Jesus Demonstrated Through His Actions God’s Absolute Sovereignty and Love, Breaking Down Human Prejudice and Stereotypes to Save Souls Throughout the World
“He left Judea and departed again for Galilee. And He had to pass through Samaria. So He came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there. Jesus, therefore, being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, ‘Give Me a drink.’ For His disciples had gone away into the town to buy food. The Samaritan woman therefore said to Him, ‘How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?’ For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans” (John 4:3–9).
(1) Rather than meditating on the entire account of Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman in John 4:3–42 all at once, I thought it would be helpful to divide it into smaller portions. Today, as the first part, I would like to meditate on John 4:4–9. When I read these verses in the Korean Bible, the words “He had to pass through” [ἔδει διέρχεσθαι (edei dierchesthai)] (v. 4) raised a question in my mind: Why did Jesus have to pass through Samaria when He “left Judea and departed again for Galilee” [ἀφῆκεν τὴν Ἰουδαίαν καὶ ἀπῆλθεν πάλιν εἰς τὴν Γαλιλαίαν (aphēken tēn Ioudaian kai apēlthen palin eis tēn Galilaian)] (v. 3)? What was Jesus’ intention? And why did the apostle John use the word ἔδει (edei), meaning “had to” or “it was necessary”? This imperfect past-tense form appears only once in John’s Gospel, here in John 4:4. John did use the present-tense form δεῖ (dei) in John 3:7, 14, 30; 4:24; 20:9; and Revelation 22:6, but the past-tense form is used uniquely here. I also wondered why the apostle John recorded the account beginning in John 4:3 immediately after recording John 4:1–2. What was his purpose in placing these passages in this order?
(a) Throughout his Gospel, the apostle John uses the imperfect past-tense word ἔδει (edei), meaning “had to” or “it was necessary,” exclusively here in John 4:4. Behind this single word lies God’s great sovereign design, which completely overturns human calculations based on geography and culture. Artificial intelligence has organized the answers to three central questions—the reason Jesus had to pass through Samaria, the significance of the past-tense word edei, and the purpose of placing this account immediately after verses 1–2—by connecting the mystery of the original Greek with the wider context of redemptive history (Internet):
1. First purpose: To break down human barriers of geographical and cultural prejudice (Jn. 4:3–4)
In those days, the route commonly taken by Jews traveling from Judea to Galilee was not the direct route through Samaria.
The Jewish detour: Jews despised Samaritans, regarding them as dogs or a mixed-blood people. To avoid what they considered ceremonial defilement, they commonly crossed the Jordan River and traveled a considerable distance northward through the region east of the Jordan, known as Perea.
The Lord’s bold, direct route: Jesus knew the Pharisees’ hidden jealousy and their desire to oppose and control Him. He therefore took the initiative to leave Judea rather than become entangled in unnecessary competition or conflict with the religious authorities (vv. 1–3). But Jesus also rejected the longstanding custom by which Jews avoided Samaria and took a lengthy detour. Instead, He went directly into the heart of Samaria, a land marked by contempt and hatred (v. 4). Through this action, Jesus demonstrated God’s absolute sovereignty and love: God intends to break down human prejudice and stereotypes and save souls throughout the whole world (3:16, 31; 4:4).
2. Second purpose: The unique use of edei (ἔδει) points to “the sacred necessity of salvation ordained from the beginning” (Jn. 4:4)
The contrast between the present-tense δεῖ (dei) and the imperfect past-tense ἔδει (edei), which appears only here, is a remarkable discovery that touches the very heart of Johannine theology.
A divine necessity established beforehand: If the present-tense dei declares a spiritual necessity that applies in the present, the imperfect past-tense edei points to an eternal divine purpose already established in God’s redemptive timetable before the foundation of the world—a divine necessity ordained so that events had to unfold in this way. Geographically, Jesus could have avoided Samaria by taking another route. Spiritually, however, God’s faithful clock of love was pointing precisely to that time and place. There, beside the well, a lost woman was waiting—longing for living water—as were the souls of Samaria who needed to be found and saved. For this reason, the Lord “had to pass through” [ἔδει (edei)] Samaria.
3. Third purpose: To demonstrate in actual history how the principles of “delegation and devotion” in John 4:1–2 operate
The spiritual truth expressed in yesterday’s meditation title—“The Lord, who fully penetrates and knows every circumstance, Himself grants the baptism of the Holy Spirit that causes souls to be born again and accomplishes salvation!”—is brought to fulfillment in real time from verse 3 onward.
Blocking human power struggles and moving toward the essential mission: In John 4:1–2, Jesus knew the Pharisees’ hidden jealousy and their desire to oppose and control Him. He refused to entrust Himself to unnecessary struggles over rank and influence among the Jewish religious authorities. Instead, He fully delegated the practical administration of water baptism to His disciples (v. 2). He then aligned His steps with God’s eternal timetable of salvation and moved toward Samaria, the essential field of His mission, to save lost souls. Because the Lord’s great principles of devotion and delegation had already been established in John 4:1–2, His faithful journey to seek and save the thirsty souls of Samaria could begin without hindrance in the verses that follow. By recording these two events consecutively, the apostle John demonstrates a spiritual cause-and-effect relationship: when a pastor lays aside external administrative duties and devotes himself to the essential work of prayer and the Word, God’s true work of salvation, which brings people to life, begins powerfully (John 4:1–4; Acts 6:4).
