Jesus And The Samaritan Woman
John 4:4-42
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There were three occasions on which Jesus came across a
woman who had some sexual sin. On all three occasions, Jesus forgave the woman
concerned.
The first woman came to him of her own volition. Jesus
forgave her sins. The second one was dragged to Him, against her will. Jesus
forgave her sins. This is the third incident. This time Jesus purposely went to
meet the woman.
Please take time to read her story even if you already know
it. Jhn 4:3 He left Judea and departed again to Galilee.
Jhn 4:4 But He needed to go through Samaria.
Jhn 4:5 So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
Jhn 4:6 Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from [His] journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
Jhn 4:7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give Me a drink."
Jhn 4:8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.
Jhn 4:9 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?" For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.
Jhn 4:10 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."
Jhn 4:11 The woman said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water?
Jhn 4:12 "Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?"
Jhn 4:13 Jesus answered and said to her, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again,
Jhn 4:14 "but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."
Jhn 4:15 The woman said to Him, "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw."
Jhn 4:16 Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come here."
Jhn 4:17 The woman answered and said, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You have well said, 'I have no husband,'
Jhn 4:18 "for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly."
Jhn 4:19 The woman said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet.
Jhn 4:20 "Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, and you [Jews] say that in Jerusalem is the place where one ought to worship."
Jhn 4:21 Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father.
Jhn 4:22 "You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews.
Jhn 4:23 "But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.
Jhn 4:24 "God [is] Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."
Jhn 4:25 The woman said to Him, "I know that Messiah is coming" (who is called Christ). "When He comes, He will tell us all things."
Jhn 4:26 Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am [He]."
Jhn 4:27 And at this [point] His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, "What do You seek?" or, "Why are You talking with her?"
Jhn 4:28 The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men,
Jhn 4:29 "Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?"
Jhn 4:30 Then they went out of the city and came to Him.
A few years ago, one of my nieces showed me a book, asking
my opinion. As I opened the book I happened to read the following:
If people are spiritually asleep
you have to shock them, startle them, scandalize them, if you want them to hear
what you say. Jesus was especially good at this. When he wants to teach us
something about worship he uses a whore. "Go call your husband!"
"I don't have a husband." "That's right. But you've had five,
and the man you sleep with now is not your husband." She was shocked.
We're shocked. But Jesus simply sits there on the edge of the well with his
hands folded, looking at the woman with razors in his eyes.[1]
I told my niece that I did not believe Jesus scandalized “sinners”.
On the contrary Jesus defended “sinners” valiantly. The only people he exposed
were the “religious” leaders, the “holier than thou” of His day.
A year ago I tried to find this quotation, but my niece
could not remember the name of the book.
But with the help of Google, I managed to find that
quotation. It is from a book called “Desiring God” by John Piper.
Before we discuss the story of the Samaritan woman and that
quotation I would like to tell you a story.
When I was twenty years old, I was a young Christian, living
in Cairo. At
that time we were introduced to a woman, who “converted” to “Christianity”,
after being healed.
This woman was married to a minister in the ruling
government.
After she was “miraculously” healed, she began to hear
voices in her left ear.
When she came to our house one day, one of my brothers
noticed that she had a large piece of cotton wool taped over the whole of her
left ear. He asked her why she had this large piece of cotton wool over her
ear. She told him that this was the ear through which she heard the spirit
talking to her. She did not want to hear any human voices through that ear, but
only the voice of this spirit.
There were about a dozen people present in the lounge room,
neighbours and relatives.
As she began shaking hands with people, she said to one
young lady, “Good morning Madam”. The young lady corrected her by saying: I am
not a Madam. I am a “Mademoiselle” (that is a young unmarried girl, a
title equivalent to Miss). The lady
said: No, you are a Madam. The young lady said, “No, I am a “Mademoiselle”. The woman replied: “The spirit that speaks in my ear
does not lie.”
It was like watching an arm wrestle. After
the shock and embarrassment, the young lady left the room.
I thought to myself, “This spirit can not be
the spirit of Christ.” Jesus never behaved like that. Jesus never exposed
people like that. Jesus went about forgiving sins not exposing sinners.
When a paralyzed man was dangled from a roof
in front of Jesus, Jesus volunteered to forgive his sins. The paralytic man did
not confess his sins or ask that his sins be forgiven.
The only people Jesus exposed were the
religious leaders, the people who claimed to be better than the rest. It is on
these people that he came down like a ton of bricks.
The reason I chose that author’s quotation is to use it as a
background to show the real Jesus, the Jesus of the Gospels, the one who is
full of love, grace and truth.
It is always important to get one’s facts straight.
