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AN ASTONISHING REVELATION
AN ASTONISHING REVELATION
No sooner had she broached the subject of the Messiah, than Jesus said, “I who speak to you am He” (John 4:26 NKJV).
26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
This is the single most direct and explicit messianic claim Jesus ever made. Never before in any of the biblical record had He said this so forthrightly to anyone. Never again is it recorded that he declared Himself this plainly, until the night of His betrayal.
Of course, when Peter made his great confession, Jesus affirmed that Peter had it right (Matt. 16:17–19).
17 And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.
18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
But He immediately “commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ” (v. 20 NKJV).
Matthew 16:20 (ESV)
20 Then he strictly charged the disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ.
When Jewish crowds demanded, “If You are the Christ, tell us plainly” (John 10:24 NKJV), He never denied the truth, but He avoided explicitly stating the words they were clamoring to hear.
24 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”
Instead, He appealed to His works as evidence of who He was: “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me” (v. 25 NKJV).
John 10:25 (ESV)
25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me,
It was not until His trial before Caiaphas, in the early-morning hours just before His crucifixion, that Jesus once again revealed His identity as plainly as He did for this Samaritan woman.
The high priest asked Him, “Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” (Mark 14:61 NKJV).
Mark 14:61 (ESV)
61 But he remained silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?”
Jesus said, “I am. And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven” (v. 62 NKJV).
Mark 14:62 (ESV)
62 And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.”
That was the very declaration that ultimately cost Him His life. Mark wrote, “The high priest tore his clothes and said, ‘What further need do we have of witnesses? You have heard the blasphemy! What do you think?’ And they all condemned Him to be deserving of death” (vv. 63–64 NKJV).
Mark 14:63–64 (ESV)
63 And the high priest tore his garments and said, “What further witnesses do we need?
64 You have heard his blasphemy. What is your decision?” And they all condemned him as deserving death.
In light of all that, it is absolutely astonishing that the very first time Jesus chose to reveal Himself as Messiah, it was to a Samaritan woman with such a shady past. But His self-revelation is a testimony to her faith. The fact that He declared Himself so plainly is proof positive that the tiny germ of hope that had her looking for the Messiah in the first place was either about to develop into authentic, full-fledged faith—or else it already had sprouted. Jesus would not have committed Himself to an unbeliever (John 2:24).
24 But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people
Scripture says it was precisely “at this point” that the disciples returned from their errand, “and they marveled that He talked with a woman” (John 4:27 NKJV).
27 Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?”
The Greek expression is emphatic, suggesting they returned just in time to hear Him declare Himself Messiah. They were shocked speechless at the scene. John, himself an eyewitness, wrote, “No one said, ‘What do You seek?’ or, ‘Why are You talking with her?’ ” (v. 27 NKJV).
AN AMAZING TRANSFORMATION
AN AMAZING TRANSFORMATION
Soon after the disciples arrived, the woman left the well, leaving behind her water pot. It wasn’t absent-mindedness that caused her to leave it; she fully intended to come back. Her plan was to bring the leading men of the city and introduce them to Christ. She was privy to amazing knowledge that must not be kept secret.
Her response was typical of new believers, one of the evidences of authentic faith. The person who has just had the burden of sin and guilt lifted always wants to share the good news with others. The woman’s excitement would have been palpable. And notice that the first thing she told the men of her town was that Jesus had told her everything she ever did. No longer was she evading the facts of her sin. She was basking in the glow of forgiveness, and there is simply no shame in that.
Her enthusiasm and determination were apparently hard to resist, because the men of the city went back with her to the well where they all met Jesus.
The immediate impact of this woman’s testimony on the city of Sychar was profound. John wrote, “Many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, ‘He told me all that I ever did’ ” (v. 39 NKJV, emphasis added).
What a contrast this makes with the reception Jesus got from the scribes and Pharisees in Jerusalem! Luke wrote, “The Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, ‘This Man receives sinners and eats with them’ ” (Luke 15:2 NKJV, emphasis added).
Luke 15:2 (ESV)
2 And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.”
The religious leaders were disgusted with Him because He was willing to converse with rogues and scoundrels such as this woman. They mocked Him openly, saying, “Look, a glutton and a winebibber, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!” (Matt. 11:19 NKJV).
Matthew 11:19 (ESV)
19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.”
They were offended, for example, when Jesus went to the house of Zacchaeus. “They all complained, saying, ‘He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner’ ” (Luke 19:7 NKJV).
Luke 19:7 (ESV)
7 And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.”
But Samaritans lacked the phony scruples of religious hypocrisy. The leading men of that Samaritan village were in many ways the polar opposites of the religious leaders in Jerusalem. The Jewish leaders, of course, were convinced that when the Messiah came, He would vindicate them. He would banish the Romans and set up His kingdom over the whole world, with Israel at the hub. He would triumph over all Israel’s enemies, including the Samaritans, and rule and reign through the very political and religious structures they represented. Their messianic expectations were high for that very reason, and their contempt for Christ was acute for the same reason. He fit none of their preconceived notions of what the Messiah ought to be. He rebuked the religious leaders while fellowshipping openly with publicans and sinners. The Jewish leaders hated Him for it.
The Samaritans had the opposite perspective. They knew the Messiah was promised. Although the books of Moses were the only part of the Old Testament they believed, the messianic promises were there. As Jesus told the Pharisees, “If you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me” (John 5:46 NKJV). In Deuteronomy 18:18, for example, God promised a great Prophet—a national spokesman on the order of Moses, or greater: “I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth” (NKJV). The Pentateuch also included all the familiar promises about the Seed of the woman who would crush the serpent, and the Seed of Abraham, in whom all the nations would be blessed. That is why the Samaritan woman knew the Messiah was coming.
But Samaritan society had been degraded and debased by years of false religion and immorality. Samaritans had a definite sense that they were sinners. They lacked the self-righteous swagger that colored the religion of the Pharisees and Sadducees. When they pondered the coming Messiah, they probably anticipated His advent with a degree of fear.
So when this woman announced so boldly that she had found the Messiah and that He knew everything about her sin but received her anyway, the men of Sychar welcomed Jesus with great enthusiasm. “They urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. And many more believed because of His own word. Then they said to the woman, ‘Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world’ ” (John 4:40–42 NKJV). This was an amazing revival, and it must have utterly transformed that little town.
40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days.
41 And many more believed because of his word.
42 They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”
Jesus had indeed found a true worshiper. Scripture doesn’t tell us what ultimately became of the Samaritan woman. Her heart was clearly changed by her encounter with Christ. It is an absolute certainty that her life changed as well, because “If anyone is in Christ, [she] is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Cor. 5:17 NKJV).
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
Within three years after the Samaritan woman’s meeting with Christ at Jacob’s well, the church was founded. Its influence quickly spread from Jerusalem into all Judea and Samaria, and from there to the uttermost parts of the earth (Acts 1:8).
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
That meant the Samaritan woman and the men of her city would soon be able to find fellowship and teaching in a context where there was neither Hebrew nor Samaritan, Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female; but where all were one in Christ Jesus (Gal. 3:28).
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
I think it is a certainty that the Samaritan village of Sychar became a center of gospel activity and witness. Having gone out of His way to reveal Himself to that village, having given them the water of life that quenched their spiritual thirst, we can be certain He did not simply abandon them. This woman, who had begun her new life by bringing many others to Christ, no doubt continued her evangelistic ministry. She even continues it today through the record of Scripture. Multitudes have come to Christ through the influence of John 4 and “because of the word of the woman who testified, ‘He told me all that I ever did’ ” (v. 39 NKJV).
John 4:39 (ESV)
39 Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.”
Only heaven will reveal the vast and far-reaching fruits of this extraordinary woman’s encounter with the Messiah.
Why was it unusual for Jesus to speak to this Samaritan woman or to take water from her?
What are the characteristics of the “living water” that Jesus offered to the Samaritan woman?
How would you define “living water” to someone who did not know Christ?
What was the marital state of this woman?
Why did Jesus call attention to the fact that she had no husband?
Read John 4:6–7. What do these two verses reveal to us about the nature of Jesus?
6 Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.
7 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.”
Read Ephesians 2:8–9. In what ways does the story of the Samaritan woman illustrate the truth of this passage of Scripture?
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Jesus did not offer “living water” to the Samaritan woman on the basis of anything she gave to Him or on the basis of who she was. He let her know that He knew she was a sinner and unworthy of His offer—even so He made His offer of living water to her. What a picture of God’s grace and mercy! He offers us living water even when we are sinners. Why is it important that we never lose sight of this truth?
MacArthur, John F., Jr. 2006. Twelve Extraordinary Women Workbook. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers.
MacArthur, John F., Jr. 2006. Twelve Extraordinary Women Workbook. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers.