Mensa Otabil - Jesus the Messiah (11/01/2025)
We’re still studying John chapter 4 as we listen to the conversation Jesus is having with the Samaritan woman at the well. Jesus now tells us what relationship with God is all аbout: that God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. Now we continue the conversation.
John 4: 25 and 26: The woman said to Him, «I know that Messiah is coming, who is called Christ. When He comes, He will tell us all things.» Jesus said to her, «I who speak to you am He.» In spite of this woman’s ignorance about religious matters, she got something right: she knew that there was a Messiah to come, and that the Messiah, when He comes, will reveal things. I think she begins to think that this probably could be the Messiah because of the kind of conversation they are having and the depth of spiritual truth that is coming forth.
This could be the Messiah. We don’t know how she learned about this truth; she may have picked it up when she was young, probably going to some religious school or undergoing some training that taught her that God loves her and that He will send a Messiah. Like most Samaritans, she has been waiting for this Messiah. Both the Samaritans and the Jews were waiting for this Messiah, and they knew that if the Messiah comes, then all the religious conflicts and the arguments about who is right and who is wrong will come to an end because the Messiah will make it plain.
Then Jesus makes a very profound statement. He never made this statement to anybody else except to this woman. Even to His disciples, He didn’t make this declaration. He asked them, «Whom do you think I am?» and then they offered their thoughts, but to this woman, Jesus revealed Himself: «I who speak to you am He.» When Jesus said that, He was also declaring Himself to be God because He said, «I Am.» «I who speak to you am He.» " I Am» is speaking to you right now. In other words, He is saying to the woman, «Jehovah is talking to you right now.»
Can you imagine the transition that brings us to this point, where this woman, going to fetch water, sees a Jewish rabbi, has a debate with him, and encounters God Himself? That is where soul- winning comes in- when people encounter God Himself, not in another form, but as He is, in spirit and in truth. When Jesus answered the woman this way, she knew that her life would never be the same. This is what she has been looking for-from man after man, six men so far-looking for happiness, looking for fulfillment, looking for joy. People are abusing her, and she is trying to find some meaning to life, and all of a sudden, meaning comes into her life from this rabbi sitting at the well.
God visits the woman, and that is evangelism 101: taking people from their own felt need for water to the real need of God. So Jesus transitions her from water to God, and tomorrow when we read, you’ll find what she did when she came to this point-a remarkable story. I pray that you would also find God in this way-not just in a church building, not just through a pastor, but to find God in spirit and in truth.
Let us pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, thank you for revealing Yourself to us through Christ. I accept Him as my Lord and Savior. In Jesus' name, amen, amen, and amen.»