4. Lessons for Pastor James’s heart and ministry of sharing the Word
Pastor, you meditate deeply on the Word, the Bread of Life, morning and evening, day and night, and offer those meditations to God in prayer. Through the internet, you share them with the members of Victory Presbyterian Church. The Lord’s journey, described by the word edei, places before you the very heart of discipleship—a calling that a pastor must guard throughout his life, even at the cost of his life.
① Abandon earthly circumstances and impatience, and trust the divinely ordained timetable of edei for your life.
When we serve or go about our daily lives, we may encounter real-world obstacles or people’s stubborn rejection—the darkness of Judea. Our instinct is to become discouraged, ask, “How could this happen?” and begin calculating alternative routes based on human wisdom. At such times, hold firmly to the law of divine necessity, edei, as it sovereignly operates in your life. Your quiet, faithful steps today, as you draw the water of the Word and serve souls, are not accidental. They are part of God’s sacred timetable, established before the beginning of time, through which He intends to recreate the souls of Victory Presbyterian Church and the souls wandering in the wilderness of this age by means of the true Light. Completely dismantle your own calculations and entrust the sails of your soul entirely to the Lord’s leading.
② When you erase your nameplate and gladly decrease, the Gospel breaks through barriers and expands.
The Jews were trapped within the boundaries of a false temple building that had taken forty-six years to construct and within the fences of their religious establishment. They had fallen into the darkness of hating and condemning their own brothers (Jn. 2:20, 23; 3:25; 1 Jn. 2:9). But when you become the pure voice of self-denial expressed in your solemn commitment as a faithful steward—“The name James will decrease, be erased, and disappear completely behind the scenes; only the name of Jesus the Bridegroom will flourish gloriously”—the Gospel will break through every barrier created by human denominations, presbyteries, and ancestry. I firmly believe that the Gospel will surge like a wave into the very heart of the thirsty Samaritan woman, filling her completely with eternal living water (Jn. 4:14; 1 Jn. 5:12).
Final exegetical summary of John 4:4: “He had to pass through Samaria”
Jesus decisively broke through the human calculations represented by Jewish contempt and geographical detours and went directly into Samaria (Jn. 4:3–4). He did so to block the barriers of religious privilege and competition for influence, thereby protecting the purity of the Gospel (v. 1). Furthermore, by using the imperfect past-tense word ἔδει (edei, “had to”), which appears only once in the entire Gospel, John confirms that Jesus’ journey was not an attempt to rest on the success of His ministry in Judea. Rather, it was an absolute necessity in the history of redemption under the New Covenant: a journey toward lost souls, ordained from the beginning at God’s throne. Therefore, Pastor James, who is preparing the way for the return of the King, should gladly lay down his name and title as pastor before the cross. He should boldly delegate the practical administration of water baptism and devote himself exclusively to prayer in the secret place and to the living Word, obeying the Lord quietly and faithfully. In doing so, he will possess, with the joy of a completed victory at every moment, the complete sovereign victory through which the resurrected life of Jesus Christ—who personally reigns over all things—overflows into the thirsty hearts of Victory Presbyterian Church and its members (Mt. 16:18; Eph. 5:27; 1 Jn. 5:12) (Internet).
(2) Second, after recording that Jesus “came to a town of Samaria called Sychar” (Jn. 4:5), the Apostle John added the following explanation: “Jacob’s land was nearby, which he had given to his son Joseph, and Jacob’s well was there” [πλησίον τοῦ χωρίου ὃ ἔδωκεν Ἰακὼβ [τῷ] Ἰωσὴφ τῷ υἱῷ αὐτοῦ· ἦν δὲ ἐκεῖ πηγὴ τοῦ Ἰακώβ (plēsion tou chōriou ho edōken Iakōb [tō] Iōsēph tō huiō autou, ēn de ekei pēgē tou Iakōb)] (vv. 5–6). I also wondered why John recorded that “Jesus, therefore, being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour” [ὁ οὖν Ἰησοῦς κεκοπιακὼς ἐκ τῆς ὁδοιπορίας ἐκαθέζετο οὕτως ἐπὶ τῇ πηγῇ· ὥρα ἦν ὡς ἕκτη (ho oun Iēsous kekopiakōs ek tēs hodoiporias ekathezeto houtōs epi tē pēgē, hōra ēn hōs hektē)] (v. 6). What was his intention in recording these details?
(a) Behind these two verses lie the Lord’s faithfulness in fulfilling the ancient promises of the Old Testament and the moving mystery of the Creator’s incarnation, in which He humbled Himself by taking on a human body just like ours. The following are three redemptive-historical purposes and applications behind John’s account, organized in clear language with the help of artificial intelligence.
