John 4

John 4:1

Rabbi. A term meaning teacher, or master. Where dwellest thou? These disciples had followed at the bidding of John. Their question implies a desire to be in the company of Jesus.

John 4:2

It was about the tenth hour. Counting from six o’clock, the first hour among the Jews, the tenth hour would be four p.m.

John 4:3

One of the two . . . was Andrew. Afterwards an apostle. He has the honor of being one of the first two disciples of Jesus.

John 4:4

Findeth his own brother Simon. Simon Peter. In true missionary spirit Andrew at once and first sought his own brother. We have found the Messias. The Christ promised by the prophets. “Messiah” is the Hebrew word meaning the same as “Christ”, that is, “anointed one”.

John 4:5

Thou shalt be called Cephas. A Hebrew word meaning “stone”. Peter is the Greek form.

John 4:6

Findeth Philip, and saith to him, Follow me. This is the first recorded instance of the Savior calling a disciple to follow him. Philip, it must be borne in mind, is not Philip, “one of the seven” (Acts 21:8), but “one of the Twelve”, a citizen of Bethsaida of Galilee (John 12:21), and a fellow-townsman of Andrew and Peter.

John 4:8

Philip findeth Nathanael. As we learn from John 21:2, Nathanael was a Galilean, his home being at “Cana in Galilee”. His name only occurs in these two places. He is supposed to have been one of the Twelve, the same one mentioned in the other Gospels as Bartholomew (Matthew 10:3 Mr 3:18 Lu 6:14), which means “son of Tolmai”. The use of the name in John 21:2 favors this hypothesis. We have found him, of whom Moses . . . did write. There was only one to whom this could refer, “The prophet like unto Moses” (Deuteronomy 34:10 Acts 3:22 7:37), the Messiah; and when Philip names Jesus of Nazareth, Nathanael is at once skeptical whether the Messiah could come out of Nazareth, an insignificant and despised place.

John 4:9

Come and see. That is the best answer to the skeptic. Bring him to Christ, let him consider him, and what he has done for mankind. The strongest proof that Jesus is the Christ is Jesus himself.

John 4:11

Whence knowest thou me? Nathanael, who had never met Jesus before, was surprised to hear himself spoken of as one known. When thou wast under the fig tree. There was something about this answer that filled Nathanael with astonishment. Under the shade and shelter of the fig tree he had some rare experience that is not recorded, and that he supposed unknown to man. That Jesus knew of it and read his soul startled him and dissipated his unbelief.

John 4:12

Thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel. Philip had said, “Jesus, the son of Joseph” (John 1:45), as he supposed, but Nathanael, convinced, declared him the Son of God. This is the first confession of the divinity of Jesus.

John 4:14

The angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man. Jacob, old Israel, in his dream at Bethel, saw the ladder that reached to heaven with the angels upon it (Genesis 28:12). Christ is that ladder, the way from earth to heaven, the way heaven sends messages to the world and the way we must go to reach it. Nathanael would be permitted to see that Jesus was the Mediator, that through him the Father speaks to man; that through him there is intercommunication between earth and heaven.

John 4:16

The First Miracle SUMMARY OF JOHN 2: The Marriage at Cana. The Water Made Wine. The Passover. Jesus at Jerusalem. The Temple Cleansed. The Resurrection Foretold. The third day. After the conversation with Nathanael. Immediately after it he departed into Galilee (John 1:43). A marriage in Cana. The site of Cana is not certainly known. Dr. Robinson, Giekie and other authorities place it at a ruin now called Kana, twelve miles north of Nazareth. The mother of Jesus was there. Reasons are suggested from the narrative that follows for believing that Mary was related to the family. As Joseph is never mentioned as living after Jesus entered upon his ministry, he is supposed to have died before this time.

John 4:17

Jesus also was called, and his disciples. He now had disciples, those called in the few days before; John, Andrew, Peter, Philip and Nathanael (John 1:40-45).

John 4:18

And when they wanted wine. The Revised Version says, “When the wine failed”. For some cause, perhaps from a large number of guests than was expected, the wine gave out. In the East, where hospitality is so lavish, this would cause great mortification. The mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. The solicitude of Mary could hardly be expected from one not a relative, but why she appeal to Jesus? In part, because it was natural speak to him in her perplexity, and in part, likewise, because she hoped he would meet the difficulty.

