I Am He

Text: Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He” (John 4:26).

The eyes of a Samaritan woman are unexpectedly open as she makes a routine trip to the well to draw water for the day.

After Jesus began his ministry, people began to come to him to be baptized by his disciples. His popularity increased to the point that his disciples were baptizing more people than John.

Jesus knew the Pharisees were jealous of him, his popularity and the work he was doing, so in an effort to prevent any type of issue between the people baptized by John and those baptized by his disciples, Jesus decided to move from Judea to Galilee.

There is a lesson for each of us in the decision Jesus made. As you well know, people do not always agree with one another on certain issues. Sometimes they become very upset and reach the point of physical violence.

Jesus knew the Pharisees did not have a problem with John and the people he baptized, but he also knew that as people left John and migrated to his disciples, anger and hostility could creep in causing disruption in the religious life of these people.

Jesus came to show people the life that would lead them into the Father’s kingdom. It is not a bad thing to have disagreement or controversy, but it should not destroy the benefits exemplified in the Gospel.

Jesus could have stayed in Judea and let disruption take place, but instead, he chose to move north to Galilee. The lesson for us is that we should do the same thing. Whenever we get into a situation which leads to disagreement and controversy, and we know we are right, it is our duty to follow Jesus’ example and move on instead of being stubborn.

Ecclesiastes 3:1 and 7 states: “To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven … a time to keep silent and a time to speak.”

Jesus knew his mission here on earth was to give man a chance to redeem his relationship with the Father. He was not here to separate man from God, man was doing that on his own.

Jesus said, “For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost” (Matthew 18:11). This was the right season and saving the lost was his purpose.

Jesus also knew the Pharisees were not understanding people and this was the time to keep silent and not the time to speak and cause a disruption among the people. His decision was to move north with his disciples.

Our Scripture tells us, “But He needed to go through Samaria” (John 4:4). This was not the only route from Judea to Galilee, but this was the shorter route. Besides being a shorter route, I believe Jesus had another reason for taking this route.

As you might recall, the Jews and the Samaritans did everything they could to avoid one another. It happened that after the northern kingdom fell to the Assyrians many Jewish people made their home in Assyria. As time passed, other people, foreigners, were brought in to help settle the land and make it a safe place to live (2 Kings 17:24)

There was intermarriage between the Jewish people and the foreigners which resulted in a mixed race. This mixed race came to be known as Samaritans because they lived in the cities of Samaria. The pure Jews living in the southern kingdom felt they had been betrayed because of the intermarriage situation. This issue set up cultural barriers.

As you well know, Jesus was not supportive of cultural barriers. People were not supposed to live hating one another. Jesus was a Jew, but His love extended to all people regardless of race, color, or creed.

He chose this route knowing that this was the Father’s will. In fact, Jesus knew who he was going to meet, where he was going to meet her and the type of life she was living. As we said previously, His mission was to seek and save the lost.

As Jesus and his disciples approached one of the cities of Samaria called Sychar, they stopped to rest by a well known as Jacob’s well. It is called Jacob’s well because at one time Jacob owned the property where the well is located.

This well was not a spring-fed well like some might think, but instead the water in the well was from the rain and the dew. This well, as most wells, was located outside the city limits, but usually on the main road or the main route of travel.

Scripture tells us that “It was about the sixth hour” (John 4:6) as Jesus was relaxing by the well that a woman of Samaria came by to fill her pitchers with water.