Sermon: John 4:19-26: The Woman of Samaria (Part 3)

I’ve enjoyed our look at the story of Jesus and the woman of Samaria very much. It truly is rich. And I think it is rich because it set’s forth rich doctrine – that is, it presents deep and significant truths concerning Jesus, his person and work. But it does so by way of historical narrative. In other words, these rich doctrines are presented by way of real life story. We see Jesus – a real person – interacting with a woman of Samaria – a real person with real issues. We can identify with her. We know what is to feel guilt concerning our past. We know what it is to have questions concerning God. Jesus is real; she is real; and so we can relate to this story. It illustrates the way in which the truths concerning Jesus impacts real life. We see here that all of this talk about Jesus being the Savior of the world, the one through whom purification is possible, the one who reveals the Father to us, shining as the light of the world, is more than merely hypothetical, cerebral, intellectual. Jesus, who is all that John says he is, engages the person. He opens the mind, transforms the heart, and calls people in real life to follow him. It was true then, and it is true today,

The turning point for this woman, as we noted last week, was when she came to perceive Jesus as one who spoke with divine authority. She was hostile to Jesus at first, but her perception of him changed.

Let’s pick up the reading in verse 19 and read once more through verse 26. It’s going to take at least one more sermon to get through to the end in verse 42. Verse 19:

Reading of God’s Word

“The woman said to him, ‘Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; 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 is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.’ The woman said to him, ‘I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I who speak to you am he.’” (John 4:19–26, ESV)

Introduction

The woman’s confession, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet”, is the turning point of this story, but clearly it is not the climax. The woman has made a good confession at this point, but not a full one. Her understanding of Jesus is not yet complete. She was right to see him as a prophet – as one who spoke with divine authority. She and Nicodemus both came to the correct conclusion as they interacted with Jesus. Nicodemus put it this way, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” (John 3:2, ESV) The woman stated it differently, but meant essentially the same thing, “Sir, [because you have revealed these things about me] I perceive that you are a prophet”.

But it is essential to notice that neither Nicodemus nor the woman arrived when they they initially confessed that Jesus was someone who spoke with divine authority. We don’t know how long it actually took Nicodemus to come to terms with who Jesus claimed to be. He walks away from Jesus in chapter 3 with questions; he appears to have a some degree of commitment to Jesus as he is mentioned again in chapter 7; but he is not presented as a full fledged follower of Christ until John chapter 19.  Read the rest of Sermon: John 4:19-26: The Woman of Samaria (Part 3) »