John 4:19

Woman, what have I do to with thee? These words in our language sound harsh and almost rude, but the Greek term “gune”, rendered “woman”, was respectful and gentle (John 19:26). This language, partly a rebuke, to Mary, shows very plainly that the Catholic fiction of Mary being immaculate, the “Queen of Heaven”, and “the Mother of God”, is all nonsensical. Mine hour is not yet come. The hour of his full manifestation, as the divine King of Israel.

John 4:20

Whatsoever he saith unto you, do [it]. She evidently understood from the manner, if not the words, of his reply that he would relieve the difficulty.

John 4:21

There were set there six waterpots of stone. These waterpots were to supply water for the washings usual at feasts. See Mr 7:4. The Jews were regarded ceremonially unclean if they did not wash both before and after eating. See PNT Matthew 15:2. The pots each held about twenty gallons.

John 4:23

Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. Augustine says: ``He that had made wine that day in those six water-pots does the same every year in the vines. For as what the servants put in the water-pots was changed into wine by the operation of the Lord, just so what the clouds pour forth is changed into wine by the operation of the same law.''

John 4:24

When the ruler of the feast had tasted. The ruler of the feast, and the governor of Joh 2:8 are the same. It was customary to choose, sometimes by lot, a president who regulated the whole order of festivities.

John 4:25

Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine. The language of the ruler is sportive, but still he states a custom. The best wine was offered when the appetite of the guests was sharpest and most critical. Have well drunk. Not intoxicated, but have drunk considerable. Satan gives his good wine first; so the drunkard finds it; so did the prodigal son. Afterwards he gives the bitter; red eyes, pain, hunger, wretchedness. Thou hast kept the good wine until now. What meaneth Christ making wine? In Palestine there were three kinds of wine: (1) Fermented wines, which, however, were very unlike our fiery liquors, and contained only a small per cent of alcohol. These were mixed with two or three parts of water. The fermented wine was only intoxicating when used in enormous quantities. (2) The unfermented juice of the grape. (3) An intoxicating drink called “new wine” in Acts 2:13. Whedon says: ``We see no reason for supposing that the wine of the present occasion was that upon which Scripture places its strongest interdict (Proverbs 20:1 23:31; Isaiah 22:13), rather than that eulogized as a blessing (Psalms 104:15; Isaiah 55:1).

Even adopting the view that it was fermented wine, it was totally unlike the fiery and undiluted drinks sold as wines in saloons, used in many families, offered at hotels and wine parties, and even poured out at communion tables. In the use of the usual wine of Palestine there is not the slightest apology for drinking as a beverage the alcoholic drinks which are the curse of our times. With regard to them the only safe rule is “to touch not, taste not, handle not” (Colossians 2:21).''

John 4:26

Manifested forth his glory. This was the first supernatural manifestation of his divine power; that he by whom all things were made controlled the powers of nature. His disciples believed on him. They already believed, but their faith was made firmer.

John 4:27

After this he went down to Capernaum. From the hilly region of Cana to the low-lying shore of the Sea of Galilee. His mother, and his brethren. Catholics and some Protestants have held that these “brethren” were not brothers in the flesh, but kinsmen. The phrase, “his brethren”, occurs nine times in the Gospels, and once in Acts. The natural interpretation is always that they were his brothers, sons of Mary. Two places (Matthew 13:55 Mr 6:3) mention his sisters. Had it not been for the dogma that Mary remained a virgin, a dogma that has no foundation in the Scriptures, it would never have been doubted that these “brethren” and “sisters” were her children.

John 4:28

The Jews’ passover was at hand. For institution of the passover, see Exodus 12:1-28. It was celebrated yearly at Jerusalem. This is the first that the Lord attended after he began his ministry, and of this attendance there is no mention in the other Gospels.

