RSV ~ John 4 Notes

Jn 4:4 | ISB Notes

had to pass through: A divine necessity, dictated not by geography but by the missionary schedule given to Jesus by the Father. Jews normally traveled a longer route from Judea to Galilee by skirting around the eastern side of Samaria along the Jordan River.

Jn 4:5 | ISB Notes

Sychar: Probably ancient Shechem, where Jacob purchased a field (Gen 33:18-20).

Jn 4:6 | ISB Notes

Jacob’s well: Nowhere mentioned in the OT but traditionally located at the foot of Mt. Gerizim in central Samaria.

• The setting recalls the marital arrangements described in the Pentateuch. As the wives of Isaac (Gen 24:1067), Jacob (Gen 29:1-30), and Moses (Ex 2:15-21) were first encountered at a well, so Jesus is the divine bridegroom in search of believers to be his covenant bride (3:29).

the sixth hour: About noon.

Jn 4:7-42 | ISB Notes

Centuries of animosity between Jews and Samaritans loom in the background of this episode. It began with the devastation of northern Palestine by Assyria in the eighth century B.C., when masses of Israelites were deported out of the land and foreign peoples were forcibly resettled in the region (2 Kings 17:6, 24-41). According to the Jews of southern Palestine, the remaining Israelites (Samaritans) had defiled themselves by assimilating the practices of these pagan peoples and intermarrying with them. The enmity between Jews and Samaritans was very much alive in NT times, and both groups took steps to avoid interaction with one another, especially in matters of food and drink.

Jn 4:9 | ISB Notes

How is it … ? Jesus oversteps the boundaries of Jewish tradition, which discouraged men from conversing with women in public (4:27), sharing a drink with a Samaritan (4:7), or associating with a recognized sinner (4:18).

Jn 4:10 | ISB Notes

living water: An expression with two levels of kilkJ meaning. The woman takes it to mean “flowing” water, i.e., a preferable alternative to stagnant well water (4:1112). Jesus, however, is speaking of the life and vitality of the Spirit (7:38-39; CCC 728, 2560).

• Several prophetic texts depict the blessings of the Lord as life-giving “water” (Is 12:3; 44:3; Ezek 47:1-12; Zech 14:8). See note on Jn 3:5.

• Christian tradition associates living water with baptismal waters, which lead us to “eternal life” (4:14). Paul, in fact, describes Baptism in terms of drinking from the Spirit (1 Cor 12:13; CCC 694).

Jn 4:15 | ISB Notes

Sir: A respectful term of address. As the episode progresses, the perception of Jesus’ identity becomes ever more clear: by 4:19 he is a “prophet”, by 4:29 he is the “Christ”, and by 4:42 he is the “Savior of the world”.

Jn 4:18 | ISB Notes

five husbands: The woman has endured multiple marital struggles.

• The woman’s personal life parallels the historical experience of the Samaritan people. According to 2 Kings 17:24-31, the five foreign tribes who intermarried with the northern Israelites (Samaritans) introduced five male deities into their religion. These idols were individually addressed as Baal, a Hebrew word meaning “lord” or “husband”. The prophets denounced Israel for serving these gods, calling such worship infidelity to its true covenant spouse, Yahweh. Hope was kept alive, however, that God would show mercy to these Israelites and become their everlasting husband in the bonds of a New Covenant (Hos 2:16-20). This day has dawned in the ministry of Jesus, the divine bridegroom (3:29), who has come to save the Samaritans from a lifetime of struggles with five pagan “husbands”. See note on Jn 4:6.

Jn 4:20 | ISB Notes

on this mountain: In OT times the Samaritans worshiped in a sanctuary built on Mt. Gerizim. Although it was destroyed in 128 B.C., they continued to worship on the mountain during NT times and even to the present day.

Jn 4:22 | ISB Notes

what you do not know: Samaritan religion was an admixture of Israelite faith and pagan idolatry (2 Kings 17:29-34).

• Jesus speaks from the perspective of the OT, which describes idol worship as ignorant worship (Wis 13:1-2, 10-19; Is 44:9-20).

from the Jews: The Messiah was expected to come from the line of King David, who belonged to the royal tribe of Judah (Gen 49:8-12).

Jn 4:23 | ISB Notes

in spirit and truth: Christian worship contrasts with Jewish and Samaritan worship. It will be in spirit, not confined to a single Israelite sanctuary where the ritual sacrifice of animals has continued since the days of Moses. It will also be in truth, not tainted by the errors of idolatry that have plagued the Samaritans since the days of the divided kingdom.

See topical essay: The “Hour” of Jesus

In Jn 2:4, Jesus responds to his Mother’s request for wine with the puzzling statement “My hour has not yet come.” The hidden premise, it seems, is that when this still-distant “hour” finally arrives, he expects to provide an abundance of the finest wine (Jn 2:10). This may be read as an allusion to the liturgy, where believers all over the world gather to worship Christ as he pours himself into the eucharistic cup under the visible sign of wine.

