Thoughts on the Gospel of John (42) - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2025

Jesus 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 well said, I have no husband, for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly. The woman said to him, Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.
John 4: 16 - 19.

Thoughts on the Gospel of John (42)
The conversation between the Lord Jesus and the Samaritan woman seemed about to end. What the Lord had made so desirable, the , had awakened her longing, but she failed to understand it. Did the Lord break off there? Not at all! Even if it was pointless continuing this subject, the Lord noticed that He had won the woman's confidence and was receptive for divine blessing.

He therefore changed the subject. As the omniscient Son of God, He knew all about the Samaritan woman's life, which was not praiseworthy. Maybe that was why she could not properly grasp what Jesus was saying to her. She wanted God's blessing, but had she any right to it? She should have had a bad conscience.

The woman was living together with a man without a marriage certificate. For many that is no problem today. With God, however, it is sin. Jesus tells her that she has been married five times. Whatever the circumstances were, the Lord did not reproach her. Her present situation, however, was not in order; it contradicted the will of God.

Here Jesus acted as a prophet, not by telling the woman's future, but by pricking her conscience. If readers feel guilty about this, they should be as frank and honest as the woman of Sychar.

(to be continued on Sunday, 30th May)

Today‘s reading: 1 Samuel 10: 13 - 27 · Psalms 93: 1 - 5