When the Pharisees and the scribes went from Judah to Galilee they always went out through Perea, up into Decapolis and from there to the Sea of Galilee, and then they crossed the Sae of Galilee into Galilee. That was the long way around. But Jesus goes right up, straight through Samaria. On His way He comes to the Valley of Shechem which is between two mountains. It is three miles long and is very narrow. On the south side is Mount Gerizim, and this is the mount of blessing. On the north side is Mount Ebal, the mount of cursing. In Deuteronomy chapter 27 the entire chapter deals with instructions to the children of Israel. Moses instructed the people to get on Mount Ebal with one group, and they were the shout the cursing. On Mount Gerizim the other group was to shout the blessing. There would be an altar on Mount Ebal, the place of cursing. The altar represents the cross – Galatians 3:13, Christ went to the place of cursing so that we might have blessing. This is the purpose for Moses giving these instructions.
In this valley there was a town, half a mile up the mountain, called Sychar. Sychar means the town of the drunks. In other words, it was the town where people went to live it up. Half a mile down at the bottom of the hill is Jacob’s well which was the water supply. The respectable people came down at 6pm and the ostracised crowd came down at 12 noon. Jesus and His disciples have just come into the valley after a terrible journey and have come to Jacob’s well to get water. However, the well is 100 feet deep and there is no way they can reach the water. While they are standing around there Jesus sends the twelve up the Sychar to get food. While they are going up, this woman is going to come down carrying a big pitcher in which she is going to load up with water.
The Samaritans were half Jewish and half the oriental peoples who had been brought in by the Assyrians. The Assyrians had a transportation policy. They took some Jews out of the land and replaced them with people from oriental countries. As a result the Samaritans were half Jew and half Gentile and hated by the Jews. The Samaritans considered themselves as good as the Jews, and that made the Jews mad. They claimed that they had the place where the Jews originally worshipped. This well in the valley of Shechem is where Jacob and Jesus had their wrestling match! Here is the attitude of the people of Samaria. They say that this is where Jabob’s well is; this is where Jacob was saved; this is where Jacob became Israel. So their contention was that they were half Jews and they had the place where Israel was founded. They rubbed it into the Jews and the Jews couldn’t stand them, and there had been antagonism for four or five hundred years now.
Verse 1 – the Pharisees had tried to cause antagonism between John and Jesus and between their disciples. The disciples of John were already jealous and the Pharisees tried to exploit this by divide and conquer. They did not succeed and so we still have the jealousy of the Pharisees.
Verse 2 – this explains the fact that Jesus gave His disciples other things to do, including baptising the converts.
Verse 3 – He left for Galilee. He hasn’t arrived there and won’t for the entire fourth chapter. The reason He left was because of the terrible jealousy of the religious crowd – described in Matthew 27:18; Mark 15:10. They were always jealous of Him.
The doctrine of
jealousy
1. Jealousy removes all happiness from the believer. Jealousy is a mental attitude sin and mental attitude sins produce self-induced misery. Like the law of gravity this is a law of discipline.
2. Jealousy is the most cruel of all sins. This is because it takes an ordinarily sweet person and turns him/her into a monster. It changes their behaviour pattern – vindictive behaviour, maligning and judging, etc. Jealous people are always making other people miserable.
3. Some people cannot stand the success of others and they can’t stand for anyone to get credit, and consequently jealousy destroys the relaxed mental attitude.
4. The Pharisees were jealous of Jesus Christ, always – Matthew 27:18; Mark 15:10.
5. Jesus now departs because of this attitude. He cannot minister in the area of jealousy.
Verse 4 – “And he must needs” means it was necessary for Him to pass through Samaria. He took the short route because He was free from personal prejudice and because He had a relaxed mental attitude.
Verse 5 – “Then he cometh to a city of Samaria.” He was now in the middle of the Valley of Shechem.
“near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.” This is the story of Joseph’s bones, the spot where Joseph was buried, where the bones were finally put to rest. And this is the place from which Joseph in resurrection will stand with his great grandfather Abraham, with his grandfather Isaac, and with his father Jacob.
