was, as one might say, "led of the Spirit" through that land. There was an inner impulse moving him thither. He went knowingly and deliberately by this route in order to find this woman and her townsmen. He who knew to look up for Zacchaeus on his leafy perch upon the sycamore tree, must have known what was before him on this journey. The necessity which drew him down from heaven to earth, was the "needs be" for his preferring this route to Galilee at this time. He went thither, as he came into the world, "to seek and to save that which was lost."

On his way he came to the immediate neighborhood of a city called Sychar. It was near the hour of noon, and sending his disciples into the city to buy food, he remained to rest alone on the ledge of a well which had been originally dug by the patriarch Jacob. The place in which he thus paused a while was one of great beauty, and of much historic interest. It was none other than that valley of Shechem, whose loveliness still charms the traveller, and of which we have such frequent mention in the Old Testament Scriptures. Running from East to West, it had Mount Ebal on its northern side and Mount Gerizim on its southern. " A valley green with grass, gray with olives, gardens sloping down on each side, fresh springs rushing down in all directions; at the end a white town embosomed in all this verdure, lodged between the two high mountains which extend on each side the valley, this," says Dean Stanley, "is the aspect of Nablous, the most beautiful, perhaps it might be said, the only very beautiful spot in central Palestine." ("Sinai and Palestine," p. 230)

Here first after he had crossed the Jordan Abraham built an altar to the Lord; here Jacob dwelt with his family after his return from Padanaram, and so enamored was he of the place that he bought the parcel of the field of the children of Hamor, Shechem's father, for three hundred pieces of silver, and dug a well in it to keep for him.self an independent supply of water, and to establish an indefeasible title to the property; nay more, so highly did he value it that he left it as a special patrimony to his beloved Joseph. Here, at a later day, the tribes were encamped when six of them were arranged on Mount Gerizim to bless, and six of them on Mount Ebal to curse, and on these hillsides arose from myriad voices the deep and solemn AMEN, by which these sanctions of the law were accepted by the people. On yonder rock Jotham may have stood when in the audience of the men in the valley, he gave forth his famous parable of the trees choosing a king. But these associations, thrilling as they are, dwindle into insignificance before the fact that here at noontide the Saviour rested, as is here recorded, and forgot his fatigue, in the rewarding work of leading an erring woman into the paths of holiness and peace.

The well itself still remains;--in a ruined condition, indeed, but yet in a sufficient state of preservation to be easily identified. " It is," says Dr. Schaff, "in an almost square enclosure which measures 192 feet by 151 feet; the wall of this enclosure is almost entirely destroyed, and the ground is covered with shapeless ruins forming a large mound. The well is now 75 feet deep and 7 feet 6 inches in diameter, and is lined throughout with rough masonry. It must have been very much deeper in ancient times, for in the course of 10 years it decreased 10 feet in depth, and Robinson, in 1838, found it 105 feet deep. Captain Anderson estimates that it has been filled up to probably more than half of its original depth by the stones thrown into it by visitors for the sake of hearing them strike, and by the debris from the ruined church built over the well in the fourth century. The bottom of the well is at times entirely dry, but in some seasons it contains water." ("Bible Dictionary," p. 414)

It is more than a mile from the modern city of Nablous, and if that be built on the site of the ancient Sychar it seems a little strange that a woman should have come so far for water, especially as the valley is so abundantly provided otherwise. But it is probable that, according to the suggestion of Dr. Thomson, ("The Land and the Book," English Edition, p. 472) we must look for the position of the ancient Sychar not in Nablous, but among the ruins of a village now called Askar, close by the well, and a little to the north of it. If that view be adopted, then there was nothing extraordinary in the visit of the woman to the well. But nobody would go now for water to it. "Jacob's well is no more used, but the living spring of water which the Saviour first opened there to a poor, sinful, yet penitent woman is as deep and fresh as ever, and will quench the thirst of souls to the end of time." (P. Schaff, D.D., in "Lange's Commentary", in loco.)

While Jesus sat thus, alone and weary, by the well, a woman came to draw water. It was an unusual time for one to go in such an errand; but perhaps she wanted the water for an unusual emergency, and at any rate, the uncommonness of a visit to the well at such an hour sufficiently accounts for the fact that the conversation was uninterrupted by the arrival of any third party, until the disciples themselves returned. In the simplest and most natural manner, the Lore said unto her, as she filled her pitcher, and drew it up out of the depth, "Give me to drink."

To that request she answered in a strain half serious, and half bantering. "How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, who am a woman of Samaria?" She recognized him as a Jew, either from his appearance, or his accent, and the idea of a Jew humbling himself to ask a favor from a Samaritan seemed to her so rich that she could not help remarking on it in a slightly mischievous strain, as if she had said--"So then, even a Jew when he is in need can stoop to beg from a Samaritan!"

The evangelist explains the reference of her words by the insertion of the parenthetic clause, "for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans." The origin of this feud lay far back in the history of the two peoples. When about the year B.C. 721, the ten tribes of Israel were carried away into captivity, The Assyrian conquerors sent into the depopulated country colonists drawn from several idolatrous nations. After a time, owing to the thinly settled condition of the land, these new comers were plagued with lions, and they looked upon the affliction as an indication of the displeasure of the God of the country, because thus far they had offered him no worship. Under the influence of that impression, they sent to the Assyrian Emperor a request that some Israilitish priests might be permitted to come to them "to teach them the manner of the God of the land." This desire was granted to them, and under the tuition of a priest who came and dwelt in Bethel, they adopted a kind of mongrel religion, half heathen, and half Israelitish -- for, as the annalist has recorded, "they feared the Lord and served other gods."

More than two hundred years afterwards, when Zerubbabel came with his associates from Babylon to Jerusalem, the descendants of these Samaritan settlers desired to unite with the Jews in the rebuilding of their temple and city; but when their request to that effect was unqualifiedly refused, they forthwith sought to hinder the work of the returned exiles by every means in their power. They made false representations concerning them at the Persian court, and tried by fraud and force, by open violence and by secret treachery, to frustrate all their efforts for the restoration of their national worship. Thus the two peoples became thoroughly alienated from each other; and this state of feeling was still further aggravated when the Samaritans erected their temple on Mount Gerizim, and claimed for it priority over that of Jerusalem.

Then again, their construction of the law of Moses, which they professed to keep, but which they interpreted after their own fashion, widened the breach yet more; so that the very name of Samaritan was among the Jews one of opprobrium; as we see in the fact that when they wished to blaspheme the Lord himself in the foulest manner they said to him, "Thou art a Samaritan and hast a devil."

When we know all these things, we cannot wonder at the woman’s saucily rallying a Jew when she saw him reduced to the necessity of asking even a draught of water from a Samaritan. But the Lord, taking no notice either of the spirit or the meaning of her words, very gently, yet solemnly replied, "If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, give me to drink, thou wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water." For "the gift of God," here different meanings have been assigned by the commentators. Some take it as referring to the Holy Spirit, which elsewhere in this gospel is likened to living water; others would interpret it as equivalent to eternal life; while still others would paraphrase it thus, "If thou knewest the singular grace of God in the golden opportunity of this moment." But in my view it is both simpler and better to understand it of Christ himself. He is the true gift of God, according to his own word, "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son," and, thus explained, the phrase includes each of the other interpretations that have been given to it.

Substantially then the Lord said to her, "If thou knewest me aright, and recognizedst in me the great gift of God to the world, thou wouldst have asked of me, and I would have given thee living water." Living water is water flowing from a perennial fountain as distinguished from water in a cistern or tank, and throughout the Scriptures it is used as a figurative designation of the blessing of salvation. The sinner is thirsty; longing for happiness; and Jesus Christ is the living water, which quenches that thirst, and confers abiding and ever-flowing felicity.

But the deeper meaning of the Saviour’s words was as yet unknown to this poor woman. She supposed that he was speaking only of common water; and so expressed surprise that he who had neither pitcher nor rope should be able to furnish water from a well so deep. Then beginning to catch a glimpse of the fact that he was laying claim to a most exalted dignity she added, "Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?" It was the boast, whether truthful or not is another question, of these Samaritans, that they were the descendants of Abraham; and the woman could have given no loftier idea of her conception of the dignity to which she conceived that the stranger was aspiring, than by saying, "Art thou greater than our father Jacob?"

