John 4:16-26

00:00:00:32 – 00:00:26:48
Clint Loveall
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.

00:00:26:52 – 00:00:50:38
Clint Loveall
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.

00:00:50:38 – 00:01:20:12
Clint Loveall
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.

00:01:20:16 – 00:01:41:29
Clint Loveall
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.

00:01:41:36 – 00:02:26:03
Clint Loveall
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.

00:02:26:04 – 00:02:58:30
Clint Loveall
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.

00:02:58:35 – 00:03:29:13
Clint Loveall
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.

00:03:29:27 – 00:03:56:49
Clint Loveall
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.

00:03:57:00 – 00:04:32:42
Michael Gewecke
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.

00:04:32:42 – 00:04:58:22
Michael Gewecke
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.

00:04:58:22 – 00:05:31:42
Michael Gewecke
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.

00:05:31:42 – 00:06:00:05
Michael Gewecke
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.

00:06:00:05 – 00:06:25:21
Michael Gewecke
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.

00:06:25:21 – 00:06:53:43
Michael Gewecke
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.

00:06:53:54 – 00:06:56:51
Michael Gewecke
And and we’re beginning to see that to make an impact.

00:06:57:03 – 00:07:20:06
Clint Loveall
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.

00:07:20:11 – 00:07:52:03
Clint Loveall
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.

00:07:52:08 – 00:08:21:10
Clint Loveall
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?

00:08:21:10 – 00:08:55:30
Clint Loveall
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.

00:08:55:30 – 00:09:25:01
Clint Loveall
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.

00:09:25:06 – 00:09:57:52
Clint Loveall
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.

00:09:57:57 – 00:10:28:13
Clint Loveall
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.

00:10:28:13 – 00:10:37:05
Clint Loveall
And there there is more at play here than the specific details of some of this woman’s, but perhaps her personal struggles.

00:10:37:10 – 00:11:05:13
Michael Gewecke
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.

00:11:05:13 – 00:11:37:06
Michael Gewecke
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.

00:11:37:06 – 00:12:01:35
Michael Gewecke
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.

00:12:01:35 – 00:12:31:10
Michael Gewecke
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.

00:12:31:10 – 00:12:59:54
Michael Gewecke
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.

00:13:00:07 – 00:13:31:28
Michael Gewecke
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.

00:13:31:37 – 00:13:37:48
Michael Gewecke
And I think that the text invites us by her inclusion to recognize that we are included as well.

00:13:37:58 – 00:14:02:53
Clint Loveall
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.

00:14:02:58 – 00:14:32:24
Clint Loveall
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.

00:14:32:29 – 00:14:55:55
Clint Loveall
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.

00:14:56:06 – 00:15:24:58
Clint Loveall
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?

00:15:25:03 – 00:15:53:22
Clint Loveall
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.

00:15:53:27 – 00:16:06:34
Clint Loveall
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.

00:16:06:39 – 00:16:44:16
Michael Gewecke
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.

00:16:44:31 – 00:17:18:27
Michael Gewecke
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.

00:17:18:32 – 00:17:42:37
Michael Gewecke
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.

00:17:42:37 – 00:18:10:08
Michael Gewecke
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.

00:18:10:08 – 00:18:29:00
Michael Gewecke
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.

00:18:29:00 – 00:18:36:04
Michael Gewecke
And and it is incredible to see it in her life and then to imagine for ourselves what it might also do for us.

00:18:36:09 – 00:18:56:37
Clint Loveall
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.

00:18:56:42 – 00:19:41:38
Clint Loveall
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.

00:19:41:38 – 00:20:06:11
Clint Loveall
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.

00:20:06:16 – 00:20:23:45
Michael Gewecke
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.

00:20:23:45 – 00:20:28:17
Michael Gewecke
Years to come. Subscribe yourselves so that you can go along in the study and we will see you next week.

00:20:28:19 – 00:20:28:57
Clint Loveall
Thanks, everybody.