Jesus as Prophet

Lesson #69

In the conversation with the woman at the well, Jesus penetrates to her heart when he asks her in verse 16 to go and get her husband. To her response that she has no husband, Jesus responds with precise information about her relationship with men by saying, “you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true” (John 4:18 ESV). The woman, desperate to turn Jesus away from that which is causing her so much pain, responds with “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship” (John 4:19 – 20 ESV).

The woman felt trapped and in an attempt to get the spotlight off from her sin, which she has been careful to hide away in darkness, she responds with an entirely different topic. In response to what Jesus said, she calls him a prophet, but then quickly brings up the topic of worship. Most of us would respond by ignoring this new topic and go back to the conversation about her husbands and her adultery because that is where her need is that Jesus can help her with. But he does not do that. Notice that again her response is connected to external things; where they worshiped (on this mountain) and where the Jews worshiped (in Jerusalem), but once more Jesus is going to try to bring her back to spiritual things by saying, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father” (John 4:21 ESV). The place of worship is not going to be important but how we worship.

Before we go any further with this new topic, we need to draw out from all we have said so far some main points. In versus 1 – 15 we learned that Jesus is the living water that the woman so desperately needs but totally misunderstands. Then in verses 16 – 19 we learned that Jesus is the prophet that can penetrate and lay open our soul and see what is inside and still love us. On this point consider Hebrews 4:12: “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (ESV). The common interpretation is that this verse refers to the Bible, but “word” in “the word of God” comes from the same Greek word that refers to Jesus in John 1:1, 2, 14 and 1 John 1:1. If “word” in this Hebrews verse referred to Jesus then it would harmonize with what Jesus did with the woman. Jesus is living and active and he can pierce deep into our soul and discern our thoughts and intentions. We see Jesus fulfilling Hebrews 4:12 with this woman at the well and he does the same with us and still loves us beyond our comprehension. We now come in our study to where we will see Jesus as the one who will help us understand what true worship is.

Prayer

Lord, you are the source of so many things we need. You are eternal life that overcomes death, light that removes darkness, truth that overcomes deception, the way to the Father that delivers us from the path of destruction, food that nourishes our soul, living water that quenches our thirst, a prophet that knows our inner thoughts and intents but still loves us, to name a few. How can we not love and obey you. All other options lead to eternal destruction. Lord, thank you.