As to Himself, He does not go at that time to the feast of tabernacles; but later on He goes up "not openly, but as it were in secret" (verseJohn 7:10; John 7:10), and taught. And such was Jesus. (5) Then cometh he to a city of Emphatic use of and first aorist Do any believe on His name? Her testimony bore the impress of what had penetrated her soul, and would make way for all the rest in due time. Such shall live. He was God. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. Jesus speaks of some point in the past. Lastly, closing this part, we have another most remarkable contrast. "Master, eat," said they. And while He does not hide the privilege of the Jews, He nevertheless proclaims that "the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. . The passage should be read as follows: _"He FIELDS WHITE UNTO HARVEST In itself, it is a radiant revelation of His method as He l By these words our Saviour testifies to his disciples, that the Bear in mind that one of the points of instruction in this first part of our gospel is the action of the Son of God before His regular Galilean ministry. It was about the sixth hour: By the reckoning John used, this was about noon, during the heat of the day. in their original call. none, but his disciples,) (John 4:1) position in the dealings of God. Whereupon Jesus says (John 4:34-38): My food is to do the will of Him who sent me, and to finish His work. For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him." John 4:1-54 presents the Lord Jesus outside Jerusalem outside the people of promise among Samaritans, with whom Jews had no intercourse. John 4:1-41. infinite truth! did the 27-42 The disciples wondered that Christ talked thus with a _the_ Sower. another._ 38. 7. The surprising request (John 4:7). God never left Himself without witness; He did not even among the Gentiles, surely yet less in Israel. (See on [1780]Joh 4:42). You (Verses John 4:20-30), The disciples marvelled that He spoke with the woman. indic John 4:1. For if the Son (cast out, we may say, in principle from Judaism) visited Samaria, and deigned to talk with one of the most worthless of that worthless race, it could not be a mere rehearsal of what others did. "The law was given by Moses." (Psalms 132:1-18) Then they wanted to make Him a king. Read John 4:38 - 'Greek New Testament: Textus Receptus (1550/1894)' translation - and Explanation of John 4 It is the wider, universal glory of the Son of man (according toPsalms 8:1-9; Psalms 8:1-9); but the most striking part of it verified from that actual moment because of the glory of His person, which needed not the day of glory to command the attendance of the angels of God this mark, as Son of man. Jesu . Let them learn, then, that as Son of man (for which nature they despised Him, and denied His essential personal glory) He will judge; and this judgment will be no passing visitation, such as God has accomplished by angels or men in times past. The distinctiveness of such a testimony to the Saviour's glory need hardly be pointed out. 5, Prolong not discourse with a woman). This is grace and truth. to His baptizing more disciples than John. It is now eternal reality, and the name of Jesus Christ is that which puts all things to a final test. The resurrection of the Lord is not more truly a demonstration of His power and glory, than the only deliverance for disciples from the thraldom of Jewish influence. Resurrection will be the proof; the two-fold rising of the dead, not one, but two resurrections. "Come, see a man that told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?" for he knew He was the Christ. In John 6:1-71 our Lord sets aside Israel in another point of view. At Sychar's Well; Jesus and the Samaritan Woman. 29) on which, as it were, Jesus speaks and acts in His grace as here shown on the earth. To reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour - meaning that much of their future success would arise from the preparation already made for them. Joseph, woman of Samaria, her husband, n John 4:1. "The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came ( ) by Jesus Christ." It was worldliness in its worst shape, even to the point of turning the glory of Christ to a present account. have bought. If His time was not yet come, their time was always ready. Nay, "the world knew him not." The memorable halt (John 4:1). So bright was His glory, so concerned was the Father in maintaining it, so immense the blessing if received, so tremendous the stake involved in its loss, that God vouchsafed the amplest and clearest witnesses. But what we learn is, that our Lord (viewed as having entered into heaven as man on the ground of redemption, i.e., ascended, after having passed through death, into glory) from that glory confers meanwhile the Holy Ghost on him that believes, instead of bringing in at once the final feast of gladness for the Jews and the world, as He will do by-and-by when the anti-typical harvest and vintage has been fulfilled. Then (ver. The question really is, whether man would trust God. He said to her, "Go, call thy It is not simply the new birth such as a saint might, and always must, have had, in order to vital relations with God at any time. The For the Father loveth the Son, and showeth him all things that himself doeth: and he will show him greater works than these, that ye may marvel. The effect is thus final, even as His person, witness, and glory are divine. There is the nicest care to maintain His personal glory, no matter what the subject may be. No mere man, nor angel, not the highest, the archangel, but the Son. Evang., And he saith, I am not. John 1:19-37; John 1:19-37) It is here presented historically. Matthew Henry's Commentary on John 4:34-38 Commentary on John 4:27-42 (Read John 4:27-42) The disciples wondered that Christ talked thus with a Samaritan. At once their malice drops the beneficent power of God in the case, provoked at the fancied wrong done to the seventh day. His exaltation there is not without notice in the gospel, but exceptionally. 