On Line Bible Stud - For the Week January 30 - Frebruary 5, 2012

Lesson 521

John 3: ¹⁹ This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ All those who do evil hate the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. ²¹ But those who live by the truth come into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

We have backtracked just for a moment to recall these three verses from Chapter 3. They have relevance for the following verses from Chapter 4:

¹⁶ He [Jesus] told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” ¹⁷ “I have no husband,” she replied.

Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. ¹⁸ 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.”

¹⁹ “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet.

How comfortable are you to have the bright light of moral purity shine in every corner of your life? I have no husband ... Really? "Light" doesn't only shine one way. If we are determined to confine it or direct it only in the direction most comfortable to us, we limit its power and decrease its potential.

The Samaritan woman was reticent to allow the light of Jesus to shine too brightly. Her response to his question regarding her husband is an example of ethical (and spiritual) 'bobbing and weaving' - an attempt to evade the truth. The thing is - if you want the 'water', you have to take the 'light'. They go hand in hand.

The Psalmist writes that God is "familiar with all our ways" (Psalm 139:3). The woman has not yet understood who Jesus is. She is coming around with regard to what he means by 'water'; but she doesn't yet realize she cannot pull the wool over his eyes. As he calls her on her attempted deception she begins to experience him in a new way - now she realizes he is a prophet. This is a step in the right direction ... but the journey is not over yet.

The "Take-Home" on this passage - You can fool some people all the time; you can fool all people some of the time. But if you think you are fooling Christ, you are only fooling yourself.

Jesus is basically saying: Let's be honest.