4:25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.”

• The Samaritans knew of the teaching of the Messiah, even though they didn’t hold any of the Jewish prophetic books to be part of their cannon, they had the Pentateuch, and that was surely enough to recognize that there would be a Messiah.  For Moses even said, “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen” (Deut. 18:15).
• The Samaritans viewed the Messiah through the eyes on the first five books of the Bible because they rejected all the other books.  Kostenberger points out that they actually saw the Messiah as a teacher, and someone who would reveal to them “all things” in the spirit of Deut. 18:18.
• The Jews, of course, saw the Messiah as a political savior who would liberate them from the oppression of the Romans etc.  Calvin says, “Although the religion among the Samaritans was corrupted and mixed up with many errors, yet some principles taken from the law were impressed on their minds, such as that which related to the Messiah.”

4:26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

• Nowhere else in Scripture (to my knowledge) does Jesus so clearly state “I am the Messiah.”  This is a magnificent verse that ought to serve as a sort of highlight to the entire chapter.
• First He lays out the excellency of the gift He has to offer, then He reveals to her that He is the Savior of the World!  Ryle says, “There is no heart satisfaction in this world, until we believe on Christ. Jesus alone can fill up the empty places of our inward man. Jesus alone can give solid, lasting, enduring happiness.  The peace that He imparts is a fountain, which, once set flowing within the soul, flows on to all eternity.”
• What amazes me is that here, to a foreigner, to a sinner, He reveals the nature of His person.  Amazing.  Paul certainly felt the same thing, that as the “chief of sinners” He felt the weightiness of this reality.  That Jesus Christ, the Son of God, had revealed Himself to him, seemed too much to be grasped.  It was too good.  Such is Christ, and is a mark of His character.
• One of the things that ought to be mentioned here that Boice brings up is that Jesus uses the phrase “I am” to describe himself.  The English version of the Bible adds the word “he” in there to modify the phrase so that it points back to the title Messiah, however, it also should indicate something deeper to this woman. Namely, the phrase or name “I am” is the name for God – Jehovah.  On the mountain top when Moses asked God who he should tell the people of Israel that sent him, God replied “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you’” (Ex. 3:14).
• By saying “I am” Jesus was, at least in a veiled way, asserting His deity.

4:27 Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?”

• They marveled, but they didn’t say anything.  They were speechless.  Carson points out that there was sexism among the Jews to the points that Rabbis who talked with women were thought to have been wasting their time – time that could have been spent studying the Torah.

4:28-30 So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, [29] “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” [30] They went out of the town and were coming to him.

• Note the influence of this woman.  Certainly God was using her.  Before she was shunned, now she is a herald of good news.  Isaiah says, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns’” (Is. 52:7).  Sproul says, “…she was so excited by her conversation with Jesus, that she left her water pot and hurried away. We have no record that she ever filled it.  She couldn’t wait to get into town, to go to that very city where she was a despised outcast, to tell of her experience.”  This reminds me of when Jesus was calling disciples and urged the to leave the dead to bury the dead.  When He calls us, we don’t want to resist, we want to accept Him.
• This is why we talk about the doctrine of “irresistible grace” because when God the Holy Spirit quickens us to life we suddenly see ourselves for who we are and the offer of living water for what it is!  We drop our water pot and go tell everyone we know – no matter how shameful they may see us – about the gift we just received.
• You see, when we see God’s grace for what it is, suddenly our shame doesn’t mean anything.  Paul says, “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died – more than that, who was raised – who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us” (Romans 8:33-34).
• So when the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to the beauty and beneficence of what Jesus did and who we are (condemned men) we naturally grasp onto Jesus with all of our might!  Some foolish men who haven’t studied the nature of regeneration proclaim that Calvinists believe God “drags men into heaven kicking and screaming.”  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Every so-called Calvinist I know believes and understands that when the dead man is made alive by the Spirit of God, they don’t get dragged into heaven, they go sprinting into heaven!  They run quickly to the cross and embrace their Salvation!
• Lastly, this ought to show us, more than anything else, that God can use anyone to spread the gospel.

4:31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.”

• They had just come back from their trip to get Him food, so naturally they wanted to make sure that He had something to eat.
• Ironic that they address Him as “Rabbi” in front of the Samaritan who now suspected He was the Supreme Teacher, the Messiah.  I wonder if this saying further confirmed in her mind what she just heard in her heart.

4:32-34 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” [33] So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” [34] Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.

• This is the second time in just a short while that Jesus has taken advantage of an opportunity to share the gospel or teach a parable.  He was always looking to turn conversations into teaching opportunities.  That shows you where His head was at.  We know that He must have been at least a little hungry after His journey, for we know that He was thirsty. Yet, He still is intentional about His mission.  I must admit that when I’m tired, thirsty, and hungry, the last thing I’m often thinking about is how to spread the gospel or teach anyone anything.  Calvin also recognized this and said, “…his anxiety about the present business urges him so strongly, and absorbs his whole mind, so that it gives him no uneasiness to despise food…and thus he shows, by his example, that the kingdom of God ought to be preferred to all the comforts of the body.”  I absolutely love that phrase and think that Calvin captures the essence of Christ’s mind – fully absorbed with expanding the kingdom.  I want to have that mind as well.
• Carson points out that Jesus must surely have been using this as an opportunity to teach His disciples “something of His priorities.”  And further says that Jesus must certainly been thinking of Deuteronomy 8:3, which says:  “And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.”
• Another thing that we need to realize here is how well this response from Jesus ties into His affirmation of deity AND his messianic role. The passage most people think of when they think of the Old Testament prophecy of Messiah is Deut. 18:15-19.  In verse 18 it says, “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.”  In other words, Jesus was speaking for the Father and not of His own initiative.

4:35 Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.

• Why was Jesus always sharing and looking for these opportunities?  Because He viewed the world in a way that we do not, He saw the harvest and no laborers.  He came to recruit laborers. And as I mentioned earlier, he was so fully “absorbed” in this work that he dominated His mind.  He was always looking to expand the kingdom of God and here He urges His disciples to see the need and necessity of doing so.

4:36-38 Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. [37] For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ [38] I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”

• Kostenberger says that the “others” who have labored are Jesus and the prophets who came before Him (notably John the Baptist etc).
• Jesus wants His disciples to take a step back and realize that they are entering into a time in redemptive history that was brand new.  A new age was about to dawn and Jesus Christ was the One ushering that age in.  Jesus came to usher in the harvest.  This was a time many others in history had longed to see (Matthew 13:17), and now these farmers and fishermen got to witness it and be a part of it (Luke 10:2).  This harvest continues until today, and we are all called to be a part of it as well. Amazing.

How do we teach this to our children? Here’s an example:  Today we learned about how Jesus revealed to a Samaritan woman that He was the Messiah.  “Messiah” is a name for Jesus, and it means, “anointed one.”  To be “anointed” is to be chosen for a certain task. What was the task of Jesus?  (To save the world)  When Jesus’ disciples saw that he had shared with this Samaritan woman they were amazed because the Jews and the Samaritans didn’t get along.  But Jesus taught them that He was bringing eternal life to people from all nations, colors, races, or ethnic backgrounds.  That’s what it means in John 3:16 that “God so loved the world.”  Heaven will be made up of people from all corners of the earth and it is our responsibility and joy to share in the work of spreading the good news (gospel) about Jesus.  That’s why Jesus said we are to “enter into the harvest” with him.