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of the title Messiah it is easy to see that already the thought was forming in her mind,
"Can this Prophet be indeed the Messiah?"
"The woman said unto Him, I know that Messiah cometh, which is called Christ;
when He is come, He will tell us all things" (verse 25).
Then comes the Lord's revelation of Himself:--
"I that speak unto thee am He" (verse 26).
The impression and conviction wrought in this woman's heart abides. It is the burden
of her testimony to her friends and neighbours:--
"Come, see a Man which told me all things that ever I did: Is not this the Christ?"
(verse 29).
This simple testimony of a repenting soul was owned by the Lord:--
"And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on Him for the saying of the
woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did" (verse 39).
The conclusion of this witness leads once more to the world-wide aspect of the
Saviour's mission:--
"We have heard Him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of
the world" (verse 42).
We cannot help seeing in the repentance, confession and evangelistic testimony of this
woman, a contrast with Israel's lack of repentance, and consequent failure to recognize
their Messiah and to fulfil their ministry among the nations.
The insistence upon the Lord's knowledge of the human heart is not confined to this
chapter. It is found in chapter 1:, and prefaces chapter 3: Nathaniel is converted and
acknowledges the Lord largely because of this divine knowledge. "Whence knowest
Thou me?"--and upon his confession the Lord again asserts His intimate knowledge:--
"Because I said unto the, I saw thee under the fig tree believest thou?" (John 1: 48-50).
Immediately preceding the
conversation with Nicodemus
are the words of
John 2: 24 - 3: 1:--
"He knew all men, and needed not that any should testify of man; for he knew what
was in man. There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus."
In all probability Nicodemus could have maintained a good argument concerning the
question of worship, but he was not permitted to do so. To this great doctor of the law,
the Saviour speaks of the new birth. To a poor ignorant and sinful woman the Lord