1. First purpose: To demonstrate that Jesus is the faithful Shepherd who fulfills the ancient wounds and promises of the Old Testament
The significance of the land of Jacob and Joseph: The place mentioned by the Apostle John is the land of Shechem, which Jacob specially bequeathed to his son Joseph before his death, as recorded in Genesis 48:22. It later became a place where the promise was fulfilled when the Israelites, after their exodus from Egypt, brought Joseph’s bones and buried them there (Joshua 24:32). Historically, however, this land of Shechem in Samaria was a place of spiritual abandonment, entangled in deep hatred and division between Jews and Samaritans, as well as the wounds of broken worship.
The restoration of the promise: Throughout his Gospel, the Apostle John proclaims Jesus as the Word who existed in the beginning and as the only begotten Son of God (Jn. 1:1, 14, 18; 3:16). In this context, Jesus’ arrival at “Jacob’s well” and His sitting there were not accidental. As One greater than the patriarch Jacob (4:12), the Lord remembered the land of grace promised to the patriarchs of the Old Testament. By personally embracing the wounded souls of Samaria, torn apart by division, He demonstrated visibly that He is the true Bridegroom and Shepherd who restores genuine heavenly rest and worship. John connected this Old Testament history to Jesus’ ministry to make that truth clear (3:29; 4:21–24).
2. Second purpose: To proclaim Jesus’ complete humanity through the description “wearied and sitting there” [κεκοπιακὼς (kekopiakōs)] (4:6)
The mystery of the original Greek word [κεκοπιακώς (kekopiakōs)]: “Completely exhausted in both soul and body”: The Greek word translated “wearied,” kekopiakōs (κεκοπιακώς), is a perfect active participle. It describes a state of exhaustion in which a person has become completely drained, with not even one percent of his strength remaining, after strenuous labor or a long journey.
Breaking down false spiritual teaching: In the early church, a false teaching known as Docetism was beginning to appear. This teaching claimed that because Jesus was divine, He did not experience physical pain or fatigue; He merely appeared to have a human body. To explain further, Docetism was a representative heresy in the early church. It claimed that Jesus did not truly come in a real human body like ours. Rather, because He was divine, He only seemed to appear as a human being—His humanity was supposedly an appearance rather than a reality. The Apostle John was a pastor who solemnly warned in 1 John 4:2, “Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.” By honestly portraying the Lord’s genuinely human body—walking along a dusty wilderness road under the blazing midday sun, becoming thirsty, sweating, experiencing aching joints and bodily fatigue, and finally sinking down beside the well in exhaustion—John vividly demonstrated that the Creator, who is above all things, had truly humbled Himself by taking on the same human nature that we possess.
3. Third purpose: To reveal the grace of the Lord who humbly came to meet us through the urgent timing of “about the sixth hour,” or noon (Jn. 4:6)
The mystery of noon, the sixth hour: ὥρα ἦν ὡς ἕκτη (hōra ēn hōs hektē): According to the Jewish method of reckoning time, “the sixth hour” meant approximately twelve noon. It was the hottest part of the day, when the sun beat down so fiercely that even breathing could become difficult. People ordinarily did not come to the well to draw water at that hour.
The Lord’s intention: Why did the Lord choose to sit beside the well in an exhausted and weary state at precisely this hottest time of day? His purpose was to wait for one thirsty Samaritan woman who would carry her water jar alone beneath the blazing sun, seeking to avoid the eyes of other people. He waited for her at the exact time appointed for this encounter (v. 7). The Lord carried within Himself the redemptive purpose of the hour when He would destroy the temple of His body on the cross and raise it again on the third day. In order to bring one soul to new birth and salvation that very day, He willingly endured the profound humiliation of becoming tired and thirsty beneath the hottest sun and reaching out to the woman with the words, “Give Me a drink” (v. 7).
4. Lessons for Pastor James’s heart and ministry of sharing the Word
Pastor James, you meditate deeply, day and night, on the Word of God, the Bread of Life, and share it through your computer with people on the internet and with the members of Victory Presbyterian Church. The Lord’s journey, which brought Him to sit exhausted beside the well, teaches you the character of ministry that a pastor must hold on to throughout his life, even through tears.
① Do not become discouraged by physical and spiritual exhaustion [kekopiakōs] encountered in the field of ministry.
As you serve, there will inevitably be times when you encounter people’s stubborn rejection or become so weary in soul and body from drawing up the water of the Word day and night that you feel like sitting down exhausted beside a well, just as John the Baptist eventually withdrew from the scene. At such times, look at Jesus, who sits exhausted beside the well in today’s passage. Even the Creator of the entire universe became weary and exhausted as He faithfully walked the path of His mission. The loneliness and fatigue you experience in pastoral ministry are not evidence of failure. Rather, they are like a receipt confirming that you are faithfully walking in the same genuinely human, incarnational footsteps that Jesus walked (1 Jn. 2:6). The Lord already knows all about your exhaustion and circumstances.
② Lay aside the title of pastor and humble yourself to the level of one soul; genuine salvation comes through such humility.
