JOHN 4:39-54

Continuing the replacement theme in the first half of John's Gospel, we come to the familiar events of Chapter 4.

The Structure of John 4

    1. Departure to Galilee (4:1-6)

        2. Samaritan woman believes (4:7-30)

            3. Christ and the disciples (4:31-38)

        2'. Samaritans believe (4:39-42)

    1'. Arrival in Galilee (4:43-54)

A simpler form of this literary organization is often found in Mark's Gospel and is informally called a “sandwich” structure. In such a sandwich, a story begins and is then interrupted by a second story before the first story is completed. John has thus constructed not just a sandwich, but a double-decker one at that! Thus, unit 1' finishes the event initiated in unit 1, and the story of Jesus with Samaritans begun in unit 2 iscompleted in unit 2'.

Confirmatory evidence for the above structure is provided by the following parallels between units 1 and 1':

1. Both units end with an indication of the time: “the sixth hour” and “the seventh hour,” respectively. There is a controversy as to whether the Roman or Hebrew method of timekeeping is used (or perhaps both). The importance is probably found in the symbolic meaning of the numbers (6 and 7) with the latter bringing the section symbolically to a point of completion.

2. The location indicator in 4:54 acts as half of a pair of matching bookends (technically called an inclusio) for both Section 1' and the whole of this chapter:

    “he left Judea and departed again to Galilee” (4:3)

    “he departed to Galilee” (4:43)

    “he had come from Judea to Galilee” (4:54)

In a sandwich construction, the story in the center is related in theme to the stories that flank it. In this case, the conversation of Jesus with his disciples is quite similar to that of Jesus with the Samaritan woman. In both, Jesus mentions items that sustain a person physically (water and food, respectively) in a metaphorical sense, but his audience takes it very literally until Jesus explains himself further. Also, in the center story Jesus says that the fields are white for harvesting, which is illustrated by the following story where many Samaritans come to faith.

John 4:39-42

vv. 39-40 repeat most of the language in verses 29-30. The key word in the verses we will be covering is “believe.” There are different examples of believing, and it obvious from these that the word covers a range of meanings. In verse 39, it means a sort of second-hand belief when hearing someone else's testimony. POSITIVE – It is a powerful example of what one person can do to spread the faith. Today many evangelists will stress that the most effective way to win someone to Christ is to share the story of your own conversion. NEGATIVE – However, some people never move beyond this stage.

How many of you were raised in the denomination that you are now attending? Over my lifetime I have been a member of churches representing six different traditions. They are all Bible-believing denominations, but each one has its own distinctives. This has allowed me to get many different perspectives on Christian practice and belief. Have you merely inherited your parents' beliefs without ever questioning it or making it your own? The Samaritans were willing to question the religious tradition they were born into (look back at verse 22).

vv. 40-42 This is a higher form of belief, which even the Samaritans admit. And it is based on Jesus' word. Ultimately, this is still what convinces many people today — a study of God's word and accepting it as truth. This is the very reason John wrote his gospel. Read John 20:30-31.

John 4: 43-45

vv. 43-44 This quotation of Jesus is also given in Mark 6:4 and Luke 4:24. There it refers to Galilee. But here the Galileans welcomed him, so it probably applies to Jerusalem or to the Jews in general. It is a hindrance to belief that is mentioned. Why is it true? Factors are pride, the fact that familiarity breeds contempt, and the yearning for something exotic (following an Eastern guru, for example).

v. 45 Go back to the story alluded to here — John 2:23-24. This is the first hint that believing merely because of miraculous signs may be a lower type of belief and may appeal to those who want to use Jesus' obvious power for their own political ends. Do we ever attempt to use our faith mainly as a powerful lobbying tool to promote political side issues? If we don't, there are certainly plenty of politicians who will do it for us.

John 4:46-47

Capernaum is about 20 miles from Cana. The official is almost certainly a Gentile according to many commentators. But that may not be, as we shall soon see. If so, then we have the Word spreading from Galilee to the Samaritans and now to the Gentile world. The official at least has the germ of faith prompted by his desperation (There are no atheists in the foxhole); he is willing to try anything.

A very similar story appears at this point in Matthew 8:5-13 and Luke 7:1-10 with a centurion who had a beloved servant ill in Capernaum, and he accepts that Jesus can cure him even without seeing him. Jesus is amazed and replies that he has not seen such faith anywhere in Israel. The Matthew and Luke stories probably describe a different incident from that in the John 4 passage, but both involve great faith from an outsider, in contrast to Jesus' reception by many of his own people.

John 4:48-49

It has been said that Jesus' words here perhaps indicate that the man was a Jew rather than a Gentile since elsewhere in the New Testament (I Corinthians 1:22) Paul criticizes the Jews specifically as always looking for signs. The problem with this reasoning is that both instances of the word “you” in verse 48 are in the plural. So Jesus was probably addressing the crowd around him rather than the man himself. Now from the official repeating his request for Jesus to “come down” in verse 49, we see that he clearly feels that Jesus' power is subject to limitations of space. He believes, but not enough.

John 4:50-54

v. 50 demonstrates that Jesus recognizes our limitations of understanding but accepts us where we are. Then we get the surprising fact that the official believed Jesus' word without seeing any miracle himself. This is a giant leap of faith taking him to a higher plane of belief. This is spelled out later in John's Gospel in 20:29 when Jesus addresses doubting Thomas. The blessing there applies to all of us today.

vv. 51-53 give the happy conclusion to the story. “Belief” of verse 50 is repeated in verse 53. Why?

v. 53 indicates that it is an even higher plane of belief than that in verse 50. And it leads, as in the story of the Samaritan woman, to his spreading the faith to others.

v. 54 The conclusion identifies this as the second sign of Jesus. It will soon be followed by the third sign.