A White Stone with a New Name

Let’s start with Scripture. My explanation is in [].

John 4:3-30 “He [Jesus] left Judea and departed again for Galilee. And He had to pass through Samaria. So He came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. [Jews hated Samaritans so badly, that when traveling from Jerusalem to Galilee, they would bypass Samaria altogether, even though it lengthened and complicated their journey. But Jesus didn’t do that. He went right through Samaria.] Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as He was from His journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. [which is noon, a rare time for anyone to be at the well] A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to Him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and Who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink’, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” The woman said to Him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are You greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.” Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered Him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but You say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, [In our culture, this sounds impolite. But in their culture, the word that was translated originally did convey respect.]  believe Me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming- He who is called Christ. When He comes, He will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I Who speak to you am He.” Just then His disciples came back. They marveled that He was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, “Come, see a man Who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?”

This passage is astounding and groundbreaking. At this point, because of prophecies from Old Testament prophets (especially Daniel), Israel was waiting on the promised Messiah. This is a historical fact. I implore you to research the history of ancient Israel for yourself to verify this.

All those around Jesus suspected He was the Messiah. He spoke like no other man spake. He performed miracles. John the Baptist had inferred that Jesus was the Messiah. But Jesus, Himself, had not yet said He was the Messiah. Everyone, especially the disciples,  were waiting for His proclamation. Maybe it would first be shared in private to the disciples themselves. Or surely the proclamation would be made at some big feast in Jerusalem in front of a large crowd! Or would Jesus just march into the Temple and announce it to and with the religious leaders? Or maybe He would just go straight to the Roman authorities, who held Israel under subjection, and usher in His proclamation with massive force and a new ruling order. How would it go? When would it be? They were waiting, waiting, waiting…

And then it happens. Jesus makes the most important announcement of all time. In private, but in earshot of the disciples, to a woman! (A woman was thought so little of at that time in history that her eyewitness testimony wasn’t even allowed in a court of law!)  Not an important woman. A nobody. A sufferer of racial prejudice (as a Samaritan). A sinner with no hope. A social outcast. This account is so ironic, so unbelievable, so truly beautiful and righteous that the authorship can be attributed to none other than an shocked eyewitness (John). No Jewish male of that time would have invented or approved of what happened. Jesus spit in the face of prejudice and as the One, True, and Living God, did things His way and in His time, using the people whom He chose.