Behold the Messiah

Christmas Reading for the Third Week

Our Christmas Reading this week requires a few words before I begin. The Christmas Season celebrates the first advent, or coming, of Jesus Christ. This should deal, not only with His birth, but also the beginning of His ministry which is why the first 13 verses of the Gospel of Mark can and should be considered part of the Advent Celebration. Although this is not a traditional story surrounding the night of the birth of our Lord and Savior, Mark, in his typical short, concise and no holds barred method, introduces us to God Incarnate at the moment when He came fully into His ministry. The Gospel of Mark begins in this way:

Mark 1:1–13 LSB

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You, Who will prepare Your way; The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight.’” John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. And all the region of Judea was going out to him, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins. And John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and was eating locusts and wild honey. And he was preaching, saying, “After me One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to stoop down and untie the strap of His sandals. “I baptized you with water; but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” Now it happened that in those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And immediately coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens opening, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him; and a voice came out of the heavens: “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.” And immediately the Spirit drove Him to go out into the wilderness. And He was in the wilderness forty days being tempted by Satan; and He was with the wild beasts, and the angels were ministering to Him.

Introduction

The closer that we get to Christmas, the more we hear the word hope around us. For some, it is the hope of a brighter future, a “better life”; for others it is the hope for the present under the tree to be the very thing we have been desiring all year long; for others it is something that eludes them and brings them to a dark place in their lives…but the true hope that Christmas brings far exceeds any expectation. Our text for today introduces us to a person who encounters the source of true hope but before we step into the text we need to lay the foundation.

In Genesis 3:15 we come to what is known as the proto-evangelion, or first gospel. As a result of Adam and Eve’s sin, God banishes them from the Garden of Eden. As he does so, He pronounces judgement on both Adam and Eve as well as the serpent who tempted Eve. In the judgement of the serpent God says, “He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.”” As we move throughout the Old Testament, God continually points towards the reality of a coming messiah or deliverer, a true hope to the people of Israel.

As we move into the Gospel’s we see the prophecies of the Old Testament become realities, the Word is made flesh, Emmanuel, God with us, is born and true hope is no longer a thing to be longed for but a truth to be grasped. A reality that the Jewish people should have immediately recognized with all of their knowledge walked among them, but as John 1:11 “He came to what was His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.” The reality, mankind had forever been ruined by sin. Genesis 6:5

Genesis 6:5 LSB

Then Yahweh saw that the evil of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

and Jeremiah 17:9

Jeremiah 17:9 LSB

“The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can know it?

We are no different…we like to think that we are, in fact, we are often quick to criticize those who denied and rejected Him…but the simple truth is that, apart from the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, our reaction, our response, would have been no different. Last week we looked at the encounter, the conversation that took place between Nicodemus and Jesus. We saw the truth of the powerful words of Christ in John 3:3 and 3:5, that apart from being born again, a work of the Spirit of God alone, one cannot see, let alone enter the kingdom of God. We understood the truth that this passage teaches regarding regeneration preceeding faith, that apart from the regenerating work of the Spirit, one cannot see, or understand the kingdom. We often think of this as being a future reality, and it will be consummated or fulfilled in the future, but the kingdom is present right here, right now in the lives of believers, in the church of the living God.

This morning, our text focuses in on Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s Well. Here again is a familiar bible passage, one that is taught often in Sunday School and occasionally in a sermon. This morning, however, we want to come to this encounter with fresh eyes and fresh ears. We will take our text this morning, again from the gospel of John, this time looking to the 4th chapter, working in verses 4-26. As we prepare to read that text, however, I want to introduce it using verses 1-3.

Chapter 4 of John opens up with a comment that Jesus knew the Pharisees saw He was gaining popularity and knew that this was going to quickly lead to a confrontation He leaves Judea and heads back up to Galilee. Now, in between these areas lay the hated region of Samaria. The origin of Samaria traces back to when the 12 tribes were united under David and then Solomon, but because of Solomon’s sin, after his death, the kingdom was divided. Ten tribes went to the north and one tribe, the tribe of Judah, remained in the south. The northern kingdom, or Israel, built their capital city according to 1 Kings 16:24 “And he bought the hill Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver; and he built on the hill, and named the city which he built Samaria, after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill.”

