8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.
8 For
The “for” gives the reason that Jesus was alone. Verse 8 is an explanation of verse 7. No one else could draw the water for Him because Jesus’ disciples were not there with their rope-bucket to draw water.
His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.
Jesus’ disciples were in the city buying food during this conversation with the Samaritan woman. There was some level of cooperation between Jews and Samaritans when it came to business. However, this does not mean that their relationship was cordial.
The disciples would have looked for kosher food. All other food would have been ceremonially unclean. Maybe they bought bread and nuts, which would not defile them.
Later the disciples were shocked to see Jesus talking to an immoral woman (Jn 4:27). Jewish custom frowned on this. However, this woman’s soul was more important to Jesus than what others thought of Him.
PRINCIPLE:
Souls are more important than what people may think of us.
APPLICATION:
One of the main reasons why Christians do not share their faith is what others may think of them: “Boy, he is weird. He is one of those strange evangelicals.” It is amazing how this keeps people from sharing their faith. The issue here is what is important to us—our reputation or eternal life for others.