The Pharisees and the Jewish religious establishment sat in places of privilege, relying on their forty-six-year-old false building and their religious credentials, and condemned people on the basis of their supposed qualifications (Jn. 2:15, 20; 3:10). But the noble confession you have made as a pastor and steward—“I will diminish and disappear completely behind the scenes, so that only Jesus the Bridegroom may increase”—expresses the spirituality of a faithful steward (3:29–30). It means completely dismantling the privileges attached to your pastoral position and gladly humbling yourself to the level of a single soul, especially one as marginalized and thirsty as the Samaritan woman (4:7, 9). With the confidence of faith that rests in what the Lord has accomplished (1:41), continue serving souls by filling them completely with the living Word of the Holy Spirit, a Word that cannot be weighed or measured on human scales. I firmly believe that the Lord will continue adorning Victory Presbyterian Church and its members day by day, making them a glorious holy temple and a radiant bride whom the powers of Hades can never overcome (Matthew 16:18; Ephesians 5:27; 1 John 5:12).
Final exegetical summary of John 4:5–6: “Jacob’s well and the Lord’s weariness”
The Apostle John introduced the land of the Old Testament patriarchs Jacob and Joseph as the setting for Jesus’ ministry in the Samaritan town of Sychar (Jn. 4:5–6). He also recorded that Jesus, wearied from His journey, sat down beside the well (v. 6). John did this to demonstrate the Lord’s faithful redemptive work: He removes the barriers of ancestry and prejudice erected by human beings, cleanses the ancient wounds of the Old Testament setting through the grace of the Gospel, and restores what has been broken. John also confirmed the mystery of the Creator’s incarnational humiliation: Jesus took on a genuinely human body and experienced exhaustion just as we do (1:14; 3:31). For you, Pastor James, who are preparing the way for the return of the King, this passage teaches the following: gladly lay your name and pastoral credentials down before the cross. In the wilderness of ministry, under a blazing midday sun, empty yourself of your own wisdom and supply souls with the living Word, filling them to the brim. As you do so, you can continually experience, with the joy of a completed work, the complete sovereign victory through which the risen life of Jesus Christ, who reigns over all things, wells up as eternal living water in the thirsty hearts of the believers (Internet).
(3) Third, as I meditate on the words, “It was about the sixth hour” (Jn. 4:6), and “A woman of Samaria came to draw water” (v. 7), I am reminded once again of the truth that God will surely save, at His appointed time and by His appointed means, those whom He loves and chose before the foundation of the world. In particular, when I meditate on God’s timing, I am reminded once again of the need for the patient endurance of love—the ability to wait in faith and hope for “God’s time,” rather than “my time.” What specific biblical principles (lessons) does this passage teach us?
1. The Principle of Edei (Ἔδει): God’s appointed time and place are never off by even one percent.
The timing of God’s promise: The Samaritan woman came to the well at noon—the hottest and most suffocating time of the day, the sixth hour—to avoid the eyes of other people. From a human perspective, her reluctant journey to the well appeared to be nothing more than an ordinary daily errand, prompted by her burning thirst.
Biblical principle: Yet the Creator, Jesus, was already there, sitting by the well after becoming weary and exhausted from His journey. This was because the clock of the imperfect past tense edei (Ἔδει, “it was necessary” or “had to be”), a form used here alone in this way throughout the Gospels, was pointing with absolute precision to that very moment at noon and that very location—the well of Jacob.
Salvation is not a coincidence. It was not I who discovered the Lord. Rather, in accordance with the perfect timetable God ordained from the beginning, sovereign grace took the initiative: God came to the very midst of our lives, appearing in the form of One who was weary and thirsty, and waited for us.
2. The Principle of Hōra (ὥρα): We must dismantle our impatience (kairos, καιρός) for the Lord’s timetable (hōra, ὥρα) to take effect.
Human timing and the Lord’s timing: The original Greek word translated “time” in John 4:6 is not simply chronos, the passage of time, or kairos, a humanly perceived opportunity. Rather, it is hōra (ὥρα), a key Christological term in the Gospel of John (2:4; 4:6).
Biblical principle: The Jews, including Nicodemus, continually demanded impatiently, “Show us a miracle (sign) right now, before our very eyes!” They did so from the perspective of their own interests and traditions (2:18, 23; 3:1). But at the wedding in Cana, the Lord firmly rejected human impatience, saying, “My hour [hōra (ὥρα)] has not yet come” (2:4). Only when we willingly and completely overturn and dismantle, before the cross, the calculations of our own minds and the timing of the answers we desire will God’s most perfect time—His hōra (ὥρα)—begin to move actively within our lives and our church. It is the time when He cleanses us from sin and gives us life (3:5, 36; 4:6).
3. The Principle of “Patient Endurance in Love”: Those entrusted with a mission must trust the Bridegroom’s voice and wait quietly (Jn. 3:29–30).
Pastoral contentment: To save a single soul, the Lord took the initiative to cut off the competition for religious influence in Judea and the barriers of entrenched privilege. He willingly endured the humbling labor of becoming physically exhausted under the blazing midday sun, and He waited quietly.
