What think ye of Christ?

In Matthew 22:42 Jesus asked the religious leaders of Israel, "What think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? They answered, "The son of David." For the point of the question, they got the answer wrong. But in John 4:6-29, a Samaritan woman got it right. Oh, it took her a while, but she got it right eventually.

Jesus asked the woman for a drink of water from a well nearby. Her response reflected her perception: "How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest a drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria (v. 9)?" To her, Jesus was nothing but a Jew. So Jesus talked to her about "water," though He was seeking to tell her of the Holy Spirit Who would satisfy her spiritual thirst.

When the woman misunderstood, Jesus told her to call her husband. That triggered a discussion about her immoral lifestyle. During that discussion, her opinion of Jesus progressed: "Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet" (v.19). But she sought to change the subject and to talk about the proper place to worship.

Jesus followed her lead and discussed worship. However, He focused on the object of worship, not the place. She began to suspect that He was more than a prophet. She made a suggestive reference to the Messiah, to which Jesus replied, "I that speak unto thee am He."

At that, Jesus’ disciples interrupted the discussion. The woman went home and talked to the men of the neighborhood. Some of them had probably contributed to her immorality. Her invitation to them was, "Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did. Is not this the Christ

(v. 29)?"

Her opinion of Christ ran from "a Jew", to "a prophet", to "the Christ." She did not come to that latter conviction after talking about water. She did not arrive at it by talking about the best place to worship. It was not until Christ talked about her sin that she concluded that He was the Christ.

Friend, you may think that Jesus is just a Jew. You may think that worship, its form or place, is your business and that He has nothing to say about it. But don’t forget that He knows about all of your sin, just as He knew about the sins of the Samaritan woman. He knows the specifics and the depth of it. Let Him talk to you about it.

God’s Word, the Bible, says that ". . . all have sinned and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Jesus knows that about you. The Bible says also that ". . . the wages of sin is death . . . (Romans 6:23). Jesus knows that you are under that penalty. He is the remedy for your condition.

John 3:36 declares, "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him." Those are the words of the same Jew, prophet and Christ who offered eternal life to the Samaritan woman. Would you follow her lead and come to Christ as many of the men did upon her invitation? May God help you to do it.

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