[New to our exegesis of John’s Gospel? Try starting at The Beginning — see top menu for John 1:1-2].
26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”
27 Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”
28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.
26 λέγει αὐτῇ ὁ Ἰησοῦς· Ἐγώ εἰμι, ὁ λαλῶν σοι.
27 Καὶ ἐπὶ τούτῳ ἦλθαν οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐθαύμαζον ὅτι μετὰ γυναικὸς ἐλάλει· οὐδεὶς μέντοι εἶπεν· Τί ζητεῖς; ἢ τί λαλεῖς μετ’ αὐτῆς; 28 ἀφῆκεν οὖν τὴν ὑδρίαν αὐτῆς ἡ γυνὴ καὶ ἀπῆλθεν εἰς τὴν πόλιν καὶ λέγει τοῖς ἀνθρώποις· 29 Δεῦτε ἴδετε ἄνθρωπον ὃς εἶπέ μοι πάντα ὅσα ἐποίησα· μήτι οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ χριστός; 30 ἐξῆλθον ἐκ τῆς πόλεως καὶ ἤρχοντο πρὸς αὐτόν.
She Told All!
Jesus drops a bombshell — I AM is here with you, and then the scene changes quickly.
The disciples return from the village where they bought food. They were surprised Jesus was talking to a woman, and a Samaritan one at that! Good rabbis of that time didn’t do that. But no one said anything. I think they were beginning to realize that THIS rabbi played by different rules!
Meanwhile, the Samaritan woman left in a rush, leaving her water jar behind — the whole reason for the heat-of-the-day trek to the well was to fill it!
Jesus totally interrupted her day with something way more important.
She ran into the very village that had scorned her and engaged with people she otherwise sought to avoid! She shouted,
29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?”
I love her witness. She felt empowered, en-couraged, to run into a crowd that otherwise meant pain for her, and declared what she experienced. She’s not even sure of her theology — doesn’t really know if he’s the genuine article — but she’s been touched and wants everyone to know, and to share with her the question: Could this be The One?
And then, something about this clearly changed and emboldened woman moved them enough to go with her to see for themselves.
Come and see for yourself! Could he be The One?
She wasn’t afraid of what people would think of her. She wasn’t embarrassed to ask a religious question. She seemed not to have thought twice about interrupting the life and daily rhythms of a whole town!
She was just herself, telling what she experienced, and asking others to experience it too to see if it was true.
Wow — I feel so convicted!
It's Greek to Me! 