Verse 6 – “Now Jacob’s well was there.” Where the wrestling match took place.
“Jesus therefore, being wearied.” Jesus Christ in His humanity could suffer thirst, hunger and weariness. He had a true human body and a true human soul. This is a perfect active participle: “having become wearied.” This was not accidental; there was a purpose in it.
“sat” – imperfect tense, He kept on sitting; “thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour” – in Jewish time that is 12 noon.
In this place we have the place of cursing. This swell is at the foot of the mount where the curses were uttered. This illustrates the principle of the fact that Jesus Christ is going to take the place of cursing, and a woman who is under a curse, and He is going to provide for them blessing. Only the grace of God can convert cursing into blessing. Everything here is according to design. Often the most painful events and experiences are turned to blessing under the Lord’s grace, and this is going to be a grace shot all the way.
Verses 7-30, the great revival at Samaria.
Verse 7 – “There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water.” The word “cometh” means that she approached the well. He is sitting there and He has watched her walk the half mile down the climb. This woman is coming at 12 noon because she is ostracised. The other women do not like her. So once again we encounter the same thing we saw in Judea – mental attitude sins.
“Give me to drink” – this is breaking the silence, and this is grace. She would never have spoken to Him and He would never have spoken to her were it not for the fact of His grace attitude. The well is so deep that there is no way that He can get the water for Himself. She has the necessary equipment to provide water for Him. Jesus is going to reverse His helpless condition on her. She can provide Him physical water but He is going to give here the living water, for she is the helpless one. She needs the water of eternal life.
Verse 8 is a parenthesis to explain how Jesus was able to deal with the woman alone. It is imperative that He does so. Jesus Christ is probably the only person on the face of the entire earth who could have dealt with this woman, who was a grace woman from the unbeliever’s standpoint. She didn’t know any doctrine but she was a relaxed member of the human race. She has no illusions about herself.
Verse 9 – “Then saith the woman.” Women are curious. She is shocked because Jesus broke the silence but she is also curious.
“How is it that you, being a Jew, ask for a drink from me, who is a woman of Samaria? For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.” Jesus is going to stick to the true issue and He is not going to be sidetracked by arguing with her about the racial antagonisms between the Jews and the Samaritans. Her whole problem was ignorance of the way of salvation. In the previous chapter the problem of Nicodemus was not one of ignorance but confusion. So Jesus said to him, “You must be born again.” But the woman is strictly ignorant and so He is going to give her gospel information so that she can be saved.
Verse 10 – the problem is brought out by a second-class condition. “Jesus answered and said unto her.” The word “answered” is an aorist passive participle which Jesus received an answer in eternity past. Jesus knew what He was going to say to this woman billions of years before He said it.
“if” – second class condition, if and it is not true – you knew [and she doesn’t]. This is a past perfect, “if you had known.”
“the gift of God” – 2nd class condition, but you do not know the gift of God. What is the gift of God? The gift of God is Jesus Christ – John 3:16; Romans 6:23; 2 Corinthians 9:15.
“and if you knew who it is who said to you, Give me to drink [but you don’t know who it is who says it]; then you would have asked from him, and he [the gift of God] would have given you living water.” The word “living” caught her eye – present active participle, it means always-living water and water that never stops living. Isaiah 55:1; Revelation 22:19 -- the water of life, a reference to eternal salvation. In the last chapter Jesus talked about the water of the Word; in this chapter He talks about the water of salvation. In the last chapter He talked to a theologian, a very religious person, and therefore He had to talk about the water of the Word; but this is not a religious person at all, this is a charming and wonderful woman, so he talks to her not about the water of the Word but about the water of salvation.
Again, the woman’s problem is ignorance. The Lord did not deal with her as He did with the Pharisee. He dealt with the Pharisee one way; He dealt with her another way. Every believer has the responsibility of witnessing. There are many different ways of witnessing, and here is Jesus Christ showing us how to witness. In the last chapter He dealt with the religious man one way; in this chapter he deals with this woman in another way. He doesn’t use the same system on both; He uses two different approaches. In other words, you’re job is to know Bible doctrine and have enough flexibility and enough relaxed mental attitude to present the gospel in many different ways to many different people. There is no such thing as one system for everyone. Here Jesus keeps steering away from controversy, He doesn’t get into a fight with the woman. This is one of the most important principles of witnessing: avoid argumentation. The woman wonders, “Why are you, a Jew, talking to me, a Samaritan?” She wants to argue about it. So how is Jesus going to get the point across to her, and how is He going to make it clear that He has something greater to give her. He has living water – eternal life. He has merely asked for water in order to illustrate the whole principle. The first thing He has to do it to show her that she is helpless, and in a rather hopeless situation. What Jesus has just said has intrigued here and she immediately asks a second question.
Verse 11 – “The woman saith unto him, Sir.” The actual Greek word here is “Lord’ – kurioj, “thou hast nothing to draw with.” She makes a very simple observation, she takes Him literally, “You talk about giving me water but you do not have any equipment to get water out of the well. You have nothing with which to draw and the well is deep.”
“from whence then hast thou that living water?”
Verse 12 – now she gets sarcastic. Nicodemus got sarcastic with Jesus and Jesus put him down. The woman gets sarcastic with Jesus and He treats her very gently, very kindly. “Art thou greater than our father Jacob?” That was a red flag; that would make a Jew mad every time!
“and drank thereof [from this well] himself, and his children” – the patriarchs from the twelve tribes -- “and his cattle?” The point is: Now we are here, the Samaritans! It belongs to us.
When she said, “Are you greater than our father Jacob?” this is a question in the Greek that demands a negative answer. In other words, she is saying no you are not greater.
Verse 13 – “Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again.” We have a contrast. In verse 13 we have the real water; in verse 14 we have the water of eternal life. “Whosoever drinketh” – present active participle, which means that people have to come back to the well day by day by day to survive. Te word “drinketh” in verse is a present active participle: present tense, linear aktionsart, they keep on coming back. Active voice: they have to draw the water out of the well. Participle: this sets up a precedent by which they survive. But in verse 14 is the same word “to drink” but it is aorist active subjunctive. Aorist tense: the water that I am going to give you, you just drink once and you have eternal life. The aorist tense is a point of time divorced from time and perpetuated forever. Every person must make this decision for himself. The subjunctive mood: this is potential. It depends on your free will. The subjunctive mood recognises that salvation in only potential. While Christ died for everyone, all the sins of the world were judged on the cross, yet salvation is potential. Every person must exercise his own volition. This is an extension of the angelic conflict and this is man’s free will facing the cross.
In verse 13 water sustains life. This is the real water and you have to keep coming back. There needs to be a bucket to draw this water. Application: What is your bucket? On what does your happiness depend? The Christian way of life, phase two, was designed so that your happiness must depend upon Bible doctrine. If you are going to have happiness then your bucket has to be Bible doctrine, and you have to lower that bucket into the well every day. Then, it is with Bible doctrine that you can enjoy the details of life.
Verse 14 – the spiritual water, the water of eternal life, salvation. The contrast. “But whosoever drinketh” – aorist active subjunctive; you just drink once. The physical well of verse 13 is on the outside of the woman, but the spiritual well of verse 14 is on the inside, it has to do with the soul. Only the soul is saved. The body is not saved, nor is the spirit. The spirit doesn’t exist until after salvation.
“I shall give him” – future tense. It is future for this woman at this point – “shall never thirst,” aorist tense indicating that the plan of God is perfect and it is permanent; “in him” – salvation is on the inside.
“a well of water springing up” – present middle participle, delineating eternal security. Present tense: you will always have it. Middle voice: you are benefited by always having it. Participle: every person, regardless of his modus operandi and modus vivendi in phase two, has eternal security -- into everlasting life,” it can’t be lost.
Verse 15 – the woman expresses her positive volition beautifully. “Sir [Lord], give me this water.” She is intrigued to the point where she recognises He is handling her.
“[with the result] that I thirst not” – “that” introduced a result clause; “neither come hither to draw” – present linear aktionsart. In other words, So I don’t have to keep coming back. Now we have another contrast. We have a “come hither” in verse 15 and a “come hither” in verse 16. In verse 15 it is a present middle subjunctive. She doesn’t want to keep coming back to the well. The “come hither” of verse 16 is an aorist active imperative.
