John 4:15-18 The dance of faith_

And The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”‭‭ John‬ ‭4:15-18‬ ‭NIV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

Jesus’ interaction with this woman is incredible from start to finish. In it I find a blueprint for the way the Holy Spirit moves. Jesus said he didn’t do or say anything except what the Father gave him to do and say (John 8:28, 12:49). So he plunks down his exhausted tunic at a well and a woman approaches. Within his spirit he recognizes the Father is indicating clearly there is something on which to focus his attention. This transaction unfolds with incredible disclosure, honesty, and transparency from both the woman and Jesus. No posturing. No parables. Jesus spoke as plainly as at any point recorded. He just invited her to ask for living water, and she replies, “Give it to me!”

Is this woman expressing faith or simply sizing up a potential opportunity, her usual experience? She’s a pragmatist. If you have something to give, Mr. Jewish man, then sure, I’ll take it. Faith or no faith, one thing is clear, she’s interested. So Jesus replied with a shot that hit the target in several ways, “Go call your husband.”

Why did he say this? Jesus identified the one thing that would inspire faith, humility, repentance, and accepting of the Messiah in a measly four words. What Jesus was offering was not a physical gift, but a spiritual reality and it required faith. For her (and anyone) to receive it, she had to believe.

Looking at the broader context of what Jesus was doing, he framed his purpose in verse 34, “My food is that I should do the will of him that sent me and complete his work.” This work was the focus and delight of his heart every day. In various places in the book of John he describes what it is:

Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. John‬ ‭17:3‬ ‭NIV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

Man traded life for death in the garden. Instead of living forever, we now have a sentence of guilt and death over humanity in general, and over me personally. Jesus came to return this life to us. And it was accomplished through the work of the cross. But that work must be accompanied by faith: God gives you a word, an intention, a reality, and man must trust that it is true. In this case, to believe that Jesus is the Messiah — with all the meaning that accompanies such a grand disclosure. The core of Jesus’ mission was to convince the twelve disciples to believe this and at one point Jesus declared the work complete:

I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do…they knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. John‬ ‭17:4, 8‬ ‭NIV‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

This life and his Spirit dwelling in us depends on one thing: Faith. Jesus’ work was to demonstrate the character and person of the Messiah of prophecy, while being the very anointed one, so that people may believe – first that he was in fact related to and representing his Father. Then that the Father is good and through Jesus freely offers an olive branch of forgiveness and His close and abiding presence to each of us in the Holy Spirit.

In John 6 he referenced this work again, Don’t waste your energy striving for perishable food like that. Work for the food that sticks with you… ‭John‬ ‭6:27‬ ‭MSG‬‬. Then the followers asked specifically what this work was and Jesus replied, This is the work of God, that you believe on him whom he hath sent forth.

Jesus was doing his “work” at this Samaritan well. He was gently leading her on a path to believe. But in Jesus asking for her to fetch her husband it accomplished a few things. It allowed her to be real and confess the truth: “I have no husband.” It could have ended here. But the Holy Spirit tenderly showed her that He knew her. “You are right when you say you have no husband…” He expressed information that no one else knew – particularly coming from this Jewish wanderer.

In some contexts, this could be downright spooky. How did he know that about me? The fact is, everything we say and do is laid bare to heaven’s eyes. There is nothing we can hide in our lives. This secret information expressed the gift of knowledge, was a gateway of living faith through which this woman might walk through, and it pierced her heart. Jesus offered life. Living water that never runs dry. And the next step for her was to believe. Willingness to follow Him is progressive. One step leads to another. First, she said “give me the water” and now she has bared her life and soul. Her heart was at a very delicate tipping point. Does she shut down and run another direction or allow her faith to unfold? Amazingly, she stays and does the latter.

I’m impacted by the message here. Miracles, the powerful presence of God with us in man, healing, and the gift of knowledge come with purpose. Jesus provides fitting evidence for each of his kin to believe. He doesn’t give us these gifts so that we can shove Christianity down people’s throat, but rather at the appropriate time he uses them to gently tip us toward faith. Jesus said to his disciples later:

Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. John‬ ‭14:11‬ ‭NIV‬‬‬‬.

There was an interesting dance taking place between Jesus and this woman. The next few verses unfold the dance further.