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Sermon

Jesus Is the Revealer

Speaker
David Capoccia
Scripture
John 4:15-26

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In this sermon, Pastor Dave Capoccia continues examining the account of Jesus and the Samaritan town of Sychar in John 4:1-42. John presents the account of Jesus and Samaritan Sychar so that you will not miss out in dead religion but join humble outsiders in finding eternal life in Jesus. In John 4:15-26, Jesus shows in multiple ways that he is the revealer for whom the Samaritan woman has been waiting.

1. Jesus Offers Living Water (vv. 1-14)
2. Jesus Is the Revealer (vv. 15-26)
2a. Jesus Reveals His Complete, Supernatural Knowledge (vv. 15-18)
2b. Jesus Reveals the New, True Worship (vv. 19-24)
2c. Jesus Reveals the Coming, Revealing Messiah (vv. 25-26)

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Note: This transcript and summary was autogenerated. It has not yet been proofread or edited by a human.

Summary

This passage from John 4:15-26 reveals Jesus as the divine Revealer who knows all things, declares the nature of true worship, and identifies himself as the long-awaited Messiah. We are reminded that Jesus possesses complete supernatural knowledge of every person’s life and sin, yet approaches sinners not to condemn but to offer living water. We are called to understand that true worship is not about external location, rituals, or religious traditions, but about worshiping the Father in spirit and truth through Jesus Christ.

Key Lessons:

  1. Jesus possesses complete supernatural knowledge — He knew the Samaritan woman’s entire life before meeting her, and He knows our hidden sins as well.
  2. True worship is defined not by place or external rituals but by sincerity of heart (spirit) and alignment with God’s revealed truth, especially through Christ.
  3. Jesus is the fulfillment of the prophesied Messiah (Deuteronomy 18), the ultimate Revealer of God, and the only way to acceptable worship and eternal life.
  4. People must confront their sin honestly before they can appreciate the significance of Jesus’ offer of salvation and living water.

Application: We are called to examine whether our worship is truly in spirit and truth or merely external religiosity. We must stop hiding our sin, come humbly to Jesus, and commit our whole hearts to Him — even if it costs us comfort, reputation, or social standing.

Discussion Questions:

  1. In what ways might we be worshiping God with our lips while our hearts remain far from Him, and how can we move toward genuine spirit-and-truth worship?
  2. The Samaritan woman had been searching for satisfaction through relationships and circumstances. What “wells” do we keep returning to instead of drinking the living water Jesus offers?
  3. Jesus revealed the woman’s sin not to shame her but to lead her to salvation. How should the reality that Jesus knows everything about us change how we approach Him in prayer and repentance?

Scripture Focus: John 4:15-26 — Jesus reveals the woman’s sin, declares that true worshipers will worship in spirit and truth (v. 23-24), and identifies Himself as the Messiah with the divine “I am” (v. 26). Deuteronomy 18:15-19 is referenced as the Messianic prophecy the Samaritans awaited. Exodus 3:14 provides the background for Jesus’ “I am” declaration.

Outline

Introduction

Well, such a joy to sing together with you to our God. Now let’s hear from our God by his word. Let’s pray.

Lord God, we need you to open your word to us. We need your spirit to show us wonderful things in your law. And I pray that you would remove from us that barrier of unreality where these things just seem to us like a story, God—some fuzzy being that we can’t quite conceive of—and Jesus an interesting fictional character.

He is no such thing. God, impress to our hearts that Jesus is real. These things about him declared in your word are real. These events in the Bible are real, and they matter for us.

Spirit, help us understand and apply your word. Help me to be able to speak it. In Jesus’ name, amen.

The Sherlock Holmes Illustration

Well, when I was a boy, one person that I greatly admired was Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock Holmes, the most famous detective in the world, resided at 221B Baker Street in London, England, alongside his assistant Dr. John Watson.

Whenever I read stories about Sherlock Holmes or watched films and television depicting him in his cases, I was always so impressed with the man’s brilliance. From answers to only a few questions, or from just a few basic observations of a person, Holmes could deduce all about that person’s life and background.

For instance, simply by noticing the way that someone’s sleeve is stitched, Holmes could tell that person is an army doctor just returned from the war. Or from the scuff marks near the charger port on someone’s phone, Holmes could tell that a person routinely parties and returns home drunk.

Knowing and revealing this kind of information to people around him could get Holmes into trouble, especially for people who don’t want their life details known. But for me, for the reader, for the viewer, seeing Holmes reveal the truth about a person or about a case from seemingly insignificant details is always a satisfying treat.

“Seeing Holmes reveal the truth about a person from seemingly insignificant details is always a satisfying treat.”

How does he do it? I remember resolving as a boy to become like Holmes: to notice the details that others failed to notice so that I could discover the hidden truth about people and about the world.

Yeah, try as I might, I just couldn’t do what Holmes could do. I couldn’t notice enough details or quickly and correctly interpret the significance of those details. I just didn’t have the knowledge that Holmes did or the tireless capacity to investigate everything.

But really, my quest to imitate Sherlock Holmes was doomed from the start, and for one very simple reason: Sherlock Holmes isn’t real. Though apparently there are some today who do believe him to be a real historical person, Sherlock Holmes is in fact a fictional character created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in 1887.

As a literary creation, Holmes could be endowed with superhuman insight that allows him to know people at a glance and solve cases that are way too hard for Scotland Yard. He can solve them with ease. That’s because he’s a literary creation.

But real life people? Surely we can all grow in our abilities to observe and understand. But no human can know everything, right?

The True Revealer: Jesus Christ

Well, there is an exception. There is one human, a flesh and blood historical person who was witnessed by John the Apostle and others, who did know everything. This person existed from all eternity, yet was sent to Earth from heaven for our salvation.

As God, he knew all things. As a man, he knew exactly what the Father gave him to know and to speak. His knowledge didn’t come by careful observation, but by supernatural endowment, supernatural anointing.

Thus, he knew all people before he even met them, and he could reveal everything in their lives. But he didn’t come merely to reveal people. He came to reveal God and to reveal the true worship of God.

“His knowledge didn’t come by careful observation, but by supernatural endowment, supernatural anointing.”

For he is in himself the human. Though all of us have needed, all of us have waited for the great revealer of God and his truth—the man Jesus the Christ.

And today we have another opportunity to see him, to know him, and to believe in him from the God-breathed Bible that has been passed down to us. Let’s do that. Take your Bibles and open to John 4.

Reading John 4:1-26

John 4. We’re looking at verses 15 to 26 today. I’m calling today’s message “Jesus is the Revealer.” Jesus is the revealer.

We’re back in John 4. We began investigating the beginning of this chapter last week. This is page 1061 if you’re using the Bibles that we provided here. We’re focusing on verses 15 to 26 today.

But let’s read the preceding context. Let’s start from verse 1 and go all the way to verse 26. John 4:

Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John, although Jesus himself was not baptizing but his disciples were, he left Judea and went away again into Galilee. And he had to pass through Samaria.

So he came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. And Jacob’s Well was there.

Jesus, being wearied from his journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. There came a woman of Samaria to draw water.

Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.

Therefore, the Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, being a Jew, asked me for a drink, since I am a Samaritan woman? For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.”

Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is who says to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”

She said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do you get that living water? You’re not greater than our father Jacob, are you, who gave us the well and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?”

Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again. But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst. But the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”

The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw.”

He said to her, “Go, call your husband and come here.”

The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.”

Jesus said to her, “You have correctly said, ‘I have no husband,’ for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband. This you have said truly.”

The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.”

Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me. An hour is coming when neither in 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 an hour is coming and now is when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. For such people, the Father seeks to be his worshipers. 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 that one comes, he will declare all things to us.”

Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

Context: John 4:1-42 Overview

What we’ve just read is the majority of what is the next full section of narrative in this gospel: John 4:1-42.

This section is all about Jesus’ encounter with Samaritans at the little town of Sychar. This encounter is juxtaposed—it is set alongside and in between—two sections in which Jesus interacts with Jews who are slow to believe.

How is it that unclean Samaritans at Sychar proved to be spiritually miles ahead of Jews like Nicodemus or the Jews of Jesus’ home region of Galilee?

Our author, John the Apostle, wants his original audience of Hellenized Jews and us to be asking the same question, or at least a similar question: What is it that the Samaritans at Sychar saw on Jesus that I have yet failed to see? Could it be that pride in a foolish trust and self-made, self-righteous religion has prevented me from seeing Jesus for who he really is and for obtaining the eternal life that only he can give?

“What is it that the Samaritans at Sychar saw on Jesus that I have yet failed to see?”

We can summarize the main idea of John 4:1-42 in this way. In John 4:1-42, John our author presents the account of Jesus and Samaritan Sychar so that you will not miss out in dead religion but join humble outsiders in finding eternal life in Jesus.

Review: Jesus Offers Living Water (4:1-14)

Now we can divide the narrative here in John 4:1-42 into three parts. We looked at the first part together last time in verses 1 to 14. That was number one: Jesus offers living water.

Deciding that it was time to get out of Judea and not risk a premature conflict with the Pharisees, Jesus travels north back to Galilee and finds it necessary to pass through Samaria.

By midday, Jesus is tired and thirsty. He sits down at Jacob’s Well outside Sychar while his disciples go into town to buy food.

A Samaritan woman comes along to draw water from this spring-fed well. Jesus asks her for a drink, a request that she understandably finds shocking considering the history of hatred and rejection that Jews and Samaritans have shared with each other.

Instead of explaining how Jesus could make his barrier-breaking request for a drink to the woman, Jesus flips the script. He says that if she only knew the gift of God and who Jesus himself was, she would have asked him for living, or flowing, spring water, and he would have given it to her.

Thinking that Jesus means literal spring water, the woman communicates her doubt that Jesus could draw from Jacob’s Well without a water jar, or that Jesus is greater than Jacob and somehow has dug another, better well that supplies better water.

But Jesus insists that he is greater than Jacob and does have better water. Unlike the water of Jacob’s Well, the water that Jesus gives does not leave people soon thirsty. Indeed, they will never be found thirsty again, forever.

This is because, as Jesus explains, the water he gives becomes a spring of water inside the person who drinks it, always there to quench thirst and springing all the way up to eternal life.

“The water that Jesus gives becomes a spring inside the person, always there to quench thirst, springing up to eternal life.”

What is this amazing living water that Jesus offers? Jesus does not immediately explain. But Jesus is surely speaking about the indwelling ministry of the Holy Spirit that enables one to always behold the Father in the face of Jesus Christ and thereby find constant life refreshment and satisfaction.

The Triune God through the Spirit provides a fountain of living water. God has always been the greatest gift to his people: a true fountain, knowing God truly, worshiping, serving, and enjoying God. It doesn’t simply lead to eternal life later. It is eternal life for you right now.

This is what Jesus offers to the Samaritan woman, and through the written text, what God offers to each one of us today.

But as we’ll see in the next part of the narrative, the woman doesn’t yet see Jesus’ figurative meaning, and so she cannot properly respond to Jesus’ offer. Jesus, therefore, takes the conversation in a new direction.

The Woman’s Misunderstanding

This is part number two, which I’ve already given the title: Jesus is the revealer. And it covers verses 15 to 26.

We’ll see a number of subheadings under this, like we did last time. The first subheading under this section comprises verses 15 to 18. That’s what we’ll start our investigation of this new part of the passage.

Jesus Reveals His Complete Supernatural Knowledge

To A: Jesus reveals his complete supernatural knowledge. Jesus is the revealer, and he starts by revealing his complete supernatural knowledge. Look at John 4:15.

The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw.”

John 4:15: “Sir, give me this water so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw.”

On the surface, this response from the woman sounds like Jesus has just made an evangelistic breakthrough. “Sure, I’ll take the water,” she says. “I don’t want to be thirsty anymore.” Well, glory hallelujah! She’s asked for God’s salvation. That’s good, or baptized.

Wait a second. Does she really get what Jesus is saying? We cannot exactly tell. Her attitude in this response to Jesus—is she sarcastic and mocking? “Oh yeah, give me your special water, oh great Jewish rabbi.” Or is she wistful? “Oh sure, I’d love that kind of water if only it existed.” Or is she sincere?

There’s not really enough information in the text to judge her tone. But we can note that part of the reason she asked for the water in verse 15 is so that she won’t have to come all the way here to Jacob’s Well to draw. What does that show us?

Well, she’s still thinking in terms of physical water. She’s thinking Jesus has offered to save her a few trips of lugging water each day. She still hasn’t understood that what Jesus is really offering—she hasn’t really come to believe in him.

So Jesus takes the conversation in a surprising new direction in verse 16.

Go Call Your Husband

Look there: “He said to her, ‘Go, call your husband and come here.’”

What? That seems kind of random. He’s just having this conversation about living water, and he says, “Oh yeah, get your husband. Why suddenly ask for her husband to be present?”

Is Jesus already indicating that living water is so good that it should be shared, starting with your husband? Or is Jesus trying to add more cultural propriety to this conversation?

There’s one thing I haven’t mentioned yet. It was frowned upon in those days for a man to speak with a woman publicly. Actually, some Jewish rabbis taught that a man shouldn’t even talk to his wife in public. Men and women can have some brief words together, but no long conversations, please. That’s too intimate, too emboldening, too dangerous. It’s not proper.

That’s not a biblical rule. That’s just another man-made tradition. And Jesus didn’t feel the need to follow this custom, even though it shocks his disciples in verse 27.

But perhaps as the conversation is about to continue and get more serious, Jesus tells the woman that she should invite her husband so that she’s more comfortable and so that other people will be less scandalized. Maybe factors like these play a role.

But surely the main reason for this new request from Jesus is this: Jesus is going to show the woman just how parched she is spiritually and who exactly the one is who is offering her living water.

“Jesus is going to show the woman just how parched she is spiritually and who exactly is offering her living water.”

Notice her response in verse 17.

We’ll read verses 17 and 18: “The woman answered and said, ‘I have no husband.’ Jesus said to her, ‘You’ve correctly said, “I have no husband,” for you’ve had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband. This you have said truly.’”

Oh wow! Can you picture the scene? Can you imagine how this woman will be suddenly stopped in her tracks?

“I have no husband,” she says, which is an innocuous and true answer, right? “He told me to call my husband. Can’t do it. I don’t have one.”

Jesus acknowledges the accuracy of her reply. But then he reveals the fuller truth behind that answer: “For you’ve had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband.”

That is, she’s now living with and sleeping with a man who is not her husband.

Five Husbands and a Life of Brokenness

Five husbands? Do any woman who has had five husbands, or any man who’s had five wives? If you do, it’s probably only someone on TV, because that’s scandalous even today.

How could a woman have had five husbands? Did they just keep dying on her? No. She’s likely gone through five divorces. And why should we think that? Because of the clue in the second part of verse 18.

“And the one whom you now have is not your husband.”

Jesus notes that she’s currently living in immorality—either fornication or adultery. And notice, by the way, according to Jesus, living with someone does not count as marriage. He says, “He is not your husband.” It’s immorality.

So if, after five marriages, she’s revealed to be living presently in an immoral life, what does that suggest about how she behaved in those five marriages? Most likely, she has been a serial adulteress.

“According to Jesus, living with someone does not count as marriage. He says, ‘He is not your husband.’ It’s immorality.”

She marries one guy for love or money or social standing and enjoys that. But then the marriage sours. A better guy comes along, so she transfers her affections. Eventually, ending one marriage to start another.

She wasn’t the only one like this back then. She thinks, “Maybe this next guy. Maybe this next marriage. Maybe this next well will satisfy me.” She’s lived all her life searching for just the right husband. As it worked out, no. She’s still thirsty, and she’s worse off than when she started.

The Pitiable Truth of Her Situation

Do you notice how Jesus twice observes the accuracy of her statement? “You have correctly said, ‘I have no husband.’ This you have spoken truly.”

He draws attention to the pitiable truthfulness of that statement. “Woman, all your shameful sin has led you to the place in which no man will marry you. You are a social outcast who avoids the women of the town for fear of their gossip and accusations. You come alone all the way here at noon just to draw water.

The best you can do is attach yourself to a man who uses you for his own pleasure. But even he’s not willing to marry you, and he could dump you at any time.

Meanwhile, hanging over you is the threat of a sentence that even your Samaritan Torah prescribes for women like you—confirmed to be adulterous. And that sentence is death.

According to God, you deserve to die. But your life is already a kind of living death. You have no husband. You have no security. You have no one to take care of you. This you have spoken truly.”

“All your shameful sin has led you to the place in which no man will marry you. You have no husband. This you have spoken truly.”

Sad, right?

Jesus Already Knows Everything

Jesus’ declaration to the woman not only reveals how desperate her state is, but something even more profound. That is, Jesus already knows all about it.

How could he know? He’s never met her before. He’s a Jewish stranger. And it’s not like she’s wearing the evidence of her five marriages and her immorality so that Jesus, in some Sherlock Holmes-like way, could deduce her life story.

No. Jesus knew all about her before he told her to call her husband. That’s actually why he told her that. He put his finger on the sore spot of her life.

In fact, Jesus knew all about her before he asked her for a drink, and even before he set out for Galilee and knew that he had to pass through Samaria by the town of Sychar.

How did Jesus know? It’s only one answer: Jesus possesses the supernatural knowledge of God.

“Jesus knew all about her before he asked her for a drink. Jesus possesses the supernatural knowledge of God.”

And if she thought about it, this would be an even more frightening realization for the woman. Because if Jesus is God’s representative and knows all about her sin, then God knows all about it too.

And as Hebrews 13:4 says, “Fornicators and adulterers God will judge.”

Lessons for Evangelism and for Us

Now, there is a lesson in evangelism for us here, brethren. We need to talk to people about their sin. They’re not going to appreciate the significance of the gift of salvation in Jesus Christ until they understand the nature and penalty of their sin. Only then will they realize how much they need Jesus and his living water.

But there’s an even more important lesson to learn from these verses. That is, the man Jesus possesses the complete supernatural knowledge of God. Yes, this historical person reveals such here, doesn’t he?

Jesus knew this woman’s whole life and all her sin. And he knows yours too. Whatever secrets you try to bury, even to hide from other people in the church, Jesus knows about it.

He knows how you put on a religious or spiritual facade in the way that you talk or act. He knows how you keep moving from broken sister to broken sister and trying to find life—maybe not the same way that this woman does, but in your own way.

He knows how sin is really ruining you. It’s ruining your body. It’s ruining your marriage. It’s ruining your family. It’s ruining your life.

He knows that if you will not turn to him and receive his living water, you will die of spiritual thirst. And you will experience the eternal death of hell, where God will finally reveal all your sin and why he is just to punish you for it forever.

“Jesus knew this woman’s whole life and all her sin. And he knows yours too.”

How can the man Jesus know all this? Because he is the Eternal Word made flesh, and he already knows all men.

But what’s so amazing about this passage, even up to where we’ve read it, is the decency. Jesus doesn’t just declare all this to make the woman feel bad. Remember what we’ve already studied? It’s so that she will take his living water.

So what should you do? Is it not the same thing? Don’t hang on to your pride. Don’t hang on to a mere form of religion. Become a humble outsider and find eternal life in Jesus.

Well, does the Samaritan woman do this? Let’s read on.

I imagine there was a poignant pause after Jesus’ words in verse 18.

The woman considers the implications of what Jesus just told her. She soon resumes the conversation, though. In verses 19 to 24, we find our second subheading.

Jesus Reveals the New True Worship

Number 2B: Jesus reveals the new true worship.

Look at verse 19.

“The woman said to him, ‘Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.’”

And that is a sensible conclusion for this Samaritan woman. The only way that this stranger Jew could already know about her and her sin in such completeness is if he is a man sent from God with supernatural revelation—in other words, a prophet.

“The only way this stranger could know about her sin in such completeness is if he is a man sent from God.”

Now, this declaration from her is perhaps more significant than she herself realizes. Because the Samaritan religion does not admit any prophet except Moses and the prophet foretold in Deuteronomy 18:18-19.

The final prophet to whom God’s people all owe their obedience—is she already understanding Jesus to be this final prophet, this Messiah? Likely the pieces of the puzzle haven’t all connected yet in her head. But she can see already that this Jew speaks with the knowledge and authority of God.

She figures he can help her with a certain problem, which we see in verse 20.

Which Mountain Is Right?

She says, “Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.”

What’s her problem? She doesn’t know which place is the right place to worship God. Is it this mountain—the mountain on which her Samaritans’ forefathers worshiped, which would be Mount Gerizim? It looms within sight of Jacob’s Well.

Or is it the mountain in Jerusalem—Mount Moriah, the Temple mount—the place where men ought to worship? Which mountain is right?

Now, some Bible interpreters detect here an effort from the Samaritan woman to dodge the issue that Jesus just previously raised—namely, her sin—by quickly diverting the conversation into a theological controversy. “And I want to talk about sin? Why don’t we talk about mountains now?”

Certainly, this kind of thing does happen in evangelism, and we should be on the lookout for those who just want to raise thorny issues with us and never deal with the personal implications of the Gospel. You’ve got to watch out for that.

But I’m convinced this is not what the woman is doing here. After all, if Jesus had not sufficiently dealt with the issue of her sin, you can be sure he would have redirected the conversation that way. He doesn’t.

Rather, the question she is raising is one we might expect from someone who realizes the deep sin problem she has. She’s wondering, “How do I get right with God? I know I must return to God in true worship. I must turn from my sin and return to God. But how do I do that? Where do I do that?”

“How do I get right with God? I must turn from my sin. But how do I do that? Where do I do that?”

After all, if I picked the wrong mountain and all my worship is worthless, God won’t be pleased, and I’ll be just as lost in my sin as before.

So, “Prophet man, you seem to have some inside knowledge of God’s ways. Which mountain is the correct mountain?”

Now, really, the issue of which mountain is right for worship was central to the division between Jews and Samaritans. It’s why they really resented each other.

So in a sense, she’s asking Jesus, “Which religion is correct? Do I need to follow the rules and rituals of the Samaritans or of the Jews to be saved? I clearly need to do something. Which mountain is right for getting right with God?”

Notice that such a question, though, is still thinking about religion in external terms and what a person can do to save himself. Does this remind you of any conversation we’ve seen recently in the Gospel of John? Maybe the conversation with Nicodemus?

Well, as with Nicodemus, Jesus answers this woman’s question in a way that the woman does not expect, but which shows that Jesus has the knowledge and the authority to reveal what is acceptable worship to God.

Look at verse 21.

An Hour Is Coming

“Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, believe me. An hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.’”

“Believe me,” Jesus says. “I know this will surprise you, but what I’m about to say is true, and you’ve got to believe it. You’re asking which mountain is right and necessary for worship. I tell you the correct answer is not going to matter for long.

An hour is coming,” Jesus says, “when your question will be made moot.”

John 4:21: “”An hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.””

By the way, the idea of a coming hour is a theme that’s going to be repeated throughout the Gospel of John. Eventually, we’re going to see that this hour is the time of Jesus’ crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension—that package of salvation events that changes everything for God’s people.

It’s the hour of glory that is coming.

Jesus says, “An hour is coming,” and he continues his explanation in verse 22.

Salvation Is from the Jews

“You worship what you do not know. We worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.”

Now, here Jesus provides the temporarily correct answer to the woman’s question. “You Samaritans worship what you do not know. You haven’t gotten the complete or true view of God the Father because you don’t accept his full word. You remain spiritually ignorant.

We Jews worship what we know. That is, we at least know who God is according to the full Testament revelation he deposited with us.”

Now, note in this statement Jesus is not endorsing Judaism as it is being practiced in his day. Remember John 2? He went up and dramatically cleansed the Temple of corrupt worship. Judaism’s got problems.

Nevertheless, Jesus is affirming that to the Jews was given the way of salvation in the Oracles of God. “Salvation is from the Jews,” even if many Jews are missing that way of salvation.

“To the Jews was given the way of salvation in the Oracles of God. Salvation is from the Jews.”

Yes, woman, right now Jerusalem is the correct mountain. But he quickly adds, verse 23.

Worship in Spirit and Truth

“But an hour is coming and now is when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. For such people, the Father seeks to be his worshipers.”

Notice in this verse we again hear about a coming hour. But now Jesus asserts the hour already is. It’s already here. Already a fundamental change in worship is being inaugurated.

This is because Jesus, the one accomplishing the change, has already arrived and is already about accomplishing his Father’s work.

But what’s changing in this new hour—this hour that’s even already being inaugurated? The true worshipers, Jesus says, will worship the Father in spirit and truth.

Notice the term “the true worshipers.” This phrase necessarily contrasts false worshipers with true. There are people who think they are worshiping God, the Father, when they are not. Only the true worshipers actually worship God and will actually experience God’s promise of life.

But how will you distinguish the true from the false worshipers? Well, notice it’s not by location. Jesus has already said it’s not at this mountain, Mount Gerizim, nor in Jerusalem that you will worship the Father. It’s not by the where or by the way people worship. It’s not going to show them to be true or false.

Those who truly worship the Father will worship him in spirit and truth.

What does that mean? The best understanding of this would be: To worship in spirit means to worship with sincerity in one’s own spirit, in one’s heart, in one’s inner man. Your whole heart is being given over to God in worship.

To worship in truth means to worship according to the truth that God has revealed about himself, especially through the ultimate revealer, the monogenes son, Jesus Christ.

“To worship in spirit means with sincerity in one’s heart. To worship in truth means according to God’s revealed truth through Jesus.”

Why this change? What marks true worship? This change from where to way?

Well, notice the reason offered at the end of verse 23: “For such people, the Father seeks to be his worshipers.”

God the Father has always been interested in securing the hearts of his worshipers. He was really having them worship in the proper location or according to proper rituals. And there was a reason for all the location and ritual requirements of the old system.

But how many times, even in the Old Testament, does God rebuke his people for offering hypocritical, lifeless worship? He tells the people, “I’d rather you didn’t come to me at all in worship and come to me with lip service only. Your hearts are still far from me.”

Soon, therefore, Jesus says, worship will clearly be about what’s going on inside of a person rather than what’s going on outside. The Father is now inaugurating something better than the old system through his son.

God Is Spirit

Actually, this new way will be entirely consistent with God’s nature. For look at what Jesus says in John 4:24.

“God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

The beginning of John 4:24 is a famous declaration about the essence of God: “God is spirit.” That is not an exhaustive statement, but it is a true declaration of what God is like. Just like “God is love,” “God is light,” “God is spirit.”

God is not like man—corporeal, composed of flesh and blood, or any other bits of created matter. God is the infinite, eternal, invisible spirit who created the world and enters into the world but cannot be contained by anything in the world, and who in fact resides apart from the world in perfect holiness.

“God is the infinite, eternal, invisible spirit who created the world and cannot be contained by anything in the world.”

If God is fundamentally spirit, how could he be content with worship merely confined to one place, as if he himself were confined to that space?

Furthermore, how could God, who is not made of matter and needs nothing physical, consider himself satisfied with external worship that does not truly reflect either a man’s spirit or God’s truth?

God’s people must worship Him in spirit and truth. It is necessary. Even though this is articulated as a new thing, this has always been the case.

Yet the new part is the wondrous change and how an old requirement is going away. That requirement of place is going to make clear for God’s people what true worship is all about and is going to erase unnecessary barriers that interfere in people coming together to truly worship God.

The Means of This Wondrous Change

Now, what would be the means of inaugurating this wondrous change? What’s going to happen?

Well, it’s not explained specifically here. It’s going to be unveiled more and more as we go through the Gospel of John. But the means of this change will be the perfect life, death, and resurrection of the one God sent—his son—and the coming of the Holy Spirit.

The veil of the temple will soon be torn when Jesus satisfies God on behalf of sinners. That momentous event will show that access and acceptance to God is no longer bound to the sacrificial system of the temple in Jerusalem, but it is guaranteed forever in the unquenchable life and love of the Son.

With the outpouring of the Spirit, God’s holy spirit, God’s presence will abide with his people wherever they are and will assist them in worshiping truly in spirit and truth.

“Access to God is no longer bound to the temple in Jerusalem but guaranteed forever in the life of the Son.”

Indeed, the work of the Son and Spirit will effectively tear down the dividing wall between Jews and Samaritans, and Jews, Samaritans, and Gentiles. God makes them into one flock, one people, one body, truly worshiping him.

An Implicit Invitation to True Worship

This is a beautiful revelation. This is a wondrous change that is being inaugurated with this answer to the woman’s question about which mountain is right.

Jesus not only reveals his authority to reveal and clarify true worship. He also implicitly invites the woman to take part, to benefit, to get on board with what God is doing.

He already reveals he knows on behalf of God all about this woman’s past, shameful sin. And yet he shows her that need not hinder you in coming to God in true worship.

You don’t need to jump through the hoops of all externalistic religion as if that would make you right with God. He’s simply looking for worshipers who will worship him in spirit and truth. You, Samaritan woman, could be one of them today, experiencing the free gift of eternal life from God.

“He shows her that sin need not hinder you in coming to God in true worship. He’s simply looking for worshipers in spirit and truth.”

Here again, we see the glory of the Gospel. It’s not about man’s achievement. It’s about what God has done on behalf of men.

Do You Worship in Spirit and Truth?

