In this chapter, Jesus and his disciples travel by foot from Judea to Galilee. These are districts in Israel, and between them is an area called Samaria. The Samaritans had religious practices that were different than the other areas. They went to Mt. Horeb, the location God gave Moses the Ten Commandments, to pray while the Jews went to the city of Jerusalem and prayed the temple.
At noon, the disciples leave Jesus sitting at the edge of a well while they go look for food. While they’re away, a woman comes to the well, and Jesus asked her to get him a drink of water. She immediately recognizes that he is Jewish and says why are you asking me, a Samaritan, for a drink of water. There was clearly tension between the different groups. He says to her, if you really knew who I was, you would be asking me for a drink of water. She looks at him and says you don’t have anything to draw out the water. He tells her he has living water that makes you never thirsty again. She says I’ll take it. Jesus tells her to go get her husband. She says she doesn’t have a husband. Jesus says, you’ve had five and the man you’re with is not your husband. She says, I perceive that you are a prophet. She asks him which is better, to pray on Mt. Horeb or in the temple. He says “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.” She goes down to her village and tells everybody about it, and they follow her out and meet up with Jesus.
Meanwhile, the disciples come back with food. Jesus tells them he has food they know nothing about. Now they’re upset that he got food without them, but of course he’s talking about spiritual sustenance. Jesus says his food is to do his father‘s will. They stayed for two days and the people of the village believed in Jesus.
Jesus and his disciples arrive in Galilee and many already believe him to be the Christ because they had been to the wedding feast with wine miracle. An official asks Jesus to come to his home and heal his son. Jesus compared the Galileans having to see miracles with others that believed him on his word alone. Jesus did not visit the official’s house, but said go, your son is healed. The man went back and found that his son was well.
This chapter deals with priorities. Jesus‘s priority was to take care of people. He wasn’t blocked by which district they were from, who they’d slept with or what location they prayed at. The Samaritan woman was coming for water and disciples were looking for food, but Jesus was focused on their spiritual health. The people of Galilee were excited about his miracles, but again Jesus was looking for people to have a real change of heart, not to buy their affection. For us today we need to care about people, even if they have a different approach to God than us. We need to follow God because of his universal truth, not what he can do for us today.
