John 4:22

Salvation. Literally, “the salvation,” meaning the only salvation there is (see Acts 4:12). Samaritanism was a combination of apostate Hebrew religion and heathenism (see pp. 18, 45). The Samaritans took the Pentateuch as their Bible and claimed to be more orthodox than the Jews, but they worshiped God blindly — they knew not what they worshiped — and therefore worshiped Him “in vain” (see Mark 7:7). In the providence of God the Jews had been made His chosen witnesses to the nations of earth (see Vol. IV, pp. 26-30). They became the recipients and appointed custodians of His revealed will (see Rom. 3:1,2; 9:3-5). Jesus therefore affirms the absolute superiority of the Jewish religion, having already made it clear that that superiority is in no way related to the place of worship (John 4:21). The superiority of Judaism consisted in the fact that God had chosen the Hebrew people to be His representatives on earth, that He had entrusted to them the divine oracles, and that the Messiah was to be a Jew (Rom. 9:4, 5).