Verse 16 – Jesus gives her a command. This is an order. Does she have to have her husband down here before she can stop coming to this well? That is what she is thinking.
Verse 17 – “I have no husband.”
Verse 18 – “For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that, you told the truth.”
Verse 19 – “Sir, I perceive.” That is old English. She says, “Lord, I am beginning to see that you are a prophet.”
Verse 20 – she is now going to give Him her best religious dissertation. She has a religious line that will knock Him dead [she thinks]. “Our fathers worshiped in this mountain” – she point up the mountain; “and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” She wants to get back to this bit, Where is the right place to worship? Jacob, the founder of Israel, worshipped up there on that mountain; you say in Jerusalem. She wants to get into a religious discussion.
Verse 21 – Jesus comes up with a new piece of doctrine, but in order to do it He has to get her attention. He uses one word: “Woman,” gunh, the same word He used to Mary at the wedding in Cana. Up to this point she has believed everything He said. Now He says:
“believe me” – keep on believing me. For 400 years there had been a controversy about where they should worship. He has her attention now. This is an order.
“the hour cometh” – it is very near, the beginning of the Church Age; “when ye shall neither worship in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem worship the Father.” That controversy is over. The Church Age is going to settle it. Where do you worship in the Church Age? He isn’t going to argue with her. He gives her a point of doctrine.
Verse 22 – “You worship you know not what.” You can worship on that mountain until you are blue in the face and you don’t even know want you are worshipping.
“we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews” – this literally says in the Greek, “We know our worship.” He is talking about the Old Testament scriptures, not the things that have been developed through Judaism; “for the salvation is from the source of the Jews.” When He says “the salvation” He is talking about a person; He is talking about Himself. She had recognised Him as a Jew.
Verse 23 – “But the hour cometh, and now is [about to become], when true worshippers shall worship the Father” – the worship the Father you have to be born again. When He is talking about true worship He is talking about people who have believed in Christ, and therefore the first person is now the Father.
“in Spirit” – in the filling of the Holy Spirit; “and in truth” – in doctrine. So true worship on the part of believers involves the filling of the Holy Spirit and doctrine. Knowledge of doctrine plus the filling of the Holy Spirit equals true worship.
“for the Father seeketh such to keep on worshipping him” – this is true today. God the Father is seeking those who worship Him under conditions of the filling of the Spirit and Bible doctrine.
Verse 24 – “God is Spirit.” He is describing Himself – essence box.
“and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” – the filling of the Spirit. Only the Holy Spirit controlling a believer can give true worship toward God. Only a believer with doctrine. Worship must be in the filling of the Spirit and in doctrine, the geographical location is not a factor at all.
Verse 25 – “The woman saith unto him, I know that Messiah cometh.” She didn’t have anything else to say but she could always hang on to one doctrine – the coming of Messiah. The Samaritans were teaching that the Messiah might come at any moment. Messiah was actually there, there were a lot of people on that mountain with positive volition and this was going to be their opportunity, along with the woman.
“cometh” is a dramatic present because she recognises that the coming of Messiah is going to be a very dramatic thing. She understands something of the Old Testament scripture. The phrase, “which is called Christ” has been added by the translator in order that it might be understood that Xristoj is the equivalent to Messiah. The both mean “the anointed one.”
Verse 26 – the KJV translation here is wrong. In the Greek are four words. The first two words, simply, are “I am he,” then, “the one speaking to you.”
Verse 27 – “Upon this [at that moment] came his disciples.” They came back just as Jesus had made the issue completely clear. They behaved themselves.
“and marvelled” – they didn’t marvel at all. The Greek says they were shocked – imperfect linear aktionsart, they kept on being shocked. They were shocked that Jesus would talk to this kind of a woman. But they didn’t show it. They did not violate the privacy of the Lord Jesus Christ, or the privacy of this woman as Jesus engaged her in this conversation with regard to her soul.
“yet no man said, What seekest thou?” In other words, they did not intrude. They minded their own business.
Verse 28 – the conversation is finished. “The woman then left” – aorist tense, indicating a sudden departure. She is so excited and has actually accepted Christ as her saviour; she has believed on Him. She is so excited about this that she is going to run all the way up the hill! She has some good news and she is going to communicate that good news and she is obviously not going to carry that water pot back up the hill with it.
“into the city” – toward the city, actually; “and said [kept on saying] to the men” – when she arrived there. She kept on saying to the men of the city …
Verse 29 -- “Come” is deute, a particle, a strong word in the Greek, then, “see,” is an aorist active imperative. She commands them to come. They want to know, Come and see what? The challenge is so subtle that in the English there is no way to really communicate it. She is going to describe Jesus but she is not going to tell them that she has made a decision; she is going to put herself in a neutral spot. This woman is just subtle enough to arouse the curiosity of the men.
“see a man who told me all the things that ever I did” – she doesn’t take sides, she stays in a neutral corner and says, “in not this the Messiah?” When she said “in not” she used the particle that says, “It seems to me like, but I am not sure so you men should come and check.” It leaves some doubt so that they must check.
Verse 30 – “Then they all went out,” aorist tense. This is an ‘effective’ aorist which means it is like they all went through the door at the same time. They all just charged for the gate.
“and they came” – imperfect middle indicative which means they didn’t all get there at the same time: “they kept on coming to him.”
Verse 31 – “In the meantime” the disciples were really upset. Jesus won’t eat; Prayed him” – they begged Him, imperfect linear aktionsart, they kept on begging Him; “saying, Master, eat.”
Verse 32 – “But he said unto them, I have food to eat that you know not of.” What is He saying to them? He is saying exactly the same thing He said to Satan, only different words. He quoted from Deuteronomy and said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” In other words, He is going to live on a principle of doctrine. Now the disciples have their heads down, they are concentrating on food because they are hungry. But Jesus isn’t eating, He is looking up; they are looking down. He is looking at the people who are coming down. In all those people who were coming down He could see that there was positive volition: positive volition at the point of God-consciousness. They were people who in a very short period of time were going to receive Him as saviour and be born again. And He saw something else. He saw what He was going to have to do for that salvation. He saw the multitude of sins that he was going to have the bear at a future time on the cross. Whenever Jesus thought about the cross He stopped eating, or wouldn’t eat, or didn’t eat. Even the contemplation of what the cross was going to mean stopped Him cold. He sees those people and He sees the horror that is connected with bearing the sins of the world and being judged for every sin that has ever been committed in human history. The disciples’ minds are linked to their taste buds and our Lord is thinking that His soul is linked to the cross.
“ye know not of” – they are ignorant. This is the word o)ida plus the negative. It is a perfect tense used as a present tense for doctrine in the soul, but the negative means that doctrine is not in their souls. They are not thinking about the cross; He is. He is contemplating the will of the Father – operation phase one.
Verse 33 – did anyone bring Him some food? They are in a state of confusion about this.
Verse 34 – Jesus tries to clarify it for them and in doing so He brings out the principle of doctrine versus the details of life. Right now with Jesus Christ it is a point of doctrine. The disciples are eating; they are ignorant of pertinent doctrine. Jesus Christ is not eating because at this point doctrine takes precedence.
“My meat [food] is” -- present linear aktionsart, keeps on being – “to do the will of him [God the Father] that sent me.” The will of the Father is going to be communication in a few minutes, but the will of the Father at the end of the line is going to be to bear the sins of the world. So then he has to add something – “and to finish His work.” The work that the Father designed. He calls it the Father’s work because on the cross the sins of the world will be poured out upon Christ. The Father will pour out those sins; the Father will judge those sins.
Verse 35 – “Say ye not” – don’t say it any more, you have been saying it – “there are yet four months, and then cometh the harvest, behold I say unto you” – dramatic present is a dative of advantage, He says this to their advantage – “Lift up your eyes.” They had been looking down at their hamburger, then at the Lord, and now He says to lift up their eyes. And what are they going to see? They are going to see the harvest, the top of the road to the bottom of the road filled with thousands of people – “white already to harvest.” It is people that the Lord mentions as the harvest – souls.