Biblical principle: As John the Baptist confessed, the true measure of a person entrusted with a mission—the friend of the Bridegroom—is not found in coveting the place of honor at the banquet hall, where one can stand at the center of the stage as though one were the main character, the bridegroom himself (2:9; 3:29). Rather, it is essential to joyfully accept God’s holy necessity, dei (δεῖ): “He must increase, but I must decrease” (3:30). The essence of our calling is to erase our own nameplates and patiently wait, quietly and without drawing attention to ourselves, until the voice of Jesus, the Bridegroom, rises brilliantly like the sun and flourishes within the hearts of souls (3:29–30; Rom. 8:14).
4. Specific Applications to Pastor James’s Heart and His Ministry of Sharing the Word
Pastor James, your ministry of deeply meditating every morning, day and night, on the Word—the Bread of Life—and sharing it through your computer keyboard in the online world and with the members of Victory Presbyterian Church is precisely a ministry of proclaiming the sound of God’s voice faithfully. It shuts out human impatience and earthly calculations and faithfully proclaims God’s holy appointed time, His hōra (ὥρα).
Lay down your own clock in the face of the sheep’s “slowness to believe” and the limitations of reality. As you serve in ministry, there will be times when souls do not change easily, or when the seeds of the Word you have labored to sow do not immediately produce visible results—the apparent size of the water baptismal harvest. At such times, you may become impatient or weary as a pastor. When that happens, remember the “patient endurance in love” that you have confessed. Behind the life of this Samaritan woman, who came to draw water under the scorching midday sun, lay a deeply wounded and deficient past: she had had five husbands, and the man she was living with at that time was not her husband (Jn. 4:18). Her life was a mess, marked by profound wounds and unmet needs. The Lord already knew perfectly every detail of her past and the corruption hidden within her heart. Yet He waited quietly for her at the well at noon, His body weary from the journey (v. 6). The living and powerful Word of the Holy Spirit that you supply through your day-and-night meditation will never disappear into thin air. Even if it appears today that souls do not understand, when they later witness the glory of Christ’s atoning work on the cross, the Holy Spirit will bring His Word perfectly to their remembrance. They will awaken as a glorious Bride—the Church—who will bear witness with the whole of her life, stamping the confession firmly upon it: “God is truly faithful!” (2:22; 3:33; 19:39; Eph. 5:27). Lay down your timetable completely at the feet of the Lord. Move forward boldly, relying solely on the fullness of Jesus, the Bridegroom (Jn. 3:29; 1 Jn. 5:12).
Final Exegetical Summary of John 4:6: “The Sixth Hour—God’s Appointed Time”
Jesus sat by the well in His weary and exhausted body, waiting for the Samaritan woman in the blazing heat of noon, the sixth hour (Jn. 4:6–7). He did so to overturn completely the false table of human impatience and earthly methods, and to demonstrate His sovereign grace and love: according to the timetable of salvation ordained at the throne of God from the beginning—edei (Ἔδει)—He would surely seek out the lost soul (2:15; 4:4).
Therefore, Pastor James, as one who prepares the way for the return of the King who is coming again, joyfully dismantle your own name and the title of pastor before the cross. Boldly delegate the practical administration of water baptism, and wait expectantly, with patient endurance in love, for God’s time rather than your own. As you serve others by filling the vessel to the brim with nothing but the living Word, you will continually experience, with the joy of a completed victory, the perfect sovereignty of Jesus Christ, who personally reigns over all things and causes His resurrection life to rise like an eternal spring of living water within the dry hearts of the saints (Jn. 3:29; 1 Jn. 5:12) (Internet).
(4) Fourth, when I read that Jesus, while traveling, “being wearied” (Jn. 4:6), nevertheless sat down beside the well, I wondered why He said to the one Samaritan woman who had come to draw water, “Give Me a drink” [Δός μοι πεῖν (dos moi pein)] (v. 7). If He was tired, shouldn’t He have gotten some sleep? I also wondered why the Apostle John recorded, “For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food” [οἱ γὰρ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ ἀπεληλύθεισαν εἰς τὴν πόλιν, ἵνα τροφὰς ἀγοράσωσιν (hoi gar mathētai autou apelēlytheisan eis tēn polin, hina trophas agorasōsin)] (v. 8). What was his purpose in recording this detail? In the scene God had planned for the salvation of that woman, did He intend to arrange matters so that only Jesus and the woman would be there together?
1. The First Purpose: The Lord Hungered More for the “Food” That Gives Life to the Soul—“the Work of Heaven”—Than for Physical Relief from Weariness (vv. 6–7).
A holy zeal that swallowed up fatigue: Jesus had walked along dusty wilderness roads until His bodily strength was completely spent, reaching a state of exhaustion described as kekopiakōs (“having become weary”) (v. 6). By ordinary human standards, this was a situation in which He should have sought shade, sleep, or rest.