In 722 BC, the Northern Kingdom was decimated by the Assyrians, after which the area became a melting pot of people and their worship practices became syncretistic. Ultimately they would purge themselves of many of the pagan practices, but they never recovered their true worship of Yahweh, the one true God. By the time of the intertestamental period, these two groups utterly despised each other. As a result of this mutual dislike, and the current Jewish approach to the law (Pharisaical rigidity) it would not be uncommon for a Jew traveling northward to go around Samaria, either by way of the coastal road or cross the Jordan river, travel up the river until they had past Samaria, and then cross back over.

Verse 3 tells us that Jesus left Judea and headed north, to Galilee…bringing us to our text for the morning.

Text

Please stand as we read the Word of the Living God together:

John 4:4–26 LSB

And He had to pass through Samaria. So He came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph; and Jacob’s well was there. So Jesus, being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Therefore the Samaritan woman said to Him, “How do You, being a Jew, ask for a drink from me, being a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” She said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? “Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?” Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst—ever; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.” The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come back here to draw.” He said to her, “Go, call your husband and come back here.” The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You have correctly said, ‘I have no husband’; for you had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband; this you have said truly.” The woman said to Him, “Sir, I see that You are a prophet. “Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. “You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. “But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when He comes, He will declare all things to us.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.”

Father, we thank You for Your Holy Word, for it’s principles, it’s promises, it’s directions, and it’s light. As we partake of Your Word this morning, may we learn more of Christ, remind us of how dear He is to us, by the washing of water with the Word. We are one with Him by faith according to Your Word. Lord we humbly ask that our hearts are form according to Your Word in the the image of Thy Son. Father, we pray that Your words are written on our hearts and inscribed upon our lips. We ask that you take full possession of our hearts, that you would reign supreme within us, grant us the strength to be attentive to our condition and character, let our speech be edifying, our hearts diligent, let us fleeing from temptation, let us mortify our sin, and let us be concerned about the salvation of other, for Your names sake and Your glory above all. Father we ask these things in the blessed name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

The Required Route

The third paragraph of the second chapter of the 1689 London Baptist Confession of faith provides us with a summary teaching regarding the trinity. It states:

Confessing the Faith: The 1689 Baptist Confession for the 21st Century II. God and the Holy Trinity

This divine and infinite Being consists of three real persons, the Father, the Word or Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three have the same substance, power, and eternity, each having the whole divine essence without this essence being divided. The Father is not derived from anyone, neither begotten nor proceeding. The Son is eternally begotten of the Father. The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. All three are infinite and without beginning and are therefore only one God, who is not to be divided in nature and being. Yet these three are distinguished by several distinctive characteristics and personal relations. This truth of the Trinity is the foundation of all of our fellowship with God and of our comforting dependence on Him.

This paragraph is especially helpful to us when we run across verses, like verse 3, that demonstrate for us that the work of Christ was eternally decreed. John definitively here in verse three that Jesus “had to pass through Samaria”. While it could certainly be possible that John simply meant that to get from point A to point B, it was necessary to pass through point C, the fact that there were alternate routes available makes this an unlikely interpretation. The fact of the matter is that Jesus had a divine appointment, in Samaria, that must be kept.

Anytime that we are provided with a reminder of the willful submission of the Son to the will of the Father it should serve as a reminder to us similar to that of Paul to the Philippians found in Philippians 2:5-8

Philippians 2:5–8 LSB

Have this way of thinking in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although existing in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a slave, by being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

The Woman and The Well

Continuing in the narrative provided for us of this encounter John brings us to the area just outside of the town of Sychar. The facts that John notes for us regarding this particular location make the site of historical significance to both the Jews and the Samaritans. The reference to the field given by Jacob to his son Joseph refers back to additional portion that we find recorded in Genesis 48:21–22 “Then Israel said to Joseph, “Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you and will bring you back to the land of your fathers. “And I give you one portion more than your brothers, which I took from the hand of the Amorite with my sword and my bow.”” Although this area held historical significance for both peoples, the Samaritans held that Mount Gerizim was the place that God commanded that they should worship Him and the basis for the statement we find later in verse 20.

