Come and See:

In vv 16-26 [of ch 4] Jesus responded to the woman's request for water with an apparent non sequitur when he invited her to go to get her husband. This invitation is another challenge, although this time it is Jesus doing the challenging. Would the woman answer him in kind or would she take a step back and not answer the implied question straightforwardly? Just as she did not shrink from argument with Jesus, she also did not shrink from admitting the truth, that she had no husband to bring. Jesus' reply is startling because it, like his words to Nathanael earlier (Jn 1.47-8), reveals a knowledge apparently beyond ordinary human capabilities. Both the woman and Nathanael responded by affirming a new understanding of Jesus' identity, achieved through their reactions to these revelations. Nathanael addresses Jesus, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the king of Israel.” The Samaritan woman says to him, “Lord, I see that you are a prophet!” Nathanael's story ends with his reaction and Jesus's response to it; in the woman's case, her reaction begins a new phase of challenge in the conversation. Having decided she is in the presence of a prophet even if he is Jewish and not Samaritan, she sets him a question that goes to the heart of the divide between the two groups by asking about the proper venue for worship. Jesus' response calls for change and a new commitment to God from both groups. Having acknowledged Jesus as a prophet in v19 (on the basis of what he has told her about her past life), the woman asked Jesus to resolve one of the fundamental differences between Jews and Samaritans, the proper place in which God should be worshipped, Mt Gerizim or Jerusalem. Jesus' answer is as surprising as his response about her husbands had been. While acknowledging Jewish superiority in the matter of salvation by contrasting Jewish knowledge with Samaritan ignorance, Jesus also proclaimed that both must abandon their claims and worship in a new way, in spirit and truth. That is what the Father wants, not worship that is tied to a particular place (v24). The woman apparently did not like that answer (and indeed Jesus did not really answer her question, transposing any question of worship into a higher key altogether). What is worship in spirit and truth? In conversation with Nicodemos Jesus had spoken of a birth in water and spirit; here he speaks of a worship detached from place, no longer localised within the land or restricted to a single shrine or temple, but carried out in spirit and truth. What that spirit is, which transforms earthly concepts into another, and higher, realm, is not yet clear. But we know from chapter 1 that there is a spirit-baptism as well as a water baptism, and that Jesus both received and dispensed it. And we learned in chapter 3 that there is a spirit-birth from above. Now we learn of worship in spirit and truth. Clearly these three things are bound together and the common element among them is spirit. John has thought much about this spirit and will have much to say about this spirit as his particular telling of the good news continues. For now, however, we must, like those in the story, wait to learn more. <565 words;="" from="" general="" comments="" on="" section="" 4.2="" (jn="" 4.7-26)="" (on="" jn="" 4.16-26)="">