John 4:16-26

Hey, everybody.

Thanks for being with us as we close out the week on this Thursday,

we are working our way through the fourth chapter of John,

a pretty weighty chapter, and we catch Jesus

in a pretty weighty discussion with an unlikely partner,

a woman from Samaria who is come out to get water.

And Jesus has kind of broken with custom by engaging her in conversation,

both because she's a woman and because she's a Samaritan.

And we left off yesterday at verse 15,

the woman has a misunderstanding, which we've told you that

John, the author, loves to use as a teaching tool.

And she said, you know, I'd love to have this water

that I could not have to come here.

I'd love to have this water

that Jesus referenced is welling up inside of her to bring eternal life.

And so with that, Jesus uses, a springboard.

He uses that comment as a springboard.

And the conversation takes a pretty interesting term.

So turn.

So jump in here in 16 and then we'll talk it through.

Jesus said to her, go call your husband and come back.

The woman answered him, I have no husband.

Jesus said to her, you're right in saying, you have no husband, for you have had

five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband.

What you've said is true.

The woman said to him, sir, I see that you're a prophet.

Our ancestors worshiped on the mountain.

But you say the place where people must worship is Jerusalem.

Jesus said to her, woman, believe me, the tower.

The time is coming

when you will worship the father neither on the mountain nor in Jerusalem.

You worship what you do not know.

We worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.

But the hour is coming and is now here, when the true worshipers

will worship the father in spirit and truth.

For the father seeks such as these to worship him.

God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.

So as we get into this part of the text,

probably something that needs to be noted on the front end,

a lot of details have been written, a lot of stuff have

has been conjectured about this particular woman's situation

and what Jesus means by bringing it up and,

and I think we should exercise caution there.

The text does not dwell on it.

For John, it seems to be an example of the way

in which Jesus knows people's back story.

We've said that the portrayal in

John of Jesus is kind of the all knowing one.

And so it very interesting that after this moment where the woman says,

I would love to have living water and not be thirsty again,

Jesus then says,

go call your husband and come back.

Now it is likely, given the information we get

next, that she's had five husbands and is with somebody else.

Currently.

That this is to be seen as a sense of her brokenness

and maybe one of the wounded places of her life.

It could also be that Jesus is simply letting her

know that he knows.

Not only does he know what he's saying, which seems odd to her, but he knows her.

He knows her life as well.

And so, we I think sometimes the church has

been over interested

in these kind of details of this woman's story,

which we don't really know other than to say,

clearly, there's something here that is telling

and is compelling for the woman as she hears Jesus give it voice.

This this moment in this story is a transitional moment,

and I think that you're wise to encourage us

to not do a lot of speculation as to the particular details of husbands.

You know, scholars talk about how even though there is not Old Testament

law, there's not, requirements

about the maximum number of divorces available.

Apparently scribes tended to limit that by their interpretation to 2 or 3,

you know, so maybe there's some questions that scholars might work through. There.

But I think that that's a little bit of a red herring.

I think instead, we should really be fixated on this

transition happening in the story, because here in verse 15,

the woman continues to be fixated on the mundane.

She continues to make the water, and specifically the getting

physical water out of the physical well, which was physically built by Jacob.

That you right.

It's this long, very practical surface level conversation for her.

What John is doing in this moment is showing us

how Jesus is now interrupting that pattern.

So it's been Jesus talking at this level, and the woman just maybe even talking

in an entirely different sort of sphere, even not even a different level.

And now here Jesus is going to bring this into stark

and very concrete details when he asks her about her personal life.

This is no longer about an ancient thing and separation

between Jews and some, so Samaritans.

Samaritans are like this idea that there's a,

that there's

some kind of cultural conversation happening ceases.

And we now enter into what is far more of a prophetic kind of discourse.

And here we have good reason

to believe that this is becoming effective.

So so when she responds in verse 19,

sir, I see that you are a prophet.

It it has a way of beginning to change the tone of the text.

A woman who's been very skeptical, a woman who's been missing the point

on each one of these interchanges now is suddenly a woman who you can

almost imagine.

Clint is leaning in and is starting to get

a sense for the kind of power that Jesus has.

If you get fixated on the details of the story, you you might miss the

fundamental point of the story that this woman is beginning to see.

Some of the light.

She she's met Jesus at noon, but she's now beginning to see

some of the divine revelation that Jesus is offering.

And the tool is using at this point to sort of wedge into that

is to make it clear that he has understanding,

very personal understanding of what's happening in her life.

