The
woman said to him, “I know that Messiah comes, he who is called Christ. When he has come, he will declare to us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who speaks to you.” At this, his disciples came. They marveled that he was speaking with a woman; yet no one said, “What are you looking for?” or, “Why do you speak with her?” So the woman left her water pot, and went away into the city, and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything that I did. Can this be the Christ?”
John 4:25-29
John 4 [21.] Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour comes, when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, will you worship the Father. You worship that which you don’t know. We worship that which we know; for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such to be his worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
John 4 [25.] The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah comes, he who is called Christ. When he has come, he will declare to us all things.”
John 4 [26.] Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who speaks to you.” At this, his disciples came. They marveled that he was speaking with a woman; yet no one said, “What are you looking for?” or, “Why do you speak with her?” So the woman left her water pot, and went away into the city, and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything that I did. Can this be the Christ?”
John 4 [30.] They went out of the city, and were coming to him. In the meanwhile, the disciples urged him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.”
Meaning:
Jesus has just told the Samaritan woman that the true worshipers will worship the Father “in spirit and truth” (John 4:23-24). Unsure what to make of such teaching, she looks to the future: when the Messiah comes, he will explain everything. Jesus answers with one of the clearest statements of his identity in the Gospels. These verses are the climax of the conversation at the well.
- “I know that Messiah comes”
The Samaritans, who accepted only the five books of Moses, did not expect a royal son of David as many Jews did. They looked for a coming one, often called the Taheb, meaning the one who returns or restores, based on Moses’ promise: “Yahweh your God will raise up to you a prophet from among you, of your brothers, like me. You shall listen to him” (Deuteronomy 18:15). John translates the Hebrew “Messiah” as “Christ,” both meaning “anointed one,” as he did when Andrew told Peter, “We have found the Messiah!” (John 1:41). The woman’s hope is that this teacher will “declare to us all things,” settling the questions that divided Jews and Samaritans.
- “I am he, the one who speaks to you”
Jesus was usually reserved about calling himself the Messiah among the Jews, because many expected a political deliverer and might try to make him king by force. Before the high priest, at the end, he answered openly, “I am” (Mark 14:62). Here, to a Samaritan woman with a broken past, he reveals himself plainly. In Greek his reply begins simply with the words “I am.” Many readers hear in them an echo of God’s name revealed to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14), which Jesus later claims more directly: “before Abraham came into existence, I AM” (John 8:58). Later, to the man born blind, he would say in a similar way, “it is he who speaks with you” (John 9:37).
- “They marveled that he was speaking with a woman”
The disciples return from buying food and are astonished. Jewish custom discouraged a rabbi from speaking at length with a woman in public, and this woman was a Samaritan as well. Yet no one dared to question him. Jesus regularly welcomed women as disciples and witnesses; Luke names women who travelled with him and supported him (Luke 8:1-3). The Good News breaks down these barriers: “there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28).
- “The woman left her water pot”
She had come for water, but now she forgets her jar in her eagerness. It is a small detail with a large meaning: she has found something more important than the errand of the day. Like the man who found treasure hidden in a field and “in his joy” sold all he had (Matthew 13:44), she leaves what she came for.
- “Come, see a man who told me everything that I did”
The woman who may have avoided the townspeople now runs to them. What once shamed her becomes the heart of her testimony: Jesus knew everything about her and still offered her life. She invites rather than argues, using the same words as Philip: “Come and see” (John 1:46). Her question, “Can this be the Christ?”, is modest and opens the way for others to decide for themselves.
The Significance of John 4:25-29
- Jesus reveals himself to the humble
Jesus made his clearest early claim not to scholars or rulers but to an outsider at a well. He still makes himself known to those who come to him in need.
- A changed life becomes a witness
The woman did not wait until she knew everything before telling others. A simple account of what Jesus has done for us is often the most powerful testimony.
- Leaving the water pot
When we meet Christ, our priorities change. Things that once filled our days take second place to knowing him and making him known.
Cross-References:
Deuteronomy 18:15: “Yahweh your God will raise up to you a prophet from among you, of your brothers, like me.” The Samaritan hope of a coming prophet.
John 1:41: “We have found the Messiah!” Another early witness bringing someone to Jesus.
Mark 14:62: “I am. You will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power.” Jesus’ open confession before the high priest.
John 20:31: “Believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.” The purpose of John’s Gospel.
Conclusion: In John 4:25-29 the Samaritan woman speaks of the coming Messiah, and Jesus declares, “I am he, the one who speaks to you.” The returning disciples are amazed that he talks with a woman, while she leaves her water pot and hurries to tell her town about the man who told her everything she had done. The passage reveals Jesus as the promised Christ and shows how one meeting with him can turn an outsider into a joyful witness.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible