Some Observations on John 4
Part 2
By Jonathan Mitchell
Recall 1 Jn. 4:8b,
"God continuously exists being Love (or: for God is Love and Acceptance)." This is the Spirit, and the Truth. "And so, everyone, who (or: all humanity, which) in continuously loving, has been born, and exists being a born-one, from out of the midst of God, and constantly experiences intimate knowledge of God (or: comes to know by experiences from God; gains knowledge and insight by the experience which is God)" (1 Jn. 4:7b).
Loving is worshiping God in Spirit (spirit) and Reality.
25. The woman then says to Him, "I [other MSS: we] have perceived (or: seen) and hence know that a Messiah repeatedly comes (or: an anointed leader periodically comes; Messiah is presently coming) - the One commonly called (or: interpreted or translated) 'Christ' (or: Anointed). Whenever that one comes, he will bring back a report (or: fully announce again a message; or: = explain) to us about all humanity (or: all things; or: [the] whole [matter])."
26. Jesus then says to her, "I - the One presently speaking to you - I AM [the One; He]."
This woman had been taught; she had some basic understanding. She knew and believed that a Messiah (an Anointed One) would come, and would bring Truth and understanding about all humanity, and all things (the form of the word "all" functions as either masculine - and thus speaks of "people" - or neuter - and thus would be speaking about "things").
We have addressed the topic of Christ "repeatedly coming; periodically coming" elsewhere (cf my rendering of Rev. 1:8b). But possibly, from being in the presence of Jesus, she was perceiving that the Messiah was "presently coming." Jesus makes it clear, in vs. 26. He uses one of the "I AM" statements that we will find elsewhere in this Gospel. It is the emphatic personal pronoun combined with the first person, singular and present tense of the verb "to be; to exist." Scholars and theologians debate about just what Jesus meant by phrasing it this way.
I have rendered it emphatically, separating the pronoun from the verb by the participial clause that I read as modifying the personal pronoun, "I," and then inserting "[the One; He]" as a logical reading of His saying this in answer to her last statement about "that one." Now in writing the narrative of this event, John might have been subtly alluding to the "I AM" statement that Yahweh made to Moses, when Moses inquired about His Name. We will let the Spirit speak to our readers concerning this.
27. Now upon this [situation], His disciples came, and were (or: had been and continued) wondering (or: amazed; astonished) that (or: because) He had been and continued speaking with a woman. Of course (or: Indeed, let me tell you), no one said, "What are You presently seeking or looking for (= What can we do for You)?" or "Why are You speaking (or: What are You now saying) with her?"
Our understanding of first century Palestinian culture was that men normally did not speak to a woman in public. And since she was a Samaritan, this would be another reason that His disciples would be surprised at His speaking with her, and what He might be wanting from her. But, wisely, they did not challenge Him or make known what they might have been thinking or questioning of His behavior. Their "wonder, amazement, or astonishment" informs us about the issue of custom, in this scene.
28. Then the woman left behind her water jar (or: pot) and went away into the city, and proceeds saying to the people,
29. "Come here! See a man who said to me (or: told me) everything which I did (or: all [the] things which [other MSS: as much as] I do)! Surely this one is not the Christ, is he? (or: Is this one not the Christ?; Can this one be the Anointed?)"
We have previously cited this verse. We see her illumination by observing what she told the villagers. The second statement can be rendered in the ways on offer - they all represent virtually the same question that she poses to her fellow residents.
30. They came (or: at once went) forth out of the city, and were progressively coming toward Him.
This statement can be read in two ways: a) literally describing their actions; b) figuratively describing their inner journey to believing in Him.
31. Now in the meantime (or: Meanwhile) the disciples had kept on urging Him, repeatedly saying, "Rabbi, You must eat!"
32. Yet He says to them, "I, Myself, continually have (or: hold) food to eat which you men have not seen and hence do not know or perceive."
33. Thereupon, the disciples were saying to one another, "Did anyone bring Him something to eat? (or: No one brought Him anything to eat!)"
34. Jesus then says to them, "My food is (or: exists being) that I should do (can perform; would produce; [other MSS: can continuously be doing; or: habitually do]) the will, intent and purpose of the One sending Me, and that I should and would bring His work to its purposed goal and destiny (or: can complete His act; may finish and perfect His deed).
