The Samaritan Woman's Response of Faith

The woman was tracking right along with Jesus, but it hardly seemed possible that Jesus could be the one everyone had been waiting for, for centuries

"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 4:25-26)

The Samaritans called the Messiah “Tahav,” the Revealer. Someday the Messiah would come, and He would bring about this radical change in worship, but Jesus certainly can’t mean that time had come now
...could He?

The words that John records Jesus having said at this point are, literally, in the Greek: “I that speak to you – I AM” Jesus spoke out loud the holiest of names, the “I AM” of God, Yahweh. It is the boldest claim yet in John’s gospel, and it was to one of the lowliest people you could think of.

You would have thought Jesus would have saved this incredible revelation for someone who could really appreciate it, like Nicodemus, or at least His disciples, or at the very least a Jew, and a man. The rabbis of that day had a saying, “It is better that the words of the law be burned that to be delivered to a woman.” Women weren’t considered to be worthy of receiving revelation from God in that day.

But here the Lord gave this Samaritan, and a woman at that, the revelation the whole world had been waiting to hear.

Why?

* She had so little spiritual truth.
* She hadn’t been raised up in the scriptures, or God’s Law.
* She was considered a lowly sinner even by Samaritan standards.

But what she had was humility. She was teachable. She wanted what Jesus had to give. She was willing to receive whatever He had for her.

You don’t need to be a Nicodemus to receive understanding from God. You just need to be humble, teachable, and want to learn.

God desires people to worship Him in spirit and in truth

How often do you really worship God? Even on Sunday mornings, when our minds and hearts are not in it, singing songs and reciting words are not really worship.

When you feel like your joy has gone away, then worship is one of the places you can find your joy back. If prayer has come to feel like a burden, then temporarily put aside all those petitions and spend your time praising and worshiping for a while. Sing songs of praise. Pray scripture that worships God. This is how you drink from the spring of living water, God’s life within you.

When you feel weak, or down, or joyless
1) Think about God’s attributes
2) Find verses that talk about God’s great power, His love and goodness and meditate on them
3) Remember before God all those times that He showed His power in your life
4) Tell the Lord how you know He will meet you powerfully in your current situation

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