Mensa Otabil - Jesus is the Expected One (11/07/2025)
John chapter 4, verses 25 and 26. The woman said to him, «I know that the 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 could probably be the Messiah because of the kind of conversation we are having and the depth of spiritual truth that is being revealed. This could be the Messiah. We don’t know how she learned about this truth. She may have learned about it when she was young, probably by attending some religious school or through some training that God loves her and that God will send a Messiah.
Unlike most Samaritans, she has been waiting for this Messiah. Both Samaritans and Jews were waiting for this Messiah. They knew that if the Messiah comes, then all the religious conflicts and 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 statement. He asked them, «Whom do you think I am?» and they offered their opinions about who he was. But to this woman, Jesus revealed himself: «I who speak to you am.»
When Jesus said that, he was also declaring himself to be God. Because he said, «I am. I who speak to you am. I am is speaking to you right now.» In other words, he’s 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 true winning comes 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’s been looking for: from man after man, six men so far, looking for happiness, looking for fulfillment, looking for joy. People abusing her as she tries to find some meaning in life. And all of a sudden, meaning comes into her life from this rabbi sitting at the well.
God visits the woman. That is evangelism 101: taking people from their felt need for water to the real need of God. So Jesus transitions her from water to God. Tomorrow, when we read, you will 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 a church building, not just a pastor, but 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. And amen.