And and we're beginning to see that to make an impact.

Yeah. And so example here, I've heard this

passage taught or preached

and this detail is, is thought to give explanation as to

why it is that she's getting water at noon and why she's doing that out of town.

And the conjecture is that, you know,

she's an outcast and that she is a loose woman.

And people in town don't accept her.

None of that's in the text, none of it.

And there's no judgment from Jesus.

There's no conviction here.

This is Jesus giving a woman

a deep insight about her own life,

which corroborates what he has been saying and what he's going to say now,

having said that, right,

five husbands and a current living situation

that clearly there's something pastoral, something psychological.

There is a sense in which Jesus is engaging her

at the rough or at the messy levels of her life.

Let's say she's been widowed a bunch of times.

That still pain, I mean, there there certainly is a reason

that Jesus gives these particular details and and then notice what Jesus says,

what you have said is true because what is Jesus in the book of John?

He is the arbiter of truth.

He knows what is true.

And then she says, I see that you are a prophet now

notice the subtle movement we're getting.

In the text,

she encounters a man who confuses her because he's a Jew who speaks to her.

Then he confuses her by saying odd things.

Now she sees a man in front of her

who is a prophet who knows things spiritual things,

and that leads instantly to a new question.

Now, maybe some people are right, and she's trying to change the subject

as fast as she can, but

that's not what John says to us.

She simply then says, okay, I see that you're a prophet.

You know these things.

So tell me this where should we worship and that allows Jesus, this springboard

to have a conversation about real worship, which isn't

about the place where it happens, but the heart of the one doing it.

And again, this is vintage wonderful

example of John worshipers worship the father in spirit and truth.

Doesn't matter if they're in Samaria, doesn't matter if they're in Jerusalem.

What matters is what they bring to that task.

God is spirit, and those who worship

must worship in spirit and in truth.

So what Jesus doesn't do

is give this woman a lecture about lifestyle.

He gives her a lesson about what

it means to be a believer, a follower of God.

And he says here, salvation belongs to the Jews,

which is going to be, I think, at least I would argue, a reference to himself

in this coming reveal that's about to happen.

But I think, I think there's a danger here.

Michael, and that we get caught up in one detail,

and maybe we miss the forest for the trees a little bit when we do that.

And there there is more at play here than the specific details

of some of this woman's, but perhaps her personal struggles.

Yeah, absolutely.

And I think that we might rush past the fact that John is casting

a Samaritan woman in this unbelievably important role.

But that would be a mistake, because

John has a whole

cast of characters that Jesus has met through his lifetime.

And the other gospels detail very prominent Jews.

Even a very prominent Gentiles, even Roman centurion.

So Jesus in his life

encounters people who would be

witnesses par excellence,

people who you would want to testify for you in the court of public opinion.

But when John's going to give us an account of people

who Jesus speaks to, of people that Jesus reveals to, he's not going to pass

by the woman at the well, he's not going to pass by a woman

who has had some struggles, I mean real difficult moments in her life.

And that's a really amazing reorientation to what the gospel is about.

And by that I mean who Jesus is about. Right?

Because Jesus on this day has interrupted a woman's normal.

She has to go get water.

That's that's a part of what she needs to do.

She's doing that at this point of day because she's got all stuff

that needs done as well.

And here in this moment, she has an unexpected encounter with God in flesh.

And in this moment, Jesus is entering deeper into her life.

And then this amazing turn to worship the idea of,

you know, what could be read as her sort of challenging

Jesus on a decades old, a generations old debate about the place of worship.

Jesus turns it into a moment of unbelievable revelation.

God is spirit.

Those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.

That's a kind of invitation that Jesus offers to this woman.

And ultimately, it's the kind of invitation that has the power

to change a life to to turn someone from a person

going through the the drudgery of another day

into the kind of person who goes out and proclaims and testifies

and becomes a witness to the revelation that they have seen.

I'm getting a little ahead of where we are, Clint.

I understand that and foreshadowing what we're going to see happening here,

but I think it's just really important that we pause here for a second and

realize that all of the cast of characters that John's going to portray

in only the fourth chapter of the book, this woman, I think, stands for us to be

an excellent reminder of the kind of character that Jesus wants

to testify to him, and that's a person who's lived real life, had real struggles,

and this woman is included in that revelation.

And I think that the text invites us

by her inclusion to recognize that we are included as well.

I think revelation is the right word, Michael, because in the Gospel of John,

certainly people don't reason their way to Jesus.

