John 4 Verses 1-4 

John 4:1 “When therefore the Lord knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John, 2 (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,) 3 He left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee. 4 And he must needs go through Samaria.”           

When the Pharisees and the Sadducees had come to John, John rejected them and called them a generation of vipers.  He told them to bring forth fruit meet for repentance.  He asked them, “who hath warned you to flee the wrath to come?”  The Pharisees rejected the authority of God for John to baptize, but were afraid of the people who believed John to be a prophet.  Now, when Jesus through his disciples were now baptizing even more disciples than John, this no doubt was a concern to the Pharisees, who took John and now even more Jesus to be a threat to their religious dominance among the Jews.   

Now Jesus did not baptize, but his disciples.  The authority that the disciples had to baptize (apostles whom Jesus ordained) came from Jesus: before only John had the authority to baptize.   

Jesus left Judaea to go unto Galilee.  He did not leave because he feared the Pharisees as he would confront them many times later.  He left because he purposed to go to Galilee.  Along the way to Galilee was a region known as Samaria.  The statement was made “And he must needs go through Samaria.”  The Lord is a God of purpose.  He had a purpose for going through Samaria.  There was a woman there that he was going to meet and then as a result he would also meet with a larger group of Samaritans.   

The Samaritans were not of the tribe of Israel.  Now at one time, the city of Samaria was the capital of the 10 tribes of Israel who had separated from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin in Solomon’s son’s day.  However, when the king of Assyria invaded Israel, he carried the 10 tribes abroad and dispersed them throughout the nations and they lost their identity.  He brought other people into Samaria to occupy and live in the land.  Because of an invasion of wild beasts, it was believed that it was because they did not know the ways of the God of the land.  So the king sent forth Levites to teach the law of Moses unto the occupants of the land.  The Samaritans of Christ day had a proselyte form of the Jewish religion, but it was largely perverted.  Subsequently the Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans.