4:1 Jesus remains with John and the disciples and together they baptize many people. In order to have the baptism ceremonies, we can imagine that Jesus did a lot of teaching. Jesus taught to many the message of compassion from God and only once they had heard and believed would they have been willing (and eager) to proclaim their faith.
4:2 At that point, Jesus had yet to be baptized but we learned that John did baptize Jesus in Matthew 3:13-17.
4:3-4 Jesus continues to move throughout cities with purpose and plan.
4:5-6 Jesus enters Samaria and specifically near to the place where Jacob's (from the Old Testament) well was. The location of this verse is symbolic in that it references the timelessness of God's message and presence with humanity.
4:7-8 Jesus engages in a conversation with a Samarian woman. At the time, it was culturally unacceptable for a man to speak with a woman they were not related to -- however, we know that we are Jesus' family. Jesus begins a metaphor with this request for water.
Here we have this woman drawing water from a well somewhat aimlessly -- this is representative of a person without developed faith. This person draws from life but nothing of substance or meaning.
4:9 The women is confused. She can tell (likely from His clothes) that Jesus is not from around there. In fact, the deduces that He is from Judea, a place of people largely known for disliking Samaratans. She does not yet know who she is speaking with but we know that Jesus does not participate in such senseless cruelty and frivolity.
4:10 Jesus is trying to awaken her to the situation she is in: she's speaking with Jesus, a manifestation of God, the messiah her people await. He explains to her that if she ever requests water (life, guidance, love, sustenance) from God, what she will receive is Life. The life that God gives is light, love and compassion, symbolized as the "Living Water."
Jesus' humility is a prominent element in everything He does. Jesus requests water from her and this symbolizes the fact that Jesus works personally, individually for and with us. God and Jesus truly want a mutual relationship with us.
4:11-12 Although she does not yet completely understand, she's starting to perceive that something deeper is occurring. Jesus' speech reminds her of Jacob, the original owner of the well -- well known for his faith in God. Yet she still believes that He is speaking of actual water.
4:13-14 Jesus differentiates the difference between God and humanity. When we draw our life's sustenance from God, it is complete in nourishing and sustaining us. However, when we draw our life's sustenance from humanity, we constantly try to fill the spaces of its deficiency.
Life's sustenance: what motivates us, what we seek to inspire and create in the world. The motivation God teaches us is to be determined in giving compassion. The motivation humanity teaches us to procure wealth, fame, power. The former carries us through life with comfort and support and the latter leaves us desperate and unsatisfied.
4:15 The woman is intrigued...she's welcome to receiving this water Jesus speaks of. She's thinking that with it she won't have to go through all the labor of using the well.
4:16 Continuing (and adding to) the metaphor, Jesus mentions the woman's husband. We can think of this metaphorical element of marriage as the connection between an individual and their faith. A recurring metaphor in the Bible, God is supposed to be our true "husband" the entity to which we tie our beliefs. Jesus is giving this woman the chance to choose her previous beliefs over God's...
4:17 She does not do so. She frees herself to be available to accepting the unification between her and God.
4:18 Jesus explains that her faith as changed and jumped and moved repeatedly, that even her current faith is not true to her.
4:19 The woman is coming to fully understand that Jesus is a prophet -- He's accurately outlining the journey of her faith.
4:20 She's been taught through her religion that the place where they are conversing has a history of representing prophets and faith. The place is worshiped as holy ground but Jesus wants the woman to understand that what is holy is God... and not to worship to an inanimate thing when a living God is always present to talk to.
4:21-23 Jesus is explaining to the woman that once she places her faith in the true God, she will not have to pray in specific places with rules and ceremony. With God, we can pray to Him anywhere... we can always reach Him from wherever we are.
4:24 Those who develop their faith have a deeper understanding of the spirituality of faith -- that it exists on its own, thrives on its own, not needing particular places or statues to exist within.
4:25-26 What we can learn from these two verses is to be observant in our faith: we must use our perception to determine truth from deception. When the opportunity to be compassion is right before us, we cannot overlook it because we are not focused.
4:27-30 The woman is marveled by Jesus and she goes into the city to gather people, tell them of her conversation with Jesus and bring them back to Him. When God works with one of us, He truly hopes that we go out into the world and spread it to others. This does not mean to force ideas or believes on anybody -- it means to offer the kindness God has taught and given you to others.
4:31-32 Jesus is deep in metaphor at the point and the disciples are scrambling to keep up. Jesus' purpose was to come to earth and teach humanity that God was the light of their life -- the entity who both created the life within us and sustains the life within us. Our physical bodies are reliant upon food but our spiritual selves, our souls, are eternal and not vulnerable to any needs or requirements.
4:33 The disciples concern grows... not understanding the metaphor, they really want to get Jesus something to eat... maybe He even sounded like the hunger was affecting His conscious thought (haha) but Jesus was teaching them an important lesson.
4:34 An amazing verse, let's repeat it: My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. Truly that is what carries each of us through life -- that we commit to working with God, purposefully working with, inspiring and protecting others through our compassion. A healthy soul is a compassionate and hard-working soul and a compassionate and hard-working soul is the food which gives the physical body its health (but still eat your vegetables).
In our journey of working with God purposefully, we will find that God supplies us the knowledge and opportunity to be productive and healthy and wise in making decisions which promote our health (like eating your vegetables). We have to care for ourselves in order to care for others and strength starts from within.
I'll be very specific in this verse because (you never know) people might not understand. Jesus is not teaching us to stop eating, He's not teaching us that we can survive on earth without food. He's explaining to us that our personal-happiness and motivation comes from God and that we ensure our eternal life by "feeding" our souls with the word of God.
4:35 Jesus wants us to realize that we should not wait to be purposeful and compassionate -- the opportunity to make a difference in the world is here in abundance. We shouldn't wait; our entire lives are filled with opportunity after opportunity to begin doing God's work of loving and protecting others.
4:36 We each have our basket of "purposes" on the earth. Talents, jobs, opportunities and so forth vary from person to person but regardless, we are all contributors to humanity... we're all a part of this grander spirituality.
4:37-38 The earth was given to us... opportunities were given to us (all from God) through history and family and generation... there's so much given to us that we did not work for. In gratitude, it's our purpose to work for others to provide for them the things which were given to us.
4:39-42 This woman succeeded in one of her purposes: she listened to Jesus, believed and became a vessel through which others could reach Him and learn from Him. The way we live our lives is a bright and solid example of the beliefs we hold in our hearts, if there's ever a message you want to spread to the world... live the example and they will learn from it.
4:43 It took a longer amount of time and more effort for the people who lived and grew up around Jesus their entire lives to accept Him as a prophet. They were so used to Him as average, as a part of who they were, that to see Him revered as the Son of God was at first baffling.
4:46-47 Jesus is constantly on the move, travelling to reach as many people as possible. A man comes to Jesus and begs Him to follow him to his home in order to save his child.
4:48-49 Jesus is a bit exasperated because He wants us to understand that when we ask for something from God, our faith should be so understanding and strong that we trust Him to give it to us. Rather than ask Jesus to heal his son, the man wants to bring Jesus to his son... thinking that a visible, tangible miracle is the only way to make it happen.
Jesus wants us to understand that when we pray for something from God, He's going to listen... and if it's in our best interest, He can answer that prayer from wherever He is, seen or unseen. He wants us to have faith that He's constantly working to protect us... yet so many people require PROOF and test Him because they cannot see Him.
God is the compassionate life within and around us, not an object we can hold.
4:50 Jesus proclaims that the son is healed and this man understands the lesson -- he has faith that Jesus is truthful, able to heal us even from afar.
4:51-54 Upon returning home, the man finds out that the very hour (the very time) he asked Jesus to heal his son, the son was healed. We can learn from this that 1) God cares 2) God is always listening 3) God works without hesitation. When we pray for something, God knows if we are praying for the right thing for us.. and if we are, He gives it to us in the perfect, most opportune moment.
