DECLARES HIMSELF._

"The woman answered and said unto Him, I have no husband. Jesus
saith unto her, Thou saidst well, I have no husband: for thou hast
had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband:
this hast thou said truly. The woman saith unto Him, Sir, I perceive
that Thou art a prophet. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain;
and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to
worship. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe Me, the hour cometh,
when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, shall ye worship
the Father. Ye worship that which ye know not: we worship that which
we know: for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour cometh, and
now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit
and in truth: for such doth the Father seek to be His worshippers.
God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship in spirit
and truth. The woman saith unto Him, I know that Messiah cometh
(which is called Christ): when He is come, He will declare unto us
all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am
He."--JOHN iv, 17-26.

In this conversation at Jacob's well the woman for some time, quite
naturally, misses the point of what Jesus says. It does not occur to her
that by "water" He means anything else than what she could carry in her
pitcher. Even when He speaks of causing a well to spring up "within
herself," she still thinks merely of the domestic convenience of some
such arrangement, and begs Him to give what would save Her the endless
trouble of coming to draw water out of Jacob's well. This simplicity has
its good side, as also has her obvious confidence in His words. Jesus
sees in this child-like simplicity and directness a much more hopeful
soil for His message than He had found even in a thoughtful man of
education like Nicodemus. He seeks, therefore, to prepare the soil
further by quickening within her a sense of spiritual want. This may
best be effected by backing her into her actual life. Therefore He says,
"Go, call thy husband, and come hither." And in this simple way He leads
the woman at once to recognise His prophetic insight into her condition,
and to bring His offers into connection with her character and her life.
And there was that in her manner of owning Him as a prophet, a frankness
and a simplicity in uttering her mind and listening to His
explanations, that prompted Hi