The overall journey, straight through the region of Samaria to Galilee would take approximately three days. Three days of travel through a hot, arid climate is a daunting task for any person and the John notes for us that Jesus is “wearied from His journey. This serves to remind us of the humanity of Jesus, a beautiful truth of Scripture. Gilbert Borchert notes the following regarding this and other statements throughout the gospels that remind us of the fact that Jesus was fully or wholly man:

John 1–11 6. The Witness to the Samaritan Woman: A Lesson for the Disciples and a Crucial Confession (4:1–42)

It is absolutely crucial to recognize that all the Gospel writers were fully aware of the humanity of Jesus. The strategic Christian doctrine of the incarnation is not merely a theological assertion about the deity of Jesus; it is equally a theological assertion about his humanity. Heretical tendencies result when either element is omitted or submerged. Jesus was really a mortal who experienced the bodily weaknesses of being human, even though he did not suffer the human curse of sin (cf. Heb 4:15). That he became tired and thirsty is the affirmation of Scripture. It was perfectly legitimate for him to experience both. But as in the temptation stories (cf. Matt 4:3–4; Luke 4:3–4), we, like the disciples in this present story, must learn from Jesus not to allow personal mortality and its needs to dominate our concerns (cf. John 4:31–38).

And so, tired and thirsty, Jesus’ rests at the well while His disciples tend to the needs of their teacher by going into town to purchase food. While He rested a Samaritan woman came to the well to draw her water. We should note here that midday is not the normal time for the women of the day to have been travelling to the well. They would have either gathered early in the morning and/or early in the evening, the cooler times of the day, to accomplish this most important of tasks. It is difficult for us to truly understand the necessity of this daily trip. We are fortunate to live in a time and place where we have immediate access to a bountiful supply of clean fresh water. This was not, and is not the case, in many areas.

The truth that water is an essential part of human existence is clear, not only throughout scripture, but also in the daily life that we live. Without water we, who are 80% water, become dehydrated, our body begins to malfunction and break down. Just as water is a necessity of life, clean water is just as important. In a desert climate, when temperatures can soar, that is dry and arid, meaning that moisture is removed more quickly from the body, having fresh, clean water readily available was a challenge that required effort. Again, Borchert is helpful to our understanding as he writes “a well in a desert is the difference between life and death.”

The stage is now set for an encounter that will forever alter this woman’s life. There are two things to note before we proceed. First, as previously mentioned, the Jewish and Samaritan people had a mutual dislike for each other which resulted in the Jews opinions of Samaritans in general being low to the point of seeing them as outcasts and unworthy (remember the lawyer that responds to the story of the good Samaritan could not even bring himself to acknowledge him as a Samaritan and rather referred to him as the “the one”) and secondly, the fact that this woman was coming to the well at the noon hour tells us that she was something of an outcast among outcasts, one who was not welcome to join the other women as they came to accomplish this chore.

As this outcast among outcasts approaches, Jesus asks her for some water. Her reply gives us a glimpse of the depth of the issue between these two groups of people. Specifically speaking, there are three traditions that are being broken here by Jesus’ request. The first is generic in that all Jewish men did not speak to women in public (devout men/spiritual men) including their own wives. Secondly, Rabbis certainly did not speak to women who were known to be immoral and finally, the absolute disdain that any Jew had for a Samaritan and in light of the first and second, especially a Samaritan woman and even more so, this particular Samaritan woman. So it is no wonder why she make her reply, “How do you, being a Jew, ask for a drink from me, being a Samaritan woman?”

The Jewish Mishna, or oral traditions, describes a Samaritan woman as being in a state of continual, ritual uncleanness. This is why John adds the parenthetical explanation following her response. The English translation of this statement falls short. The literal language here speaks specifically of the sharing of utensils and dishes but is being used to convey the greater issue of ensuring that one stays clean by not sharing those specific items, or here in the case of Jesus’ request, her water bottle.

There is Water and Then There is Water

Much like the case with Nicodemus, Jesus responds to the woman in a way that bypasses the primary conversation and gets right to the heart of the matter. Although His original request and her response was regarding the physical need for water, He flips the script and brings them into a full own gospel conversation.

As a side note here, we struggle with ways to bring conversations with people to a place where we feel comfortable enough to share. The problem, just as we will see here, is that the gospel is never going to be a comfortable conversation. Our excuses generally fit into one of three categories:

I do not know enough to present the gospel…If this is true, you need to start there, because if you do not know enough to share the gospel, how can you know enough to believe the gospel.

I am not allowed to share the gospel in this or that situation…as mentioned previously, just by speaking to this woman, Jesus is breaking no less than three man made rules and so the the real issue here is do you care enough about the salvation of others that you are willing to share the gospel regardless of the consequences.

They may ask me questions, get made at me, or no longer like me…if the first is your concern, I refer you back to number 1 above, if the second or third are your concern I would ask you the same thing that the Apostles asked the Pharisees in Acts 5:29 when challenged regarding their disobedience to the demand that they not continue teaching the truth of Jesus...“But Peter and the apostles answered and said, “We must obey God rather than men.”

I digress and so back to the matter at hand, Jesus moves from dealing with His physical need to her spiritual one. This points to another great truth of Scripture, the great need of our soul. It should take no more than a moment of observation to see that people are desperately searching for something that will provide them with joy, hope, peace and love. Things that can only truly be satisfied by God, but that is the one place that none of us is looking. Scripture teaches us clearly that we do not seek God; Romans 3:11 “There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God;” What we do instead is seek satisfaction in every other place, except the one where it can truly be found.

Jesus says to her, “If you knew the gift of God and who I am, then you would have asked me for the living water.” The use of gift in this sentence can refer either to the Word of God or the Holy Spirit, each with its own definite ties given the conversation. If Jesus is referring to the Holy Spirit, it hearkens us back to the conversation with Nicodemus and the necessity of being born again before seeing or entering the kingdom, and this is certainly a plausible interpretation. If He, here, is referring to the Word of God, we need to understand something more of the Samaritan history. When the Samaritan people underwent the cleansing to remove practices of other faiths, they refused to accept anything except their version of the Torah as scripture. This meant that not only did they refute the prophets but also the Psalms and, in fact, there are numerous differences in the Samaritan and Jewish Torah’s. Knowing this, it also makes it very plausible that this also could be the interpretation.

I would posit a third, that the word gift here, truly refers to BOTH the Holy Spirit and the Word. Scripture clearly teaches that the Spirit works in conjunction with the Word, so why would we expect anything different from the mouth of Jesus. In essence His response to her is, “If the Spirit and the Word were known to you...” and you knew who I am, which is only able to be accomplished revealed through the Word of God by the Power of the Holy Spirit, then you would have sought true living water, but it is obvious that Jesus’ response to this woman seems, to her at least to be ridiculous.

Note the two specific statements she makes regarding His response. First, you have nothing to draw water with and secondly, are you greater than Jacob, the one who dug this very well. This very well that he drank from, that his cattle drank from, that his sons have drank from, that has in fact supplied his people with fresh, clean, life giving water for 2,000 years and as a side note, continues to this very day. Unbeknownst to her, she voices two of the great themes of Scripture...

Jesus is Himself the source of this living water

Jesus is greater than all who have come and will come

That she misunderstands the response goes without saying, but Jesus brings her right back to the point of having to deal with a stark reality, physical thirst, once satisfied, will return, it is a never ending cycle, but the living water, once you “drink of the water that I give” the thirst vanishes. In other words, all that you have been searching for in the way you live, this will be made plain, I can provide. I am the fulfillment of all your needs.

Her response seems to be the right one…”Sir, give me this water so that I will not be thirsty nor come back here to draw” but the reality is that she, as of yet, only sees the physical benefits of what Jesus is referring to. RC Sproul is helpful in understanding:

“The woman was particularly interested in a kind of water that would spare her from having to come to the well. It was as if she said: “I hate it every time I come here. I feel like I have a scarlet ‘A’ sewn on my clothing. I have to sneak past the eyes of every woman in the village. When I come here and sit at this place to get my water, I feel ashamed, embarrassed, and alone. If You have water like this, give it to me, and I’ll never have to come back to this well again.”

The woman has now moved to a place where she is definitely interested in the words of this most unique Jewish man, but does not yet fully comprehend her need on a spiritual level but Jesus is not finished.

Truth, Worship and the Messiah

In what, once again seems to be an odd turn, Jesus replies to her request for the living water, not with the expected, here you go, but with a statement that will force an examination of her life. This is the part where the average person begins to squirm a little because things get a little to personal. In today’s church, many would be quick to respond with that is none of your business, my personal life is just that, mine. What is even more telling is the way in which the “church” today responds, in compromise, in backing down, in asserting that they are right they have freedom to choose what they do with their life as long as they have “faith”. This is what a watered down, easy believism, no accountability, no obedience to scripture, no radical change gospel produces.