In Jn 4:21-23, Jesus insists that his coming “hour” has everything to do with worship—and not just with any worship, but with a spiritual adoration of the Father superior to any previously known in Samaria or even in Israel! The worship characteristic of this “hour” will not be confined to any particular mountain sanctuary, but will lift true worshipers up to a new and heavenly height in the Spirit (Rev 1:10, chaps. 4 and 5).

In Jn 5:25-29, Jesus looks to his “hour” as a time when those who are dead will hear his voice and live again. This, too, has connections with the liturgy, where Christ continues to speak through the Scriptures and awaken souls deadened by sin.

Finally, Christ’s “hour” will bring in a harvest of believers from every nation, because Jesus, like a grain of wheat that dies and is buried in the earth, enables Israel and every nation to sprout into new life (Jn 12:20-24). This blessing comes not only through Christ’s death, but also through his risen and glorified humanity, which is the wheat that becomes for us the “bread of life” in the Eucharist (Jn 6:48).

These two dimensions of the “hour” are part of the one Paschal Mystery of Christ. We cannot, therefore, drive a wedge between the historical and the liturgical, between the sacrificial gift of Christ to the Father on the Cross and the sacramental gift of Christ to us in the liturgy. This was recognized in the early Church, where the “hour” of Jesus referred not only to his suffering and death, but, as in the ancient liturgies of St. James and St. Mark, the expression “this hour” referred to re-presentation of the Passion in the eucharistic celebration.

Combined with references to Baptism (Jn 3:5), the Eucharist (Jn 6:35-58), and Reconciliation (Jn 20:23), we see in John’s Gospel that the “hour” of Jesus that unfolds during Holy Week also extends throughout the centuries and throughout the world as Christians commemorate the sacred mysteries of this “hour” in the sacramental liturgy of the New Covenant.

Jn 4:26 | ISB Notes

I … am he: Jesus accepts the title “Messiah” (4:25) only here and at his trial (Mk 14:61-62). .

Jn 4:28 | ISB Notes

left her water jar: The woman becomes both a believer and a missionary, accepting Jesus as the Messiah and sharing that belief with her hometown (4:39-42).

• Morally (St. Augustine, Tract. on John 15, 16, 30): the water jar is the fallen desire of man that draws pleasure from the dark wells of the world but is never satisfied for long. Conversion to Christ moves us, like the Samaritan woman, to renounce the world, leave behind the desires of our earthen vessels, and follow a new way of life.

Jn 4:34 | ISB Notes

My food: The Father’s will is always the driving force behind Jesus’ mission (5:19; 6:38; 12:49; 14:10; etc.).

Jn 4:35 | ISB Notes

white for harvest: Suggests that the world in general and the Samaritans in particular are ripe and ready to be gathered by the missionary efforts of the Church (Acts 8:4-25; Rev 14:14-16).

Jn 4:42 | ISB Notes

the Savior: A title for Jesus also in Lk 2:11 and 1 Jn 4:14. Although salvation comes from the Jews (4:22), it is for all the nations of the

world (3:17; 1 Jn 2:2).

Jn 4:44 | ISB Notes

a prophet has no honor: A similar proverb is uttered when Jesus is rejected by his hometown of Nazareth (Lk 4:24). The remark resonates with bitter irony: although Jesus is a Jew (4:9), he is rejected by kinsmen from his own country of Judea (4:3, 47). See note on Jn 1:19.

Jn 4:46 | ISB Notes

Capernaum: This village was more than 15 miles from Cana. The official from the town was probably a royal officer under Herod Antipas, ruler of Galilee. A similar episode where Jesus heals from a distance appears in Mt 8:5-13 and Lk 7:1-10.

Jn 4:47 | ISB Notes

Judea to Galilee: Geography plays a symbolic role in John. For the most part, the northern regions of Samaria and Galilee accept Jesus in faith (1:43-49; 2:11; 4:39, 53-54), whereas the southern region of Judea with its capital in Jerusalem is persistently antagonistic toward him (5:18; 7:1; 9:22; 10:33; 11:7-8, etc.). This tension between north and south is underscored by repeated emphasis on Jesus’ withdrawal from Judea to Galilee (4:3, 45, 46, 54) and elsewhere when the Judean opponents of Jesus make derogatory remarks about Galileans and Samaritans (7:52; 8:48). It is against this background that John classifies the enemies of Christ as “the Jews”, i.e., the unbelieving leaders of Judea and Jerusalem. See note on Jn 1:19.

Jn 4:54 | ISB Notes

the second sign: Despite numerous signs performed in Jerusalem (2:23), this is only the second performed in Galilee (2:11). See word study: at Jn 2:11.