Verse 36 – “And he that reapeth receiveth wages.” Who are the reapers? For the next few hours the reapers are going to be at least eleven disciples. The disciples went up into the Samaritan city but they didn’t witness to anyone, they just bought food and came back. Now the people have come to Jesus and it is going to take eleven plus the Lord Jesus Christ, plus the woman who was saved to do all this witnessing. They are the reapers. They didn’t do any sowing but they are going to be pulled in for the harvest. There will be reward for this.
“and gathereth fruit unto life eternal” – people are going to be led to the Lord by those disciples that day.
“that” introduces a purpose clause; “both he that soweth [lit. the one sowing. The woman did the sowing] and the one reaping may rejoice together.” They were strangers at twelve noon but when the sun goes down they were old, old friends. They rejoiced together. They had been working together in the Lord’s service.
Verse 37 – “One soweth, and another reapeth.” This is a principle which is found throughout the scripture in many ways but here it applies to the harvest of souls.
Verse 38 – He says to the disciples: “I sent you to reap whereon ye bestowed no labour.” They didn’t witness to any person in town, but they are going to reap a great harvest. Why? Grace! We are all in the service of the Lord, we play different positions on the team, and all are in this together.
“other men laboured’ [reference to the woman] and ye are entered into their labours.” So He wants them to understand before this great evangelistic meeting starts and all this personal witnessing that the reason that they are going to have the privilege of leading people to Christ that day is because of that woman they passed on the hill. This is a team effort and before the sun goes down they will be rejoicing together.
Verse 39 – “And many of the Samaritans of the city believed on him,” aorist tense, a point of time when they heard the gospel, “for [because] of the saying of the woman, who testified, He told me all that I ever did.” Many have believed because of that.
Verse 40 -- “So when the Samaritans were come [face to face with Him; proj plus the accusative] unto him they besought [kept on begging Him] that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days.”
Verse 41 – “And many more believed because of his own words.” For two days He ministered there.
Verse 42 – “And said unto the woman.” Notice: now that she is converted they no longer ostracise the woman. They are in constant daily contact with her and they kept on saying to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of your words: for we have heard him ourselves, and know indeed that he is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.” As soon as they are converted there is the removal of a vicious, evil thing – social ostracism. They have a basis now for rapport – Bible doctrine, not compatibility of old sin natures.
Verse 43 – here are two marvellous days where Jesus received a perfect reception, a genuine reception because His reception there was a point of doctrine. But He is next going to encounter a reception which is superficial and hypocritical. So now we have three receptions in three different areas. The first was in John chapter 3. In Judah Jesus Christ was rejected -- no reception, rejected by religion. In Samaria He had a genuine reception based on doctrine. In Galilee He will get a superficial reception because it is based on His miracles, His fame, rather than on His doctrine. It was the Samaritans only who gave Him a reception which was a point of doctrine.
We are now about to have a third day sequence. Everything seems to happen on the third day. Verse 43 is brought in to remind us of the fact that in Samaria, the place from which He departed, Jesus had a genuine reception. A maximum number of people received Jesus Christ as their saviour. We go from a genuine reception in verse 43 to a genuine rejection in verse 44. Verse 44 doesn’t have anything to do with the previous verse and it doesn’t have anything to do with the next verse. It is not really out of context, it is just simply to tell us which trip it was in which Jesus went to Galilee, and also to show us a contrast of reception. Wherever people respond to the gospel they immediately have top orient to the grace of God, and this loosens up people and relaxes them when they orient to God’s grace. But the next place Jesus visits there is a genuine rejection.
See Luke 4:16-24 and Matthew 8:5-13, both prior to the events of John 4. They were impressed with miracles but not with His person.
Verse 46-50, Jesus meets the nobleman – background for the miracle about to be performed.