The narrative describes the physical discourse between the disciples and their Master. But the explanation that Jesus gives points them to a higher realm of existence, and to a spiritual form of sustenance. It gives them, and us, a parallel picture to His offering water to the woman, and sets everyone up for the stunning things that He will tell folks in Jn. 6:27, 33, 35, 45-51, and 53-58.
The food for Jesus was to do the will, intent and purpose of the Father, and thus bring His Father's work to its purposed goal." His work was His Father's work. The word "goal" also means "destiny; a completed act; a finished and perfected deed." His Father's work began in Gen. 1:1. It ends (or begins anew) with a new creation, and as He states in Rev. 21:5,
"I am presently making all things new (or: habitually creating everything [to be] new and fresh; progressively forming [the] whole anew; or, reading panta as masculine: I am periodically making all humanity new, and progressively, one after another, producing and creating every person anew, while constantly constructing all people fresh and new, i.e., continuously renewing everyone)!" [Isa. 43:19; 65:17-25; 2 Cor. 5:17]
35. "Do you guys not commonly say that, 'It is still (or: yet) four months more, and then the process of harvesting progressively comes'? Consider (or: Look and see)! I am now saying to you men, 'Lift up your eyes and attentively view (fix your eyes on, gaze at and consider) the countryside and fields of cultivated tracts, that they are radiant (brilliant; or: bleached light to white) toward a harvest.'
Keep in mind that they are now in Samaria, not Judea. The harvest includes the Samaritans. The harvest spoke of the end of that current age. The Age of the Messiah was beginning, and the Seed for that was about to be planted, and now the field was not just Palestine (or just Israel), but the world of the aggregate of humanity (Mat. 13:38).
36. "Already (or: Even now) the one habitually reaping (normally or progressively harvesting) is constantly receiving (or: taking in his hand) a compensation (a wage; a reward; a payment), and is constantly (or: presently; progressively) gathering (collecting; bringing together) fruit into a life having the source, character and qualities of the Age (eonian life; life of, for and in the ages; eon-lasting life), so that the one habitually (or: progressively) sowing and the one habitually reaping (or: repeatedly harvesting) may be continually rejoicing together [in the same place or at the same time],
This was a period of an overlapping of the ages. One harvest was being reaped while another crop was being planted. Christ was the end of the Law period (Rom. 10:4), and the beginning of the new (Heb. 8:5-13).
37. "for within this [relation, respect, or, matter] the message (or: Logos; saying; thought; verbal expression; word) is genuinely true (dependable; real; [other MSS: the truth]), 'The one is habitually sowing, and another is habitually reaping (or: One is the sower, and another the harvester).'
38. "I, Myself, sent you men off as commissioned agents (or: representatives; emissaries) to be constantly harvesting (or: reaping) [a crop] for which you folks have not labored, so as to be wearied from toil; others, of the same kind, have done the hard labor and are weary (tired) from the toil, and you men have entered into their labor [i.e., into the results and fruit of their work and have thus benefited from it; = entered into the midst, joining with and fulfilling their labor]."
Moses had sown Palestine, the prophets had also labored in that field, and Jesus had recently sent out the twelve (Mk. 6:7-12) to harvest that planting, and gather them into His threshing floor (Mat. 3:12). All agricultural crops take a season, an age, to grow and produce a harvest. Paul described the process this way in 1 Cor. 3:
7. So that neither is the one habitually planting anything [special] (anyone [of importance]), nor the one habitually irrigating (watering; giving drink), but rather God: the One habitually and progressively causing growth and increase. As with agricultural products, in people it is the Life (the Spirit; Christ; God) that causes the growth. When the time is right, God brings the harvest (e.g., cf Rev. 14:15).
39. Now many of the Samaritans from out of that city believed and put their trust into Him through the word (the message; the communication) of the woman constantly bearing witness that, "He said to me everything which [others: as much as] I did (or: He tells me all things that I do)!"
She had been brought to a harvest, and now her witness had planted the Seed, and it immediately sprouted.
40. Therefore, as the Samaritans came toward (or: to; face to face with) Him, they began asking, and kept on begging, Him to continue remaining (or: dwelling) with them (or: at their side). So He stayed (or: remained; dwells) there two days.