2. Plural _of allos._ All others are more or less fully reapers, though in the CHAPTER 11 Those act. The Lord Jesus did, without question, take humanity in His person into that glory which He so well knew as the Son of the Father. Alas! I. The contrasts are as strong, at least, as the resemblance with the healing of the centurion's servant in Matthew 13:1-58 and Luke 7:1-50, which some ancients and moderns have confounded with this, as they did Mary's anointing of Jesus with the sinful woman's in Luke 7:1-50. fields; for they are white already to harvest. Man might pull Him down destroy Him, as far as man could, and surely to be the basis in God's hand of better blessing; but He was God, and in three days He would raise up this temple. Grace begins, glory descends; "Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink." John was not yet cast into prison. teachers said: Do not prolong conver EXPOSITION Without it there is no divine understanding of Christ, or of His word, or of Scripture. And in this He is sovereign. will come'? 1. Nathanael's call is just as clearly typical of Israel in the latter day. The refusal of His precious blood will, on the contrary, make their case incomparably worse than that of the heathen who never heard the good news. Here there could not be more, and He would not give less: even "grace upon grace." The healing of the courtier's son, sick and ready to die, is witness of what the Lord was actually doing among the despised of Israel. How could either light or love rest in a scene of sin, darkness, and misery? most glorious in point of theme, but in the profoundest point And now Jesus, being driven away by the jealousy of the Jews, begins Thus the Holy Ghost, given by the Son in humiliation (according to God, not acting on law, but according to the gift of grace in the gospel), was fully set forth; but the woman, though interested, and asking, only apprehended a boon for this life to save herself trouble here below. I sent you to (See Hebrews 12:2, Hebrews 13:11-13) Again, let me just remark in passing, that although, no doubt, we may in a general way speak of those who partake of the new nature as having that life, yet the Holy Ghost refrains from predicating of any saints the full character of eternal life as a present thing until we have the cross of Christ laid (at least doctrinally) as the ground of it. There He supposes His full rejection and death. broader sense this includes all the OT writers and prophets. our water pots. Yet they knew it was for some good reason, and for some good end. 34 "My food," said . "For God sent not his Son into the world to judge the world; but that the world through him might be saved." And as life is in the person of the Son, so God in sending Him meant not that the smallest uncertainty should exist for aught so momentous. THE STORY ITSELF. To this last the Lord attaches the deepest importance. There is the need of another nature, and the only way in which this nature is communicated is by being born of water and the Spirit the employment of the word of God in the quickening energy of the Holy Ghost. What more glorious proof than that the Holy Ghost is given not a certain defined power or gift, but the Holy Ghost Himself; for God gives not the Spirit by measure! He said to her, "Go, call thy John 4:1-6; John 4:1-6) What a picture of rejection and humiliation! INTRODUCTORY WORDS (John 2:1-25) The change of water into wine manifested His glory as the beginning of signs; and He gave another in this early purging of the temple of Jerusalem. But here these streams of the Spirit are substituted for the feast of tabernacles, which cannot be accomplished till Christ come from heaven and show Himself to the world; for this time was not yet come. Heavenly things, therefore, could not but be natural to Him, if one may so say. John 3:14-15; John 3:14-15) It is not a question simply of the Son of God, nor is He spoken of here as the Word made flesh. JESUS IN SAMARIA. John 7:25-31) He is going where they cannot come, and never guessed (for unbelief thinks of the dispersed among the Greeks of anything rather than of God). Later He was determined to be Son of God with power by resurrection of the dead. )_ "He came unto his own [things], and his own [people] received him not. 2. 4:32, are emphatic and opposed. Indeed, He was the great Prophet, as He was the great King, and as He is now the great Priest on high. I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men John 1:29; John 1:29John 1:34; John 1:34) of John Baptist's testimony here named; the first day (ver. The ignorance of the world has been proved, the rejection of Israel is complete: then only is it that we hear of this new place of children. Samaria. Man is morally judged. the pronouns and are emphatic. _ 1. It is the revelation of God yea, of the Father and the Son, and not merely the detecter of man. And they which were sent were of the Pharisees. laboured, and ye are entered into their labours. He is ever Plural _of allos._ No doubt there are intervening applications; but such is the ultimate result of His work as the Lamb of God. that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, (Though Jesus the part of the masses, faith on the part of a few, public attention Truth and grace were not sought nor found in man, but began to subsist here below by Jesus Christ. The disciples return with the food they But here it was not God's purpose to record it. The disciples John 1:29-34) How rich it is, and how marvellously in keeping with our gospel! All others prove not only that they are bad, but that they hate perfect goodness, and more than that, life and light the true light in the Word. (Ver. He bows to, as he explains, the sovereign will of God. The hour was one for faith, or unbelief. Details are not called for now, but just the outline of the truth. Thus former things pass away; the old man is judged, dead, and clean gone. in the next clause. It would not suit God, if it would suit man, that He, seeing all, should just pronounce on man's corruption, and then forthwith let him off with a bare pardon. Alas! A woman of Samaria came to draw water. The "I" here is emphatic: I, the Lor. But if the Spirit speaks of the Son of God, the law dwindles at once into the smallest possible proportions: everything yields to the honour the Father puts oil the Son. Mark what, as such, He does declare Him. And so, in fact, it was and is. They had stumbled before, and the Lord brought in not alone His person, as the Word made flesh, presented for man now to receive and enjoy; but unless they ate the flesh, and drank the blood of the Son of man, they had no life in them. (Verses John 5:1-7), On the other hand, the Lord speaks but the word: "Rise, take up thy couch and walk." His was an errand incomparably deeper, more worthy of God, and suitable to One "full of grace and truth." 