Jesus Leaves Judea for Galilee
Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard reports about his ministry—that he was attracting and baptizing more followers than John the Baptist. Though Jesus himself wasn't doing the actual baptizing, his disciples were the ones performing the baptisms. When Jesus discovered that the Pharisees knew about his growing influence, he decided to leave Judea and travel back to Galilee.
Jesus and the Samaritan Woman
Jesus had to travel through Samaria on his journey. He came to a Samaritan town called Sychar, which was near the piece of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph long ago. Jacob's well was located there, and Jesus, tired from walking, sat down beside the well to rest. It was around noon. A Samaritan woman came to draw water from the well. Jesus said to her, "Please give me a drink." His disciples had gone into the town to buy food, so he was alone. The woman looked at him with surprise. "You are a Jew," she said. "How can you ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?" She said this because Jews and Samaritans did not normally have anything to do with each other. Jesus answered her, "If you understood God's gift and knew who is asking you for a drink, you would have asked me instead, and I would have given you living water." The woman said, "Sir, you don't have a bucket or rope, and this well is very deep. Where would you get this living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well? He drank from it himself, and so did his children and his animals." Jesus replied, "Everyone who drinks this well water will become thirsty again. But anyone who drinks the water I give will never be thirsty again. The water I give will become like a spring inside them, flowing up and giving eternal life." The woman said to him, "Sir, please give me this water so I won't get thirsty anymore and won't have to keep coming here to draw water." Jesus told her, "Go and call your husband, then come back here." "I don't have a husband," the woman answered. Jesus said, "You're right when you say you don't have a husband. The truth is, you've been married to five different men, and the man you're living with now is not your husband. You have spoken honestly." The woman stared at him. "Sir, I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped God on this mountain, but you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place where people should worship." Jesus said, "Believe me, woman, the time is coming when people will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you don't really understand. We Jews worship what we do understand, because salvation comes through the Jewish people. But the time is coming—in fact, it's already here—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. These are the kind of worshipers the Father wants. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth." The woman said, "I know that the Messiah is coming—the one called Christ. When he arrives, he will explain everything to us." Jesus looked directly at her and said, "I am the Messiah—I who am speaking to you right now."
The Disciples Return and the Woman's Testimony
At that very moment, Jesus' disciples came back from town and were shocked to find him talking with a woman. Even though they were surprised, none of them dared to ask him, "What do you need from her?" or "Why are you having this conversation with her?" The woman suddenly left her water jar right where it was and hurried back into the town. She went straight to the people there and told them, "Come and see a man who told me everything I've ever done in my life. Do you think he could be the Messiah?" When the townspeople heard this, they left what they were doing and headed out toward Jesus.
Jesus Teaches About His Food and the Harvest
While Jesus was speaking with the woman at the well, his disciples came back and urged him to eat something. "Teacher," they said, "you need to have some food." But Jesus surprised them with his answer. "I have food to eat that you don't know anything about," he told them. The disciples looked at each other in confusion. They whispered among themselves, "Did someone already bring him something to eat while we were gone?" Jesus saw their puzzlement and explained what he meant. "My food is to do what God wants me to do and to complete the work he gave me. You know how people say, 'We still have four months to wait before harvest time comes'? But I'm telling you to look around you right now. Look at the fields with your own eyes—they are already white and ready for harvest. "The person who gathers this harvest is already earning his pay and collecting a crop that will last forever. This way, both the one who plants the seeds and the one who gathers the harvest can celebrate together. You've heard the old saying, 'One person plants and someone else harvests'—well, that's exactly what's happening here. "I'm sending you to harvest crops that you didn't plant or tend. Other people did all the hard work of preparing the soil and planting, and now you get to gather what they worked so hard to grow."
Many Samaritans Believe
Many people from that Samaritan town put their faith in Jesus because of what the woman told them. She had said, "He told me everything I have ever done," and her words convinced them to believe. When these Samaritans came out to meet Jesus, they urged him to stay with them longer. Jesus agreed and remained in their town for two days. During that time, many more people came to believe in him because they heard his teaching directly. After listening to Jesus themselves, they went back to the woman and told her, "Now we believe, but not just because of what you said to us. We have heard him speak with our own ears, and we know for certain that this man truly is the one who saves the world."
Jesus Returns to Galilee
After spending two days there, Jesus departed and traveled to Galilee. Jesus himself had once said that a prophet receives no respect in his own hometown. But when he arrived in Galilee, the people there gave him a warm welcome. They had witnessed all the remarkable things he had accomplished in Jerusalem during the festival, because they too had made the journey there to celebrate.
Jesus Heals the Official's Son
Jesus came back to Cana in Galilee, the same town where he had turned water into wine. There was a government official who had a son lying sick in Capernaum. When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he traveled to find him and pleaded with Jesus to come down to his home and heal his son, who was close to death. Jesus responded, "Unless you people see miraculous signs and amazing wonders, you will never believe in me." The official pressed him urgently, saying, "Sir, please come down before my child dies." Jesus told him, "Go home. Your son will live." The man believed what Jesus said and left for home. While he was still traveling back, his servants met him on the road with wonderful news—his boy was alive and well. The father asked them exactly when his son had gotten better, and they answered, "The fever broke yesterday at one o'clock in the afternoon." The father immediately realized this was the exact same time when Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live." He and everyone in his household put their faith in Jesus. This was the second miraculous sign that Jesus performed after returning from Judea to Galilee.