The Samaritans were good soil and received the Seed. Like with everyone else, He planted the Life of the Spirit within them, but He did not personally (as Jesus) remain long with them. He was on a journey, and that journey's goal was all humanity and the ages to come. He would not remain with them as He was at that time, but would repeatedly come again to them as the resurrect Christ, via His Spirit (Rom. 8:9b). Let us review what Paul said in Rom. 8:10-11,
10. But since Christ (or: Yet if [the] Anointing) [is] within you folks, on the one hand the body is dead (lifeless) BECAUSE OF sin (through failure, deviation and missing the target), yet on the other hand, the Spirit, Attitude and Breath-effect [is] Life BECAUSE OF an eschatological act of justice that brought a rightwising deliverance into equitable, covenantal relationships within the Way pointed-out (or: on account of the covenantal Faithfulness of a liberating Turn into the Right Direction of the Living Way/Path).
11. Now since the Breath-effect (or: Spirit; Attitude) of the One arousing and raising Jesus forth from out of the midst of dead folks is continuously housing Itself (making His abode; residing; making His home; by idiom: living together as husband and wife) within, and in union with, you folks, the One raising Christ Jesus forth from out of dead ones will also continue progressively giving Life to (or: will even habitually make alive) the mortal bodies of you folks (or: your mortal bodies) through the constant indwelling of His Spirit (or: the continual in-housing of His Breath-effect; the continuous internal residing of the Attitude, which is Him,) [other MSS: because of His habitually-indwelling Spirit] within and among you folks. [cf 2 Cor. 4:14; 5:4-5; Acts 1:8]
41. And now many more folks believe through (or: And so many people, in and by much [evidence], placed their trust, because of) His word (Logos; message; thought; communication; flow of information),
42. and were saying to the woman, "We are no longer having faith, believing or trusting because of what you said (your speaking; your speech), for we ourselves have listened and heard from Him, and have seen to become aware and thus know that this One truly (really; genuinely; actually) is the Deliverer (Rescuer; Savior; Healer and Restorer to health and wholeness) of the world (of the aggregate of humanity; of the ordered system of culture, religion, economy and government; or: of, or from, the dominating and controlling System; of the cosmos; or: = of all mankind), the Christ (the Anointed One; [= the Messiah])."
Here we see the growth from the Seedling (the result of the woman's speaking) into a healthy plant that saw Jesus as who He really was: the Savior of the aggregate of humanity; the Deliverer of the world,
"For thus God loves (or: You see God, in this manner, fully gives Himself to and urges toward reunion with) the aggregate of humanity (universe; ordered arrangement; organized System [of life and society]; the world), so that He gives His..." (Jn. 3:16a).
Along with Jesus' disciples, this Samaritan village was a part of what John the immerser had proclaimed, in Jn. 3:30,
"It is necessary and binding for That One to be progressively growing and increasing."
It was His body that was growing, as we read in Acts and the Epistles. He was the Rock that "was cut out of the mountain [Sinai]" (Dan. 2:45) which "became a great Mountain [Zion - Heb. 12:22] that would fill the whole earth" (Dan. 2:35b).
43. Now, after the two days, He went out from there into the Galilee [area],
44. for you see, Jesus, Himself, bore witness (or: testifies) that a prophet (one with light ahead of time) continues to hold no honor (or: is not in the habit of having value or worth; is not respected or rightly evaluated) within his own country (or: fatherland; native land).
Here, we can recall the words of Isa., as quoted in Mat. 4:
"O land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali: a pathway associated with [the] Lake (or: Sea), on the other side of the Jordan [River], Galilee-of-the-multitudes (ethnic groups; nations; non-Israelites; pagans; Gentiles; Goyim) - The people continuously sitting within the midst of darkness (the gloomy dimness of the shadow that lacked the light of the Day) saw a great Light. And on (or: to; for; in) those constantly sitting within [the] province (or: region) and shadow of death, Light arises on (or: rose to and among; dawned for or in) them." [Isa. 8:23-9:1; cf Jn. 1:4-5]
Like Samaria, the Galilee District had been the land of two of the original tribes of Israel, but now it was considered a non-Israelite territory that was inhabited by Gentiles (etc.). Recall Nathaniel's attitude toward this area, in Jn. 1:46, "Can anything good be (or: Is anything virtuous normally able to exist) from out of Nazareth [it was in the Galilee District]?"
46. So Jesus went back again into Cana, of the Galilee [area], where He made the water [to be] wine. Now there was a certain royal officer (king's courtier; or: relative of the king; royal one) whose son was continuing sick (infirm; without strength in a chronic ailment) within Capernaum.
47. This man, upon hearing that Jesus is presently arriving from out of Judea into the Galilee [district], went off toward Him and began asking and kept on begging Him so that He would walk down (or: descend) at once and instantly heal (or: cure) his son, for he was progressing in being about to be dying (or: was at the point of death).
48. However, Jesus says to him, "Unless you folks see signs and unusual events (wonders; portents; omens; miracles), you people can in no way (or: would under no circumstances) trust, have confidence, believe or faith-it."
Recall that the water made to be wine (vs. 46) was the beginning Sign that Jesus produced (Jn. 2:11), and Jesus has returned to the area where He had performed it. Because of the rumor of that event having spread, this royal officer came to know about Jesus and the demonstration of His glory (Jn. 2:11). There was also the chance of him having heard about the things he had done in Jerusalem (vs. 45). So when this man heard that Jesus had returned to the area, he
"went off toward Him and began asking and kept on begging Him so that He would walk down (or: descend) at once and instantly heal (or: cure) his son."
This would have been a very logical action to take, considering the reputation that was building abound Jesus.
Jesus' response to him (vs. 48) has been taken by some as a rebuke to the people ('you folks"), but if we look at the rendering of the verb in the main clause, we see that He may have simply been stating the fact about the human situation. Recall the statement made about His beginning Sign:
"Jesus... set His glory in clear light (or: manifested His splendor so as to create a reputation; gave light in a manifestation which calls forth praise and has its source in Him; manifested His assumed appearance), and His disciples trusted, had faith and believed into Him."
The verb in the last clause of vs. 48 is in the subjunctive mood, and this is indicated by the words, "can;" or, "would." Just as with the disciples, these folks as well (including the royal officer) could not, or would not, be able to "trust, have confidence, believe or faith-it." But because of the creative Logos (where Jesus instructed the attending servants, in Jn. 2:7), the words (logos) of the people who had spread the message about that Sign had reached this man. Verse 49 records this man's insistent, obviously faith-filled request:
50. Jesus then says to him, "Be proceeding on your way (or: Depart and continue traveling). Your son continues living." The man trusts by, and believes in, the word (Logos; message; statement; conveyed information) which Jesus spoke to (in; for) him, and so he began proceeding on his way. Jesus responds with another Logos, which reinforces the man's trust, and he leaves with confidence.
51. Now by (or: during) the time of his steadily descending, his slaves meet him, and so they report, saying that his boy continues living.
52. He then inquired from them the hour within which he began to better hold himself (or: started to have better health; held a turn to a more trim and improved condition), and they then said to him, "Yesterday [at the] seventh hour, the fever released from him (or: let go away from him; divorced and abandoned him; emitted from him; flowed off him; [note: this verb is often translated "forgive"])."
To build his readers' faith, John provides this beautiful back-story. Jesus spoke the Logos, and the boy was instantly healed. The "fever released from him (or: let go away from him; divorced and abandoned him; emitted from him; flowed off him)." As noted in the brackets, about the verb of this clause, this informs our understanding concerning what is commonly rendered "the forgiveness of sins." When that happens, the person is released from sin's hold on them; failures are cause to flow away from them; mistakes are divorced and the effects of missing the target abandon the person. What a beautiful picture.
53. Then the father knew by this experience that [it was] in that hour within which Jesus said to him, "Your son continues living." And so, he himself believes (or: experiences trust; or: held conviction; or: was loyal, with faith) and, later, his whole household.
54. Now this, again, [is; was] a second Sign [which] Jesus makes (or: did; performed; produces), upon coming from out of Judea into the Galilee [district].
First the disciples believe (2:11), then others in Jerusalem (vs. 45ff, above), and now this man, and then, through this second Sign, his whole household came to believe and trust in Him. Jesus' first two Signs were performed in an area considered by the Judeans to be a Gentile region. We should take note that it was the work of the Logos, through the Spirit of Jesus' words, that an entire household came to believe in Him. It was due to an encounter with Christ, by the man, and then a witnessing, by the household, of the result of His Logos (the healing of the boy) that progressed unto faith in Christ. No catechism was required; no avowal of church doctrine or verses of Scripture; but rather, a living encounter with Christ, or with the experience of living results that embodied Him. It is the planting of the Seed within the heart, no matter the means or the situation. The Life is in the Seed.
Jonathan
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