You'll already know, avid reader (I don't presume that you are plural), that I've found Herman Ridderbos on John's Gospel to be extremely helpful. I want to just flesh-out why that is, with reference to his treatment of the woman at the well in John 4.
It's a favourite account with preachers and has so much to go at, in psychological terms - married five times, living with a bloke, trying to divert Jesus' attention from her sin and onto extraneous religious issues. Thing is, John's account doesn't support that interpretation. As Ridderbos demonstrates, it's far more about the salvation-historical significance of Jesus and his ministry.
For instance, the repeated emphasis upon Jacob - it's his well, a gift to his people. Is Jesus greater than he? Then there's the focus on water and living water - terms that are pregnant with OT symbolism of God's coming kingdom and reign.
And when Jesus displays his prescience regarding her marital state, she responds to his prophetic status by asking about how God can be truly known. Instead of saying, 'Whoah, I haven't finished with your sin yet, lady', Jesus answers her in explicitly salvation-historical terms: an hour is coming...and has now come. And his answer is not only to her but is a message for all the Samaritans (verses 21 & 22 speak in plural terms - this is not so much about her as an individual as about them as a group).
All this (and more), Ridderbos sees here and expresses its meaning with clarity and richness.
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