John 4:21, commentary and pictures

Jesus told the Samaritan woman that the time was near when worship of the Father would no longer be tied to any sacred place, neither her mountain nor Jerusalem. The required gathering at Jerusalem had been only for a time, and true devotion is never secured by holy sites, outward forms or disputes over them, but springs from a purified heart and shows itself in obedience and good works. The hour He meant had arrived for worship in spirit and in truth, made possible by new birth through the Holy Spirit who prompts every acceptable prayer and whom the Father gives to all who reach out for Him. That worship and its truth were not to stay centered in one locality but to be carried to every place and nation, beginning even with one receptive stranger at a well.

Words and Setting

The words were spoken at Jacob's well at noontide to the woman of Samaria, after a long journey since morning had left Jesus faint from hunger and thirst. Cool water lay near but inaccessible, for the well was deep and He had no rope or water-jar, so He waited for someone to come to draw.

Jews and Samaritans were bitter enemies who as far as possible avoided all dealing with each other. Rabbis counted trade in necessity lawful but condemned all social intercourse, so that a Jew would not borrow from a Samaritan nor receive a kindness, not even bread or water, and even the disciples went no further than buying food. Jesus set aside that prejudice and custom and broke it by asking the woman for a drink. He accepted Samaritan hospitality, slept under their roofs, ate with them food prepared and served by their hands, taught in their streets, and treated them with kindness, courtesy and sympathy that by social kindliness recognized their human dignity.

The rivalry had a long religious history, for the Samaritans built a temple on Mount Gerizim while the Jews worshiped at the temple in Jerusalem. The Samaritan religion mixed Jewish faith and customs with heathenism, and rival claims to be God's people fueled division and hostility.

Jesus had laid open the woman's past life of five husbands and one who was not her husband, awakening conviction of sin, though she was a stranger living in open sin. She tried to turn away from her sin by drawing Him into the controversy over whether Samaritans should worship in this mountain or Jews at Jerusalem. He answered that the hour was coming when worship of the Father would belong to neither place, neither this mountain nor Jerusalem.

He spoke as one having authority, with no uncertainty and with voice and words in perfect harmony with the subject. He asked a service at her hands rather than offering a favor, because trust awakens trust and He sought the key to her heart. Though Maker of the ocean and controller of the waters who opened the springs and channels of the earth, He rested weary and dependent on a stranger's kindness for even a drink of water. He saw her receptive spirit, freely taught her truth and offered her living water, and made Himself known to this humble woman more plainly than to the learned Jews.

Worship Beyond Sacred Places

The hour was coming, near and at hand, when worship of the Father would no longer depend on, be bound to, or be confined to a particular sacred place, neither this mountain of Gerizim nor Jerusalem. When conviction of sin was awakened by laying open her past life of five husbands and one who was not her husband, the woman tried to turn away from her sin by drawing Him into the religious controversy over whether Samaritans should worship in this mountain or Jews at Jerusalem, and He answered that worship would no longer belong to either place. The truth and worship of God were not meant to remain centered in one locality but to be carried wherever people could be reached, to every place and to all nations.

Although the Jewish nation had for a time been required to worship at Jerusalem, that centralization was temporary and was now to give way to worship unrestricted to a single locality. Jesus lifts worship above form and ceremony and controversy over holy mountains and sacred temples, teaching that men are not brought into communion with heaven by seeking such places. True religion is not confined to outward forms and ceremonies or to external places, but is rooted in the heart and leads to a purified life and good works. His personal work of bringing truth to an individual listener at the well was itself part of that lifting of worship beyond a sacred place.

The Samaritans worshiped in ignorance with a faith corrupted by idolatry and mixed with reverence for graven images, while the Jews held more nearly correct principles about God than other nations. Salvation is of the Jews because the great truths of redemption were committed to them, the Messiah was to appear from among them, and in the Sacred Writings they had a clear presentation of the character of God and the principles of His government. He classes Himself with the Jews as those to whom God had given a knowledge of Himself.