John Piper, in his article, calls the Samaritan woman a
“whore” once and a “harlot” four times. [2]
The Bible described her as a woman who had five husbands and
was now living with another man. That is, one man at a time. This is not a
description of a whore or a harlot.
Jesus asked her for a drink. When a Jew accepts a drink from
someone, he is saying you are clean. You are just as clean as I am!
A Jew will never touch a woman during her period. He will
certainly never knowingly touch anything a harlot touches. As a young boy
growing up in a traditional Middle Eastern setting, I often saw women, when
they had to shake hands with a male relative, covering their hands with their
head-covering in order that they may not defile the males. While the disciples
“marveled” at just finding Jesus talking to a Samaritan woman, Jesus, by
contrast, was prepared to take a drink from her, even though He knew exactly
her past and present.
This woman was shunned and looked down on, even by other
Samaritan women. This is why she had to come alone at noon to fetch her water.
And now a man who is a Jew asks her for a drink! The Bible does not call this
woman a whore or a harlot. Jesus did not treat her as a harlot.
Jesus’ request for a drink is astonishing.
Jesus Did Not Say That
Piper wants us to believe that this is what Jesus said to
the woman: "That's right. But you've had five, and the man you sleep with
now is not your husband." [3]
The Lord Jesus did not say, “The man you sleep with now is
not your husband”. The Lord Jesus said, “And the one whom you now have is not
your husband”.
I do not think Piper would stoop so low as to address a lady
in his own congregation that way, even if she was a harlot.
The Lord Jesus chose his words carefully and Piper chose his
words carefully too.
Piper’s words were calculated to wound, and shame, but
Jesus’ words were calculated to cover this woman. And Jesus is the great ‘coverer’.
He is our “cover”. Even the Hebrew word used to describe Jesus as our atonement
is not far from the word ‘cover’ in meaning It is kä·far' (that is to cover, or to cover
over).
Piper’s words were designed to disgrace this woman but Jesus
intentionally came to bestow grace upon this woman even from the first words he
uttered to her, “Give me a drink.”
Jesus Did Not Do That
This is how that Piper wants his audience to understand what happened
between Jesus and the Samaritan woman:
‘So now he touches the most
sensitive, vulnerable spot in her life -- "Go call your husband." The
quickest way to the heart is through a wound.
Why does Jesus strip open this
woman's inner life like this? Because he had said in John 3:20, "Everyone
who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light lest his deeds
should be exposed." Concealed sin keeps us from seeing the light of
Christ. Sin is like spiritual leprosy. It deadens your senses so you rip your
soul to shreds and don't even feel it. But Christ has set his sights on this
woman's conversion. So he lays bare her spiritual leprosy. "You've had
five husbands and the man you're sleeping with now is not your husband."’ [4]
Now watch the
universal reflex of a person trying to avoid conviction. She has to admit in v.
19 that Jesus has extraordinary insight ("You're a prophet!"), but
instead of dealing with her guilt she tries to suck Jesus into an academic
controversy: "O, so you're a prophet, well, where do you stand on the
issue of where people ought to worship?" [5]
Not all religious talk represents the truth as revealed in Jesus.
Piper called the Samaritan woman a whore and a harlot which she was not. He
uses offensive words to describe the relationship with the sixth man. Jesus
describes this relationship in a polite way.
Now he wants his audience to believe that Jesus wounded her heart, stripped
open her inner life and laid bare her spiritual leprosy.
Here is what the grace of the Lord Jesus did to this woman:
A Private Conversation
The Lord Jesus intentionally wanted to meet this woman. His
meeting with her was not an accident. He knew she is coming to that well. He
knew everything about her. The Lord Jesus wanted to discuss sensitive issues in
her life. This is why their conversation had to be a private one.
The Lord Jesus had twelve disciples plus many others. But
when he wanted to talk to this Samaritan woman about her life, not one other person
was present. I am sure someone like the disciple John would love to have stayed
with Jesus, but all of them went away or, more likely, were sent away.
How many people do you need to go and buy lunch? They must
all have been just as tired and hungry and thirsty as Jesus, but they all had
to walk in the heat of the day to buy the picnic lunch. Surely one or two of
them could have spared the others the trouble and managed that. No. Jesus knew
this woman was coming and he wanted a private conversation with her. He did not
want to “scandalize” her in front of any one, even his closest disciples.
Even if John was the only disciple left, the Lord Jesus could
have sent him a few metres away so that he would not hear what was being said.
But, no, Jesus did not even want that. He did not want to hurt this woman’s
feelings by allowing even one distant on-looker, even if this on-looker was a
close disciple!