Verse 46 – Jesus had already performed a miracle here, “And there was a certain nobleman, whose son kept on being sick at Capernaum.” His son is dying. There are two miracles performed at the end of this chapter, both occurred on a third day sequence. Cf. John 2:1 with 4:48. Both miracles were in response and in obedience to a faith-rest principle – John 2:7 & 4:30. Both miracles were accomplished by the word of the Lord Jesus Christ. He uttered a word and a miracle was performed. After both miracles people believed – John 2:11; 4:53.
Verse 47 – the nobleman’s request is given.
“ … he went unto [face to face with – proj plus the accusative] him, and kept on begging him [perfect linear aktionsart] that he would come down [to Capernaum, four hours away], and heal his son: for he [his son] was at the point of death.” When he thinks that Jesus must come to Capernaum in order to heal his son he thinks just the opposite of the centurion of Capernaum in Matthew 8. The centurion is a believer; the nobleman is an unbeliever. Jesus cannot deal with the problem of the dying son until He takes care of the spiritually dead father. There is always a person who is the key to evangelisation and the key person here is the nobleman. So Jesus is going to set aside, in effect, any healing of the son. That is a secondary factor at this point. The primary factor is that the nobleman is unsaved and is going to spend eternity in the lake of fire, suffering forever, unless he believes in Christ. But the nobleman went on positive signals at the point of God-consciousness and therefore God is going to provide him information through His Son, Jesus Christ, and this point and there will be a response – a faith response which is given only by the word “Lord.” Jesus could have done the same thing here as with the centurion, but if Jesus had spoken the word and healed the son immediately the nobleman would have left without salvation.
The nobleman has not discovered at this point how important it is to be saved and to be in phase two. In other words, Jesus dealt with the centurion on a phase two basis. He wants to deal with this man on the same basis, so therefore there will be a lot of conversation at first before getting down to the actual healing. The issue is not miracles, the issue it is salvation – always the issue. This man must accept Christ first.
Verse 48 – “Except [3rd class condition: “if”, maybe yes, maybe no] you see signs and wonders, you will not believe.” Jesus is saying by the 3rd class condition that maybe He would perform a miracle and maybe He would not, but He is not going to use a miracle as pressure. Jesus avoided gimmicks. True persuasion is simply giving the facts of the gospel and allowing the Holy Spirit to do His ministry. False persuasion would have been for Jesus to say, “I’ll heal your son if you believe.” That would falsify the true operation of grace in salvation and the man’s +V would not be involved. People can walk down aisles with negative volition; people can join churches with negative volition; people can be baptised with negative volition; people can clean up their lives with –V. This is not the way of salvation; that is salvation by works. Titus 3:5,6. No one is ever saved by works and Jesus is not going to put false pressure on this man. What comes first, this man’s salvation or the healing? Salvation comes first, and then He heals the son.
Verse 49 – apparently there was some conversation between verses 48 & 49 and as a result the nobleman accepted Christ as his saviour.
“Sir” – in the Greek this is “Lord,” kurioj. In other words, by the time that we get to verse 49, whatever elapsed in between, he is now a saved man, recognising Jesus as Lord, the word for deity. 1 Corinthians 12:3.
“come down ere my child die” – aorist active imperative, “come now.”
Verse 50 – “Jesus saith unto him.” Apparently Jesus had to say this more than once, the present linear aktionsart means that He probably repeated it a few times. “Go thy way” – Cf. Matthew 8:13, poreuomai means “Go about your normal business.” Forget about your son now, he is well. This is a challenge to faith-rest.
“thy son liveth” – dramatic present tense. At exactly one o’clock Jesus said these words. And that was enough. “And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken to him.”
“and he went his way” – faith-rest. He is relaxed; his son is well; he can go about his business in Cana of Galilee. This time poreuomai is in the imperfect middle, he kept on doing whatever he had to do. The middle voice: he was benefited by doing his business.
Verse 51 – “going down” is literally “approaching.”
“they told him” – kept on telling him, Thy son lives.”
Verse 52 – “Then he enquired of them the hour when he began to heal. And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him,” i.e. 1 o’clock Jewish time.
Verse 53 – “and himself believed, and his whole house.” In other words, he led everyone in his household to the Lord. The whole house means not only the wife and the children but the household, his servants, the staff.