Jesus isn’t Accusing about Sin, He’s giving Shortcuts
[13] Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, [14] but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” [15] The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.” [16] Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” [17] The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; [18] for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” John 4:13–18 ESV
(Hat tip to Zac Below who preached on this last night at Group Life at One Life West and hit it from an angle I’ve never heard of before.)
In this passage, Jesus is out on a multi-day journey with the disciples through Samaritan country on their way to Galilee in the north. There is a lot to the Samaritan/Jewish conflict that you can read up on, but let’s look at this conversation with this woman. Jesus gives her two shortcuts that only the Holy Spirit’s insight could give.
Jesus explains her need in terms of what she’s looking for in the water.
There is this thing that is basic to life that she needs every day. She takes a chunk of time out of her day to get it, but because of shame and embarrassment, she has to go about getting it in the least efficient of ways. Early morning or late evening was the time to get water with a group of other women, not midday in the heat all alone. What Jesus has to offer her is as basic a need as that water, but offered without shame and disgrace, and without limit. What Jesus gives satisfies every need.
Jesus explains her need in terms of what she’s looking for in her loneliness.
When Jesus ‘reads her mail’ and tells her about her 5 husbands, He is not calling her out for sin or trying to condemn her. Jesus is giving her a shortcut to see where she has been looking to fill her deepest needs. She’s been filling her life with man after man after man after man after man and probably doesn’t realize that she’s filling her own emptiness with more emptiness.
When Jesus identifies a sin in our lives, it isn’t so we’ll feel bad. Jesus wants us to see what we are filling our life with that isn’t Him. Anything else we fill our lives with is like a drink that makes you more thirsty. Only Jesus can show us our true needs, acquired in an honorable way, that won’t leave us empty and dissatisfied.