John 4:22-33

22 You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. 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. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” 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.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.” 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?” 28 The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, 29 “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” 30 Then they went out of the city and came to Him. 31 In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” 32 But He said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” 33 Therefore the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?” 

“I Who Speak to You AM HE”

Jesus…..to the woman at the well…..in my own words…..

“You don’t really understand what or who you are worshiping.” What did Jesus mean by this? Well…..the Samaritans only acknowledged the first five books of the Bible, and rejected the rest of the Hebrew writings. Their view of God was incomplete. They had designed their own temple on the mountain, and their own way to worship. According to Jesus, “Salvation (the Messiah, the Savior) has come from the lineage of the Jews.” This might not sound like good news for the Samaritans to start with but then Jesus says something amazing! Someday you won’t need a specific place or building. You won’t need a most holy place, a mercy seat, or an ark of the covenant to represent worship to God. You won’t need a mountain where Moses built an altar to worship God. Everything is going to be different. It won’t be about symbolic places or rituals or traditions of men (which it never was about traditions). Neither the mountain nor the temple will be the place of worship any more. It will be about the condition of a person’s heart that will matter to God. God is seeking “true worshipers”, not people who are going through the physical motions of worship. I ask myself, “How is my heart during worship? What is my mind on? Is my mind wandering to worldly things when I should be focused on Christ?” This troubles me. I truly hope that I am not just going through the motions of worship. I hope that I am not just checking the boxes or punching the clock. God is Spirit. Am I worshiping Him in my spirit? Am I giving Him my all? But…..what other way does Jesus say we must worship Him? We must worship Him in truth. What does that mean? Well…..what is truth? Truth is God’s Word. So we have to worship God in spirit and according to God’s Word…..the TRUTH. The Samaritans made up their own rules for worship that were not recognized by God, because they were not God’s chosen people. Today, many people make up their own rules for worship which are not authorized by God. It seems to have become more about entertainment, and less about worship. It has become more about pleasing the audience, than about pleasing God. Can we worship in spirit, but not worship in truth? Yes, people do it all the time. They are so sincere in what they are doing. However, sincerity does not make it right. Can we worship in truth, but not in spirit? Yes, this happens all the time as well. I’ve been guilty. My heart and mind were not right even though I was in the right setting with all worship authorized by God. Both situations are equally wrong. Writing this has really made me examine myself and my worship. I want to be a true worshiper. 

This woman is still not sure about everything Jesus is saying, because she is waiting for the Messiah to come and reveal everything she needs to know. This woman is a believer. She says, “I know the Messiah is coming”. She has faith that He will make everything better for her. Maybe this is why Jesus chose her. He saw her tender heart. And then in verse 26 comes the bombshell moment…..

“I who am speaking to you am He.” Suddenly this woman is no longer spiritually blind anymore. Her eyes are open to the Savior. I picture her stopping in her tracks at the words of Jesus. I imagine her frozen for a few seconds….processing what He had just said to her. Suddenly, the water that she was carrying meant nothing to her anymore. All that mattered was Jesus. All that mattered was telling others about Him. I question myself, “Is this all that matters to me? Am I as excited and overjoyed about Jesus as this Samaritan woman was? Do I drop everything and run to tell others about Jesus?” Wow. This hits me hard, ladies. Verse 29 says that she told the people in the city that a man had told her everything about her life. She invited them to “come” and “see” just like Jesus told the two disciples of John in John 1:39…..”Come and see”. I question myself, “Do I invite people to “come and see”?” She questions the people that she tells, saying, “Can this be the Christ?” But she knew He was. This question was her way of getting their attention and peaking their curiosity. Jesus would often answer a question with a question, wouldn’t He?  Questioning is one of the greatest tools of teaching. 