But she was not quite ready yet to receive Christ’s full revelation of himself, and therefore though as on another occasion he might have said, "Before Jacob was born, I am," he gave for the present no categorical answer to her question. But the answer which he did give implies an affirmative--for he exalts the water which he alone could bestow infinitely above that of the well by the side of which he was speaking. That well was deep indeed, but the well of divine love whence salvation flows in infinitely deeper. The digging and opening of that well was a work of great labor to Jacob and his servants; but the opening of the fountain for sin and for uncleanness, whereof Jesus here spoke, required more that labor--even sacrifice unto the death. The water of that well could quench thirst only for a season, and it would ultimately dry up; but the loving water which Christ supplies quenches thirst for evermore--because it becomes itself a fountain within the soul of every one that drinks it. "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." That is, in brief, whosoever goes elsewhere seeking happiness, will some away at length unsatisfied, and still athirst; but he that comes to me in simple faith, and follows me in implicit obedience, shall have satisfaction of soul. He has found that which meets his need, and he will not henceforth seek it elsewhere, but content himself with its perpetual enjoyment.

Nor will it pall upon him or nauseate him with satiety, for it will be a fountain in himself, ever clear, and fresh, and flowing, and new.

It would be interesting to follow their conversation till its close, but here meanwhile, we must pause, reserving the remainder of the colloquy for other discourses, while we linger a little to give prominence and point to one or two precious truths that have come out before us in our exposition.

Notice then in the first place, how the real humanity of our Lord Jesus incidentally reveals itself in this narrative. He was weary with his journey, and just as an ordinary man would have done, he rested by the well. Now I am not sure but that in a fact like that, thus casually stated, his participation in our nature is evinced even more convincingly than in the records of his birth and death. We are, to a certain extent, so overawed by the glory with which these other events were accompanied, that we see in them proofs of his deity rather than his humanity. In the one case we feel like the shepherds who worshipped at his cradle, and in the other like that centurion who said, "Truly this was the Son of God." But when we see him in the wilderness hungry, or in the boat, on the Galilean lake, asleep, or as here footsore and fatigued, we are led to say, He is our human brother, partaker of our nature, in everything but sin, and so in all our daily experiences we may be sure of his sympathy and support.

Now all this is most important, for perhaps we are too apt to ignore the real humanity of our Lord. We believe so in his deity, that we allow it to overshadow his humanity. But that is at once dishonoring to him and unjust to ourselves. He is our brother as well as our Lord, bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh as well as the brightness of the Father’s glory and the express image of his person; and this union of both natures in him gives new attractiveness to each. His diety makes his human experiences valuable to us, in as much as by his omnipotence he can meet the necessities in us with which his humanity enables him to sympathize; and his humanity makes his deity accessible to us, so that we feel that in going to him we are going to a human brother. Let us therefore embrace and ever hold fast both of these truths, and rather because the belief of both is absolutely indispensable if we would get the full comfort of either. He is a high priest who can be touched with a feeling of our infirmities, as well as the eternal Son of God, who is able and ready to help us in our time of need.

Notice in the second place, that when Christ savingly deals with any soul he does so alone. He sent his disciples away, that he might meet this woman by herself. And on another occasion we read that when he healed one who was blind, he led him apart from the multitude. We will get little good from Jesus until we find ourselves alone with him. Hence it is that conversion is so frequently the result of affliction. For suffering, trial, sorrow, isolates a man from his fellows, and puts him face to face with Christ. It sends him across the brook like Jacob, to meet the Jabbok angel all alone. And it is at such times that he shows us all that is in our own hearts, and unfolds to us all that is in his. My hearer, Have you ever been thus alone with Christ? Remember that we are saved in units not in multitudes, and that the whole matter is a personal thing between Jesus and each individual.

Notice thirdly, that in seeking to do good to others we must not undervalue an audience of one. The Lord was as ready to speak with Nicodemus or with this woman here, as he was to address great multitudes; and few things in the New Testament are more suggestive than the numerous instances recorded in it, of dealing with individuals. Andrew talked to Peter; Philip bore the good news to Nathanael, and the results were far reaching, beyond any power of human computation. So if we want to do good to others, let us not be too ambitious. There is much in the excitement of addressing a mul.titude,-but after all, the greatest good is accomplished, when we deal with individuals; and we have need to sus.pect ourselves if we despise the oppor.tunity of speaking even to a single soul.

But even in dealing with individuals, we need to be on our guard lest we do more harm than good. Be.hold how wisely, yet how naturally, the Lord approaches this woman. He did not begin abruptly about spiritual things, asking her directly, whether she had ever thought of her salvation, and denouncing everlasting punishment on her unless she repented. Had he taken that course, it is questionable if she would ever have been attracted toward him. But he took his text from the well by which he sat; and so led her on by degrees until he had brought her face to face with her sins, and with her Saviour.

