John 4:1-42 When therefore the LORD knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John,… I. THERE IS A STRIKING CONTRAST AND COMPLEMENT BETWEEN THE TWO. The woman, the Samaritan, the sinner, is placed over against the Rabbi, the ruler of the Jews, the Pharisee. The nature of worship takes the place of the necessity of the new birth; yet so that either truth leads up to the other. The new birth is the condition of entrance into the kingdom; true worship flows from Christ's gift. II. THERE IS A REMARKABLE SIMILARITY OF METHOD in Christ's teaching in the two cases. Immediate circumstances, the wind and the water, furnished present parables, through which deeper thoughts were suggested, fitted to call out the powers and feelings of a sympathetic listener. III. THE MODE IN WHICH OUR LORD DEALT WITH THE WOMAN finds a parallel in the synoptic gospels (Luke 7:37, etc.; comp. Matthew 26:6, etc.). The other scattered notices of the Lord's intercourse with women form a fruitful subject for study (John 11; John 20:14, etc.; Matthew 9:20 and parallels, Matthew 15:22, etc., and parallels, Matthew 27:55 and parallels, Matthew 28:9, etc.; Luke 8:2, etc., Luke 10:38, etc., Luke 11:27, etc., Luke 13:11, etc.). (Bp. Westcott.) Parallel Verses KJV: When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, |
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