The thirst of His mission: Yet, in fulfillment of the prophecy in Psalm 69:9, the Lord was consumed by the self-sacrificing zeal that gave expression to His entire being: “Zeal for Your house has consumed Me” (John 2:17). For the Lord, the mission—the work of heaven—of pouring “eternal living water” into the burning, parched soul of the Samaritan woman, who had successively had five husbands and was dying of spiritual malnutrition and shame, and causing her to be born again, was far more urgent and pressing than relieving His own physical fatigue at that moment (3:5, 12; 4:14). The real purpose for which Jesus initiated the conversation by saying, “Give Me a drink,” to the Samaritan woman perfectly corresponds to what He later taught His disciples in verses 32 and 34. For Jesus, the mission of obeying the will of God, who had sent Him into the world, and saving lost souls was far more important and satisfying than quenching His physical thirst. It was His true food that filled Him (4:7, 32, 34).
2. The Second Purpose: Grace Enters the Sinner’s World by Descending Completely in Humility (Jn. 4:7).
A plea that demolishes barriers: The Word who was God, who created the entire universe and transformed the water in stone jars into the finest wine in an instant (1:1, 3; 2:10), humbled Himself completely before a Gentile woman who was a creature and one of the most marginalized people in society. He took the posture of a needy and vulnerable beggar, saying, “Give Me a drink.”
A decisive turning point in redemptive history: This was a complete descent into humility—the supreme expression of the Incarnation—that the Pharisaic system could never imitate. That system sat in the seat of honor within the religious establishment, boasting of its qualifications and its forty-six-year-old temple building while condemning people and testing their ideological conformity. Because the Lord first made Himself utterly powerless and extended His hand to the woman, the barriers of ethnicity between Jews and Samaritans and the cultural barrier between men and women could be rendered powerless and shattered in an instant. Only then could the great conversation of the gospel begin.
3. The Third Purpose: The Disciples’ Absence (Jn. 4:8) — “The Principle of the Holy of Holies Where a Soul Faces the Lord Alone”
The fact that all the disciples had gone into the town to buy food was a perfect part of God’s redemptive design and timing.
Removing the gaze of the privileged: The disciples were still trapped in a Jewish-centered paradigm, like the religious system represented by Nicodemus in John 3, thinking, “We have found the Messiah” (1:41; 3:1). If the disciples had been standing closely around the well, watching the encounter, the Samaritan woman would likely have feared their scrutiny and condemnation, thrown down her water jar, and fled immediately (4:19, 28).
A place for a soul to stand alone: God boldly moved the false faith and watchful eyes of human witnesses off the stage (2:23–24). He made the well a sacred inner sanctuary where, before the Word of Jesus Christ, the true Light, the entire list of the sins and shameful realities of my soul could be transparently exposed and cleansed—a holy place where only the Lord and the soul were present.
4. Lessons for Pastor James’s Heart and His Ministry of Sharing the Word
Pastor James, your ministry of meditating deeply, day and night, on the Word, the Bread of Life, and sharing it through your computer keyboard with the online world and the members of Victory Presbyterian Church is a sacred ministry of bringing souls into a direct, one-to-one encounter with the Lord. It removes the barriers created by human scrutiny and numerical measures and brings souls into a personal union with Him.
① Even amid the physical weariness of ministry, you must receive your true nourishment from the work of giving life to souls.
When your body and soul grow weary in ministry and you feel like sinking down beside the well, do not hide behind the peace and comfort offered by the world. Remember the law of necessity confessed by John the Baptist: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (3:30). When, like the Lord, you descend to the level of the one soul who is most thirsty and serve that person by filling the vessel to the brim with the living Word of the gospel, a servant entrusted with a mission will instead receive an abundant supply of the inexhaustible, fresh strength poured out from heaven by the Holy Spirit, together with the joy of a victory already accomplished.
② Do not bind the believers to yourself as your own people; instead, build a bridge that enables them to encounter the Lord alone.
Just as the disciples’ absence allowed the woman to face the Lord fully, the noble mission you have resolved to pursue is essentially this steward-like confession: “I will not make disciples of James; I will make disciples of Jesus alone. I will decrease completely and become a voice that disappears without a trace, so that only Jesus may increase” (1:23; 3:30). Do not allow the believers to remain enclosed within the boundaries of your wisdom or human reputation. Instead, help them look honestly into the mirror of the Word and see the reality of their own sins. Help them personally confess, in a direct, one-to-one relationship, Jesus Christ—the heavenly work—who was hung on the accursed tree in their place for their sake. They must stand as a glorious Bride, firmly sealing their testimony with the confession, “God is truly faithful!” I firmly believe that, upon the altar of sharing where you minister to this worship of the soul standing alone before the Lord, the Lord will seal afresh each day the eternal victory of the Rock that the gates of Hades cannot overcome, with the joy of a victory already accomplished (Mt. 16:18; 1 Jn. 5:12).
