“Come, see a man, which told me all thingsthat ever I did”

After a conversation with Jesus at a well in Samaria, a woman leaves her water pot and goes into the city where she tells the men:

“Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?”

Jesus and this woman did not speak for long that day. How is it that he could have told her everything that she had ever done in her life in a short span of time? First, let’s look at the entire conversation:

“There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly. The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he. And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her? 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?”

John 4:7-29

Now, let’s look at the things that Jesus told this woman:

In verse 10, Jesus tells the woman that she does not know the gift of God (which is eternal life), and he tells her that she doesn’t know God:

“Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.”

In verses 16 through 18, he lets her know that she is a sinner:

“Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.”

In verse 22, Jesus tells her that she doesn’t know what she is worshipping:

“Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.”

In a way that only God could have done, Jesus summarized all that this woman had ever done. She he had lived her life….

Not knowing the gift of God or God himself

As a sinner

As a worshipper, but having no idea what she was worshipping

Knowing that Jesus had just performed a miracle in reaching down into her soul and revealing all that she had done (in a spiritual sense), the woman then makes a statement (in verse 25) that shows that she was just one small step away from receiving Christ as her Saviour:

“I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.”

The most important conversation in her life concludes with the following words of Jesus.

“I that speak unto thee am he.”

Earlier, Jesus had shown her who she was. He had now shown her who he is. Their eternal relationship had just begun.