Perceiving a Prophet

The woman said to Him, "Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet." (John 4:19)

What induced this woman to make this statement?

First of all, it can easily be assumed that this was part of her diversionary move to change the subject away from talking about her live-in situation and her multiple marriages that held so much pain from her past.

But I believe by this point she was already beginning to feel stirrings of faith, a response in her heart to the way she was being treated by Jesus, by God quite literally. Jesus had just suddenly stated quite matter of factly very personal things about her private life that she would never expect a total stranger to be able to know, especially a Jew. Her town was rather small and likely only the people from there would have known much about her situation. His ability to easily discern so many details about her private business certainly was a very compelling clue that maybe this was a prophet that she needed to recognize and respect.

She was quite familiar with the idea of prophets. In her day people were much closer in history to the many Old Testament prophets and being a descendant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob she also considered herself not completely outside the circle of being one of God's people despite all the Jew's protestations to the contrary. And if she was one of God's children then she would also need to be willing to submit to any messages of God's prophets if one happened to come her way.

She may well have been familiar with some of the stories about Elijah, Elisha and some of the other prophets who sometimes appeared in very unusual places to very unexpected people. Prophets did not always stick to dealing only with God's chosen nation after all as seen clearly in the life of Elijah. And this woman's heart was actually much more spiritual, in my opinion, than many around her who laid high claims to being piously religious. So she was likely much more open to being sensitive to a prophet of God if she were ever to encounter one.

Beyond the fact that Jesus had so abruptly exposed things about her personal life she never expected Him to be able to know, it was also compelling to her the way in which He had done it. Instead of condemning her, reproaching her or heaping shame on her like most religious people were so quick to do, He had only affirmed her honesty, twice in fact, and had simply stated these facts without any negative connotations attached in the tone of His voice.

At the very beginning of their conversation Jesus had begun talking about God, about God's gift and about something that He wanted to give her that would enrich and benefit her life. At that point she had mentioned the question of His importance and status, comparing Him with Jacob and asking if He thought He was better than her ancestor that obviously had proven himself capable of looking out for his very large family. Implicit in that statement may well have also been some sadness or bitterness over the fact that she had never been able to find such a capable and caring man in her own life. With this background she well may have been starting to distrust all men and was ready to challenge any man who might come along making big claims about what he could do for a woman.

But instead of reacting defensively like most men would likely have done, Jesus only continued to increase her curiosity about the gift that He was so eager to share with her. She had not been able to detect the slightest animosity or prejudice in either the words or the demeanor of Jesus and this did not go unnoticed by her. In fact, this man was so strikingly different than any man she had ever met in her life that the conviction was starting to grow quickly inside of her that this just might be the most unusual encounter she ever had with a man. She couldn't figure Him out yet but something resonated very strongly in her heart that she needed to find out more about this most fascinating man who refused to treat her with anything but utmost respect and care and kindness.

With all of this as the context, I believe it is easy to see that her assertion that Jesus was a prophet was spontaneous and genuine. But the next thing I question is my reaction to her statement. What is my gut reaction to these words by this woman? Is it one of agreement? Do I share her amazement at the gentleness, kindness and compassion that I am seeing more clearly in the heart of God as seen in this story? Or does my religious mind and life-long training urge me to dispute her claim and dwell on the fact that Jesus was really the Messiah, not just a prophet?

As I think about it, I realize that to disagree with her is to place myself squarely in a place of unbelief myself. For the real definition of a prophet fits Jesus perfectly well. A prophet is really a person who listens to God's words and messages sent to them for others and then passes them on. We have developed the notion that prophets have to be people who foretell the future and if they don't fit this criteria then they must not be a prophet. But many prophets spent most of their time simply pleading with people to reconsider their disposition and attitudes towards God and to embrace the truth about God that they were resisting. From that perspective Jesus is the greatest prophet of all time. This woman could not have been more accurate in her evaluation of what she saw in Jesus. And that is amazing given that she had so little information to base it on.

Yes, it is true that Jesus quickly led her on to see Him clearly as much more than a prophet. But I do not want to miss the impact of this confession she made based on only what she had seen and heard and felt from Jesus at this point in their interaction. Obviously she did not have near the resistance that a lifetime of religious training too often builds into a mind and that tends to harden the heart against ready belief. Again, I find myself envious of this woman's ability and willingness to so quickly move into an attitude of belief when I spend so much time trying to unbuckle the many straps of logic, arguments and religious baggage that get in my way and prevents my heart from freely jumping to respond to God's revelations of love for me.

This woman like many others that Jesus freely associated with was considered by their society to be totally unworthy of the attentions and favors that Jesus was so ready to give them. He was repeatedly criticized and condemned for hanging out with tax-collectors, harlots and sinners. And yet He stated quite plainly that these were the kind of people who found it much easier to enter into the real kingdom of God than most of those who claimed to already know everything about that kingdom. Jesus had the most difficult time reaching the hearts of the overtly religious and the highly educated. It was those on the margins that He had the most success connecting with and teaching, for it was those who most often were more honest and real about what they were feeling inside as opposed to the religious leaders who would seldom allow themselves to confess the truth Jesus came to reveal about God.

In Jesus' response to her next question He invited her into an attitude of fuller belief. He knew that her heart was ripe to take this step and all she needed was an invitation. She was ready to embrace Him as her own Messiah. So the first words He said were, “Woman, believe me...” and obviously that is exactly what she chose to do. She was ready and eager to respond to God's revelation of love for her heart.

And I choose to do the same as I feel God's presence giving me the same invitation.

Father, I believe. Rid me of all unbelief.