6: Samaritan believers & the Official’s Son — John 4:27-54


4²⁷ Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you want?” or, “Why are you speaking with her?” ²⁸ Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, ²⁹ “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?” ³⁰ They left the city and were on their way to him.

³¹ Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.” ³² But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” ³³ So the disciples said to one another, “Surely no one has brought him something to eat?” ³⁴ Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. ³⁵ Do you not say, ‘Four months more, then comes the harvest’? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting.
³⁶ The reaper is already receiving wages and is 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.”

³⁹ Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I have ever done.” ⁴⁰ So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. ⁴¹ And many more believed because of his word. ⁴² They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world.”

⁴³ When the two days were over, he went from that place to Galilee ⁴⁴ (for Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in the prophet’s own country). ⁴⁵ When he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, since they had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the festival; for they too had gone to the festival.

⁴⁶ Then he came again to Cana in Galilee where he had changed the water into wine. Now there was a royal official whose son lay ill in Capernaum. ⁴⁷ When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. ⁴⁸ Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.”
⁴⁹ The official said to him, Sir, come down before my little boy dies.” ⁵⁰ Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started on his way. ⁵¹ As he was going down, his slaves met him and told him that his child was alive. ⁵² So he asked them the hour when he began to recover, and they said to him, “Yesterday at one in the afternoon the fever left him.” ⁵³ The father realized that this was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he himself believed, along with his whole household. ⁵⁴ Now this was the second sign that Jesus did after coming from Judea to Galilee. NRSV

Get into the Word

1. What happens when the disciples return? What is foremost on their minds? Why do you think no one asked about the woman? 

2. What does she do? How can you tell she is excited? What effect does her message have on the people in the village?

3. What is your reaction to the conversation Jesus has with the disciples? What is similar about the dialogue with the woman? Why do you think people don’t understand what Jesus is talking about?

4. How do the Samaritans respond to Jesus? What does Jesus do in return? What is the key to their belief in Jesus?

5. Where does Jesus go next? How do the people there respond to Jesus? Why do you think they acted this way?

6. Who comes to Jesus in Cana? Why does he seek Jesus? How does Jesus respond to the man? How does the man react to this? What does Jesus do? What does the man do? What does he do when he gets home?

Get Personal

How are you like the woman? How are you like the disciples? How are you like the Samaritans? How does God help you become one who has “heard for ourselves?”

4:27. Astonished — Jewish men did not talk with women in public [see Note at 4:7].
4:28. Water jar — usually an important household possession, but the woman leaves it to share her news about Jesus.
4:29. Come and see a man — a woman’s testimony was considered inferior and often ignored, but this woman, like Philip [check 1:46] invites the people to see for themselves.
4:32. This conversation is practically an echo of the one Jesus just had with the woman. The disciples do not understand and try to “translate” his references to spiritual food into their world.
4:35. Harvest — the Old Testament uses harvest as a metaphor for God’s judgment [as in Jer 51:33; Joel 3:13], but Jesus uses it to talk about bringing people into God’s kingdom through the Gospel. The spiritual harvest is at hand and the disciples will “reap” the results of Jesus’ and the woman’s planting [v. 38].
4:41. He stayed — pious Jews did not even walk through Samaria, let alone eat and sleep there for two days; but, unlike many Jews, the Samaritans believed Jesus.
4:42. We believe — the Samaritans believe because they responded to the woman’s invitation and then they heard Jesus directly. It works the same way in our time: we invite people to meet Jesus and the Holy Spirit does the real work. (You can compare their reaction to that of Nathaniel in chapter 1.)
Savior of the world — the Samaritans “get it” – Jesus is more than a prophet

or the anointed one, he has a purpose in being here.
4:44. Own country — Jesus was born in Judea but grew up in Galilee, which allows scholars to argue about this verse [check Mark 6:4]. The Galileans welcomed him as a miracle worker (the events during Passover in Jerusalem [v. 2:23]), but they never accepted him as a prophet or Messiah.
4:46. Royal official — probably in the court of Herod Antipas, the ruler who killed John the Baptizer. 
4:49. Sir, come down — even though Jesus brusquely rejects the initial request, the man presses for a response, just as Mary did at the wedding in Cana [v. 2:5].
4:50. Go; your son will live — almost all miracles in Jewish history were accomplished in the presence of the prophet, not from a distance. Jesus does not need to be physically present, he only needs the seeker’s belief that he can accomplish the miracle [as in the Roman officer’s faith in Matthew 8:5-13 and Luke 7:2-10].
4:53. The hour — John underscores the point that belief is the critical factor, not where Jesus or the seeker are.
Whole household — Middle Eastern customs gave great authority to the male head of the household [check the reports of Cornelius and Lydia at Acts 10:1-3 and 16:14-15].
4:54. Second sign — for John miracles are important because they show Jesus as Messiah and savior, not just because water becomes wine or a child is healed.