John 4:29

Found in the temple. In the Court of the Gentiles, which was within the temple walls. Those that sold oxen and sheep and doves. These were for the sacrifices. The great crowds who came to Jerusalem at this time could not bring victims, and the traffic in oxen, sheep, kids and doves became enormous. It would have been proper enough if it had been conducted at stockyards, but the priests made a monopoly of it and installed it right in the temple. The Court of the Gentiles, “a house of prayer for all nations” (Mr 11:15-19), was filled with cattle, ordure, and the din of traffic. The changers of money. Every Jew paid a half-shekel annually to the support of the temple (Exodus 30:13), but Gentile money was the coin in usual circulation, and this was refused at the temple. These money brokers, agents of the priests, furnished Jewish coin at a heavy charge. Edersheim says that this traffic alone cleared the priests what would be equivalent to about $300,000 a year.

John 4:30

Made a scourge of small cords. Rather as a symbol than for use. Drove them all out. He had the right to cleanse his Father’s house and here first asserts his authority. The traffickers fled before his glance, awed by a superhuman majesty.

John 4:31

Make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise. How often still the Father’s house is so desecrated! This cleansing was a different one from that which occurred three years later at the close of his ministry (Matthew 21:12).

John 4:32

The zeal of thINE house. Quoted from Psalms 69:9.

John 4:33

What sign? The Jewish officials demand some sign that would demonstrate that he had authority over the temple.

John 4:34

Destroy this temple. His own body. The sign that he would give the Jewish nation was his Resurrection. The Jews did not understand him, nor his own disciples, until after he rose from the dead (Matthew 26:60,61 Mr 14:58).

John 4:35

Forty and six years. It had been forty-six years since Herod the Great began the reconstruction of the temple, and it was not yet entirely completed. When Jesus was on trial before the Sanhedrin, these words were brought up as blasphemy.

John 4:38

Many believed. The miracles wrought that they saw at this time are not recorded. They are alluded to again in John 3:2. These believed that he was a man sent from God, but did not trust in him as the Christ. The nature of their belief is stated in John 3:2.

John 4:42

Christ and Nicodemus SUMMARY OF JOHN 3: The Ruler Seeking Jesus by Night. The Necessity of a New Birth of Water and of the Spirit. The Son of Man to Be Lifted Up. The Love of God for Man. Condemnation for Unbelief. John at Aenon. John’s Testimony. There was a man . . . named Nicodemus. Nicodemus is named only three times by John, and not elsewhere; (1) here; (2) in John 7:50, where he protests against condemning Jesus unheard; and (3) in John 19:39, where he aids Joseph of Arimathea in the burial of Jesus. Of the Pharisees, . . . a ruler of the Jews. He was a Pharisee, a member of the Sanhedrin (a ruler), and “a master of Israel” (a rabbi) (John 3:10).

John 4:43

The same came to Jesus by night. He probably chose the night in order to escape observation. He did not dare encounter the hostility of the priests, filled with rage over the cleansing of the temple, and yet he wished to know more of one whom he believed to be sent from God. Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God. Nicodemus confesses, not only his belief, but that of his fellow Pharisees and rulers. The miracles of Jesus convinced them, even if they would not admit it, that he was a teacher sent from God. He came for information, and Jesus recognized it in what follows.

John 4:44

Verily, verily, I say unto thee. This form of expression was often upon the lips of Jesus to give emphasis to an unusually solemn and weighty declaration. It occurs twenty-five times in John. See PNT Matthew 5:18. Except a man be born again, etc. The Greek term “anothen”, translated “again”, is rendered “anew” in the Revised Version, which is better. It is the great doctrine, so fundamental in the Gospel, of Regeneration, a new birth, being made a new creature, the same doctrine spoken of in John 1:12,13. Nicodemus, like all Jews, supposed that all who were born as children of Abraham would, as Abraham’s seed, be citizens of the kingdom, but Jesus shows him that no one can be a new creature in Christ Jesus unless he is born anew. We are born naturally into the kingdom of nature, to live the natural life; if we enter the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of grace, it must be by a new birth. The doctrine that a man can bury his old sinful life, and begin a new one with the freshness of youthful hope, is foreshadowed in the Old Testament (Isaiah 1:18 Jeremiah 31:33 Ezekiel 11:19 36:26), and taught in the New Testament (Romans 6:8 8:3 12:2 2 Corinthians 5:17 Galatians 6:15,16).

John 4:45

How can a man be born again when he is old? The question of Nicodemus indicates his surprise, skepticism and misapprehension of what Jesus meant.

