A woman needs to get necessities. She goes to get water to bring home. There she encounters a man who introduces himself. He asks for a drink of her water. The woman, not knowing the man and where he is from, questions if it is appropriate that he make this request. After all, he sits there alone with no possessions and with nothing to offer in return. The man then claims that he can offer her the greatest gift of all, the gift of eternal life.
Astonished at his words and all that he knows, the woman wonders who this man is. She wants to know if he is someone to of fame and honor. The man says any praise he may garner is not to be directed to him but, rather, to God for it is God who sent him. Then the woman says she has heard there is to be a Messiah coming to the world. Can this common man alone and thirsty be the One? The man declares:
“I am he.” (John 4:26)
The woman drops the water and rushes back to tell her neighbors that she has found the Savior. They come to meet this man, Jesus, and invite him to visit with them in their small town of Samaria. He stays there two days sharing his teachings.
In the Old Testament, the Book of Isaiah professes the coming of God to earth with these words from chapter 7, verse 14: a woman shall bear a child and he shall be called Emmanuel—God is with us. In the opening chapter of the Gospel of John, Jesus is revealed as the Word of God made flesh. Later in chapter 14 of John’s Gospel, Jesus tells the apostles that the one true way to know God is through him. In this story of the Samaritan woman, Jesus greets an outcast woman from an exiled community. He reaches out to her not from a position of power or by virtue of his prominence, but in fellowship and kindness; humility and acceptance. He reaches out to her as one person seeking to develop a friendship with another. He reaches out so that she can get to know him and by knowing him, know God.
Jesus is sent to earth so that we can know God more. By knowing God more, we deepen our faith and strengthen our resolve to love and serve Him. By knowing, loving, and serving God, we become heirs to the endowment of eternal life that Jesus has promised.
And it starts with Jesus Christ being asked the question “Are you God?” and extending his hand in friendship as he answers:
“I am He.”
These Gospel stories are re-imagined in the book series:
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