Shock in Samaria!

“I am your birth mother.” I received an e-mail with those words after about a year of attempting to locate and contact my birth mother. I had been adopted as an infant and never knew my birth parents. I grew up in a wonderful home with loving adoptive parents, but I must admit that my body trembled a little when I read those words. You don’t contact your birth mother in a nonchalant way. Emotions surged within me as I read the e-mail. I had found and successfully contacted the woman who gave me life!

I wonder if the Samaritan woman at the well had a similar, or even greater, surge of emotions when Jesus revealed who He was. Remember the context. Jesus, a Jew, engaged this Samaritan woman in conversation, which Jewish men were not supposed to do. After some dialogue and a prophetic revelation about the woman by Jesus, the woman said, “I know that Messiah is coming, when that One comes, He will declare all things to us. (NASB)” Then Jesus rocked her world. “I AM, the one speaking to you,” He declared.

The Greek phrase for “I am” is “ego eimi.” Jesus also used that phrase in John 8:58 and a number of other places in John. It hearkens back to the name of God and alludes to the Divine nature of Jesus. In those words, Jesus declared that He was the Messiah whom this woman had been waiting for all her life.

What’s her reaction? She’s absolutely shocked. She leaves her water jug and sprints to town (the Bible states that she ‘went’ to town, but I imagine it was more than a casual stroll). I bet she totally forgot about the water. The euphoria of encountering the Christ superseded any thoughts of water, despite the fact she came to draw water from the well in the first place. Her mind must have gone numb like someone finding out they just won the lottery. Adrenaline and emotions coursed through her flesh during her journey to town– the Messiah of God had come!

She couldn’t keep quiet. She announced to everyone in town who would listen that she met a man who she believed was the Messiah. I wonder if they had to tell her to slow down as her lips labored to keep pace with her thoughts. This man Jesus knew everything about her. He had declared, “I AM” the Messiah. As a result of her testimony, many from the town placed their faith in Jesus, the Messiah.

Have you met Jesus, the Messiah? He wants to reveal Himself to you even as He did to that Samaritan woman. Does the revelation of Jesus the Christ overwhelm you and flood your soul with emotions? When we recognize our desperate need of a Savior, then the revelation of Jesus, the Christ should overwhelm us. Does your encounter with Him compel you to share Him with others? Jesus is as much the Savior of the world today as He was then.

The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming, when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.”

Well my friends, MESSIAH HAS COME!

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