Whom Do Men Say That “I” the Son of Man “Am?”
Part ii
When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? (Matthew 16:13)
And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. (Matthew 16:16) And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 16:17)
Before we continue part ii of Whom Do Men Say That “I” the Son of Man “Am?” let’s first examine this question with the answer by Peter, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. The first thing to notice is the Spirit’s voice joining the Son of man and the Son of God together. This is the union of the Spirit of Christ combining both the Son of man and the Son of God as the living God. We see the Godhead being completely revealed in the very Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, yet, in order for this revelation to take hold of our hearts it must first come from above. It has to come from God the Father who is in heaven. Over the centuries this revelation has not changed, it is God the Father who enacts the revealing of the Son, and it is the manifestation of Christ who reveals the Father. It is an inseparable union in the Godhead bodily (For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. Colossians 2:9) for Christ is the brightness of the Father’s glory, and the express image of His Person. Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; (Hebrews 1:3)
Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. (John 14:8)
Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?(John 14:9)
In John Chapter 14, we receive the revelation of oneness and unity in the express image of God. We see both Father and Son united in glory, and possessors of the same glory. This is confirmed in John Chapter 17, verses 1 thru 5.
These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: (John 17:1)
As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. (John 17:2)
And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. (John 17:3)
I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do. (John 17:4)
And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. (John 17:5)
And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life. (1 John 5:20)
The magnitude of the glory of God is not tangible but spiritual for God is Spirit and they who worship God must worship Him in Spirit and truth. God’s glory is an element of the spiritual realm that cannot be divided. God even expresses this in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ in the fullness of the number seven in the seven Spirits of God. The unity of God’s glory in both Father and Son has been revealed to mankind through the manifestation of God’s Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, thus, all completing and acting upon the determinate counsels of God. Whether it is creation or redemption, or the world to come, all is centered in this glory which is the complete glory of the Godhead. The Possessor of this glory is the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Man in heaven for us.
In the vision of John during his exile on the isle of Patmos, he received a vision of the Son of man combined with the Ancient of days as documented in the book of Daniel in the Old Testament
I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. (Daniel 7:9)
A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened. (Daniel 7:10)
NEW TESTAMENT
And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; (Revelation 1:12)
And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. (Revelation 1:13)
His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; (Revelation 1:14)
And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. (Revelation 1:15)
The first Chapter of the book of the Revelation dovetail and aligns the Son of God, the Son of man with the Ancient of days. Through this comparative description of the Ancient of days in the Old Testament we receive a glorious image that combines the work and Deity of God. He, as the Son of man, was manifested to take away sin. He was manifested as the Son of God to do the will of God. (Hebrews 10) He did ALL things precisely and perfectly, He did all things well according to the Word of God. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. (Hebrews 10:7) As the Son of man, He has a body that was prepared before the earth was. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: (Hebrews 10:5) His body has always contained both temporal and spiritual power. Temporal: in creating the world. Spiritual: in redeeming man from sin. Both of these are met together in the Lord Jesus Christ. Both the seen and the unseen are displayed. Both the glory of God and the humility of Christ are seen in the Son of man, the Son of the living God. They are so uniquely conjoined in unity and purpose to be the Savior of mankind.
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: (Philippians 2:5)
Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: (Philippians 2:6)
But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: (Philippians 2:7
And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. (Philippians 2:8)
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: (Philippians 2:9)
That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; (Philippians 2:10)
And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:11)
Whom Do Men Say That “I” the Son of Man “Am?”
— Nathaniel’s Reply —
In the previous article of Part i of Whom Do Men Say That “I” the Son of Man “Am” we left Nathaniel standing before the Lord proclaiming, Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel. (John 1:49) Because of what had been revealed to Nathaniel by God the Father, (And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 16:17) this statement in Matthew 16:17 also applied to Nathaniel for the Lord Jesus took Nathaniel into the spiritual realm. He informed Nathaniel that HE saw him when Nathaniel was under the fig tree, and He knew what Nathaniel had been meditating on — the kingdom to come, musing on God’s Messiah, the Just One, the Holy One, therefore, the Lord expanded Nathaniel’s sight to heavenly things. The Lord Jesus introduced heaven in a supernatural way, for Nathaniel will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.