2. Thus we have here the other side of the truth: not merely what God is in life and light, in grace and truth, as revealed in Christ coming down to man; but man is now judged in the very root of his nature, and proved to be entirely incapable, in his best state, of seeing or entering the kingdom of God. After this we have, suitably to this gospel, John's connection with the Lord Jesus. Samaritan. and the two disciples leave John for Jesus. Christ did not wait till the time was fully come for the old things to pass away, and all to be made new. ( ). AND HE THAT REAPETH, &C. As the disciples laboured together with Jesu 1-54 holy men before A SAMARITAN WOMAN GIVEN THE WATER OF LIFE _had_ made and baptized, says S. Augustine (lib. . SENT. I sent you to John 7:38; John 7:38) And then we have the comment of the Holy Ghost: "(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified)" There is, first, the thirsty soul coming to Jesus and drinking; then there is the power of the Spirit flowing forth from the inner man of the believer in refreshment to others. This only secures His honour in those that believe God's testimony to Him, the Son of God; and to these He gives life, everlasting life now, and exemption from judgment, in this acting in communion with the Father. The brethren of the Lord Jesus, who could see the astonishing power that was in Him, but whose hearts were carnal, at once discerned that it might be an uncommon good thing for them, as well as for Him, in this world. For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: that all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. . His corporeal presence was not necessary; His word was enough. (_cf. John 4:38 - Concordant Commentary on the New Testament by A. E. Knoch All this clearly goes down to millennial days. Here, in suited circumstances to render the thought and way of God unmistakable, pure and boundless grace takes its own sovereign course, suitable to the love and personal glory of Christ. Hence, after having first unmistakably laid down the necessity of the cross, He next shows the grace that was manifested in the gift of Jesus. In the mean while the disciples prayed Him, saying, Rabbi, eat. strict compass of the theocracy. Christ here, it will be noticed, is not so much the quickening agent as Son of God (John 5:1-47), but the object of faith as Son of man first incarnate, to be eaten; then dying and giving His flesh to be eaten, and His blood to be drank. To the Pharisees, indeed, his words as to the Lord are curt: nor does he tell them of the divine ground of His glory, as he had before and does after. The following points in John 4:27-38 may be noticed: Flesh and world are judged morally. Why should He not show Himself to the world? It was not intended for other beings it was God's free gift to man, to the believer, of course. 2 _, de cons. The disciples theref EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF JOHN For though the Son (that eternal life who was with the Father) was a man, in that very position had the Father given Him to have life in Himself, and to execute judgment also, because He is Son of man. For nothing can be more observable than the way in which He becomes the centre round whom those that belong to God are gathered. Yet they knew it was for some good reason, and for some In short, the riches of God's grace are here according to the glory of the Son, and in the power of the Holy Ghost. And they asked him, What then? bitter in connection with the proper place of worship. It was impossible that there should not be righteous dealing with human evil against God, in its sources and its streams. "Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God." Nay, the Father has given all judgment to the Son. emphatic: I, the Lor 19 The ancient controversy between Jerusalem and Samaria was most 3. John 7:37) It is not a question of eating the bread of God, or, when Christ died, of eating His flesh and drinking His blood. John 1:11-12; John 1:11-12) It was not a question now of Jehovah and His servants. 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him. John 7:24) They reason and are in utter uncertainty. No doubt Jesus Himself had the Holy Ghost given to Him, as it was meet that He in all things should have the pre-eminence; but it shows yet more both the personal glory of Christ and the efficacy of His work, that He now gives the same Spirit to those who receive His testimony, and set to their seal that God is true. His earthly rights are just where they should be; but not here, where the only-begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father has His appropriate place. I sent THEIR: i.e. ( ) flesh, and dwelt among us." It is not a question of the law, but of hearing Christ's word, and believing Him who sent Christ: he that does so has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment; but is passed from death unto life. ARE ENTERED. _you_ to reap; and the statement is of wide meaning. have not laboured, have laboured, have entered, I have sent you, and am now sending you, to reap that whereon ye have not toiled to weariness, Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers. Nicodemus remonstrates but is spurned; all retire to their home Jesus, who had none, to the mount of Olives. John 4 - Vision for Harvest A. He that believes on the Son has everlasting life; and he that disobeys the Son, in the sense of not being subject to His person, "shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him" Such is the issue of the Son of God present in this world an everlasting one for every man, flowing from the glory of His person, the character of His testimony, and the Father's counsels respecting Him. (1) send.WHEREON YE HAVE NOT LABOURED As soon as Jesus opens the living spring within our hearts, we abandon Say not ye, There are yet four months, &c. Dr. Whitby, Grotius, and many others, understand this, as if our Lord had said, It is a proverbial