Now let us imitate this divine tact, as I may call it, and cultivate the method of indirectness, by which we may rise from the occupations in which men are engaged and in which they are interested, up to those of higher and eternal moment. It is told of Edward Irving that he went one day to visit an infidel shoemaker, in the parish of St. John's, Glasgow, who had often threatened what he should do, if a minister came to him. Without saying a word about religion, Irving went up to the seat on which he sat, lifted a piece of patent leather which was lying near, and knowing all about it, for he was the son of a tanner, began to speak with him of its manufacture. The man was astonished and delighted, and said, " Od ye're a sensible fellow, where do you preach?" Irving gave him the information which he desired, and from that point on he had no more regular attendant on his ministry than that cobbler; and when his old comrades rallied him for going to church, he only replied, "He's a sensible man yon, he kens aboot leather."

So I have heard another tell, how being driven a few miles to a railroad station, by a school boy, he got into conversation with him about arithmetic; and learning that he was just then doing sums in profit and loss, as many of our merchants have been in another sense during these past days, he said, " Can you do all the questions in that rule ?" "I think I can, sir," was the answer." Can you do this one, `What shall it profit a man if he should gain the whole world and lose his own soul'?" "No, sir, I cannot answer that"; and thereupon the talk was all of spiritual things which left a deep and lasting impression on the heart of the lad.

How much better that is, than to go up in the street, as I have heard of one doing, to a perfect stranger, and say, " Do you know, sir, that you are going to hell ? " only to be met with the reply, "Young man, you mean well, and I am glad, that if you were going to say that to any one you should say it to me, for I know and love the Lord Christ; but if I had not been a Christian, I might have knocked you down. That is not the way to commend the gospel to a man's heart." It needs wisdom to win souls, and most of all the wisdom which can glide into the heart, through this "meth.od of indirectness," and by interest in what a man is doing at the time lead him to interest in things for which heretofore he has not cared. You who would work for Christ seek to follow this Christ-like method.

Finally we may learn from this subject the unsatisfying nature of all mere earthly enjoyments, as contrasted with the satisfaction which the soul has in Christ. "Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him, it shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." Stier has said, that "these words would form an admirable inscription for a drinking fountain." But there are other places where they would be even more appropriate. For honest water - while it does not meet the need of the soul -- will do no one much harm. But the fountains - rather call them broken cisterns - to which men repair for happiness often do injury, as well as give no satisfaction. There, for example, are the drinking saloon, the house of sensual gratification, the haunt of pleasure, and the like. How hollow they all are, when one goes to them for satisfaction of soul! The same may be said even of other things, which are not in themselves associated with sin, when men look to them for permanent enjoyment. "Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again." And the reason is because the cause of the unhappiness is in the heart, and until that is rectified, the man will have no abiding joy of the right sort in any thing.

But it is rectification of heart that Christ bestows. He gives a new na.ture. He takes away the burden of guilt. He removes the pollution of depravity. He gives his own Spirit to dwell in the man. Thereby he opens a perennial fountain in his own heart and that gives him happiness in every thing. That may sound very profes.sional as it comes from me, and you may say that it is all cant.

But listen to Robert Burns.--
"It's no in titles nor in rank,
It's no in wealth, like Lon'on bank, To purchase peace and rest;
It's no in makin' muckle mair,
It's no in books, it's no in lear,
To mak us truly blest;
If happiness hae not her seat
And centre in the breast,
We may be wise, or rich, or great,
But never can be blest:
Nae treasures, nor pleasures,
Could mak us happy lang;
The heart's ay the part ay
That makes us right or wrang."
Yes-" the heart's ay the part ay that makes us right or wrang."

Therefore he who makes the heart happy goes to the root of the matter, and that is precisely what Christ does. The man who is born again does not thirst again in the sense of becoming again unhappy or desiring something else than Christ. He has found the secret of happiness, and having obtained that his only ambition is to have more of it. All other things are "broken cisterns that can hold no water" -- this is the fountain of living water, and the fountain is within himself. "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters; and he that hath no money, come buy wine and milk, without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which satisfieth not ? hearken diligently unto Christ, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear and come unto him, hear and your soul shall live, and he will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David."