Jesus would not even allow a stray look.
What a wonderful Saviour!
Jesus Her Righteousness
Let us look at what the Lord Jesus said to this woman:
Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come
here." The woman answered and said, "I have no husband." Jesus
said to her, "You have well said, 'I have
no husband,' for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is
not your husband; in that you spoke truly."
(Jhn 4:16-18)
In reply to Jesus’ request, all the woman said was, “I have
no husband”. But listen to how the Lord Jesus addresses the one Piper called a
whore and a harlot. Jesus said to her, “Well said!”
The Greek expression; (well said) “Kalos epias” used in John 4:17 is exactly
the same as in Luke 20:39 in which Jesus beautifully demolished the Sadducees
who wanted to embarrass him.
Luk
20:39 “Then some of the scribes answered and said, "Teacher,
You have spoken well. “Kalos epias.”
The inconsistency of many new translations is that they
translated “Kalos epias” in John 4:17 as “You are right” or “that is correct”
etc, while translating the same “Kalos epias” in
Luke 20:39 as “well said” or “spoken well”.
Here is the definition of the Greek word “kalos”:
1) beautifully, finely, excellently, well
a) rightly, so that there shall be no room for blame,
well, truly
b) excellently, nobly, commendably
c) honourably, in honour
1) in
a good place, comfortable
d) to speak well of one, to do good
e) to be well (of those recovering health)
You are right” and “that is correct” are neutral, but “well said” and
“spoken well” are full of commendation and praise. Jesus commended her for
saying she had no husband in John 4:17, just as the scribes commended Jesus for
obliterating the Sadducees in Luke 20:39.
Jesus is about to bring this woman’s past and present to the light. But he
does this between two amazing supporting “brackets”. Jesus, the Great Physician
bracketed her sins between two sets of commendations.
The first bracket is, “well said”. Then Jesus brings up her past and present,
followed by the second bracket of commendation: “in that you spoke truly”. What
a teacher!
Just look at them. They are highlighted in red.
"Jesus said to her, "You have well said,
'I have no husband,' "for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you
now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly."
How did John so precisely place those two “brackets”? Would their impact on
this woman have been the same if they had been placed next to each other? Would
their impact be the same if both had been placed before or after bringing up
her sins?
With these two “brackets”, the Lord Jesus was providing support for this
woman as he brought up her sins. Jesus, intentionally, provided a commendation
before and a commendation after bringing her past up. What a gentleman!
How did John so precisely place those two “brackets”? The Holy Spirit
inspired John to write it this way. And this is wonderful indeed.
Would that incident be the same if these two commendations were missing altogether? Many commentators have ignored them, as if
Jesus never uttered them. This would have been indeed “laying bare this woman’s
leprosy.”
A spirit of divination could have told the woman “everything that she ever did”
but the Saviour of the World “covered everything that she ever did.” This is
why she could face the world with her new song. "Come; see a Man who told
me all things that I ever did. Is not this the Christ?"
From his goodness he imparted goodness to her, when he said
to her, “Well said”. From his truthfulness he imparted truth to her, when he
said to her, “You spoke truly”.
She was blown away!
When my children had crawled long enough, the day came when they managed to
wobblingly stand up. As a father it is an exciting time because you know your
child is attempting to take their first step. So what I used to do was to let
my children hold onto my two index fingers and gently make them lean forward. I
watched the unsteady legs take a step and two and three. It was a joy to be
their “walker”. And through it all I would say to them, “Good girl!” or “Good
boy, you are doing it, you did it; you did it!” Was not that what Jesus did for
her? Jesus stretched his hands to this woman and helped her take her first steps.
With one hand he said “You spoke well” and with the other he said “In that you
spoke truly.”
Yes, “she did it”, but it is Jesus who was the supporter, the enabler, and
the encourager. He was everything the Father was. And God
has always been a Father. "I taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by
their arms. (Hsa
11:3)
When we come to him, we come to our Father, not to the
“School Master.”
Did Jesus “lay bare her spiritual leprosy”? Or did he bear
her on his heart?
To the woman who was caught in adultery and dragged before
Jesus, Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you, sin no more” (Jhn 8:11).
Of the woman who voluntarily came to Jesus and washed his
feet with her tears and anointed his feet with perfume Jesus said, “Her many
sins have been forgiven” (Luke 7:47).
But no such thing was said to the Samaritan woman. Jesus said neither! These first two women
were Jewish. This woman was a Samaritan. She did not know her left hand from
her right hand. Unlike the other two women, Jesus sought this one!
And he did something wonderful for her.
He Himself confessed her sins for her! What more can anyone
dream of? How astonishing!