expression for the encouragement of husbandmen, that there are but four months between seed-time and harvest. )_ WITH A SOLITARY PUPIL. Other men laboured; the prophets, and John the Baptist: and ye are entered into their labours; to finish the work they had begun, and which was almost done to their hands. So rich and transparently divine was the grace: not some souls, more meritorious than the rest, rewarded according to a graduated scale of honour, but "of his fulness have all we received." I do not mean by this all individuals, but creation; for nothing can be more certain, than that those who do not receive the Son of God are so much the worse for having heard the gospel. Ver. Jesus speaks of some point in the past. From this we may learn: 1. As this chapter sets forth the Lord Jesus with singular fulness of glory, on the side both of His Godhead and of His manhood, so it closes with the most varied and remarkable testimonies God has given to us, that there may be no excuse. writer of the Universal Gospel, mentions an VER 35. We have now the Word made flesh, called Jesus Christ this person, this complex person, that was manifest in the world; and it is He that brought it all in. Deeper questions demanded solution. THE SPIRITUAL CULTURE OF THE WORLD the part of the masses, faith on the part of a few, public attention Now this can mean one of t 1 Peter 1:11; 1 Peter 1:12; 2 Chronicles 36:15; Acts 10:37; Acts 10:3. thus give men a spring of w He who reaps receives wages and gathers fruit for eternal life, so Thus, as in the former case the Lord's dealing in Galilee was a type of the future, this appears to be significant of His then present path of grace in that despised quarter of the land. THE WORK AMONG SAMARITANS _The ministry and revelation of the Lord to those beyond the . behold, I say to you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the In this story of the Samaritan woman in John 4:4 Jesus depicts Himself The disciples return with the food they it was no lack of testimony; their will was for present honour, and hostile to the glory of the only God. Not only man under law has no health, but he has no strength to avail himself of the blessing that God holds out. Christ was the true sanctuary, not that on which man had laboured so long in Jerusalem. In John He is One who could be described as Son of man who is in heaven; but He belonged to heaven, because He was divine. _Ye have laboured_. It is our evangelist's way of indicating His Galilean sojourn; and this miracle is the particular subject that John was led by the Holy Ghost to take up. In truth, Christian baptism did not yet exist, but only such as the disciples used, like John the Baptist; it was not instituted of Christ till after His resurrection, as it sets forth His death. other men labored, and ye are entered into their labor._ * He says, One was among them of whom they had no conscious knowledge, "that cometh after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to loose." If, on the contrary, a soul has been taught of God the glory of the person of Him who was made flesh, he receives in all simplicity, and rejoices in, the glorious truth, that He who was made flesh was not made flesh only to this end, but rather as a step toward another and deeper work the glorifying God, and becoming our food, in death. (Ver. How blessed the contrast with the people's state depicted in this chapter, tossed about by every wind of doctrine, looking to "letters," rulers, and Pharisees, perplexed about the Christ, but without righteous judgment, assurance, or enjoyment! I sent [ ]. As a present fact, the Lord justifies the judicial act before their eyes by His relationship with God as His Father, and gives the Jews a sign in the temple of His body, as the witness of His resurrection power. The surprising request (John 4:7). active indicative of common in John for to (Ed. Christ in Samaria. AND HE THAT REAPETH, &C. As the disciples laboured together with He wanted nothing; He came to give yea, the very best, so to speak, that God has. Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples), He left Judea and departed again to Galilee. (ver. He said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not. Here (John 5:1-47) the first view given of Christ is His person in contrast with the law. in mind of the reward. This was the end of the law, this the fruit which the prophets lo CHAPTER 10 (Verses John 1:41-44), On the morrow Jesus begins, directly and indirectly, to call others to follow Himself. THE WORK AMONG SAMARITANS 31 which God Himself ever gave in employing the pen of man; not only the He is ever I SENT CONTENTS: Jesus and the Samaritan woman. This gives occasion to Jesus to teach us the lesson that conscience must be reached, and sense of sin produced, before grace is understood and brings forth fruit. And herein is that true saying, One soweth, and another reapeth. (Verses John 4:31-38). The incarnate Word was here full of grace and truth. So only is man born of God. There is but one unfailing test the Son of God God's testimony to Him. "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." but He, who is the Word made flesh, is the only-begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, and so competent to declare, as in fact He has. In the meantime, between the woman's leaving the well and the men's Every part of the work of the ministry and of teaching men is needful, and we should rejoice that we are permitted to bear any part, however humble, in bringing sinners to the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, 1 Corinthians 12:21-24. ye bestowed no labourmeaning that much of their future success would arise from the preparation already made for them. But when the Lord speaks of His cross, and not God's judicial requirements only, but the gift of Himself in His true personal glory as the occasion for the grace of God to display itself to the utmost, then, and not till then, do we hear of eternal life, and this connected with both these points of view. Meanwhile there was a manifestation of goodness, active in love in the midst of evil, and toward such; active in the making known God and man, and every moral relation, and what He is toward man, through and in the Word made flesh. Nor was it yet complete. _ (G649) (Verses John 5:17-18). This is indispensable; for God is a Spirit, and so it cannot but be. _the_ Sower. Performance & security by Cloudflare. The fourth chapter of John contains one of the most marvelous stories _The ministry and revelation of the Lord to those beyond the Here, then, we have a remarkable display of that which preceded His Galilean ministry, or public manifestation. But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not. "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." Especially did Jesus lay the foundation for the rapid and extensive spread of the gospel. predecessors, especially John the Baptist and his followers. None else could do either work: for here we see His great work on earth, and His heavenly power. The person of the Son was there the object of divine and overflowing joy even then, although, of course, in the full sense of the word, the Holy Ghost might not be given to be the power of it for some time later; but still the object of worship was there revealing the Father; butJohn 7:1-53; John 7:1-53 supposes Him to be gone up to heaven, before He from heaven communicates the Holy Ghost, who should be (not here, as Israel had a rock with water to drink of in the wilderness outside themselves, nor even as a fountain springing up within the believer, but) as rivers flowing out. 38. Now, it is no longer a question of nature, but of relationship; and hence it is not said simply the Word, but the Son, and the Son in the highest possible character, the only-begotten Son, distinguishing Him thus from any other who might, in a subordinate sense, be son of God "the only-begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father." The verb "sent" is past, and refers to some event before the present The opening verses (John 1:1-18) introduce the most glorious subject What can be more evident, or more instructive? One of the peculiarities of our gospel is, that we see the Lord from time to time (and, indeed, chiefly) in or near Jerusalem. indic John 4:1. "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. It is not a message or a sign, however significant at the moment, which passes away as soon as heard or seen. Just as distinct and beyond comparison is His testimony who, coming from heaven and above all, testifies what He saw and heard, however it might be rejected. How could the Samaritans, who 7. The Word, in order to accomplish these infinite things, "was made. "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life." John 4:38 - Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours. Jesus said to her, "Give Me a drink." Here the unlimited scene is in view; not Israel, but the world. It is His person as incarnate first, then in redemption giving His flesh to be eaten and His blood to be drank. [ See verse text ] They entered not into His words more than His grace, but thought and spoke, like the Samaritan woman, about things of this life. final explanation must be found in His dealing with the woman of For if, on the one side, God has taken care to let us see already the glory of the Son, and the grace of which He was full, on the other side, all shines out the more marvellously when we know how He dealt with a woman of Samaria, sinful and degraded. I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours. He would have every soul to know assuredly how he stands for eternity as well as now. 2. This brings all to a point; for the woman says, "I know that Messiah cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things." and the more manifest from His lips to one who was a real impersonation of sin, misery, blindness, degradation. The Son gives life, as the Father does; and not merely to whom the Father will, but to whom He will. Thus, in fact, we have the Lord setting aside what was merely Messianic by the grand truths of the incarnation, and, above all, of the atonement, with which man must have vital association: he must eat yea, eat and drink. 3. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment; but is passed from death unto life. For the astonishing thought is, not merely that Jesus receives the Holy Ghost without measure, but that God gives the Spirit also, and not by measure, through Him to others. Her life is laid before her by His voice, and she confesses to Him that God Himself spoke to her in His words: "Sir [said she], I perceive that thou art a prophet." It was much, yet was it little of the glory that was His; but at least it was real; and to the one that has shall be given. OTHER MEN LABOURED - But let them beware how they perverted it. Such is God's vindication of His outraged rights; and the judgment will be proportionate to the glory that has been set at nought. This will be the rule throughout; _sic as the Gift of God Who can give men living water (John 4:10), and can THE RETURN OF THE DISCIPLES. Sons they might have been in bare title; but these had the right of children. Other men laboured - referring, as we think, to the Old Testament labourers, the Baptist, and by implication Himself, though He studiously keeps this in the background, that the line of distinction between Himself and all His servants might not be lost sight of. This will be displayed in the millennium, when the marriage will be celebrated, as well as the judgment executed (Jerusalem and its temple being the central point then). On the third day is the marriage in Cana of Galilee, where was His mother, Jesus also, and His disciples. ( ). Those How could the Samaritans, who rejected the In itself, it is a radiant revelation of His method as He l By these words our Saviour testifies to his disciples, that the What love! Verse John 1:29 opens John's testimony to his disciples. But the Lord reproaches him, the master of Israel, with not knowing these things: that is, as a teacher, with Israel for his scholar, he ought to have known them objectively, at least, if not consciously. This closes the various aspects of the Lord Jesus, completely blotting out Judaism, viewed as resting in a system of law and ordinances, as looking to a Messiah with present ease, and as hoping for the display of Messianic glory then in the world. THE REWARDS OF SERVICE I HAVE SENT YOU. 1-42. Jesus knew all about this woman. There is difference of manner for the world and His own ignorance and rejection. our Lord in this spiritual harvest,to encourage them, he put them But this is not the question of grace: not what she was, but what He is who was there to win and bless her, manifesting God and the Father withal, practically and in detail. This brings in the great counterpart truth, that even God present on earth and made flesh is not enough. But being sent to the jews, who had the writings of the prophets, and were versed in them; and had learned from them that the messiah was to come, and were now in general expectation of him; so that they had nothing more to do, than to declare to those persons who were cultivated by the prophets, and were like to ground tilled and manured, Was this false and blasphemous in their eyes? disciples had said, "everyone is going to him" (John 3:26). in mind of the reward. It is not merely a Messiah, who comes and offers Himself, as we find in other gospels, with most painstaking diligence, and presented to their responsibility; but here from the outset the question is viewed as closed. The opening verses (John 1:1-18) introduce the most glorious subject (John 4:6 .) The pronouns, as in John Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page. final explanation must be found in His dealing with the woman of * The CHAPTER 4 Especially did Jesus lay the foundation for the rapid and extensive spread of the gospel. They had no common thoughts, feelings, or ways with the Father and the Son. The chapters we have had before us (John 1:1-51; John 2:1-25; John 3:1-36) are thus evidently an introduction: God revealed not in the Word alone, but in the Word made flesh, in the Son who declared the Father; His work, as God's Lamb, for the world, and His power by the Holy Ghost in man; then viewed as the centre of gathering, as the path to follow, and as the object even for the attendance of God's angels, the heaven being opened, and Jesus not the Son of God and King of Israel only, but the Son of man object of God's counsels. The Father did not judge, but committed all judgment into the hands of the Son, because He is the Son of man. This was the end of the law, this the fruit which the prophets lo CHAPTER 10 The Prophets, and teachers of the Law, and such as they 1-54 The labor of both is equally necessary, and the labor of both would be useless if God did not give the increase. Beholding Him as He walked, he says, Behold the Lamb of God! Now, it is the Holy Ghost in the power that gives rivers of living water flowing out, and this bound up with, and consequent on, His being man in glory. ( ). when he should have finished his work on earth. All is fitly closed by the declaration, that "the Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand." That the man who is crowned with eminent success has no cause of "boasting" over others, any more than the man who reaps a field of grain should boast over the man who sowed it. So on the last day, that great day of the feast (the eighth day, which witnessed of a resurrection glory outside this creation, now to be made good in the power of the Spirit before anything appears to sight), the Lord stands and cries, saying, "If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink." have laboured. The prophets, who long labored to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah. If she turned aside to questions of religion, with a mixture of desire to learn what had concerned and perplexed her, and of willingness to escape such a searching of her ways and heart, He did not refrain graciously to vouchsafe the revelation of God, that earthly worship was doomed, that the Father was to be worshipped, not an Unknown. Your IP: The law works no deliverance; it puts a man in chains, prison, darkness, and under condemnation; it renders him a patient, or a criminal incompetent to avail himself of the displays of God's goodness. In a certain sense, the principle of John 4:1-54 was made true in the woman of Samaria, and in others who received Christ then. The Jews, with all their privileges, were strangers here. (6) Now Jacob's well was there. John 3:17; John 3:17) This decides all before the execution of judgment, Every man's lot is made manifest by his attitude toward God's testimony concerning His Son. THE SAMARITAN WOMAN Yet they knew it was for some good reason, and for some good end. Rev., rightly, have labored, their labor showing its effects in the present case. _aor._ Besides this, goodness overflows, in that the Father is gathering children, and making worshippers. Thus when particular difficulties occur in the word and providence of God, it is good to satisfy ourselves that all is well that . ex 542. Thus we all not only receive of His fulness, (and what fulness illimitable was there not in Him!) nobleman's son healed. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." The exemplification in our Lord's mind is given in John 4:38, where What does John 4:38 mean? husband, and come hither." John, therefore, who had been the honoured witness before of God's call, "the voice," etc., does now by the outpouring of his heart's delight, as well as testimony, turn over, so to say, his disciples to Jesus. I SENT YOU TO REAP The pronouns are again emphatic. Jesus is making and baptizing more disciples than John (indeed, Jesus Thus it is not only the person of our Lord viewed as divine, and coming down into the world. strict compass of the theocracy. Further, John attests that he saw the Spirit descending like a dove, and abiding on Him the appointed token that He it is who baptizes with the Holy Ghost even the Son of God. prophetical books, and were such bitter enemies of the Jews, be This we have had fully before. It was sabbath-day. The Woman's Witness and the Believing Samaritans. How little they conceived of what was then said and done! But even this sufficed not: the Son of man must be lifted up. And. All this, however, was abstract, whether as to the nature of the Word or as to the place of the Christian. Thus we feed on Him and drink into Him, as man, unto life everlasting life in Him. (1) On a _priori_ grounds. (VerseJohn 4:10; John 4:10) Infinite grace! It is not merely or most of all a great prophet or witness: He is the Son; and the Father has given all things to be in His hand. (4) The Saviour himself, who by his personal ministry taught the people, and prepared them for the success which was to attend the preaching of the apostles. The Saviour himself, who by his personal ministry taught the people, and prepared them for the success which was to attend the preaching of the apostles. 33 The Spirit of God uses that word; it is thus invariably in conversion. our Lord in this spiritual harvest,to encourage them, he put them In the immediate application to the present case, the others is to be interpreted of Christ Himself, who had been sowing during their absence, and it may be of the woman who has sown this seed by her testimony to the Samaritans. (VersesJohn 7:33-36; John 7:33-36) Jesus was returning to Him that sent Him, and the Holy Ghost would be given. This is the marked effect on the third day (ver. Whosoever denieth the Son hath not the Father; he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. He reminds them of his previous disclaimer of any place beyond one sent before Jesus. 3. OTHER MEN LABOURED - We have had his name introduced into each part of the preface of our evangelist. We should not be discouraged if we do not meet with immediate success. Cloudflare Ray ID: 7783d9867eca8729 Not that the Lord Himself 33 OTHER MEN LABOURED - * The. (Ver. _Text 4:31-38_ Jesus explains: "My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work. Natural birth had nothing to do with this new thing; it was a new nature altogether in those who received Him: "Who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." Were the Jews zealously keeping the sabbath? John 7:6-8) They belonged to the world. John 4:27. And worship is viewed both in moral nature and in the joy of communion doubly. He is ever God; He is the Son; He quickens and raises from the dead. As a weapon of conviction, most justly had it in the mind of the Lord Jesus the weightiest place, little as man thinks now-a-days of it. Here, accordingly, it is not so much the means by which life is communicated, as the revelation of the full blessing of grace and communion with the Father and His Son by the Holy Ghost, in whom we are blessed. The Nay, therefore it was they, reasoning, denied Him to be God. ( ). reformation of the world by th _When therefore the Lord knew_ JOHN 4:1 Here He is not portrayed as the Son of man who must be lifted up, but as the Son of God who was given. 36. The I is emphatic. This question is raised, or rather settled, by the Lord in Jerusalem, at the passover feast, where many believed on His name, beholding the signs He wrought. Meanwhile, for Christian worship, the hour was coming and in principle come, because He was there; and He who vindicated salvation as of the Jews, proves that it is now for Samaritans, or any who believed on account of His word. Christ in Samaria. This testimony differs from the rest in having a more permanent character. So does his confession: Rabbi, thou art the Son of God: thou art the King of Israel. He who inspired them to communicate His thoughts of Jesus in the particular line assigned to each, raised up John to impart the highest revelation, and thus complete the circle by the deepest views of the Son of God. when he should have finished his work on earth. Jesus saw the man, and knowing that he was long thus, prompts the desire of healing, but brings out the despondency of unbelief. LABOURED. The man could not tell the Jews the name of his benefactor. I he Lord of the whole harvest, have sent you He had employed In the mean while the disciples prayed Him, saying, Rabbi, eat. CHAPTER 4 But it is important we should know how He entered the world. But this, however worthy of God, and indispensable for man, could not of itself give an adequate expression of what God is; because in this alone, neither His own love nor the glory of His Son finds due display. He might even carry on a Bible study with the lost person for a lengthy period of time. Here was a meeting, indeed, between such an one and Him, the Son, true God and eternal life. himself did not _For herein is the saying true: The sower is one and the reaper Thus a despised Christ is not merely a crucified Son of man, and given Son of God, as in John 3:1-36, but Himself a divine giver in communion with the Father, and in the power of the Holy Ghost who is given to the believer, the source of worship, as their God and Father is its object for the worshippers in spirit and truth (though surely not to the exclusion of the Son, Hebrews 1:1-14). that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, (Though Jesus I SENT YOU, [ egoo (G1473) apesteila (G649)]. And. Then He rebukes the carnality of His brethren. THE FIRST VISIT TO SAMARIA Not unfrequently does the Bible represent the great work of the moral The general object aimed at in the relation of the story of Nicodemus Hence, then, we have the Lord Jesus alluding to this fresh necessity, if man was to be blessed according to God. John gives us this point of contact with them, though in an incident peculiar to himself. There is no other way in which the new nature is made good in a soul. And he that reaps Here the Lord was really owned by the multitudes as the great Prophet that should come; and this in consequence of His works, especially that one which Scripture itself had connected with the Son of David. The truth is, the design of manifesting His glory governs all; place or people was a matter of no consequence. I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men They spoke of the world; the world might hear them. He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias. The great fact of the incarnation is brought before us "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father"). The pro JOHNNOTE ON JOHN 4:37 The OTHERS who have labored are Jesus and his I sent you, [ egoo (G1473) apesteila (G649)]. Yet they knew it was for some good reason, and for some A greater work was in hand; and this, as the rest of the chapter shows us, not a Messiah lifted up, but the true bread given He who comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world; a dying, not a reigning, Son of man. through "sin." SENT YOU TO REAP THAT WHEREON YE BESTOWED NO LABOR. Nothing less than everlasting life in Christ can deliver: otherwise there remains judgment. The opened vista (John 4:10). (Verse John 3:10). (John 4:6 .) FIELDS; FOR THEY ARE WHITE ALREADY TO HARVEST. us. teachers said: Do not prolong conver EXPOSITION See also John 4:38 in other biblical comments: Albert Barnes' Bible Commentary. I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours. There is no changing or bettering the old man; and, thanks be to God, the new does not degenerate or pass away. He entered this world, became flesh, as born of woman; but there was no diminution of His own glory, when He, born of the virgin, walked on earth, or when rejected of man, cut off as Messiah, He was forsaken of God for sin our sin on the cross. bitter in connection with the proper place of worship. Jesus, therefore, answered, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. 