So the statement which He makes forces her to respond and although her statement is truthful to a point, it is not complete. Here again, the conversation with this women would be so different in modern society. We would typically take one of three approaches:

1. We drop it when the offense comes up that the statement is made.

2. We would accept her first request to receive the water, get her to sign the card, sing a praise that someone made a decision today that they can unmake tomorrow

3. We accept her word, that she has no husband, knowing that it is not the whole truth, but uncomfortable with the confrontation, get her to sign the card, and again sing a praise that someone made a decision today that they can unmake tomorrow

Rarely today would someone move beyond these, but this is NOT the example that is given for us here by Christ Jesus…He doesn’t take her first response of “give me the water”; He doesn’t accept her half-truth as a whole, but rather presses in, forcing her to deal with the entirety of the situation. Can you imagine for a moment, if this was your conversation, Jesus looking at you and the next thing He says proceeds to tell the rest of the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? Is our “confession” before God any different? The reason we confess this way, the reason we deal with our sin in this way, in half-truths, is either because we have bought the lies that tell us that the sins we are committing aren’t that bad or because we do not want to truly face the depths of our sin, or more likely, both. Jesus’ calls this women out and in doing so both forces her to confront her sin and demonstrates for her and us, the omniscience of God.

He literal leaves her with but one response, an acknowledgement, of sorts. She is getting there, but she has not quite grasped the whole of the truth and she certainly does not like the conversation. The fact that she acknowledges that Jesus is a prophet speaks less about Him and more about her. She does not yet, although she may be beginning to, see who He truly is but this is not what her response indicates. Her response is a type of confession. This woman has always known who she is, how she is viewed, but now she not only mentally knows that sin, she also acknowledges that sin at her core.

Even though she has acknowledged her sin, she still hasn’t come to a full realization of what is being discussed so she asks Jesus a theological question. Without an understanding of the backdrop, this question seems pointless, however, once we have the historical understanding of these two cultures the question takes on a different shape. Theologians disagree on why this question is asked. There are some, who believe that the woman’s response, both her acknowledgement of her sin and her question are a result of regeneration and a desire to seek this knowledge, others believe that the question is an attempt to steer the conversation away from her private life. Either way, the question is asked, and what is certain, from scripture, is Jesus’ response.

The question that is asked stems from the differing of opinion between the Samaritans and the Jews regarding the place set aside by God for the people to worship. This question has it’s roots in the Old Testament. Mount Gerizim was the traditional site of historic importance that included the altar built at Shechem (later Samaria) by Abraham as recorded in Genesis 12:6–7 “And Abram passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanite was then in the land. Then Yahweh appeared to Abram and said, “To your seed I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to Yahweh who had appeared to him.” It was also where God commanded the blessing to be placed in Deuteronomy 11:29 ““And it will be, when Yahweh your God brings you into the land where you are entering to possess it, that you shall set the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal.”

However, because they, the Samaritans, did not have nor honor the complete canon of the Old Testament, they did no have passages such as 2 Chronicles 6:6 “but I have chosen Jerusalem that My name might be there, and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel.’” and Psalm 48:1–2 “Great is Yahweh, and greatly to be praised, In the city of our God, His holy mountain. Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, Is Mount Zion in the far north, The city of the great King.” Psalm 78:68–69 “But chose the tribe of Judah, Mount Zion which He loved. And He built His sanctuary like the heights, Like the earth which He has founded forever.” and Psalm 132:13 “For Yahweh has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His habitation.”

So the root of the disagreement was a lack of full knowledge of God’s revealed Word. Jesus responds in three ways. First he points toward the day when, after the crucifixion and resurrection in which true worship requires neither of those places. Secondly he responds that the correct place to worship is based on the work of God in history, Jews at Jerusalem and Samaritans at Gerizim. Last, but not least, Jesus responds with the reality of acceptable worship, that it is done in truth and spirit. This is a call to us to ensure that we are worshipping rightly. It is a warning against both dead orthodoxy and zealous heterodoxy. In other words, worshipping according to the word of God done in the very core of who we are, ensuring sound doctrine and truth but also maintaining love for God, others and a desire to see the truth proclaimed and lives transformed.

