The woman says, ‘Yes, Lord, now You have spoken more clearly. But tell me, are You no longer thirsty, and do You not wish to drink from a sinful woman’s jar?’ I say, ‘Dear woman, let that be, for look, you are dearer to Me than your jar and your water! When I asked you for a drink earlier, I did not mean your jar, but your heart, in which there is much more precious water than in this well and in your jar. With the water of your heart you can also heal your whole body, for what in you does Me good will heal you, if you can believe.’
The woman says, ‘O Lord, how am I to do that, how am I to bring the water of my heart into my private parts? Lord, forgive me for speaking so freely with You, but I am a wretched woman, and look, misery does not know shame as shame, but everywhere only itself, and loosens the tongue according to the greatness of its distress. If I were not as wretched as I am, truly I would offer You my heart! But (O God, You holy Father, may You help me!) I am miserably ill and must add no new sins to my many sins. For to offer such an impure heart to a pure one, as You must be, would surely be the greatest of sins!’
I say, ‘My dear woman, it is not a question of your offering Me your heart; I Myself took it when I asked you for water. So you may certainly offer Me your heart, for I accept the hearts of Samaritans too. If you love Me, you do well, for I loved you long before you could even think of Me.’
At this the beautiful woman blushes and says, somewhat embarrassed, ‘Since when have You known me? Have You ever been in this town or in Samaria before? Truly, I have never set eyes on You anywhere! Oh, I beg You, where and when did You see me? Do tell me!’
I say, ‘Neither here nor in Samaria nor in any other place, and yet I have known you since your birth, indeed from much earlier still, and have always loved you as My life! How do you like that? Are you content with My love? Look, when you fell into a cistern in your twelfth year, it was I who pulled you out, but you could not see the hand that lifted you from the cistern! Do you still remember that?’
At this the woman becomes quite bewildered and does not know what to say in reply, for her heart already has much fire within it, and her love was visibly growing.
After her heart had worked for a while, I asked her whether she knew anything of the Messiah who was to come.
John 4:25. The woman says, ‘I know that the Messiah is coming, who is to be called Christ. When He comes, He will (surely also) proclaim all this to us (that You have now spoken to me?)’
The woman then says, with her cheeks still deeply flushed and her breast heaving, ‘Lord, You wisest prophet of God! I know very well that the promised Messiah is to come and that His name will be Christ. But when He comes, surely He will only be able to proclaim to us what You have now spoken to me? Yet who will tell us when and from where the Messiah will come? Perhaps You, who are so profoundly wise, can tell me something more about the Messiah’s arrival! For look, we have been waiting a long time, and nowhere is there any word of the Messiah! You would therefore do me a very great kindness if You would tell me when and where the Messiah will definitely come to redeem His people from all their many enemies. Oh, tell me, if You know! Perhaps the Messiah would also have mercy on me and help me if I implored Him?’
John 4:26. Jesus says to her, ‘I am He who is now speaking with you!’
I say to the woman very briefly, but with deep loving earnestness, ‘I am He who is now speaking with you!’