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Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents
2:12-4:54 Jesus' Ministry in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to Gentiles. Jesus' Jerusalem ministry commences with the clearing of the temple. The bulk of chs. 3 and 4 features two major encounters, one with a representative of the Jewish religious establishment (Nicodemus, 3:1-21), and one with the Samaritan religion (a Samaritan woman, 4:1-26). The section concludes with Jesus' ministry to a Gentile official (4:43-54).
2:12 Jesus went down from Cana to Capernaum, since Cana was in the hill country while Capernaum was at the Sea of Galilee. Capernaum is about
2:13-22 The first major confrontation with the Jewish leaders in John's Gospel takes place on the occasion of Jesus' clearing of the Jerusalem temple at the Jewish Passover. (The Synoptic Gospels record a second, later temple clearing, just prior to the crucifixion; see Mark 11:15-19 par.) By clearing the temple, Jesus displays prophetic zeal for God's house (John 2:17; cf. Ps. 69:9) and foreshadows judgment on the Jewish leaders who had allowed worship to deteriorate into commerce, rendering prayer difficult in the temple (see note on John 2:14).
2:13 Here and in v. 23 are the first references to a Jewish festival in John's Gospel and the first references to the Jewish Passover (see Ex. 12:1-28). Later, John refers to two more Passovers--at John 6:4 (Jesus in Galilee) and 11:55; 12:1 (Jesus' final Passover in Jerusalem). Apart from these Passover references, John also mentions Jesus' activities at an unnamed Jewish festival in 5:1 (possibly Tabernacles), at the Feast of Tabernacles (or Booths) in 7:2, and at the Feast of Dedication (or Hanukkah) in 10:22. People went up to Jerusalem because it was located at a higher elevation than Galilee and because it was the capital.
2:14 Temple (Gk. hieron) denotes the area surrounding the temple, including the Court of the Gentiles, in distinction from the temple building proper (Gk. naos), from which non-Jews were excluded. By selling oxen, sheep, and pigeons, the merchants, as well as the money-changers, rendered a service to those who had traveled to Jerusalem from afar, enabling them to buy the animals on-site rather than having to carry them for long distances. By conducting their business in the temple complex, however, these individuals disrupted the worship of non-Jewish God-fearers (see note on 12:20) and thus obstructed the very purpose for which the temple existed.
2:19 I will raise it up implies that Jesus himself would have a part in raising himself from the dead, though other verses mention that the Father and the Holy Spirit were also involved (see Acts 2:24; Rom. 6:4; 1 Cor. 6:14; Gal. 1:1; Eph. 1:20; also Rom. 1:4; 8:11; and note on John 10:17). In fact, Jesus says that he is "the resurrection and the life" (11:25).
2:20 forty-six years. Herod the Great's construction of the temple proper (Gk. naos; see note on v. 14) lasted from , but the larger temple area (Gk. hieron) was not finished until . Some scholars favor an alternative translation: "This temple (Gk. naos) was built ," which would date this statement in , since there was no
2:23-25 This section serves as an introduction to Jesus' encounter with Nicodemus in ch. 3. Believed and did not entrust himself constitutes a wordplay in Greek (both use the verb pisteuō). Jesus knew all people, an affirmation of divine omniscience. His knowledge of people's hearts is displayed in his encounters with Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman in chs. 3 and 4.
3:1 Ruler of the Jews refers to a member of the Jewish governing body called the Sanhedrin.
3:2 Nicodemus comes to Jesus by night, which usually carries a symbolic overtone of spiritual darkness elsewhere in John (9:4; 11:10; 13:30; but not 21:3). Coming from the "teacher of Israel" (3:10), the address Rabbi (meaning "teacher") denotes respect, especially since it was known that Jesus did not have formal rabbinic training (cf. 7:15). The signs presumably include many miracles performed by Jesus in Jerusalem (cf. 2:23).
3:3-6 This discussion of the need for spiritual rebirth further develops the earlier reference to the "children of God" who are "born of God" (1:12-13; cf. 8:39-58; 11:51-52). The phrase born of water and the Spirit in 3:5 refers to spiritual birth, which cleanses from sin and brings spiritual transformation and renewal. Water here does not refer to the water of physical birth, nor is it likely that it refers to baptism. The background is probably Ezek. 36:25-27, where God promises, "I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean. . . . And I will give you a new heart. . . . And I will put my Spirit within you." For further discussion of being born again, see 1 John 2:29; 3:9; 4:7; 5:1, 4, 18. The kingdom of God, a major topic in the other Gospels, is mentioned in John only in 3:3, 5 (see the reference to Jesus' kingdom in John 18:36).
3:7-8 The change from singular to plural in I said to you [singular], "You [plural] must be born again," probably is meant to include Nicodemus and his fellow Sanhedrin members (cf. "we" in v. 2), but the plural also carries broader application to all people: everyone "must be born again." Wind and Spirit translate the same Greek and Hebrew words.
3:10 As a prominent teacher (the teacher of Israel), Nicodemus should be able to understand Jesus, since this new life is like the resurrection depicted in Ezekiel 37 and the new heart in Deut. 30:6; Jer. 31:33; and Ezek. 36:26.
3:11-12 Earthly things probably refers to Jesus' teaching about the new birth, which takes place in a person's life on earth. If Nicodemus as a teacher cannot even understand this, then Jesus cannot convey deeper truths to him. You is plural (in Gk.) in the second instance in v. 11, and all four times in v. 12.
3:13 Ascended into heaven probably means "entered into the counsels of God in heaven and remained there." When Jesus descended from heaven it does not mean that in his omnipresent, divine personhood he completely left all fellowship with the Father, but rather that the focus of his activity became his earthly life as one who was now both God and man.
3:14 The reference to the Son of Man being lifted up is the first of three "lifted up" sayings in John's Gospel (cf. 8:28; 12:32). All three sayings speak of the future "lifting up" of the Son of Man in a typical Johannine double meaning (see notes on 4:10; 8:24; 11:50-51; 19:19; cf. also 3:7-8), so that it refers to both Jesus' death and his resurrection and exaltation to glory in heaven (cf. Acts 2:33; 5:31). Regarding the serpent in the wilderness, see Num. 21:9; but cf. Isa. 52:13 also.
3:16 Here is the most famous summary of the gospel in the entire Bible. For connects to v. 15 and explains what happened to make it possible that someone can "have eternal life" (v. 15), that is, through believing in Christ. God so loved the world was an astounding statement in that context because the OT and other Jewish writings had spoken only of God's love for his people Israel. God's love for "the world" made it possible for "whoever" (v. 15) believes in Christ, not Jews alone, to have eternal life. God's love for the world was not mere sentiment but led to a specific action: he gave his only Son, which John elsewhere explains as sending him to earth as a man (v. 17) to suffer and die and thereby to bear the penalty for sins (see note on 1 John 2:2; cf. Rom. 3:25). On "only Son," see note on John 1:14, which contains the same Greek phrase. The purpose of giving his Son was to make God's great gift of eternal life available to anyone--to whoever believes in him, that is, whoever personally trusts in him (see note on 11:25). Not perish means not perish in eternal judgment, in contrast to having eternal life, the life of abundant joy and immeasurable blessing in the presence of God forever. Those who "believe in" Christ have that "eternal life" and already experience its blessings in this present time, not yet fully, but in some significant measure.
3:17 send his Son. John's favorite designation of Jesus is that of the Son "sent" by the Father (see also vv. 34-36; 5:19-26; 6:40; 8:35-36; 14:13; 17:1). There was a familiar concept in Jewish life that the messenger is like the sender himself (Mishnah, Berakoth 5.5; cf. John 13:16, 20). Jesus is that Sent One par excellence (cf. 9:7), and in 20:21-22 he in turn sends his disciples (see note there). Being sent (in the case of both Jesus and his followers) implies that the commission, charge, and message are issued by the sender rather than originating with the one who is sent. This verse refers to Christ's first coming. He will return to judge the world at his second coming (5:27-29).
3:18 Those who do not believe and trust in Christ have neither a positive nor a neutral standing before God. They stand condemned already before God for their sins because they have not trusted God's solution for guilt, the only Son of God. This verse also refutes the assertion that a sincere person following any religion can have eternal life with God (cf. 14:6; Acts 4:12; Rom. 10:13-17; 1 Tim. 2:5-6; regarding OT believers who looked forward to Christ, see John 8:56; Rom. 4:1-24; Heb. 11:13, 26).
3:19-21 This elaborates on the prologue's reference to the world's darkness and unbelief (1:5, 10-11). See also note on 8:12. The evil of human beings is reflected in their fleeing from the light; at the same time, anything good is the product of God's work.
3:22 Jesus was baptizing, that is, overseeing his disciples (see 4:2) as they continued administering the baptism of John, which was based on repentance and which symbolized purification from sin (see note on 1:28).
3:24 John had not yet been put in prison alerts readers to the fact that everything that has happened up to this point in John's Gospel takes place prior to Mark 1:14 ("after John was arrested").
3:28 The Baptist's assertion that he has been sent before the Messiah alludes to Mal. 3:1, which is directly applied to the Baptist in Matt. 11:10; Mark 1:2; and Luke 7:27.
3:29 The Baptist's reference to Jesus as the bridegroom (cf. Matt. 9:15 par.) identifies Jesus as Israel's long-awaited King and Messiah. In the OT, Israel is frequently depicted as God's "bride" (e.g., Isa. 62:4-5; Jer. 2:2; Hos. 2:16-20). The Baptist's role is that of the bridegroom's friend, who selflessly rejoices with the groom (cf. John 1:6-9, 15, 19-36). On Christ as bridegroom, see Eph. 5:25-27; Rev. 19:7-8.
3:30 He must increase, but I must decrease. At this point in salvation history, now that the light has come (1:6-9), the "lamp" has done its work (5:35).
3:32 What he has seen and heard refers to Jesus' eternal existence in heaven and his infinite knowledge of God's nature and counsels. No one receives his testimony likely means that very few people (at least to that point) had received it (but some had; see v. 33). See 1:10, 11 for similar generalizations.
3:34 Cf. 1:32-33. See also Rev. 3:1; 5:6. In this context about the Father sending the Son, John is saying that the Father gives to Jesus the Spirit without measure. Others had been and will be empowered by the Spirit to some extent, but Jesus has a measureless anointing from the Spirit.
3:35 The Father . . . has given all things into his hand indicates supreme authority for the Father in the counsels of the Trinity, and a delegated authority over the whole created universe for the Son, as is indicated also in many other NT passages (1:3; 3:16, 17; 5:22; 6:38; 14:16, 28; Acts 2:33; 5:31; Rom. 8:29, 34; 1 Cor. 8:6; 15:28; Eph. 1:4-5; Heb. 1:2, 3, 13; 1 Pet. 3:22). Yet at the same time, the Father, Son, and Spirit are fully God in the unity of a single divine being.
3:36 Has eternal life indicates that eternal life is not merely a future expectation but already a present experience. (This is sometimes called John's "realized eschatology," where "eschatology" means the events of the end times and the life of the age to come. In John, this kind of life is partially "realized" or partially made the believer's possession even now in this present age.) The wrath of God remains on him makes clear that unless a person believes in Jesus the Messiah, he or she remains under God's judgment (cf. vv. 19-21; Rom. 1:18-25).
4:4 Jesus had to pass this way because of geography (it was the shortest route), but the words may also indicate that Jesus' itinerary was subject to the sovereign and providential plan of God ("had to" translates Gk. dei, "to be necessary," which always indicates divine necessity or requirement elsewhere in John: 3:7, 14, 30; 9:4; 10:16; 12:34; 20:9). Through Samaria was the usual route taken by travelers from Judea to Galilee, though strict Jews, in order to avoid defilement, could bypass Samaria by opting for a longer route that involved crossing the Jordan and traveling on the east side. The Samaritans were a racially mixed group of partly Jewish and partly Gentile ancestry, who were disdained by both Jews and non-Jews (see Luke 10:33; 17:16; John 8:48; see also 2 Kings 17:24-31, which describes how the king of Assyria brought foreign people to settle in Samaria in ; over time they had intermarried with some Jews who had remained in the area). See also note on John 4:20-21. Many inhabitants of this region between Judea and Galilee were descendants of the OT northern kingdom of Israel, although from the Jewish perspective these Samaritans had assimilated strongly into non-Jewish culture and had intermarried with Mesopotamian colonists. The Samaritans had their own version of the Pentateuch, their own temple on Mount Gerizim (see 4:20), and their own rendering of Israelite history. Copies of their Pentateuch in Hebrew (and in Targumic Aramaic) remain extant, as do their basic historical narratives. Tensions often ran high between Jews and Samaritans; thus Josephus recounts fighting between Jews and Samaritans during Claudius's being so intense that Roman soldiers were called in to pacify (and to crucify) many of the rebels (Jewish War 2.232-246).
4:5 The village of Sychar is usually identified with Askar, which is approximately
4:6 Jacob's well. The probable location for this well lies in modern Nablus--known in the Roman period as Flavia Neapolis and called in the OT by the name Shechem. This well was once covered with vaulted stone and a Byzantine () church. It is quite deep (as described in v. 11), although measurements have varied over the years (possibly due to debris in the well). It was also at a juncture of major ancient roads and near the traditional sacred site of Joseph's tomb. The reference to Jesus being wearied . . . from his journey underscores his full humanity (see also 11:35; 19:28). Jesus' human nature could be weak and tired, though his divine nature was omnipotent (cf. 1:3, 10). Sixth hour refers to noon, when it would have been hot and time to rest, and travelers would be thirsty. Normally, women would come to draw water in the morning or evening when it was cooler (Gen. 24:11; cf. 29:7-8); the immoral woman comes at a time when no one else would be at the well.
4:7 Jesus took the initiative in speaking to a Samaritan woman--an astonishing break with culture and tradition, showing his desire to save the lost.
4:9 The comment that Jews have no dealings with Samaritans explains to John's readers outside the land of Palestine that Samaritans were considered by many Jews to be in a continual state of uncleanness, thus they would have thought that drinking water from this woman's water jar would make a person ceremonially unclean. The verb in the phrase rendered "have no dealings" can also have a more specific meaning of "share use of [things]."
4:10 Jesus' words about living water again involve double meaning (see notes on 3:14; 8:24; 11:50-51; 19:19; cf. also 3:7-8). Literally, the phrase refers to fresh spring water (Gen. 26:19; Lev. 14:6), but John 7:38-39 identifies this "living water" as the Holy Spirit dwelling within a believer (cf. Jer. 2:13; Ezek. 47:1-6; Zech. 14:8; also Isa. 12:3).
4:11 The well today is still over
4:12 By referring to our father Jacob the woman shows that she and her people still think of themselves as true descendants of Jacob (Israel, Gen. 32:28). Clearly the woman does not understand who Jesus is, for then she would understand that he is greater even than Jacob, the father of the
4:14 The water that I will give him is the "living water" of v. 10, identified in 7:37-39 as the Holy Spirit dwelling within believers. never be thirsty again. A person's deepest spiritual longing to know God personally will, amazingly, be satisfied forever. The phrase will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life is reminiscent of Isa. 12:3 (see also Isa. 44:3; 55:1-3).
4:15 The woman takes Jesus literally and misunderstands him, just as Nicodemus did (see 3:4). In John's Gospel, Jesus frequently speaks in terms of the visible, physical world (birth, water, bread, his body, light) to teach about the unseen spiritual world (see chart).
4:17 no husband. While technically truthful, the woman's curt statement is probably intended to close the subject. But Jesus, with gentleness and compassion, reveals both her sin and his omniscient knowledge of her life.
4:18 The woman had had five husbands who had either died or divorced her. When Jesus says the one you now have is not your husband, he implies that merely living together does not constitute a marriage. A marriage requires some kind of official sanction and public ceremony at which a man and woman commit to the obligations of marriage and the community then recognizes that a marriage has begun (see 2:1; also Song 3:11; Mal. 2:14; Matt. 9:15). Sexual relationships prior to marriage were without question thought to be morally wrong (Gen. 38:24; Ex. 22:16; Deut. 22:13-29; Matt. 15:19; John 8:41; Acts 15:20; 1 Cor. 6:18; 7:2, 9; 1 Thess. 4:3; cf. the imagery in 2 Cor. 11:2).
4:20-21 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain. A Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim was also recorded in Josephus (Jewish Antiquities 11.310, 346-347; 12.257-264; cf. 2 Macc. 6:2). It was destroyed by the Hasmonean leader John Hyrcanus during his reign (). This temple has been identified by some with a large Hellenistic-era structure made with unhewn stones atop Tel er-Ras at the northern spur of the mountain, although many have suggested that a more probable location is beneath the old Byzantine () church atop the mountain itself. Despite the destruction of this temple, Samaritan sacrificial worship has continued atop Mount Gerizim even until the modern era. Additionally, Mount Gerizim (cf. Deut. 11:29; 27:12) was the OT setting for the pronouncement of blessings for keeping the covenant and the mountain on which Moses commanded an altar to be built (Deut. 27:4-6). The fathers who worshiped on Mount Gerizim include Abraham (Gen. 12:7) and Jacob (Gen. 33:18-20), who built altars in this region. The Samaritans believed the temple was to be built on Mount Gerizim, for they believed that only Genesis-Deuteronomy (also called the Pentateuch, Torah, or Law of Moses) were inspired, and they changed the wording here and there to support their views.
4:21 neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. Jesus is inaugurating a new age in which people will not have to travel to a physical temple in one city to worship but will be able to worship God in every place, because the Holy Spirit will dwell in them, and therefore God's people everywhere will become the new temple where God dwells (cf. 1 Cor. 3:16-17; Eph. 2:19-22).
4:22 You is plural, implying "You Samaritans." In saying we worship what we know Jesus identifies himself as a Jew. The verse shows that John's Gospel is not anti-Semitic. Salvation is from the Jews in the sense that the whole OT, which taught about salvation, was from the Jewish people, and the Messiah himself came from the Jews and not from the Samaritans or (by implication) from the Gentiles.
4:24 God is spirit means that God is not made of any physical matter and does not have a material body but has a more wonderful kind of existence that is everywhere present (hence worship is not confined to one place, v. 21), is not perceived by the bodily senses (cf. 3:6, 8), and yet is so powerful that he brought the universe into existence (cf. 1:1-3, 10; 17:5). Because "God is spirit," the Israelites were not to make idols "in the form of anything" in creation as did the surrounding nations (Ex. 20:4).
4:25-26 Messiah . . . (he who is called Christ). See note on 1:38. Jesus does not often identify himself directly as the Messiah (see note on 1:41) since most would then think he had come to bring instant political deliverance, but he departs from that pattern here in Samaria, which is removed from the centers of Judaism.
4:28 The woman's water jar was probably a large earthenware pitcher, carried either on the shoulder or the hip.
4:32-34 food to eat. Jesus again speaks in terms of the physical world to teach about different realities in the unseen spiritual world (see note on v. 15). The accomplishment of Jesus' mission is more important to him than physical food (cf. Deut. 8:3; Matt. 4:4; Luke 4:4; also Matt. 6:25; Mark 3:20-21). work. See note on John 14:12.
4:35 In the physical realm, there is a period of time between sowing and harvesting. But in the spiritual realm, Jesus' coming has already ushered in the end-time harvest in which sowing and reaping paradoxically coincide, so that the "crop" of believers is now being gathered into God's kingdom. The immediate reference may be to the approaching Samaritans who are going to believe in Jesus (cf. vv. 39-42).
4:36 This statement is reminiscent of Amos 9:13, where the "treader of grapes" overtakes "him who sows the seed," depicting the abundance and prosperity of the new age. Hence Jesus claims that he is ushering in the messianic age in which sowing and reaping coincide. rejoice. There is a unique joy that comes from seeing others come to faith.
4:37-38 The others who have labored are Jesus and his predecessors, especially John the Baptist and his followers, but in a broader sense all the OT writers and prophets. Jesus' followers are the beneficiaries of their work and will bring in the harvest.
4:41-42 Savior of the world. Not just of Jews. Jesus' large-scale harvest among the Samaritans marks the first indication of the universal scope of his saving mission (cf. 10:16; 11:51-52). The early church engaged in a Samaritan mission as well (Acts 8:4-25). Hence the pattern of Jesus' mission according to John--from Judea (Nicodemus, John John 3:1-15), to Samaria (4:1-42), to the Gentiles (4:46-54; cf. 12:20-33)--anticipates the post-Pentecost mission of the early church (cf. Acts 1:8).
4:43-54 The healing of the official's son resembles that of the Gentile centurion's servant in Matt. 8:5-13 and Luke 7:2-10, but this is not the same incident.
4:43 Jesus departed for and arrived in Galilee (v. 45). It is at least
4:44 For . . . a prophet has no honor tells the reason Jesus is now going to Galilee: he is going to minister where he does not yet have honor, so that people would then come to believe in him. The wording of the proverb is different in Matt. 13:57, Mark 6:4, and Luke 4:24, and the application there is also different.
4:46 Cana. See note on 2:1. Capernaum. See note on Mark 1:21. The official was probably a Gentile centurion, possibly in the service of Herod Antipas (cf. Mark 6:14). John shows Jesus bringing the gospel to a respected Jewish teacher (John 3:1-21), then to an outcast Samaritan woman (4:1-42), then to an official working for the Roman government (4:46-54), and thus, by implication from these examples, to everyone in the world.
4:48 Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe is a challenge not only to the royal official (Jesus said to him), but also to the Galilean people ("you" is plural). Some may become entranced with signs and wonders and fail to see that they point to Jesus and hence fail to believe in him (cf. 6:2, 26, 30). However, this does not mean that John views "signs" in and of themselves negatively. To the contrary, Jesus' miracles are one of the primary means God uses to bring people to faith in him; they often lead people to follow Jesus or place their faith in him as the Messiah (2:11, 23; 3:2; 4:53-54; 6:2, 14; 7:31; 11:47-48; 12:11, 18; 20:31).
4:49-50 Your son will live indicates not just that Jesus knew that a miracle had happened, but that Jesus himself had healed the son, for John calls this a miracle "that Jesus did" (v. 54). A similar but different incident is narrated in Matt. 8:5-13 (cf. Luke 7:1-10).