A wonderful example of this type of worship is found in Mary’s Magnificat Luke 1:46–47 “And Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.” and an example of the wrong way can be found in Jeremiah 7:4 ““Do not trust in lying words, saying, ‘This is the temple of Yahweh, the temple of Yahweh, the temple of Yahweh.’”

One of the greatest tragedies that has befallen Christendom is the ignorance which has pervaded the average believer. This ignorance is born out of neglect. On one hand it is born out of a neglect of the church and it’s leaders who have failed to adequately teach the Word of God to the people of God. On the other hand, however, this neglect is one of the individual believer to spend time in prayer and devotion thereby deepening their relationship with God and the knowledge of His Word. The issue is, as RC Sproul worded it, that the result of “an ignorance of the Old Testament is a profound ignorance of God the Father.” Which results in improper worship.

Although there is more that we can and will unpack at a later time here, we need to address her final comment to Jesus in verse 25. She replies that she has knowledge, and that this knowledge speaks of one who will come, the messiah...

What is more amazing here, however, is the answer of Jesus and I believe that modern translations of this text, in an effort to fit the flow of the English language fail us. In the Greek, this phrase is arranged differently, in fact, if we were to directly translate this to English, we would get “I am, to who you speak” It is easy to see why this is rearranged in English for us, but we we break up that great statement…I am. Typically when we talk about the “I am”’s mentioned in Scripture we refer specifically to the 7 great I am statements of Jesus that contain descriptors and modifiers of who Jesus is, but in total there are some 23 times Jesus uses this phrase “ego eimi”. This is a statement that goes beyond all statements.

It is easiest for to us to begin to grasp the weight of this statement when we understand that the Greek Old Testament uses these exact words when Yahweh responds to Moses from the burning bush in regards to the question, “Who should I say has sent me?” This is a shocking statement to those who would have heard it and later would be one of the reasons Jesus was accused of blasphemy. This shocking statement highlights the divine-human nature of Christ, fully man, yet fully God.

Response and Conclusion

The response found in verse 28 and 29 give us a picture of how one responds when the truth has been made plain.

John 4:28–29 “So the woman left her water jar, and went into the city and said to the men, “Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; is this not the Christ?””

In closing, the encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well challenges us to examine the depth of our understanding of true hope and salvation. This woman came to the well seeking only physical water, but she left transformed because she encountered the living Christ—the only one who could satisfy the deepest longings of her soul. Her story reminds us that Jesus does not merely offer temporary relief or superficial answers; He addresses the very root of our spiritual need and offers eternal life.

This account compels us to consider our own lives. Are we willing to allow Jesus to confront the areas of sin and brokenness in our hearts that we would rather keep hidden? Have we embraced the truth that only through Him can we find peace, joy, and eternal satisfaction? Too often, like the Samaritan woman, we seek fulfillment in temporary things—relationships, possessions, achievements, or even religious rituals—when the living water Jesus offers stands before us, ready to transform us from the inside out.

Moreover, her story also challenges us to think about how we view others. Jesus crossed cultural, social, and religious boundaries to engage with someone who was considered an outcast. Do we, as followers of Christ, reflect His heart by reaching out and inviting all to know the same hope and salvation we have been given? Or have we become too comfortable staying within our own circles, reluctant to share the gospel with those who are different from us?

Finally, consider the implications of Jesus’ declaration: “I who speak to you am He.” This is not merely an acknowledgment of His identity as the Messiah but a profound revelation of His divinity and the fulfillment of God’s promise of redemption. If Jesus truly is the great "I Am," how does that truth shape your worship, your priorities, and your daily life? Are you worshiping in spirit and truth, offering your whole self to God, or have distractions and complacency crept in, diluting the authenticity of your devotion?

This passage leaves us with an invitation and a challenge. Jesus is still offering the living water today, and the well is open to all who come to Him in faith. Will you, like the Samaritan woman, lay aside your defenses and preconceived notions to receive what only Christ can give? And having received it, will you go forth to proclaim this hope, letting the joy of salvation spill over into every interaction, every relationship, and every corner of your life?

The question is not only how you will respond to Jesus but also how your response will impact the world around you. Who in your life needs to hear about the source of true hope this Christmas (and everyday)? Will you be the one to tell them?