John 4:27. Meanwhile His disciples came back from the city with the food they had bought, and were astonished that He was speaking with the woman. Yet no one said, ‘What are You asking her?’ or ‘What are You talking about with her?’
At this explanation the woman was greatly alarmed, all the more because the disciples were returning from the city with the food at that very moment, and their eyes widened in astonishment when they found Me speaking with this woman. Yet they did not dare ask either Me or the woman what we had been doing or discussing together. The other fellow travelers, together with My mother, who was also still there, were sleeping so soundly that they could hardly be awakened, for the long walk had made them all very tired. At last the disciple who had gone to the little village to look for a vessel for drawing water returned as well, having found none. He apologized and said, ‘Lord, the little village has some twenty houses, yet look, not a single person is at home, and all the doors are firmly locked!’
I reply, ‘Do not let it trouble you, for look, this will happen to us very often and in many ways, in the natural and especially in the spiritual sense: driven by the thirst of our love, we shall knock at people’s doors (hearts), looking for a vessel with which to draw the living water, but we shall find their hearts closed and empty! Do you understand this image?’
Deeply moved and taken aback, the disciple says, ‘Lord, dear Master, sadly I have understood You well! But if that is so, we shall not do much business!?’
I say, ‘And yet we shall, My brother! Look at this woman! I tell you, to find one who is lost is worth more than ninety-nine righteous people who, according to their conscience, have no need of repentance, because they imagine they serve God on Gerizim every Sabbath, yet here they remove all the vessels for drawing water even on the day before the Sabbath, so that no one may draw a drink of water from the well on the Sabbath and quench their thirst, which, in the opinion of the righteous, would profane the Sabbath. Oh, the great and utterly blind folly of such righteous people! Here, however, stands a sinful woman with a good pitcher, serving us. Tell Me, which is better: she, or the ninety-nine Sabbath saints on Gerizim?!’
But the woman says, deeply contrite, ‘Lord, You Son of the Eternal One! Here is my pitcher; use it. I shall leave it here for your service. But let me hurry into the city, for I stand before you in clothing too unworthy of you!’ I say, ‘Woman, be well, and do as seems good to you!’
John 4:28. Then the woman left her pitcher, hurried into the city, and says to the people:
Weeping for joy, the woman leaves the pitcher and the well and hurries into the city, turning around many times in greeting as she goes, for she loves Me greatly. She reaches the city almost out of breath and meets several men in a group, strolling up and down a shaded lane as they usually did on the Sabbath. The men, who knew the woman well, asked her jokingly, ‘Well, well, where are you going in such a hurry? Where is the fire?’ The woman looks at them with loving seriousness and says, ‘Oh, do not joke, dear gentlemen, for our time has become more serious than you may suspect!’
John 4:29. Come and see a man who, sitting outside at Jacob’s well, told me everything I have ever done—whether He might not be Christ, the promised Messiah?
Here the men interrupt her and ask with anxious curiosity, ‘Well, well, what is it? Are enemies invading our land, or is a swarm of locusts approaching our region?’
Utterly exhausted, the woman says, ‘None of all that! The matter is much greater, much more extraordinary! Listen to me calmly!
‘An hour ago I went out to Jacob’s well to fetch water for midday, and look, I found a man sitting by the railing of the well, whom at first I almost took for a Jew. When I had drawn my water from the well, scarcely paying attention to Him, the man spoke to me and asked me to let Him drink from my pitcher. I refused Him this, since I thought He was a Jew.
‘But He spoke again, wisely, like an Elijah, and told me everything I had ever done! At last He Himself turned the conversation to the Messiah. And when I asked Him further where, how, and when the Messiah would come, He looked at me with loving seriousness and said in a voice that pierced me to the bone and marrow, “I am He, I who am now speaking with you!”
‘But earlier, when He told me how sick I was, I had already asked Him whether I could not become well again. And at the very end He said to me, “Become well!” And look, my affliction went out of me like a wind, and now I am completely well! Go out, then, and see for yourselves whether this is not truly Christ, the promised Messiah!
‘I firmly believe He is, for if this man were not Christ, Christ could never perform greater signs than this man does! So go out and see for yourselves! But I am hurrying home now to put on better clothes, for I could never stand before His glory like this! He is certainly more than a prophet or a king of the people, even if He should not be Christ!?’
The men say, ‘Yes, if that is so, then this time would indeed be of the utmost seriousness and significance! But then we would have to go out in greater numbers, including some who are well versed in Scripture. It is only a pity that all our rabbis are on the mountain today! But perhaps He can be persuaded to stay among us for a few days, and then they too could examine Him.’
John 4:30. Then they went out of the city and came to Him.
They then invite more people to go out with them to Jacob’s well, and a procession of nearly a hundred people of both sexes goes out to see the Messiah.