All the woman said was, “I have no husband”. The woman did not say: “I have
had five husbands and the one I now have is not my husband.” It is Jesus who
said that for her and then he finished by saying, “In that you spoke truly”. It
is He who spoke truly. She just said, “I have no husband”.
Here is amazing grace for you!
If you do not have the nerve to face your own past, he will face it for you.
Indeed he did, when he died on the cross for you.
Her past, with all its sins and guilt, passed through his
lips! Once that happened, it was never the same again. Say no more.
That explains why her past became her song.
She did not boast that he told her that she “spoke well”.
She did not boast that he told her she spoke the truth. She boasted that he
told her everything she had ever done. This she repeated over and over again to
the people of the town. When her past passed through his lips, her past was
never the same again. This was one of the sweetest things she heard from his
lips. When these words passed through his lips, there was not a trace of
condemnation but they were full of tenderness, love and forgiveness. This is amazing.
What a beautiful Saviour!!!
Jesus confessed her sins because he was her High Priest. This
was the job of the high priest, to “confess … all the iniquities of the
children of Israel,
and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins.” See (Leviticus 16:21)[6]
This woman could not go to fetch her water in the cool of
the day. Every day she would go at noon time to get her daily water to avoid
the stares and insults of other women who probably called her a whore and a
harlot.
So when she heard Jesus say,
"Whoever
drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I
shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will
become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life." (Jhn 4:13-14)
the woman said to Him, "Sir, give me this water, that I
may not thirst, nor come here to draw [water]." (Jhn 4:15)
Jesus saw a tired, thirsty and lost sheep.
And he gave this sheep a drink and this sheep did drink.
What a beautiful sight!
The woman did not sarcastically say "O, so you're a
prophet”. The woman said: “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.”
Notice the respect she shows as she addresses Jesus. She
calls him “Sir” (κύριος) which is a title of honour expressive of respect and
reverence, with which servants greet their master[7],
not “O, so you are a prophet” as Piper imagined her to have said.
At this point the woman’s eyes were opened and she said,
“Sir, I see…”[8]When She Drank The Living Water
Piper rightly observed that the Lord Jesus never spoke to her about adultery
again. Verse 18 was the end of that issue. But he does not tell us why. Instead
he speaks of her trying “to avoid conviction” and not wanting to “deal with her
guilt”.
But there is an amazing reason why the Lord Jesus did not speak to her about
her adultery again. It is because, when The Lord Jesus confessed her sins for
her, her sins were gone.
That was the moment she drank the living water.
Some translations and commentators of John 4:18 want to give
the impression that Jesus was rubbing her sin in. The NIV for example says “The
fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your
husband. What you have just said is quite true."
The fact, dear translators is that there is no “the fact is”
in the original.
The second fact is, that the Lord Jesus linked the “you have
well said” or “you have spoken well” with having five husbands etc. And as soon
as these words passed through his lips, this so called fact belonged to the
deep seas. As soon as Jesus confessed her sins for her, her burden was rolled
away as far as the east from the west.
The third fact is that as soon as Jesus confessed her sins for
her he, in the same breath, commended her by saying, “in that you spoke
truly."
The fourth fact is that as soon as Jesus confessed her sins
for her, she said, Amen. Or literally: “I can see you are a prophet!!!” She was
saying, “It is so, as you said”. She did not deny it or beat around the bush as
some commentators want us to believe. What a beautiful soul.
The fifth fact is that the Lord Jesus said the minimum about
this woman’s past. He could have told her the names of her previous husbands
etc, but he kept the “hurt” to the minimum. Our Lord is not a shock jock.
What a gentleman!!
Piper said:
Now watch the
universal reflex of a person trying to avoid conviction. She has to admit in v.
19 that Jesus has extraordinary insight ("You're a prophet!"), but
instead of dealing with her guilt she tries to suck Jesus into an academic
controversy: "O, so you're a prophet, well, where do you stand on the issue
of where people ought to worship?" [9]
By the time we get to verse 19, there was nothing left to be
convicted of. By verse 19 there was not a trace of guilt left in this woman’s
heart for her to deal with.
This is why the Lord Jesus never spoke to her about adultery
again.
It is the hireling who would love to rub it in.
Jesus Did Not Rub It In
It is amazing that commentators take great delight in exposing their own
hearts when it comes to talking about this woman’s sins in verse 18.
Here is what John Gill had to say about “in that saidst thou truly;”
“or that which is truth: thus Christ the omniscient God, who knew her full
well, and the whole of her past infamous conversation,
and her present lewd and wicked way of living, exposes all unto her.”[10]Another commentator said Jesus’ words were “A devastating exposure!”[11]
And another said “The words of Jesus are a verbal slap in the face”[12]
Another said: “Her sexual sins may be only the “tip of the iceberg,” but she is convinced He knows the whole iceberg. And she is right!”[13] Bob Deffinbaugh
The Lord Jesus kept his comment about her sins to minimum, but these
commentators elaborated on her sins.
What the Lord Jesus said were the facts, but the commentators stretched, changed
and sensationalized them.
The Lord Jesus used discrete words. They use sexually loaded words.
The Lord Jesus affirmed her. They degraded her.
The Lord Jesus asked her for a drink, but they called her a whore and a
harlot.
Jesus words were calculated to bring forgiveness; theirs were calculated to
condemn and judge.
Jesus’ words were designed to heal and remove her guilt, but their’ were
designed to cut and injure.
If the Lord Jesus spoke only of the tenth of the iceberg, who are you to dig
for the nine tenths?
Indeed the mouth speaks out of the abundance of the heart.
They spoke from the abundance of their heart and Jesus spoke from the
abundance of his heart.
Had the Lord Jesus said what these commentators said, this woman would have
gone home feeling so guilty and would have kept her mouth shut. And she would
have left some water for those hot and tired commentators too.
These commentators behaved like the Pharisee in the following story:
Luk
7:36 Then one of the Pharisees asked Him to eat with him. And He
went to the Pharisee's house, and sat down to eat.
Pharisees delighted to condemn, but Jesus delighted to forgive.
Pharisees were sin sniffers, but Jesus was the sin remover.
These commentators in their obsession with sin and what is right and wrong
missed on seeing the beauty of Jesus and his mercy.
How did the words about her sins fall from his lips? Did he lower his voice?
Did her lower his gaze or did he look her in the eye?
If he looked her in the eye, his look must have had an amazing healing
effect. Here is a woman inviting the whole town, unashamed to show her dirty
washing, because she met a man who told her everything that she ever did. She
was not ashamed to tell the whole town about her past. Who is this man?! And
what was she drinking?
She drank the living water.
She did not tell the people about the living water because she was bubbling
with it. They could see it for themselves.
She did not tell the people about true worship because she was doing it.
She did not tell the town people that they did not have to worship in Jerusalem. She did not
tell the people to come and see a man who would give them living water but she
told them “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Is this not
the Christ?”
The true shepherd knew exactly what he had done. Amazing!
The hirelings do not know when enough is enough, but the
good shepherd knew what he had done. He knew how effective his medicine was. He
knew he had said enough.
Jesus did not rub it in, he rubbed it out.
That is why he came.
What a wonderful savior!
If your sins pass through the lips of Jesus, rejoice. Ah,
rejoice, because they will never haunt you again.
This is why she could take all her dirty washing and show it
to the whole town!
And this so called dirty washing was the purest and cleanest
washing anyone has ever seen.
This woman broadcast it to the whole town!! The ones who had
not known now knew. The ones who suspected her affair now knew. She did not
care what others thought of her. She cared only for what Jesus thought of her.
This is what counted.
What shocked her out of her “sleep” was not the laying bare
her of “spiritual leprosy”, but his gentleness in bringing it up and then
covering it so beautifully.
Jesus did not come to “wound” but to heal. He did not come to lay bare our
sins but to atone (kafar) for them. He did not come to shame sinners but to
give them beauty for ashes.
The approach of these commentators has turned the Gospel into “law”. As a
result, the sheep get flogged, not fed.
The
woman said “Come: see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not
this the Christ?” KJ
Only
the king James translation got the sense of the woman’s question right. It is
actually an emphatic assertion that this is the Christ not a “may be” or “could
He be”.
Jesus
told her plainly that He is the Christ, “I who speak to you am [He].”[14]
So
when the Lord Jesus tells her that He is the Christ she leaves him!!!
She
finds the desire of all ages and then bolts off!
Instead
of holding to his feet and worshipping him she goes away?!
Instead
of asking him when, why and what. she disappears!
She
believed that the Christ, "When He comes, He will tell us all
things."
So
she finds the promised One whom generation after generation waited for but she
leaves him by the well to broadcast her “spiritual leprosy” to the whole town!
What
is going on???
The
encounter is too beautiful to keep it to herself. It is too big to contain it
in her little being. The living water is overflowing. The water he gave her had
become “a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life."
Now
she is worshipping in spirit and truth.
Would You Like To Meet Him
The Samaritan woman went to the town saying, Hey, everybody, come and meet
someone who told me everything that I ever did.
If you had heard her speak like that, would you have wanted to go and meet
that man?
Or would you have said: “Not on your life; he might tell me everything that
I ever did too”!
Can you imagine the first bunch of Samaritan men approaching Jesus? As they
get closer will they get cold feet? Might one say to the other, “You go first!”?
But they did go, and they went in their droves. Why? Because the Samaritan
woman must have been so excited that the men thought that she must have won the
big one! Her excitement said, “It is so beautiful when he tells you everything
you did”.
How can you explain the whole town en mass going to have “their hearts
wounded, their inner life stripped open and their spiritual leprosy laid bare”?
Not so! What they saw in her face was the wonder of His grace.
They must have been completely mesmerized by her bubbling
joy. Her face must have reflected some of his glory.
There Were No Razors In His Eyes
John Piper said, “Jesus simply sits there on the edge of the
well with his hands folded, looking at the woman with razors in his eyes”.[15]
Were there really razors in Jesus’ eyes when he looked at the Samaritan
woman?
When the disciples came back with the food, they said "Rabbi,
eat." Jhn
4:32 But He said to them, "I have food to eat of which you do
not know." Jhn
4:33 Therefore the disciples said to one another, "Has anyone
brought Him [anything] to eat?" Jhn
4:34 Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who
sent Me, and to finish His work”.
Jesus did not eat from the food the disciples brought. Jesus called this
encounter “His food”. He was full. Have you eaten a Mango with razors in your
eyes? Have you eaten a fresh ripe fig with razors in your eyes? Or were your
eyes a sea of joy and delight.
Let me tell you another story:
As a farmer I have tried many projects to make a living. One of the projects
was to breed milking goats. It was a very exciting time when they had their
babies. We had to make sure that the foxes did not get the babies. So every
afternoon we would count the babies. At one time we knew there should be 32
babies. I counted them and my son counted them, a few times. If one of us did
not count 32, we would have to count again. The mothers used to hide their
babies and we had to go all over the property to find them. One evening we counted
31. We called everybody to come and help. It was getting dark. The torch ran
out of light. We panicked. When it was almost dark one of my sons thought to
himself, if I was a mother goat, where would I hide my baby?
While the rest of us were looking all over the place for the missing baby,
he zoomed in on the best places to hide something, such as under fallen logs.
There were about six of those large logs. As it was getting dark and he could
not see properly. He used his hands to feel things. White plastic shopping bags
used to fool us in our search for babies. He felt what looked like a white
patch. It was warm and soft. He shouted, “Dad, I have found it”. We all came
running. And what joy. We carried it and gave it to its mother.
We had no razors in our eyes. We talked about it all night.
When Jesus sat at the well, there were no razors in his eyes. He was looking
at one of his lost sheep.
In the parable of the lost sheep, that Jesus told, the shepherd carried the
sheep on his shoulders. The shepherd does not drive it home with a stick. The
hireling might do that. But the shepherd of the sheep does not do that. He
knows the sheep is too tired for that.
And when the shepherd carries the lost sheep on his shoulders, he talks to
it and sings to it all the way home. There would be no razors in his eyes.
Try carrying a sheep on your shoulders. You will soon notice it smells. It
will also have some annoying insects and flies. But the shepherd of this sheep
thinks this sheep does not smell. He is too full of joy to notice all that
stuff.
When the Lord Jesus told this woman of her sins there was not the slightest
hint of accusing her or condemning her. Be sure of this.
When the Jews dragged the woman who was caught in adultery before Him, he
said to her, “Neither do I condemn you, sin no more” There were no razors in
his eyes when he said: “Neither do I condemn you” and there were no razors in
his eyes when he said: “Sin no more” either. His eyes were full of love and
compassion.
When Jesus looked at the “rich young ruler”, there was love, (Mar
10:21), not razors in his eyes, even though he walked away from His
love.
When Jesus stood before doomed Jerusalem,
there were no razors in eyes, but tears.
Jesus was delivering a new baby. Has any father had razors in his eyes when
his new baby was being born?
When Jesus sat by the well, he was anticipating a feast and a harvest. The
razors were in someone else’s eyes.
I Have No Husband
There was something very significant when the Samaritan woman said “I have
no husband”
She could have said to herself, “what is a piece of paper? What is a
ceremony? For all intents and purposes we are married. That man at home is a
husband”. But no, she recognized that
the relationship she now has did not constitute a marriage. Her sin was a sin
of the flesh, not a sin of the mind. She sinned against her “flesh” (see 1 Corinthians 6:18), but she did not sin against her
“mind”. She did not minimize her sin. But most importantly, she did not reason
out her sins to justify her life style. Her sins did not become a theological
system that gave her a license for immoral behaviour. There was no malice in
her answer. She was free from the yeast of the Pharisees. She was not a whitewashed
tomb. She knew that her life stank. Her moral compass was intact. She did not
mutilate her soul. She called a spade a spade, not a shovel.