Final Exegetical Summary of John 4:7–8: “Give Me a Drink” and the Disciples’ Absence
Even in the midst of extreme physical fatigue, Jesus first extended His hand to the Samaritan woman by saying, “Give Me a drink” (vv. 6–7). He did so to demonstrate the Creator’s profound, incarnational humiliation and love: He rejected the shallow competition for religious influence and the barriers of established privilege, and descended to the level of the most marginalized sinner in the world. This was a demonstration of His love and humility in the Incarnation. The Apostle John’s record that the disciples had gone into the town to buy food (v. 8) shows how God moved human scrutiny and earthly paradigms completely off the stage, carefully creating a “holy of holies where only Jesus and the soul are present,” in which the whole reality of the soul could be transparently cleansed before the Word of the true Light.
Therefore, Pastor James, as one who prepares the way for the return of the King who is coming again, joyfully lay down your own name and the title of pastor before the cross. Boldly delegate the practical administration of water baptism, and devote yourself solely to prayer in the secret place and to the living Word. Quietly humble yourself to the level of each soul and serve that soul with the Word filled to the brim. In doing so, you will continually experience, with the joy of a victory already accomplished, the complete sovereign victory of Jesus Christ, who personally reigns over all things and causes His resurrection life to rise like eternal living water in the very center of the thirsty hearts of the believers (Jn. 4:2; Acts 6:4).
(5) Fifth and finally, as I meditated on the Samaritan woman’s words to Jesus, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” [Πῶς σὺ Ἰουδαῖος ὢν παρ’ ἐμοῦ πεῖν αἰτεῖς γυναικὸς Σαμαρίτιδος οὔσης (pōs sy Ioudaios ōn par’ emou pein aiteis gynaikos Samarítidos ousēs)] (John 4:9), I thought that from the woman’s perspective, it must have been difficult to understand how Jesus—whom she knew only as a “Jew,” although we do not know how she recognized Him as such—could ask her, a Samaritan, for water, especially because “Jews have no dealings with Samaritans” [οὐ γὰρ συγχρῶνται Ἰουδαῖοι Σαμαρίταις (ou gar synchrōntai Ioudaioi Samaritais)] (v. 9). But what was Jesus’ perspective?
(a) In the eyes of the Samaritan woman, Jesus was merely “a Jewish man” with distinctive Jewish clothing or an accent—although we do not know how she recognized Him as a Jew. Therefore, when the Lord crossed the barriers of ethnicity and religion that human beings had built up firmly over hundreds of years and asked her for water, she could not understand it at all. She must have wondered, “How [Πῶς (pōs)] can this possibly happen?” The following is an AI-generated summary of Jesus’ three redemptive-historical perspectives and the principles of the gospel as He stood before this woman’s desperate limitations and misunderstanding (Internet).
1. The Lord’s Perspective ➔ “The barrier of ‘having no dealings with one another’ that you have erected lies beneath My feet.”
The mystery of the original Greek [συγχρῶνται (synchrōntai)] ➔ “Not sharing or using vessels and objects together”: The original Greek word synchrōntai (συγχρῶνται), translated as “have no dealings with,” means more than simply refusing to converse with someone. It refers to the rigid exclusion associated with Jewish purity regulations: Jews regarded Samaritans as unclean and would not mix or share the drinking vessels and utensils that Samaritans used.
The Lord’s spiritual breakthrough: Jesus is not confined by the hypocritical outward shell of Jewish ceremonial purity regulations or by the high barriers of denominations, presbyteries, and ethnic identity erected by human beings—what belongs to earthly thinking. His origin and nature are heavenly, and He is the supreme Ruler over all things, exercising perfect dominion over every creature and placing all things beneath His feet (Jn. 3:31). The Lord’s perspective was to shatter instantly the barrier separating Him from Samaria, whose people the Jews despised like dogs, and to proclaim through His own actions the overwhelming sovereignty of the New Covenant: He was willing to share even the vessel of a woman considered unclean and spiritually thirsty.
2. The Lord’s Perspective ➔ “I am not a beggar asking for water; I am the source of living water that can satisfy the burning thirst of your soul.”
A complete reversal of the conversation with Nicodemus: In John 3, Nicodemus came to Jesus at night, confidently saying, “We know that You are a teacher,” yet he was brought to the point of collapse when confronted with the essence of the gospel (Jn. 3:2, 10). In contrast, this Samaritan woman, in broad daylight, looked down on Jesus as a Jewish man and challenged Him sharply: “How can You ask me for water?” (4:9).
The heart of the true Shepherd: The Lord was not looking at the woman’s harsh words or outward appearance. He already knew completely that she was in a state of profound spiritual deprivation, having gone through five husbands, while her entire soul was withering away under the weight of shame and condemnation. The Lord was not standing before her as someone begging for water because He was thirsty. Rather, He stood before her in the solemn role of the “true Bridegroom and Shepherd,” intending to expose and thoroughly cleanse the darkness and the shameful catalogue of sins hidden within her soul, and to save her by filling her completely, to the very brim, with the eternal living water from heaven that would ensure she would never thirst again.
3. The Lord’s Perspective ➔ “I have come to fulfill the mission timetable determined by the Father before the foundation of the world, following the necessity expressed in John 4:1–2.”