In verse 27, the disciples had just returned from buying food. They are surprised to find Jesus talking to a woman. Why is he talking to this Samaritan woman? They were all probably thinking the same thing…..maybe even mumbling under their breath about it to each other. However, they had way too much respect for Jesus to question Him about it. Not only did Jews not associate with Samaritans, but a woman on top of that? What does this tell us about Jesus’ value of us as women? Jesus could have chosen anyone to reveal Himself to on that day so long ago, but He chose this woman…..a Samaritan, a woman with a sinful past, and a sinful present living situation. Jesus didn’t care about that. Jesus saw her future. It doesn’t say what happens to the woman later, but I picture her getting out of her sinful living situation, and living for Jesus. I picture her possibly becoming a member of the Lord’s church on Pentecost when Peter preached the first gospel sermon. Maybe she was one of the 3000 who were added to God’s church on that day, or maybe later when the church had spread some more. I picture her saved though, because Jesus chose her, and she chose to believe. He chooses all of us. We just have to also choose to believe and obey Him. I bet we will all see the woman at the well in heaven someday! Jesus loves us, values us, and will use us in His kingdom within our role as women no matter what our past is. Maybe, like this woman, our present situation is not right with God in some way, but we can change it through Jesus. This story of the woman at the well has always been one of my favorites. What a blessing it is to have this beautiful account of Jesus and this woman recorded for us. It gives all of us just a glimpse of how Jesus sees each one of us, and how we should see others around us. 

People were coming out of the city to see Jesus. This was all due to the Samaritan woman’s enthusiasm to share the good news that the Messiah had come. Are we still enthusiastic about sharing the good news with others? I think about how the Bible says that the disciples of Christ turned the world upside down with their teachings (Acts 17:6). Could more enthusiasm among members of the Lord’s church cause this to happen again in today’s time? The woman at the well was only the beginning. 

Meanwhile, back to the disciples who had returned from buying food. They knew that Jesus was tired from traveling, and had to be hungry, so they encouraged Him to eat. Then Jesus says something perplexing to the disciples, “I have food that you don’t know about.” The disciples were thinking, “who gave Him food? And if He had food, then why did He send us to go get food?” This was the same type of cryptic language that He had used with the woman at the well by asking her to give Him a drink, but then telling her He had living water. I’m sure she was thinking…..”then why are you asking me for a drink if you have living water?” This tactic gets their attention, peaks their curiosity, and gets them ready to think deeper about the spiritual rather than the physical. Jesus says just enough to get their wheels turning, and keep them wanting to know more. Wasn’t Jesus the greatest teacher of all time? What food is Jesus talking about? We will see what Jesus means by this puzzling statement in the next post! 

I love God’s Word. It challenges me to be better…..to do more in His service. It is interesting and keeps me on the edge of my seat wondering what is going to happen next. It gives me confidence and builds me up, and it brings me to my knees when my soul needs convicting! Thank you Father for the wonderful gift of Your Word!

God means for everyone to learn what the Bible teaches about how to be saved. It only takes an open heart for Jesus, and a willingness to put away what we’ve been taught in the past, and truly read what God’s Word says for ourselves…..and then accept what it says and obey it. If I can help you in any way, I would love to! 

Are you walking in the light? Are you in Christ? If you aren’t, I’d love to help you. Are you a member of the Lord’s church, but are struggling spiritually in your walk with Christ? If you are…..believe me, I’ve been there many times, and I’d love to help you. If you have any questions, please reach out. 

God’s Plan of Salvation

Below is the plan that God has set forth in His Word, for humankind to receive His grace that leads to salvation and an eternity with God in heaven. This plan is straight from the Bible. 

We have to hear His word. (Romans 10:17) 

Upon hearing the message of Jesus, we believe it. (Mark 16:16) 

Then, we confess Jesus’ name before men. (Matthew 10:32) 

Next, we repent of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19) 

Finally, we are baptized into Christ for the remission of our sins.  (Acts 2:38, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3-4, Acts 22:16, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:26-27) After baptism, God adds us to His church. (Acts 2:47)

Then, we remain faithful in our commitment to Christ until death. (Revelation 2:10, 2 Peter 2:20-22)