To enjoy the presence of the King, there is an important thing every person
needs to know. It has always been the same with his people since of old: “Only
know this that you have sinned” (Jer 3:13)
The great physician will not apply his ointment, nor bandage our wounds
before removing the infection. He does the disinfecting so beautifully, not
with the stick of the “Law” but with his own blood.
He must dress you up to be fit for the wedding reception. You can not go
into the reception with your dirty clothing. Yes he calls beggars and paupers
for his reception but he makes them look a million!
The Generous King
Hospitality is very important in the Biblical culture. [16] Even to this day it can be clearly seen in Middle Eastern villages.
In the Middle East, the way you treat your
guest is a measure of your honour.
It goes without saying that you do not invite people to offend them or shame
them. This does happen but if it happens it is the mark of a base person.
John Piper describes the words of Jesus in verse 18 to this
woman as wounding her heart, stripping open her inner life and laying bare her
spiritual leprosy. Another commentator said Jesus’ words were exposing all her
present lewd and wicked way of living,[17]
and “A devastating exposure!”[18]Another said “The words of Jesus are a verbal slap in the face”[19]
Are such commentators presenting the real Jesus or are they projecting their own
personalities out there?
Yes the Lord Jesus did expose people and lay bare their
spiritual leprosy but he did not do it to this woman. It was the ‘holier than thou” kind
that he exposed.
The Samaritan woman did not invite herself into his presence. He invited
her.
He was the initiator of the meeting. He intentionally went there and waited
for her. And he was the initiator of the conversation. She was his guest. She
was the guest of the king. And the king lavished upon her his gifts according
to “His royal bounties” (1 Kings 10:13), and grace above grace.
He brought her to his banqueting house, and his banner over her was love,
not a “verbal slap on the face.”
The Bible records that Jesus came across three women who had
some sexual sins. On all three occasions, Jesus forgave them.
The first woman came to him of her own volition. Jesus
forgave her sins. Another woman was caught in the act and dragged to Him,
against her will. Jesus forgave her sins.
In the case of the Samaritan woman Jesus purposely went to
seek her. What an honour!
Whether you voluntarily seek him, or others dangle you from the roof before
him, or others catch you in the act and haul you before him, or whatever
circumstances bring you before him, he will never slap you in the face. He is a
wonderful host.
Jesus said to the Samaritan woman: "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."
The operative words are: “If you knew”
But that is another topic.
All of the above was only the appetizer. There is so much more to the
character of Jesus!
Dear reader, apparently Google does not allow comments on websites like mine.
However, if you email me your comments, I will publish them under this article.
Just click on my email address and type away. Thanks.
The
fig Farmer
abuhennah@gmail.com
Appendix
Is Not This The Christ?
The
Short Answer
In
John 4: 29 the Samaritan woman said “Come, see a man, which told me all things
that ever I did: is not this the Christ?”
Most
translations render the last part of John 4:29 as “Could this be the Christ” or
“Can this be the Christ” or a simple question, “Is this the Christ?” as if it
is an open ended one.
What
did the Samaritan woman mean when she said, “Is not this the Christ?”
Let
us look at the context:
Jhn
4:25 The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh,
which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.
…
…
Barnes,
commenting on John 4:26, “I that speak onto thee am He - I am the Messiah,”
said, “This was the first time that he openly professed it.”[20]
That is, Jesus openly professed that He is the Messiah.
Did
the Samaritan woman believe Jesus to be the Messiah?
If
the Samaritan woman was asking the doubtful question, “Could this be the Christ?”
she would not have been ‘believing’. This would be a picture of someone sitting
on the fence.
In
that case John 4:39, “And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him”
before they met Jesus would be ridiculously untrue. For if she was doubting,
how could her doubt produce faith in people who had not yet met Jesus. It is
inconceivable that they believed while she was sitting on the fence!
Again,
if she did not believe Jesus to be the Christ, Jhn
4:42 would make no sense: “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 Saviour of the world.’”
Note
the subject of their belief. “This is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the
world”. The subject of their belief, when she spoke to them before they met
Jesus, was not that she met a man who told her of her past. Any man listening
to the gossip could have told her that. A fortune teller could have told her
that. The high point
of her conversation was that she had found the Messiah.
In
other words they believed before they met Jesus because of what she said. But now they believed because of what they
heard and saw of Jesus Himself. What was the object of their faith? “We know
that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world”.This is what she
meant when she said, “Is not this the Christ?”
