I WHO SPEAK TO YOU AM HE

Passage: John 4:16-30

Key verse: 26

NIV

16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”

17 “I have no husband,” she replied.

Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”

19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet.(A) 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain,(B) but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”(C)

21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming(D) when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.(E) 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know;(F) we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.(G) 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come(H) when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit(I) and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit,(J) and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ)(K) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”(L)

The Disciples Rejoin Jesus

27 Just then his disciples returned(M) 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.(N) Could this be the Messiah?”(O) 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

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ESV

16 Jesus said to her, “Go, (A)call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” 19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that (B)you are (C)a prophet. 20 (D)Our fathers worshiped on (E)this mountain, but you say that (F)in Jerusalem is (G)the place where people ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, (H)“Woman, believe me, (I)the hour is coming when (J)neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 (K)You worship what you do not know; (L)we worship what we know, for (M)salvation is (N)from the Jews. 23 But (O)the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father (P)in spirit and (Q)truth, for the Father (R)is seeking such people 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 (S)Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, (T)he will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, (U)“I who speak to you am he.”

27 Just then (V)his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” 28 So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man (W)who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” 30 They went out of the town and were coming to him.

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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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Jesus knew this woman’s thirst did not just involve going to the well every day for water. She thirsted for something even more—human love— and so she had married several times in her life, only now to be with a man who was not her husband. Jesus exposed her shame to help her to receive what she truly needed.

The woman began to discuss worship. Jesus helped her see that a time was coming when the place of worship would not be as important, like how we now worship. The time has come where we can worship God in the Spirit and in truth. God is spirit, and he seeks those who will be devoted to worship and will seek Him with all their hearts through His Spirit. The woman’s true thirst was for an object and form of proper worship.

Through this encounter, the woman now realized that she had met the Messiah. She left her water jar and went to her town to exclaim, “Come see a man who told me everything I ever did” (29). Her shame was gone. She was filled with hope and eternal life. Jesus used an unlikely woman to share the good news. When we meet the Messiah, our lives change, and we can leave our empty jars behind. We can then tell the world what the Messiah has done for us.

Prayer: Jesus, thank you so much for setting me free and for filling my life when I was once so empty. I repent for every idol in my heart. May I leave the water jars of this world behind in order to worship you.

One Word: Go and tell others what Jesus the Messiah has done for us.