509
T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
August 1924
V. 7. Explains, v. 4, the coming of this abandoned woman explains why Jesus “must needs go through Samaria.”— Torrey. Thè task of carrying water in the East rests largely upon the women.— Pract. Com. V. 8. Sychar—-the “ Shechem” of thé COMMENTS Old Testament, about thirty-four miles FROM THE from Jerusalem, afterwards called COMMENTARIES “Neapolis,” and now “Nablous.”— J. F. V. V. Morgan & B. V. 9. It was an old quarrel, going back to the importation of Assyrians to take the place of thè exiled Jews; and to the refusal of Zerubbabel to allow the mixed race that resulted, with their heathen tendencies and practices;' to join in the rebuilding of the temple. This antagonism was intensified by the doctrinal peculiarities of the Samaritans, their acceptance of the Pentateuch only as true Scripture. The disciples; to be sure, had gone to Sychar, to buy food from Samaritans, but they were from Galilee, and the Galileans were less Strict in-this matter than the Judeans.— Peloubet. V. I I . It was more than one hundred feet deep, in fact, as early travelers' méâsured it; now it has become filled up somewhat hnd is only seventy-five feet deep.— Sei. V. 12. The Samaritans claim to be descendants of Jacob through Joseph, but they were a mixed race, a few Israel ites being joined with idolaters after the captivity of Israel (2 Kgs. 17:22-41). V. 13. The world’s water is surface water, and can never satisfy.-—T. C. H. V. 14. The indwelling of the Holy Ghost as the Spirit of Christ is the secret of this life with all its enduring ener gies and satisfactions, as is expressly said (ch. 7 :37 -39 ).— J.'F. & B. V. 19. The woman was quick-witted, and dextrously turned the conversation away from herself and her sins.’A«;: Peloubèt,,. There she was in thé presence of the Lord Jesus Christ! and Could enter into personal conference with that august soul. It was the chance of a life-time; it was one of thé greatest opportunities in twenty centuries of human experience. Yet she wastes her time and His in useless banter. How many times- this scene at Jacob’s well is reenacted! You seek to bring some fellow mortal into the presence of the mighty truths of religion,’ and he has nothing to offer but bhnter and quibble.-^-Dean Brown. V. 24. What our Lord Jésus really said is “ God is Spirit;” thus defining God’s'essential nature, free from all limitations of place and time. Spirit is the antithesis to matter (Lk. 24 :39 ):. It is incorporeal, invisible reality! To say “God is Spirit,” is to say God is incorporeal and invisible, not limited to places like Gerizim and Jerusalem, or any other places. Spirit is invisible; but none the less real. While God is essentially spirit and therefore in His essential nature invisible (Col. 1 :15 ; 1 Tim. 1 :17 ; Heb. 11:27; 1 Tim. 6 :1 6 ), nevertheless God manifests Himself in a visible form (Ex. 24:9, 10). Thé Supreme manifesta tion of God in visible form was in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ (John 14:9).r—Torrey. For four thousand years all the sages of earth could not evolve this one simple but sublime truth. . . all their learning and thought must pale before the humble Teacher of a female outcast at a solitary well in Samaria. . . , This wondrous dialogue begins with a cup of water, and "ends with the most sublime yevelation of the Nature of God and His Worship.— Anon. Three things are essential to true worship : First, a divine nature (born of the Spirit). Second, the presence of the Spirit (the flesh cannot please God). Third, the Word of God (intelligent worship).— T. C. H.
of the Northern kingdom. In 721 B. C. the Assyrians cap tured it and removing its chief citizens, BESSON replaced them with foreigners, 2 Kings EXPOSITION 17:5-6. As a result there, was: a mixed F. W . Farr population, half Jewish and half heathen. This was the beginning of Samaritan his tory. When the Jewish remnant, returned from the cap tivity in Babylon, and began to rebuild the city and, temple, the Samaritans offered to help them. The offer being rejected, an enmity arose that continued throughout their history, A Jewish priest married a heathen wife and being driven out-of Jerusalem, he went to Samaria. Later he got permission from the Persian king to build a temple on Mount Gerizim where he instituted a priestly worship modeled after and rivaling that of Jerusalem. The Samar itans claimed Jacob as ¡their ancestor, kept all the Jewish festivals, but rejected all the Old Testament except the Pen tateuch. In the time of Christ the feeling between the two peoples was intense, and bjtter. The more bigoted Jews held the very soil of Samaria to be unclean and would not walk over it. In going, from Judea to Galilee they crossed the Jordan and went around through Peraea. When it is said that Jesus must needs go through Samaria, John 4:4, we may understand the necessity to be spiritual rather than geographical. Jacob’s well was cut through the solid rock, was nine feet in diameter and seventy-five feet deep. The woman of Samaria was a social outcast. Jesus not only talks with her but even tells her that he is the Messiah which at that time he had not told His own disciples. It was a violation of Jewish etiquette to talk with a Woman in public even though she was a member of one’s own family. According to the rabbis it was sacrilege to impart the law to a woman. There is a significant contrast between the interview; with Nieodemus in the third chapter of John and the interview with the Samaritan woman in the fourth chapter. Nico- demus seeks Jesus. Jesus seeks the woman. Jesus tells NicodemUs what he must be. Of the woman He asks a favor. The man is convicted by truth. The woman is con victed by grace, In the interview with Nieodemus it is all about doctrine. In that of the woman it is all about Him self. With Nieodemus'it was what the Son does: With the woman what the Father does. Tn the case of the man there was light to judge. In the case of the woman there was spirit to worship. Nieodemus isaw only a man, though a teacher come from God. The woman saw a prophet arid recognized the Messiah. Nieodemus had faith in miracles. Thé woman believed His Word. Nieodemus waited three years. The woman came at once. NicodemUs received à dead Saviour, John 19:39. The woman accepted the living Person. The interview between Jesus and the woman is a model of soul winning and personal work. She wanted the gift rather than the Giver. There are many like her today who want such a gift of religion as will take away all the labor and trouble of thé Christian life. They desire the results of right living without any trouble' of living right. “ That I come not hither to draw,” True and spiritual worship can only be given by a heart that has been born from above and is in communion with the heavenly Father. It must recognize the established approach to the Father through Jesus Christ, the only Mediator between God and man. Any other imaginary method of approach through angels, saints or other human beings, through penance, beads or good works, is dishon oring to God and impossible to man.
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