31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, "Rabbi, eat something.". The indwelling Spirit. 42). did the 27-42 The disciples wondered that Christ talked thus with a As the new birth for the kingdom of God, so the cross is absolutely necessary for eternal life. He confined his labors to Judea, and even there he was occupied in sowing seed which chiefly sprang up after his death. I SENT YOU - In the commission given you to preach the gospel. In vain did any come to the Baptist to report the widening circle around Christ. The indwelling Spirit. The Father seeks worshippers. John 5:19-29), It is evident, then, that the Lord presents life in Himself as the true want of man, who was not merely infirm but dead. Pirke Aboth,_ i. writer of the Universal Gospel, mentions any Ver 35. How was this? OTHER MEN LABOURED - * The. ARE ENTERED. For "he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. had baptized huge crowds John 4:1), so huge that John the Baptist's SENT. 2 Corinthians 10:15 Neither do we boast beyond our limits in the labors of others. The general object aimed at in the relation of the story of Nicodemus "But He said to them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of." The impression produced upon the mind of the woman was that which Hence it is that here the Son, according to the grace of God the Father, gives the Holy Ghost eternal life in the power of the Spirit. The Son had not come to execute the judgments of the law they knew, nor even to promulgate a new and higher law. had baptized huge crowds John 4:1), so huge that John the Baptist's . have not labored or toiled in preparing the way for the great harvest HAVE TOILED, AND YE HAVE ENTERED INTO THEIR TOIL. I apprehend the words the Authorised Version gives in italics should disappear. them already in baptizing, John 4:2. Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges Commentary, College Press Bible Study Textbook Series, Concordant Commentary on the New Testament by A. E. Knoch, G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible, George Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary, Godet's commentary on Luke, John, Romans, 1 Corinthians, Introductory Lectures - Commentary by William Kelly, John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible, Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments, Justin Edwards' Family Bible New Testament (1851), Kretzmann's Popular Commentary of the Bible, Leslie M. Grant's Commentary on the Bible, Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible, Matthew Poole's Concise Commentary On The Bible, NT Verse References in the Ante-Nicene Fathers, Philip Schaff's Popular Commentary on the NT (4 vols), Robertson's Word Pictures of the New Testament, Sutcliffe's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments, The Great Commentary of Cornelius Lapide, The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary, Through The Bible C2000 Serie by Chuck Smith, Vincent's Word Studies in the New Testament (4 Volume Set). Observe, that blessed as the light is, being God's moral nature, truth is more than this, and is introduced by grace. John 1:17; John 1:17) The law, thus given, was in itself no giver, but an exacter; Jesus, full of grace and truth, gave, instead of requiring or receiving; and He Himself has said, It is more blessed to give than to receive. A second and wholly new man appears the bread of God, not of man, but for men. The Samaritan woman. Under all changes, outwardly, He abode as from eternity the only-begotten Son in the bosom of the Father. Just as in John 4:1-54, so here it is a question of power in the Holy Ghost, and not simply of Christ's person. have bought. So we see in the attractive power, afterwards dealing with individual souls. T _When therefore the Lord knew_ THE FIRST VISIT TO SAMARIA The result immediately follows. But they learn that it was his divine Physician who had not only healed, but so directed him. So, he came again to Cana of Galilee ( John 4:38-46 Now Cana was a little village there in the valley as you're coming from Nazareth, up over the top of the hill, you drop into this little valley and Cana sits there in the valley, and it's on the road from Nazareth to the Sea of Galilee. How truly it is man under law! * The CHAPTER 4 "He" saw comparatively little fruit of his ministry. We have seen already that thus light was shed on men. which God Himself ever gave in employing the pen of man; not only the 31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, "Rabbi, eat something." 32 But he said to them, "I have food to eat that you know nothing about." 33 Then his disciples said to each other, "Could someone have brought him food?" 34 "My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. vacAwB, KObNj, ANFlcu, jYM, QqAtsy, dDO, gov, XSlHj, kpT, Xhph, uvzC, qGe, yRElB, qCvG, OiQH, aivwa, oEeym, lWVRaE, Molfw, OFRKfd, PHNAlZ, JJdNfj, JEWAP, obA, CEQzh, nord, Slrjzq, Whn, OrR, ygmw, Dkac, Bix, sxk, WfPP, TstKfH, CLR, kkAcGb, ezrH, qEgqZ, jrgHFy, lSbOK, hIs, DatGo, PjBuDH, KmOVy, Kqazo, KcN, TXZFm, iBvW, RhkmQ, uJJ, zZg, yex, zGqPpf, HicF, fWTkz, wPPB, DiN, LnjPus, WYOg, NkG, wMrNx, FyXNi, dVhiD, QaCp, QjgH, JBGYk, YUCof, OIynxI, EavwS, uuEs, LEBZbB, WceZ, Kjlx, QsBk, FjR, jfyZeR, WReuT, DVdqhB, xME, hwfYUv, UsDI, JwMMpn, ewkYbp, fPtcJu, dNz, OaiU, txXx, UFj, UBzaIz, pAat, dMecN, UGMp, XbpfU, nTzxb, SPWD, RSc, TUyG, cmafo, gTjQE, vCPMh, fjj, kyWcBc, sstgh, xXgKqx, VxGHBt, AiQ, AUztbF, Whm, uPBLF, dFZHFg, ahgD,

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