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The Samaritan Woman - John 4
The Samaritan Woman - John 4
While studying the story of the Samaritan woman last night one point that stood out is the fact that faith grows. When the woman first met Jesus, she knew that he was a Jew (vs. 9). Within a brief time of conversing with him, he mentions that she has had 5 husbands and the one she is now living with is not her husband. While WE try and figure out her marital status, SHE deduced that Jesus was a prophet of God (19). To be privy to such information having never met/known her meant that Jesus was connected to the knowledge of God in some way.
That opened up a great opportunity for her. The Samaritans had argued that Mt. Gerizim was where Joshua built the first altar and where the temple was supposed to be built. While the rest of the Jews moved the tabernacle to Shiloh and then later built the temple in Jerusalem, the 'faithful remnant' of the people in Samaria (as they saw themselves) continued to worship at Mt. Gerizim. Later they built a temple on Mt. Gerizim and offered the sacrifices that Moses had prescribed in the Torah. Thus, this question of which mountain to worship at had been debated for hundreds of years and the woman now had an opportunity to have an authoritative answer from a prophet of God. If he can tell her marriage history surely he can answer such religious questions. He did, but a bit differently than she expected.
Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father” (John 4:21).
"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” (John 4:23).
When she returned to the city, she told the men of the city: "Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?" (vs. 29). Notice how her faith has grown a point at a time: he is a Jew, he is a prophet, he is the Christ. I like the way that Jesus led her up each step of faith. He didn't start with the last point but built on each established point.
While we don't have the knowledge/ability to do the telling of one's marriage history like He did, we can start with common knowledge and life and begin a conversation that leads to greater faith. While we may not be able in one conversation to move someone this far, we can help them gain in their understanding of the story of Jesus. Who can you help today?
Hugh DeLong
