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Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard about him. They had heard that he was gaining and baptising more disciples than John. 2 But in fact Jesus was not baptising. His disciples were. 3 So Jesus left Judea and went back again to Galilee. 4 Jesus had to go through Samaria. 5 He came to a town in Samaria called Sychar. It was near the piece of land Jacob had given his son Joseph. 6 Jacob's well was there. Jesus was tired from the journey. So he sat down by the well. It was about noon.
7 A woman from Samaria came to get some water. Jesus said to her, ‘Will you give me a drink?’ 8 His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.
9 The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘You are a Jew. I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?’ She said this because Jews don't have anything to do with Samaritans.
10 Jesus answered her, ‘You do not know what God's gift is. And you do not know who is asking you for a drink. If you did, you would have asked him. He would have given you living water.’
11 ‘Sir’, the woman said, ‘you don't have anything to get water with. The well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Our father Jacob gave us the well. He drank from it himself. So did his sons and his livestock. Are you more important than he is?’
13 Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again. 14 But anyone who drinks the water I give them will never be thirsty. In fact, the water I give them will become a spring of water in them. It will flow up into eternal life.’
15 The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water. Then I will never be thirsty. And I won't have to keep coming here to get water.’
16 He told her, ‘Go. Get your husband and come back.’
17 ‘I have no husband,’ she replied.
Jesus said to her, ‘You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands. And the man you live with now is not your husband. What you have just said is very true.’
19 ‘Sir’, the woman said, ‘I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our people have always worshipped on this mountain. But you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.’
21 Jesus said, ‘Woman, believe me. A time is coming when you will not worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know. We worship what we do know. Salvation comes from the Jews. 23 But a new time is coming. In fact, it is already here. True worshippers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth. They are the kind of worshippers the Father is looking for. 24 God is spirit. His worshippers must worship him in the Spirit and in truth.’
25 The woman said, ‘I know that Messiah is coming.’ Messiah means Christ. ‘When he comes, he will explain everything to us.’
26 Then Jesus said, ‘The one you're talking about is the one speaking to you. I am he.’
4:1–26 Jesus went from Judea in the south of Israel to Galilee in the north. In between them was the area of Samaria. The people who lived there in Jesus' time were called Samaritans. Jews thought that they were more a part of Abraham's family than the Samaritans. Most Samaritans and Jews hated one another and tried hard to avoid each other. Jesus didn't hate Samaritans or avoid them. He asked a Samaritan woman for water. She didn't understand right away what he was talking about. She was thinking about things she could see and touch. But Jesus was speaking about spiritual things. He talked about water, mountains and other things as signs of spiritual truths. People's spirits need life from Jesus just like their bodies need water. Jesus brings eternal life to people. He described this like bringing water to people who are thirsty. He taught that all people could worship God. They could do this with the Spirit's help. There wasn't only one place to worship. Those who believe that Jesus is the Messiah are true worshippers of God. This was true for Jews and Samaritans and it's true for everyone. Jesus knew everything about the life of the woman he talked with. Most Jews wouldn't have accepted her because she was a Samaritan. Her relationships with men weren't the way the Law of Moses taught that they should be. Yet Jesus invited her to receive living water from him.
27 Just then Jesus' disciples returned. They were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, ‘What do you want from her?’ No one asked, ‘Why are you talking with her?’
28 The woman left her water jar and went back to the town. She said to the people, 29 ‘Come. See a man who told me everything I've ever done. Could this be the Messiah?’ 30 The people came out of the town and made their way towards Jesus.
31 His disciples were saying to him, ‘Rabbi, eat something!’
32 But he said to them, ‘I have food to eat that you know nothing about.’
33 Then his disciples asked each other, ‘Did someone bring him food?’
34 Jesus said, ‘My food is to do what my Father sent me to do. My food is to finish his work. 35 Don't you have a saying? You say, “It's still four months until harvest time.” But I tell you, open your eyes! Look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest right now. 36 Even now the one who gathers the crop is getting paid. They are already harvesting the crop for eternal life. So the one who plants and the one who gathers can now be glad together. 37 Here is a true saying. “One plants and another gathers.” 38 I sent you to gather what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work. You have gathered the benefits of their work.’
39 Many of the Samaritans from the town of Sychar believed in Jesus. They believed because of what the woman had said about him. She said, ‘He told me everything I've ever done.’ 40 Then the Samaritans came to him and tried to get him to stay with them. So he stayed two days. 41 Because of what he said, many more people became believers.
42 They said to the woman, ‘We no longer believe just because of what you said. We have now heard for ourselves. We know that this man really is the Saviour of the world.’
4:27–42 Jesus talked about food and harvests to teach his disciples about spiritual truths. He told them what his most important food was. It was the work his Father gave him to do. Obeying his Father gave Jesus spiritual strength the way that food gave his body strength. Other workers like John the Baptist had helped prepare people for when Jesus came. These workers were the ones who planted. Those who believed in Jesus were the plants being harvested. Jesus' disciples were busy gathering the plants that others had worked hard to plant. The Samaritans were being harvested. The people in the town believed what the woman told them about Jesus. Even though Jesus was a Jew, the Samaritans wanted him to stay in their village. That wasn't the way that Jews and Samaritans usually treated one another. When the Samaritans believed Jesus' words they were changed. They understood that Jesus is the Saviour not only of the Jews. He is the Saviour of everyone who hears his message and believes in him.
43 After the two days, Jesus left for Galilee. 44 He himself had pointed out that a prophet is not respected in his own country. 45 When he arrived in Galilee, the people living there welcomed him. They had seen everything he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast. That was because they had also been there.
46 Once more, Jesus visited Cana in Galilee. Cana is where he had turned the water into wine. A royal official was there. His son was ill in bed at Capernaum. 47 The official heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea. So he went to Jesus and begged him to come and heal his son. The boy was close to death.
48 Jesus told him, ‘You people will never believe unless you see signs and wonders.’
49 The royal official said, ‘Sir, come down before my child dies.’
50 ‘Go’, Jesus replied. ‘Your son will live.’
The man believed what Jesus said, and so he left. 51 While he was still on his way home, his slaves met him. They gave him the news that his boy was living. 52 He asked what time his son got better. They said to him, ‘Yesterday, at one o'clock in the afternoon, the fever left him.’
53 Then the father realised what had happened. That was the exact time Jesus had said to him, ‘Your son will live.’ So he and his whole family became believers.
54 This was the second sign that Jesus did after coming from Judea to Galilee.
4:43–54 After two days in Samaria, Jesus returned to the area of Galilee. He went back to Cana where he had changed the water into wine. Jesus also did his second sign in Cana. An official of Herod Antipas heard that Jesus was there. The official's son was dying. He believed that Jesus had the power to heal his son. Jesus challenged him to have even greater faith. He told the official that his son would live. The man went away trusting that Jesus spoke the truth. Later the official learnt that his son had been healed. It had happened at the exact time when Jesus spoke to the official. After that, the official and his whole family trusted in Jesus and followed him. This sign showed Jesus' power over illness and death.