The Gospel of John By J.C. ryle

the people who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." The woman said to him,
"I know that Messiah is coming" (the one called Christ); "whenever he comes, he will tell
us everything." Jesus said to her, "I, the one speaking to you, am he."
The history of the Samaritan woman, contained in these verses, is one of the most
interesting and instructive passages in John's Gospel. John has shown us, in the case of
Nicodemus, how our Lord dealt with a self-righteous formalist. He now shows us how
our Lord dealt with an ignorant, carnal-minded woman, whose moral character was
more than ordinarily bad. There are lessons in the passage for ministers and teachers,
which they would do well to ponder.
We should mark, firstly, the mingled tact and humility of Christ in dealing with a
careless sinner.
Our Lord was sitting by Jacob's well when a woman of Samaria came there to draw
water. At once He says to her, "Give me to drink." He does not wait for her to speak to
Him. He does not begin by reproving her sins, though He doubtless knew them. He
opens communication by asking a favor. He approaches the woman's mind by the
subject of "water," which was naturally uppermost in her thoughts. Simple as this
request may seem, it opened a door to spiritual conversation. It threw a bridge across
the gulf which lay between her and Him. It led to the conversion of her soul.
Our Lord's conduct in this place should be carefully remembered by all who want to do
good to the thoughtless and spiritually ignorant. It is vain to expect that such people
will voluntarily come to us, and begin to seek knowledge. We must begin with them,
and go down to them in the spirit of courteous and friendly offensive. It is vain to expect
that such people will be prepared for our instruction, and will at once see and
acknowledge the wisdom of all we are doing. We must go to work WISELY. We must
study the best avenues to their hearts, and the most likely way of arresting their
attention. There is a handle to every mind, and our chief aim must be to get hold of it.
Above all, we must be KIND in manner, and beware of showing that we feel conscious
of our own superiority. If we let ignorant people fancy that we think we are doing them
a great favor in talking to them about religion, there is little hope of doing good to their
souls.
We should mark, secondly, Christ's readiness to give mercies to careless sinners. He tells
the Samaritan woman that if she had asked, "He would have given her living water." He
knew the character of the person before Him perfectly well. Yet He says, "If she had
asked, He would have given,"--He would have given the living water of grace, mercy, and
peace.
The infinite willingness of Christ to receive sinners is a golden truth, which ought to be
treasured up in our hearts, and diligently impressed on others. The Lord Jesus is far
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