They don't wholly their way or righteous their way to Jesus.

That that is always a revealed truth.

And so as we continue

the last part of this part of the story, we see the revelation here.

The woman said to him, I know the Messiah is coming who is called the Christ.

When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.

Jesus said to her, I am he,

the one who is speaking to you.

And so here we have this moment

where, having been

engaged in this deeply spiritual conversation,

worship, spirit, truth, this woman is moved to say either

feeling out who Jesus might be

or simply as a statement of her own faith.

Well, we know the Messiah is coming.

The one who called Christ, Messiah and Christ are the same word.

Just one is Messiah is Hebrew.

Christ is Greek.

When he comes, he will proclaim.

In other words, well, I know that one day the Messiah will come

and make all this clear and you.

There are a couple ways, I think, to read this.

You could read this as incredibly ironic

that she would say this to Jesus,

or you could say that she is beginning

to suspect there's more to this man than she's seen,

that that it's possible she is asking the soft question here.

Could you be the one?

Could this be the one which is not an unfamiliar question

in the Gospel of John and however it is, she gets there?

Jesus, in a moment that's uncharacteristic in some of the gospels,

but pretty typical in John says, I am he.

And we'll need to unpack the the specific words

I am that's important in the Gospel of John,

Jesus is going to say some things about himself,

and he's going to always preface those by saying, I am.

This is not one of those statements, but he introduces

the language here, or we are introduced to the language.

But here Jesus now says to this woman, not only are you right

about the coming of the Christ, he's standing right in front of you.

And this is a profound and powerful moment in the gospel.

So we're going to unpack this more as the book goes on.

Definitely subscribe to stick with us and to go along the study with us.

But I just want to point out in verse 26 here, when Jesus says, I am light,

my translation says, I am he, that with the idea of emphasizing with the he.

But this is about as close as you get without crossing the line

towards referencing what would have been a very well

known statement that God makes to Moses

from the book of Exodus, when God reveals himself in the burning

bush, I am that I am is what we have translated in our Bibles.

Jesus isn't saying exactly that.

But that is.

This is the kind of statement that gives that kind of resonance and reverberation,

and it would not have been lost on the people who heard it

because of how impactful, powerful, oft repeated

those words to Moses were in, you know, first century Judaism.

So it's just worth noting here that that Jesus is saying things

that that are pushing the limits of what could have even been understood.

And I think if we're reading the book wholeheartedly, he's also pushing

the limits of what we can understand when he says, I am what I'm the person.

It's one thing to think about that detached with a thousand years of gap.

But if Jesus is the one asking you for water maybe five minutes ago

and now is saying I am, that

that's an unbelievable turn of circumstances.

It's an unbelievable way to consider that Jesus is willing to reveal himself.

It's not on horseback.

It's not with an army.

It's not with loud trumpet and proclamation.

It is in the most mundane and common of life circumstances.

We're here.

This woman is hearing the Son of God.

The word in flashed

reveal himself to be that I am.

I am the one who's coming to proclaim these things to you.

The Messiah, the Christ.

This is a powerful moment of revelation, and you really need to join us

when we continue the study next week, because what it does to this woman

and the story that is still to come, John, is not done yet.

This is going to have an impact.

And and it is incredible to see it in her life

and then to imagine for ourselves what it might also do for us.

Yeah.

And I think it's easy to read this text.

You know, I am here. Jesus is claiming the Messiah.

She says, I know the Christ will come and he'll explain everything.

And Jesus says, I am I'm he, the one speaking to you.

And and we can read that as the case that the gospel is making for Jesus.

And so the part that may be surprising to us is the I am he,

but don't miss the reverse,

the one speaking to you.

Don't miss the.

Amazing irony

that the Christ is speaking to the wounded

and and woman with a messy life who is going about her normal day

that he the I am he is engaging her

and and that is no less shocking, I think, than the claim itself

that that one would be speaking to this one, this this woman.

And so, a really beautiful scene

that John paints here, and rightly so.

We've we've tended to focus on the Jesus side of the equation as we should.

But, but don't miss the obvious surprise in not only am I

the Messiah, I'm talking to you,

that that is a that's a surprising turn.

Well, I think this is full of surprises.

And use the phrase, you know, John's painting.

That's exactly right.

There's a sense in which this is masterfully told.

There's more story to come.

So do join us next week as we continue.

Like this video helps others find it in the midst

of their study of John, whenever that might be.

Years to come.

Subscribe yourselves so that you can go along in the study

and we will see you next week. Thanks, everybody.