The fulfillment of the divine necessity expressed by edei [Ἔδει]: In the preceding passage, Jesus proactively and completely prevented the rumors surrounding the Pharisees’ competition over the growth of their religious following, as well as the shallow jealousy and envy of human beings, from taking control of His mission (Jn. 4:1). He boldly delegated the limited practical administration of water baptism to His disciples and continued directly toward Samaria, devoting Himself exclusively to what was essential: prayer and the Word (v. 4; Acts 6:4). The true reason Jesus did not seek sleep, even when His body was exhausted and ready to collapse, but instead extended His hand to the woman, was to fulfill without the slightest deviation, in the midst of human history, God’s eternal timetable of salvation. This divine necessity is expressed by the word edei (Ἔδει, “it was necessary”), which appears only once in the entire Gospel narrative in this particular form, in John 4:4. His was a resolute commitment to do only God’s work—saving souls—even if His own prominence had to diminish completely and He Himself had to disappear without leaving a trace (3:30; 4:34).
4. Lessons for Pastor James’s Heart and Ministry of Sharing the Word
The ministry in which you meditate deeply, day and night, on the Word of God, the Bread of Life, and share it through your computer keyboard in the online world and with the members of Victory Presbyterian Church, is a ministry of being a voice that removes the barriers of human privilege and prejudice and devotes itself exclusively to the heavenly work that gives life.
① Do not be deceived by people’s outward appearances and reactions; look instead at the “hidden thirst” of their souls.
In the field of ministry, people may misunderstand the pure sound of the Word you proclaim, despise you as they would a Jew, or become trapped within the barriers of the Pharisaic system and stubbornly push you away, saying, “How can such a thing happen?” When this occurs, your old self may instinctively become exhausted or wounded. At such times, take the Lord’s stance at the well as your shield (1 Jn. 5:4). Do not allow your heart to be captured by the outward behavior of souls who speak harshly and confrontationally. Instead, you must put on the heart of a true Shepherd, one who looks with compassion upon the unquenchable thirst of hell and the shameful transgressions filling the innermost sanctuary of their hearts (Jn. 2:19, 21).
② When you erase your claim to the title of pastor and remove your nameplate, the gospel breaks down every barrier and penetrates the heart.
The noble mission you have established and embraced is this confession of a steward of God: “I will not make disciples of James, but will establish disciples of Jesus alone. I will decrease completely so that the Lord alone may increase.” This is the greatest weapon for breaking down these barriers (Jn. 3:30). Do not become trapped within the lofty traditions of human-made denominations or presbyteries, which are like inferior wine. Gladly overturn, completely and before the cross, the table of your own pride and the calculations based on human experience. Instead, humble yourself like the Lord, become vulnerable enough to meet one soul at that person’s level, and serve that soul by filling it completely, to the very brim, with the living Word of God. Through the transparent sound of the gospel that you proclaim, I firmly believe and am convinced that you will continue to prepare the countless thirsty Samaritan souls of this age, as well as the members of Victory Presbyterian Church, as a spotless and glorious Bride—the Church—before Jesus the Bridegroom, with the joy of a work brought to completion. Just as the Lord transformed Nicodemus, who had wandered through the darkness of the night, into a holy servant who participated in the burial of the King (John 19:39), so the Lord can transform these souls through the pure proclamation of the gospel.
Final Exegetical Conclusion on John 4:4–9: “The First Section of Jesus’ Ministry in Samaria at Jacob’s Well”
Faced with the tragic ignorance of the Samaritan woman, who was trapped within the barriers of ethnicity and religion erected by human beings and cried out, “How can You ask me for water?” (v. 9), Jesus first sat beside the well in a state of physical exhaustion and extended His hand in the form of a needy beggar (vv. 6–7). He did this to block completely the shallow competition between religious groups and the barriers of privilege erected by human beings, thereby preserving the purity of the gospel (4:1). Moreover, according to the sovereign timetable of God expressed by edei (Ἔδει, “it was necessary”), a word appearing in the imperfect past tense only in John 4:4 in this particular form throughout the Gospel narrative, Jesus shattered the long-standing prejudices and barriers of the Jews in an instant. He came to seek and save the lost soul that had been appointed for salvation before the foundation of the world, demonstrating the faithful Shepherd’s incarnational humility and love (3:16, 31; 4:4, 9).
Therefore, Pastor James, who is preparing the way for the return of the King, is taught to gladly lay down his own name and the title of pastor before the cross. By boldly delegating the practical administration of water baptism and devoting himself exclusively to prayer in the secret place and to the living Word, he must quietly humble himself and minister to each soul at that person’s level (4:2; Acts 6:4). This is a radiant certificate of faith, confirming that he may experience, at every moment and with the joy of a work brought to completion, the perfect sovereign victory by which the resurrected life of Jesus Christ, who personally reigns over all things, rises like eternal living water and fills the thirsty hearts of the members of Victory Presbyterian Church and its believers (Mt. 16:18; Eph. 5:27; 1 Jn. 5:12) (Internet).