The Lord Jesus connected Himself as the Son of man with the Son of God. (Verse 49) The Lord Jesus was verifying the very words of Nathaniel that the manifested image before Nathaniel was BOTH the Son of God and the Son of man. How we relegate this stupendous revelation to the mere thoughts of man when it is only God, who can reveal Himself. If He did not reveal Himself, then we would not be able to see, nor enter into the door to heaven — who is the Lord Jesus Christ. I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. (John 10:9) Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6)
The revealed truth of God, in His fullness, has been revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ for Christ revealed Himself as both Creator and Redeemer. It is Christ, Himself, who fills all in all. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; (Colossians 1:19) And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, (Ephesians 1:22) Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. (Ephesians 1:22) He had spoken the words of creation, and He has spoken the words of redemption with equal power and force. Let there be Light. (Genesis 1:3) and, It is Finished. (John 19:30) The same power and glory that lit the skies, propelled the planets is maintained by the word of His power from the beginning. Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; (Hebrews 1:3)
He is both the Giver and the Multiplier of faith, grace and love. No one from the cradle of Adam can match the holy child born in a manger apart from the world of Adam. The Son of God is the highest Himself as both Son of God and Son of man, He is exalted above the heavens for He is made higher than the heavens. For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens. (Hebrews 7:26)
In His supernatural birth, He was laid in a manger as the holy angels looked on at this wonder as they saw their own Creator having complete comprehension of His own birth become a heaven-sent man to repair and to redeem mankind from Adam’s folly of sin and death. Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into. (1 Peter 1:12) He came into this world at night as a spear of light to pierce the darkness of Satan and man. He would now become the COMPLETE revelation of God to mankind, (Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; (1 Peter 1:13) and fulfill ALL that was written in the volume of the book concerning Himself. It is only through the eyes of God, Himself, that we can understand our own being in this world of sin and darkness. We have no hope in Adam. Adam is not a savior for he has betrayed both God and man in his folly of sin and death. It is the same spirit of Adam that we find in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. It is this spirit (the spirit of anti-Christ) which will be joined to the Devil (who is the old serpent) and the man of sin, the beast void of ALL moral comprehension. (Revelation 13)
We, the descendants of Adam, live in a whirlpool of sin and death, and only divine love in Jesus Christ can rescue us from raging forces swirling around us, sweeping us downward into the fires of judgment. The only voice that gives deliverance and salvation is the voice of the Son of God through His divine Spirit, and only then can we cry out, ‘I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God who loved me and gave Himself for me.’
Whom Do Men Say That “I” the Son of Man “Am?”
— The Reply of the Unknown and Unnamed Woman —
From the witness of Nathaniel we move to John Chapter 4, and behold a woman in distress and carrying a heavy load of sin. She was on her way to the most important appointment that she would ever have — not knowing the result of the day. Each step, as she traveled to the well, became a heavier weight of sin; yet, each step was leading her to the light and the living waters of God.
He left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee. (John 4:3)
And he must needs go through Samaria. (John 4:4)
Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. (John 4:5)
Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. (John 4:6)
There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. (John 4:7)
(For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) (John 4:8)
Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. (John 4:9)
Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. (John 4:10)
The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? (John 4:11)
Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? (John 4:12)
Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: (John 4:13)
But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. (John 4:14)
The Lord (knowing His path) — must needs go through Samaria. This is part of His determinate path to the cross to fulfill the determinate counsels of God. We are beholding the Master Painter brushing Himself into His own painting of eternity, and so, we are able to see Him (His Being) and His brush (the Spirit’s voice) in the eternal picture titled the Word of God.
We are beholding His glory in the humbleness and humility of the servant of Jehovah. His footprints can be seen treading a path of life that will converge on a parcel of ground that Jacob gave to Joseph (the heir) who wore the coat of many colors for a greater than Joseph had come. Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. (John 4:5) Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. (John 4:6)
Yet, unknown, the well is a symbol of life for without water man would perish, for the winds of time would scatter the dust of humanity throughout the world as the snow falls on the frozen ground and man in dust (death) is seen no more. But He has come to reveal Himself as the Water of Life, the highest, Himself, has been manifested in the flesh. And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. (1 Timothy 3:16) And through this wonderful manifestation of God in the flesh (to be the Savior of mankind) leaves Adam and man without excuse.
Man was created in the highest image. He was created in the image of God. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. (Genesis 1:27) Adam, through his sin, changed his image into the image of a beast. Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (Romans 5:12) (Revelation 13) The Water of Eternal Life came to keep an appointment of need. He must needs go through Samaria — He must needs go through Samaria to keep an appointment of need, to meet a woman in need. He came for a specific unnamed woman. Only He, and He alone, knew her every sin and need. He had chosen her out of a mixed multitude to be an ambassador of life to the Samaritans, a most unlikely messenger and ambassador, a woman laden with sin, and well known to the Samaritans, but better known to the stranger at the well. He was in the world, and the world knew Him not. There is a huge gap or difference between the spiritual world and the temporal world. It is a great divide that no one can cross without meeting the stranger at the well of life. This stranger was unknown to man, yet, revealed of God as One most precious. To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, (1 Peter 2:4)
The woman came to draw water that she might live, for her flesh and blood demanded water for her life; and a stranger was sitting on the well . . . he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. (Isaiah 53:2b) The Spirit of God was about to move over the heart of this woman to reveal to her the beauty of holiness from the dew of the morning that she had never seen or ever experienced before in this stranger at the well. For this stranger on the well had come in the beauty of holiness from the dew of the morning. The woman never introduced herself. The Lord never introduced Himself as Jesus of Nazareth, He simply proclaimed that He is the gift of God — If thou knewest the gift of God. We should also understand the depths of the enmity of man, and how this enmity clouds the thoughts of mankind; for there had been a long dispute between the Jews and the Samaritans.
Side Note: The citizens of the land of Samaria had been deliberately forced (for centuries) by conquering tyrants to integrate with the people of other nations taken by war. Over centuries, this mixing of the peoples in Samaria diluted truth, and the result was confusion and an absence of God’s message. This two-sentence summary does not really tell the depths of division between the Samaritans and the Israelites.
The Jews refused to recognize the Samaritans as being part of the Israel of God. This alienated the Samaritans from the Temple of God in Jerusalem, consequently, the Samaritans established a polluted worship (of their own making) on the mount of Samaria that evolved to be their center of worship.
Who was this stranger with no bias against the Samaritans? He was the gift of God. For the wonderful presentation of Himself to the woman He simply revealed Himself as the Gift of God. Our eyes only see a well, a woman from a mixed people, and stranger sitting on the well; however, the stranger was bringing His labor of love to those who sat in darkness, to bring life to those who were dead in trespass and sin, and to give them liberty from the slavery of that sin.
Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. (John 4:10) This question in verse 10 in Chapter 4 of the book of John reaches into the expanse of time. Whom Do Men Say That “I” the Son of Man “Am?” and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.
If thou knewest the gift of God
The recognition of both Jacob and Joseph shows the connection of the faith of the patriarchs, and leads us to the present question, If thou knewest the gift of God. As we read the Scriptures, the question is presented to us and especially to YOU, If thou knewest the gift of God. We pause now so that the reader can answer this question. There is no crowd, no raising of hands, no walking down an aisle, no offering plate, no preacher, just a stranger at the well, with one question that all man should consider, and answer in their own hearts; If thou knewest the gift of God?
At first the woman appears to ignore the depth of the question, and His statement concerning living water. Her vision could only see a stranger. This stranger was a Jew, and the Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans, but THIS Jew was the Son of man, the Son of God, and He had come to seek and to save that which was lost.
Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. (Isaiah 55:1)
Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. (Isaiah 55:2)
Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. (Isaiah 55:3)
Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people. (Isaiah 55:4)
Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the LORD thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee. (Isaiah 55:5)
Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: (Isaiah 55:6)
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. (Isaiah 55:7)
Whom Do Men Say That “I” the Son of Man “Am?”
— He is the Gift of God —
In this prophecy of Isaiah, we must attach the gift that is presented without price, and without money. We must meet the fulfilled Gift at the well of life, for in the manifestation of God in Jesus Christ, we have the fulfillment of the Gift of God without price and without any need to purchase. We have received a revelation of a free divine Gift of God’s dear Son. The world, however, has put a price on this gift and on their gospel. When God offers it free, it is surrounded with His love and His grace for grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. The only response that satisfies the heart of man, and that which satisfies the heart of God is to ask for the living water of life in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, and He will give you living water as the waters of everlasting life.
In verse 12 of John Chapter 4, the woman reasons within herself. Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? First, she wonders why was a Jew even talking to her, and why He is talking about a gift from God, and what IS this living water? That is why she asked the question, Art thou greater than our father Jacob? For Jacob had given them this well, for this stranger was truly greater than Jacob, for a greater than Solomon was there, a greater than the Temple was there, a greater than Jonas was there. The Center of God’s purpose was there! He, as the Gift of God, had come for THIS Samaritan woman.
The temporal water does not have life in itself; therefore, one has to continously drink to maintain temporal life. Man has to labor for his water. And in many parts of the world it is sold for a great price. In the state of Florida, where I live, every year we have a hyper hurricane season and days. The first thing that disappears from off the grocery shelves is the bottled water, which later is sold (after the hurricane has past) for a very inflated price by unscrupulous individuals. Just as religion takes the free gift of God, the Living Water, and through their greed they place a price on the free gift of God. The heart of Adam places a price on the gospel. In some places they call it an offering. In other places they call it an indulgence. And in other places, money and gifts are used to erroneously purchase a way out of the demon fires of hell. When we see what religious men have done to the wonder of the free gift of God, we see the abuse, the waste, and in many cases, these religions and denominations supply these funds to anti-God organizations. They distribute these funds among thieves and robbers. Some religions of this world, through their lies and deceptions, also support world terrorism, illegal invasions and immigration by harboring those who have broken the national laws of different nations. The fake social concern of religious entities is not about ‘the poor children.’ It is ALL about money. The gospel is not social reform! The gospel is not making temporal life better for mankind! The gospel is the message that offers LIFE from death, and must come from the free gift of God, and this free gift is the Lord Jesus Christ. For He is the ONLY WAY and the ONLY Offerer of eternal salvation.
Your mind will be renewed for we have the mind of Christ, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: (Philippians 2:5). In verse 14 of John Chapter 4, the Living Water becomes everlasting life, the darkness is past, and we behold the life and the glory of the Lord. But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.
Only He can present His glory to the heart of man. It is the Spirit of the living God that brings forth the new birth, and new life in Christ. God [is] a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship [him] in spirit and in truth. (John 4:24)
Can that which is of darkness describe the light? Can death describe life? A prism can divide light into a color band, yet, the prism does not define light. Only He who is Light can describe His own light, and only He who is the glory of God can give His glory.
We have been given the divine nature in our new birth. Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. (2 Peter 1:4) God has not left us in this world without a divine Comforter, and a divine Instructor, and that nature, that Spirit is within every true believer as a witness and an instructor to all the glories of Christ. It is through this Spirit of Christ that we behold the image of the Lord Jesus Christ within us. John in his gospel, Chapter 1, said that they beheld His glory. John was speaking about the mount of transfiguration when Peter, James, and John saw the glory, the heavenly glory, of God’s beloved Son. Now, through the Spirit of God, we behold the glory of the Son of God, and the revelation of this glory in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. No one knows the glory of the Son except the Father. No one knows the glory of the Father except the Son; and both Father and Son divinely reveal their glory in the hearts of every believer. Only the Spirit of God can reveal the fullness of the Godhead bodily to mankind. This must come through revelation, and it must come through the revelation of His dear Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The word ‘revelation’ is not reasoning. It is REVEALING. Revelation reveals the supernatural by the Spirit of the divine nature. Only then can we expect and know the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2nd Corinthians 4:6) But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. (2nd Corinthians 4:7) Paul is immersed in the Spirit of God, and this same Spirit that revealed to Peter the divine nature, also revealed to Paul that we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.
It is God who has shined His light into our hearts, and with this light He has shattered the darkness. Remember, that it was God, Himself, who spoke the Words Let there be light, and there was light. This was the first division in Scripture given to us, and it was that supernatural Light that divided the darkness. The same is true with the Lord Jesus in His manifestation; in Him was life and the life was the light of man. And this light shined in the darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. It is not comprehension, but division; Christ came to divide a people for Himself. A people of light divided from the darkness. He divides them from the darkness by His own power and will, and not by the will of man.
He came unto his own, and his own received him not. (John 1:11)
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: (John 1:12)
Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:13)
The Gift of God had come to Samaria. The Gift of God had come to a woman who had nothing to give, her empty water pot was a symbol of her empty soul. The Gift of God had come to a woman who had nothing to give, her empty water pot was a symbol of her empty soul.
Do you see what really took place in John Chapter 4? One who was in complete darkness came without a name, came without a possession, came without a title, came without a recommendation. An unknown soul, through the history of time, yet, well known to the Lord of glory. This wretch of the world would become a regal bride. And once she is betrothed to Him, she (as the bride in the Song of Songs) must tell the world whom she has found. She proclaimed is this not the Christ? The Pharisees and the Sadducees in Jerusalem spent many hours in meetings denying God’s Christ. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But the unnamed, unknown, unwanted Samaritan woman could with all vigor and vitality declared to those who despised her, Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ? She admitted her low estate, and the burden of sin that she carried every day in this statement in verse 29 of the gospel of John. Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ? She had been set free from her burden of sin for Christ had come for her. And He, and He alone, had delivered her. Her testimony was so powerful that many Samaritans believed on her word, and believed on the Lord. It was at her saying that they turned to Christ. And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did. (John 4:39) Her compulsion and her compassion were greater than His disciples.
Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. (John 4:35) I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours. (John 4:38)
The fields were ripe and ready for harvest, and yet, His disciples had to be reminded of this by their Master. The woman had not even received a commission from the Lord, but in her inner being she could not contain the living waters that had been given to her. God had chosen a vessel to evangelize her people. An unlikely vessel, and this can speak for all of us. For each one of us have been plucked from darkness, we have been freed from death, and we have been delivered from sin through the living waters of life.
But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; (1 Corinthians 1:27)
And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: (1 Corinthians 1:28)
That no flesh should glory in his presence. (1 Corinthians 1:29)
But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: (1 Corinthians 1:30)
That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord (1 Corinthians 1:31).
For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:13)
This unknown evangelist (the woman without a name) was only one of many Samaritans not named through the history of man; however, the Gift of God has given her a name in Revelation 2:17 and in Revelation 3:12.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it. (Revelation 2:17)
Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name. (Revelation 3:12)
Flesh and blood has not revealed her name, but my Father which is in heaven, has given her a name in His beloved Son. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. (Revelation 22:17)
Let whosoever will come, Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ? (John 4:29) Is not this the Christ, the son of the living God? He is the Son of man, and He is the Lord Jesus Christ. We have found the Messiah, the Gift of God.
Amen
O the hope of Israel, the savior thereof in time of trouble, why shouldest thou be as a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night. (Jeremiah 14:8)
O LORD, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters. (Jeremiah 17:13)
© Copyright 2019, Michael Haigh
This article may be used, but not for gain. Freely ye have received, freely give.
All Scripture references are from the authorized King James Bible. (KJV)
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