If
most translations are right, what makes the Samaritans believe more than she
did? She met Jesus and had a one to one conversation. The last thing he told
her was that he is the Messiah.
It is
unthinkable for Jesus to say to her, “I am He” and for her to then say, “I will
think about that!” Jesus knew she would believe him, otherwise he would not
have openly professed to her, and for the first
time, that he is the Messiah. She was not like the Jews who refused to
believe. She believed that “this is indeed the Christ”. If she did not believe,
or had some doubt, how was it that the Samaritans whom she invited concluded
that, “This indeed is the Christ.”?
In
which situation would it be more likely that such information would be
impressed upon a learner: a one-to-one encounter or a group session?
We
are not told that Jesus told them that He is the Christ, but Jesus told her
that He is the Christ. Some “scholars” want us to believe that she had “real
doubt” but the town people were totally convinced and believed.
To those who say the Samaritan woman did not believe that Jesus is
the Christ, I ask: How do you explain Christianity without the resurrection of
Jesus? How do you explain that a whole town goes to see Jesus unless her faith
was so infectious, her joy so out of this world and her body language so
commanding that the whole town went to see Jesus?
Then again Jesus himself testified to the faith of the Samaritan
woman.
Jhn
4:31 In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, "Rabbi,
eat."
After
the encounter with the Samaritan woman, Jesus was so full that his disciples
thought someone must have brought him some food. Had she left in a state of
doubt, Jesus would not have described the encounter with the words, "My
food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.” Jesus ate
“His food” to the last mouthful and was satisfied. This is not a description of
unfinished work!!
The long
answer that discusses points of grammar
where the Greek word ‘meti’ is used will follow soon.
Endnotes
[1] . http://www.soundofgrace.com/piper84/040884m.htm
- “God Seeks People to Worship Him in
Spirit and Truth”
[2] . http://www.soundofgrace.com/piper84/040884m.htm
[3] . http://www.soundofgrace.com/piper84/040884m.htm
[4] . http://www.soundofgrace.com/piper84/040884m.htm
[5] . http://www.soundofgrace.com/piper84/040884m.htm
[6] . Lev
16:21 "Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live
goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all
their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of
the goat, and shall send [it] away into the wilderness by the hand of a
suitable man.
[7] .
Strong’s concordance.
[8] . It is
the same word used in Jhn
6:40 "And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone
who sees the Son and believes in Him may have
everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day."
[9] . http://www.soundofgrace.com/piper84/040884m.htm
[10] . http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/gills-exposition-of-the-bible/john-4-18.html
[11] . http://www.biblecentre.org/commentaries/lmg_47_john.htm
[12] . http://www.keepbelieving.com/sermon/2001-01-14-The-Woman-at-the-Well-Christ-Speaks-to-the-Problem-of-a-Guilty-Past/
[13] . http://bible.org/seriespage/woman-well-john-41-42
[14] . The expression “is not this?” is found in many
places in the New Testament, for example:
“You will know them by their fruits” Literally it says
“will you not know them by their fruit” Which means “you will definitely know
them by their fruit”
Similarly in Jhn 7:31
“And many of the people believed on him, and said, When Christ cometh, will he
do more miracles than these which this [man] hath done?”
Literally it says: “He will not do more miracles than
these which this [man] hath done.”
It is actually saying “there is no other Christ but
he”. And this agrees with the first part of the verse “And many of the people
believed on him”. The second part of Jhn 7:31 is the reason why they believed
in him: If Jesus is not the Christ, and if a “Christ” was to come, he will not
do more miracles than Jesus. This Jesus has provided full evidence for his
credentials, and no one can exceed what he did.
Otherwise the verse would go like this: “And many of
the people believed on him, and said, When Christ cometh, he may do more
miracles than these which this [man] hath done?” And this does not make any
sense.
So too the Samaritan woman believed that Jesus is the
Christ. So “is not this the Christ” is an emphatic way of saying “He is the
Christ.”
[15] . http://www.soundofgrace.com/piper84/040884m.htm
[16] .
This hospitality can be seen very clearly in the life of Abraham, and to an
unusual length in the life of Lot and also in
the book of Job.
[17] . http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/gills-exposition-of-the-bible/john-4-18.html
[18] . http://www.biblecentre.org/commentaries/lmg_47_john.htm
[19] . http://www.keepbelieving.com/sermon/2001-01-14-The-Woman-at-the-Well-Christ-Speaks-to-the-Problem-of-a-Guilty-Past/
[20] . http://bible.cc/john/4-26.htm
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