John 4:46

Except a man be born of water and [of] the Spirit, etc. Jesus does not reply directly to the question of Nicodemus, but proceeds to give more explicit statement concerning the new birth. One must be born of water and of the Spirit. Whatever this may mean, it will be admitted by all (1) that no one is a member of the kingdom of God until he is born again; (2) that the Savior declares the impossibility of one entering who is not born of water and of the Spirit. All agree that the birth of the Spirit refers to the inward, or spiritual change that takes place, and all candid authorities agree that “born of water” refers to baptism. So Alford, Wesley, Abbot, Whitby, Olshausen, Tholuck, Prof.

Wm. Milligan, the Episcopal Prayer Book, the Westminister Confession, the M. E. Discipline, and M. E. Doctrinal Tracts, and also the writers of the early Church all declare.

Alford says: All attempts to get rid of this have sprung from doctrinal prejudices.'' Abbott says: We are to understand Christ as he expected his auditor to understand him. John the Baptist baptized both Jew and Gentile as a sign of purification by repentance from past sins. Nicodemus would then have certainly understood by the expression, “born of water”, a reference to this rite of baptism.''

John 4:48

Ye must be born again. The necessity is implied in the word “kingdom” in John 3:5. No one born a citizen of England can become a citizen of the United States without complying with our naturalization laws. The kingdom of God has its naturalization laws, and there is no other way of entrance than to be born of water and of the Spirit. We may not understand all the mysteries of the new birth, any more than we do those of the natural birth, but we can understand what has to be done and what is necessary. Two things are needful: the spirit must be renewed; we must be baptized.

John 4:49

The wind bloweth where it listeth, etc. Most commentators have held that this means: “As the wind moves mysteriously, so does the Spirit, and it breathes upon whom it will, effecting the inward change called the birth of the Spirit arbitrarily”. This view I believe due to a wrong translation, sanctioned, not by Greek, but by current theology. Let it be noted that: (1) Exactly the same Greek term “pneuma” is rendered “wind” and “Spirit” in this verse. It is a violation of all law that the same word should experience so radical a change of meaning in the same sentence. (2) That the word “pneuma” is not translated “wind” elsewhere, although it occurs scores of times in the New Testament, but is always rendered “Spirit”. (3) Another word in the Greek, “anemos”, is usually used to represent “wind”. (4) The erroneous idea creates a confusion of figures. It makes Christ to say: “The wind bloweth where it listeth; so is (not the Spirit, but) every one born of the Spirit”.

It affirms of him who is born just what is affirmed of the wind, a thing the Savior never did. These facts are sufficient to show that the rendering “wind” is wrong. All we have to do is to translate “pneuma” here, as is done in the latter part of the verse and elsewhere in the New Testament. The verse then reads: “The Spirit (“pneuma”) breathes where it pleases and thou hearest the voice thereof, but canst not tell whence it comes nor whither it goes. So (by hearing its voice) is every one born of the Spirit” (“pneuma”). The meaning is: The Spirit breathes where it wills and you recognize its manifestation by its voice; by the words spoken by men of God as the Holy Spirit gives them utterance.

You cannot tell whence the Spirit comes to whither it goes, but you can hear its voice when it does come. “So”, by hearing the voice of the Spirit is every one born of the Spirit. He who receives by faith the communications of the Spirit is born of the Spirit. The birth of the Spirit is not the same thing as the gift of the Spirit. To those who are born of the Spirit is given. “‘Because’ ye are sons, God hath sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father” (Galatians 4:6). Hence, in harmony with the above view, Peter says, “Being born again, not by corruptible seed, but incorruptible, through the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever” (1 Peter 1:23).

John 4:51

Art thou a master of Israel? The question implies that Nicodemus was one of the doctors of the law. These made very arrogant claims of superior knowledge.

John 4:52

We speak that we do know . . . ye receive not our testimony. “Ye” includes Nicodemus and all Jews who failed to confess him; “we” includes himself and those who should testify of him by the Spirit.

John 4:53

If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not. He had spoken of the things that belonged to the kingdom of God on earth, of the new birth. If Nicodemus could not understand and believe this, how would he receive testimony concerning the heavenly kingdom, God, and eternal glory?

John 4:54

And no man hath ascended, etc. This implies: (1) That he existed before he appeared on earth. (2) That heaven was his true abode. (3) That, on earth, his spirit was in communication with heaven.