“The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
¹⁶ He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”
¹⁷ “I have no husband,” she replied.
Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. ¹⁸ The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”
¹⁹ “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet…’

Then, showing that she trusts him she raises a religious debate issue that was troubling her, then she says,
²⁵ “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
²⁶ Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.” John 4:15-26

This woman just discovered that her life is transparent to him and yet he is not rejecting her. This impressed her enough that she believes she is in the presence of someone who knows the thoughts of God: a prophet, in other words.

When we are accepted despite our faults – when we are given grace – by God or anyone else, it makes a big impression. In this case he not only continues to talk to her, but reveals to her categorically that he is the one the Jewish people have been expecting for centuries. This is astounding. We remember that it was shocking that he was even speaking to her, and yet she is one of the very first people to whom he reveals his true identity, and especially in such an unequivocal way. He showed the woman that he knew all about her, but he allowed her to know the most important thing about him. This is not a Son of God who lords it over people. This is one who wants dialogue and relationship with us. That relationship has far more impact than following a set of relgious rules. That’s not what Christianity is about.

The result of this encounter was that the woman ran back to her village and told everyone that Jesus, “told me everything I ever did,” and from that simple exchange, many came to faith in Jesus.