The time had arrived for true worship in spirit and in truth, not merely through external forms and ceremonies. Such worship requires being born of the divine Spirit to purify the heart and renew the mind, giving a new capacity for knowing and loving God and a willing obedience to all His requirements. True worship is the fruit of the working of the Holy Spirit, by whom every sincere prayer is prompted and made acceptable to God. Wherever a soul reaches out after God the Spirit is working and God will reveal Himself to that soul, for the Father seeks such worshipers to receive them and make them His sons and daughters.

His preaching to the Samaritans at Sychar showed He did not share Jewish intolerance, and His ministry broke down barriers that kept people from the truth. God's grace and love are not limited by race or nation, and salvation was for all mankind. The Samaritans, though distinct from Jews, had some knowledge of God.

Truth Carried to All

Truth and the worship of God were not meant to remain centered in one locality but to be carried wherever people could be reached. The hour was coming when worship of the Father would no longer be confined to Jerusalem or to the Samaritan mountain at Gerizim, and would no longer depend on or be tied to a single sacred location. Although the Jewish nation had for a time been required to worship at Jerusalem, that centralization was temporary. The truth was to be carried to every place people could be reached, to every place and region and to all nations, not restricted to one place.

Therefore no religious center may be treated as the world's Jerusalem. Battle Creek must not be so treated, and those who seek to learn and follow the truth need not travel there to worship or be taught by God. People need not travel to Jerusalem or to any supposed center to worship Him, for God is present everywhere and can teach those who seek knowledge and walk in the light where they are.

The verse belongs to Christ's personal mission work commencing with one listener. Though weary, He used the opportunity to present the truths of His spiritual kingdom to a single Samaritan woman who came to draw water, after asking her for drink. He gave her precious instruction because He saw her receptive spirit, showing His ministry did not depend on having a large audience. His word was positive, spoken as one having authority with no uncertainty, with voice and words in perfect harmony with its subject. It is an invitation of mercy and goodness that cuts away doubt and questioning about whether God will hear prayer and have mercy and give favor, assuring mercy and grace and salvation instead of leaving souls in ignorance.

His words and explanations stirred her mind and led her to tell others about Him and bring them to seek Him and hear more. She carried His message to her people, and many Samaritans came to believe in Him as the Saviour of the world. Even a conversation with one person can have far-reaching influence. That visit to Samaria, where His love for the Samaritans remained unchanged despite their rejection of Him, helped prepare His disciples to carry the gospel to Samaria where many later welcomed them. His talk with the woman came just before He told the disciples to lift up their eyes because the fields were white already for harvest, making the incident an example of sowing and reaping, in which He spoke with a humble woman and made Himself known to her more plainly than to the learned Jews.

The woman listened and accepted Him without any miracle because she believed His word, was glad for the light, and published it to her neighbors. Jesus found a place for His precious truth in her heart though she was a sinner, when He found no place for His lessons among those who rejected them when they challenged their own ideas. The scribes and Pharisees were like old dried-up skin bottles that could not hold the new wine of His kingdom, while He made the Samaritan woman a vessel for that wine, just as He did in calling Matthew the publican and the fishermen. Though hated by the Jews, the Samaritans received the light, while the Jews would not recognize Christ though He came with all the power of His majesty and grace in mighty healings and the mighty outpouring of His Spirit, because prejudice reigned in their hearts so that even the mightiest miracles could have no effect on them. He set aside His nation's prejudices and customs, accepted Samaritan hospitality, taught among them, and treated them with kindness, courtesy and human sympathy, and through that grace His work among them brought them salvation though the Jews rejected it. This proves that unbelieving people who have never heard the truth have hearts more susceptible to receive it than those who have long been in the truth and had evidences of God's work yet excuse their unbelief. Knowing doctrine depends on coming to the investigation of the Scriptures with a teachable spirit ready to learn, with heart emptied of prejudice, bringing ideas to the Scriptures instead of bringing the Scriptures to ideas, and where God is working can be discerned without wonderful miracles.

His work at the well in proffering the water of life to the woman of Samaria fulfills the promise given in Eden that the Seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head, and He continues that work of offering living water until every soul shall have been tested and tried.