Whenever I teach on John Chapter 4, I try to bring in all
the Orientalisms involved in this story of the Woman at the Well. For our
purposes at this time, however, I will bring you only the last portion of the
chapter, which illustrates how one person witnessed to others when finding
Christ.
John 4:19, 25-26: The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.
The woman saith unto him, I
know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ; when he is come, he will tell
us all things. Here we see that Jesus is at last telling her who he is; he
has talked with her enough until she is ready to understand and accept his
statement, "I am he." He did not, you notice, rush up to her at the
first and say, "Give me a drink because I am the Messiah". John 4:27: And upon this came his
disciples, and marveled that he talked with the woman; yet no man said, What
seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her? They marveled, you see, not because he was speaking to a
woman of bad reputation, as some Bible scholars try to say, but because he was
speaking to a woman contrary to the custom that after asking for water he
should not continue to talk with her in the public thoroughfare. John 4:28: The woman left her waterpot… Here is a statement of tremendous significance. You see the
waterpot of the household is a sacred object in the East. It has little
monetary value, but is guarded carefully because of its sentimental value.
Orientals feel that the clay of the pot signifies the clay which is our body;
the water within the pot corresponds to God's spirit within us. To leave the
waterpot behind would be like leaving one's soul behind! John 4:28-30: The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city and saith to the men,
Come, see a man, which told me
all things that ever I did: Is not this the Christ? Then they went out of the city, and came unto him.
This indicates that this Samaritan woman was of good virtue
and was highly respected in her village. If she had not been, she would never
have been able to approach the men of the city, for they would not have
listened to her or believed her when she told them to come and see a man who
was the Christ. Because of this one woman we find that many of the Samaritans
of the city believed that this was indeed the Christ, the Savior of the World.
Bishop K.C. Pillai, D.D. |