THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION

John: Believing On The Christ, The Son Of God, For Eternal Life

Part XIV: Believing On Christ Due To His Witness To A Samaritan Woman, John 4:1-42

B. Believing On Christ Due To His Surpassing Motivation To Disciple The Samaritans In Great Darkness

(John 4:31-38)

I. Introduction

A. John 3:16 claims that God's great love for the whole world drove Him to send His only Son to save it.

B. If that is so, there should be evidence in Christ's life of the great value He put on reaching even pagan man.

C. Christ's comments on His witness to the pagan Samaritans in great darkness reveal the great desire of God in Christ to reach all men, even pagan man, exemplifying the focus we must have to reach all of the lost today:

II. Believing On Christ Due To His Surpassing Motivation To Disciple The Samaritans In Great Darkness.

A. Jesus so valued discipling Samaria, He put it above His own needs, John 4:31-32:

1. When Jesus arrived at Jacob's well in Samaria, He was wearied from His trip, and sat down by the well, John 4:6. He was also thirsty and hungry as evidenced in His later request to the Samaritan woman for a drink of water (John 4:7) and the fact that His disciples left Him to go into the city to buy food (John 4:8).

2. However, after having witnessed to the Samaritan woman, Jesus responded to His disciples' request that He eat their food (John 4:31) by saying, "I have food to eat that you know nothing about," John 4:32 NIV.

3. The joy of seeing the Samaritan woman trust in Him, and of seeing her depart to witness of the faith to the rest of her town overshadowed in His mind Jesus' physical weariness, hunger and thirst.

B. Jesus so valued doing the will of God to disciple Samaria, He put it above His own needs, John 4:33-35:

1. The disciples, thinking of material food, wondered if Jesus' claim that He had other food to eat meant someone else had brought Him food (John 4:33), so Christ explained that His "food" was to do the will of Him that had sent Him, and to finish His work, John 4:34. The Father had sent Him (John 5:30), and His work was to testify of the truth concerning Himself that men might believe in Him (John 6:29; 17:4).

2. Thus, doing the Father's will to testify of the truth that men might trust in Christ was the will and work of God, and, to Jesus, He was more motivated to accomplish it than to meet His physical nourishment needs!

C. Jesus so valued discipling Samaria as it joined the prophets' works, He put it above own His needs, 4:36-38:

1. Christ added that the field of souls was already ripe versus the usual saying that there were yet four months unto the harvest (John 4:35), and that those who reaped and sowed could rejoice together, John 4:36-37.

2. To explain this statement, Jesus noted He was sending His disciples to reap where others had sown, that all God's workers might together rejoice, Jn. 4:38. The broad historical context clarifies this claim as follows:

a. The Samaritans held that the five books of Moses, the Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy) were alone in the Hebrew canon inspired of God, Zon. Pict. Enc. Bible, v. Five, p. 246.

b. Well, God's servants in the Pentateuch had predicted Messiah's coming, so the Samaritans anticipated His arrival as evidenced in John 4:25: (1) Jacob who dug the well the Samaritans used predicted Messiah's arrival through the tribe of Judah in Genesis 49:9-10, so the Samaritan's looked for His coming! (2) The man Balaam as cited by Moses in Numbers 24:17, 19 predicted the Messiah would come of the seed of Jacob, so the Samaritans looked for His coming! (3) Moses in Deuteronomy 18:15, 19 predicted Messiah would come and be much like the prophet Moses himself, so the Samaritans looked for His coming!

c. Thus, when Jesus in A. D. 30 (Harold W. Hoehner, Chron. Asps. of the Life of Chr., 1979, p. 143) replied to the woman of Samaria's mention of Messiah in John 4:25 that He was that anticipated Messiah (John 4:26), the 1889-year-old prediction of Jacob near his death (circa. 1859 B. C., Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, p. 2022) and the 1440-year-old prediction of Moses near his death (circa. 1410 B. C.; Ibid., p. 2023) of Messiah's coming bore fruit that day, with the woman and her town trusting in Christ, John 4:28-30. Jesus reaped where Jacob and Moses had sown God's Word so long before Christ's ministry to Samaria!

Lesson: Jesus' love for discipling the pagan Samaritans exceeded even His drive to meet His physical needs, and He valued it highly as it fulfilled the Father's will and work and completed the efforts of Old Testament servants of God, evidences that He is the Son of the Father Who so loved the whole world that He sent His Son to save it!

Application: (1) May we believe that Jesus is the Son of the Father Who so loved the whole world that He sent His Son to save it. (2) May we like Jesus serve God with great motivation, (a) knowing our efforts are more important than physical nourishment (b) as they fulfill the Father's will and work (c) and join with the works of past saints!