Now, this invitation to the Samaritan woman—this implicit invitation—it’s not only for her, but it’s for John’s original audience, and it’s also for us, brethren.

Do you worship the Father in spirit and truth? Do you come to the Father through his wondrous way, the only way, Jesus Christ? And do you present him with a heart that is holy, his, which is even shown in the way that you live your life?

Remember, there are many religious people in the world who think they are worshiping the Father, but they are not. They are like the Samaritans. They do not worship what they know, or rather, they worship what they do not know.

This would include the Jews today, Muslims, Catholics, Mormons, and many Protestants. They do many good works. They may be very moral people. They have very spiritual-looking services.

But if they do not come to God in spirit and in truth, even by Christ and the Holy Spirit, their worship means nothing. It is not pleasing to God in the slightest. In fact, their works and worship are an offense to God because they honor him with their lips, but their hearts are far from him.

“If they do not come to God in spirit and in truth, their worship means nothing. It is not pleasing to God.”

Thank you. What about you? Do you draw near to God with your lips but not your heart, doing everything right on the outside, but you’ve never given yourself to God on the inside?

Do you feel an affection for God but not according to the truth of Christ and his word? Neither of these paths is acceptable to God.

True worshipers of God must worship him in spirit and truth. That is the only acceptable way. Is that the way that you take? Really, is that the path not of someone stuck in proud, dead religion, but of someone who’s a humble outsider and has found eternal life in Jesus?

Well, certainly, what Jesus declares to the Samaritan woman is momentous. It is a wondrous revelation of the free gift of salvation that she’s never heard before. She can’t believe it’s being offered to her.

Perhaps the Samaritan woman senses that no ordinary prophet could reveal such weighty matters to her. For look at what appears under our last subheading today in verses 25 to 26.

Jesus Reveals Who Is the Coming Messiah

This is 2C: Jesus reveals who the coming Messiah is. Verse 25.

“The woman said to him, ‘I know that Messiah is coming. He who is called Christ. When that one comes, he will declare all things to us.’”

The Samaritan Messianic Hope

Well, we see the Samaritan woman articulate here the Samaritan Messianic hope. Though the Samaritans only accepted the five books of Moses and rejected most Old Testament books that foretold the coming of Messiah, the Samaritans did take seriously the prophecy of Deuteronomy 18:15 and 19, which we read earlier in our service.

We are told of a coming prophet who will be like Moses, who will speak all of God’s words, and to whom all God’s people must listen, for God will require it of them if they do not.

The Samaritans often call this coming figure the taheb, or “the one who restores,” based on Deuteronomy 18. The Samaritans expected that this Messiah figure would primarily come on a mission of revelation, doing exactly what a Samaritan woman says in this verse: “He will declare all things to us.”

That was their expectation. Just as the Jews of Jesus’ day were caught up in a fervor of expecting the Christ at any moment, so the Samaritans were too. They expected their taheb, their Christ, to come at any moment to bring God’s revelation.

They apparently also would sometimes use the terms Messiah or Christ to refer to the one they were waiting to come.

In response to Jesus’ declaration about the coming change in true worship, the woman articulates her confidence that her taheb, the Messiah, and the Christ will soon come and fully reveal whatever truth his people need.

“The Samaritans expected that this Messiah figure would primarily come on a mission of revelation: He will declare all things to us.”

Which leads to an amazing declaration in verse 26.

“Jesus said to her, ‘I who speak to you am he.’”

John 4:26: “I who speak to you am he.”

It’s amazing that in the gospels Jesus often doesn’t come right out and declare that he is the Messiah. But with those who don’t have so much baggage associated with that term—gentiles, Samaritans—he is much more willing.

To this serial adulteress who wasn’t looking for Jesus, who totally misunderstood his offering of living water, he decides to make this plain declaration. What the woman may have begun to suspect about Jesus, Jesus now reveals plainly to dispel all doubt.

“I am the Messiah. I am God’s revealer for which you Samaritans have been waiting. This is why I know all about you and your past. This is why I can declare the wonderful change that’s coming in worship. I am the promised prophet of Deuteronomy 18. And I have come not only to reveal but to save.”

Isn’t this exactly what we’ve already read in the Gospel of John, even in the prologue? He is the Word made flesh. And what is a word? It is communication. It is revelation. He’s come to explain the Father.

That was true for the Jews. Now it’s true for the Samaritans. It’s true for all people.

I Am — Jesus’ Divine Self-Revelation

Now, note the precise way that Jesus makes this declaration to the woman. Your Bibles may have the last word in our English translation of verse 26 in italics: the word “he.” “I am” and then “he” in italics.

Why is it in italics? Well, italics is the way that modern translations often indicate that a word is not literally present in the original Greek, but it is implied. The sense is there. And that’s why we see “he” in our translation of verse 26.

But literally, Jesus replied to this woman’s expression of hope in the coming Messiah: “I am. I am.”

Now, is that a significant way to reply? You bet it is.

“I am”—we’re going to see this more in the Gospel of John. “I am” was one of the most memorable bits of self-revelation that God gave in the Torah, remember, which Samaritans also accept as a testimony to who he is, even his eternal self-existence and independence.

Exodus 3:14: “God said to Moses, ‘I am who I am.’ And he said, ‘Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, “I am has sent me to you.”‘”

Exodus 3:14: “”God said to Moses, ‘I am who I am… I am has sent me to you.’””

And so when the woman suggests that the Messiah will come and make things clear, Jesus says, “I am.”

Put yourselves in the shoes of this Samaritan woman. She meets a Jewish man at a well who, in breach of all prejudice and custom, asks her for a drink. Then he offers the most fantastic drink to her instead: living water that will bring her eternal life.

Then he reveals he knows all about her, even though he’s never met her before. He knows all about her and her sin and her ruinous quest to find life outside of God.

Then he clarifies that true worship is really about seeking God according to his revealed truth, not about place, as God will soon make clear by making both Gerizim and Mariah obsolete.

And then, to top it all off, not only does he declare himself to be her long-awaited Messiah who will reveal all things, but he does so with God’s most famous words of self-revelation in the Old Testament: “I am.”

What the Woman Realized

What is going through her mind the moment this conversation ends?

Well, based on what we see come later, we know the spirit is working in her. Now things are starting to click. The puzzle pieces are coming together. She’s beginning to understand: “He’s the Messiah. This Jewish man—I haven’t even learned his name yet—but he’s the Messiah. He’s the revealer that we’ve been waiting for. He’s the one I’ve been waiting for. He’s here to show us the way to life, the way to God. He’s here to show us who God really is.”

She probably doesn’t understand everything yet. She understands enough to know that drawing water from the well is no longer important. The people of Sychar need to know about this amazing man with the living water because he’s the Messiah.

“He’s the Messiah. He’s the revealer we’ve been waiting for. He’s here to show us the way to life, the way to God.”

Thus begins one of the most glorious and unexpected gospel harvests described in the New Testament. We’ll read more about that next time.

Have We Realized What She Realized?

But surely we need to stop and ask ourselves: Have we realized what the Samaritan woman has realized?

Jesus is the revealer—the revealer of God. Only he can show you the way to life, not some other religious person. You can trust him and what he says over your own feelings, over religious traditions, over what the most brilliant people in the world have to say, because he is the Word of God, the revealer of God, the savior, the only savior that God has provided.

“You can trust Jesus over your own feelings, over religious traditions, because he is the Word of God, the revealer of God.”

Do you believe him? Do you believe in him? Do you believe enough to turn from your sin and commit your whole heart to him, even if it means suffering for his sake as an outcast?

That’s what’s staring the original audience of John’s gospel in the face when they consider believing in Jesus. “I’m a Jew. If I cross over to Jesus, my people are going to reject me. I’m going to be put out of the synagogues.”

But John and the spirit of God, through the Gospel of John, is assuring us: “Don’t be afraid. Don’t be afraid to become a humble outsider for Jesus’ sake, because in your dead religion there’s no life.

All those people that are rejecting you because they supposedly are zealous for God—they don’t know him. The only way to know God is through Jesus Christ. The only way to offer God acceptable worship is through Jesus Christ.

Don’t stay in your safe, proud, self-righteous religion. Come all the way over to Jesus. Become a humble outsider for his sake, and he will reveal all things—all things that you need for your life, not just how to be saved, but how to walk with him, how to become like him.

There’s a reason the scriptures say that God has provided everything that we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of him, Jesus. Even those precious, magnificent promises that cause us to overcome the corruption of the world and to become partakers in the divine nature—all that’s provided only in Jesus.

Go all the way to him. Hold nothing back. Worship him in spirit and in truth, because that’s the only thing that’s acceptable. You’ll find eternal life, living water.

Remember, it’s a free offer. No matter what you’ve done, you can have the Holy Spirit. You can have living water if you’ll just come to Jesus and ask for it while holding nothing back.

Closing Prayer

Let’s pray as we go through this gospel.

O Lord, it’s just amazing revelation again and again. There is no man like Jesus. The things that he says, the things that he does—this is unlike any other person in the world. No one could do what he did, and no one could reveal what he could reveal, because he dwelt in the bosom of the Father since before time.

How amazing, God, that we pieces of flesh and bone, made in your image—it’s true—and yet made of dust. How is it that we can know you through Jesus? How is it that you sent your son to people like us, people who in our own way are just as sinful as the Samaritan woman, just as lost, just as broken?

But you came for people like her. You revealed yourself to people like her. And you had compassion on her and presented her with salvation. Who are we, God, that you would reveal yourself to us and even bring us into Jesus so that we can have eternal life in him?

God, I pray that we would respond appropriately in worship—not just by singing in church, but by living lives that truly are worship, hearts given over to you totally. Lord, we are not perfect, but we will press on after Jesus because he is our life. The fountain of living water is in him and in his spirit. We want that life. We won’t find it anywhere else.

I pray if there’s anyone here who does not yet know it and experience it, that they would in Jesus’ name. Amen.

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