The encounters three women had with Jesus in the Gospel of John

Study passages: John 4; 11; 20

Have you ever found it difficult to convince someone of who you are? It’s happened to me a few times when I’ve been travelling to give lectures and people have come to meet me at foreign airports. Once, in Cairo, after a long flight, I was relieved to see a man standing at arrivals with a sign bearing my name: ‘Dr Storkey’. I walked over to him immediately with my luggage, but he frowned and shook his head. It soon became clear that he was expecting a man. After quite a long time, and the persistent involvement of an airport official, he finally accepted, with some annoyance, that I was indeed the person he was waiting for. Even with my passport, it hadn’t been easy to challenge his assumptions and persuade him of my identity. 

Jesus’ identity debated

In the Gospels, the identity of Jesus was a constant issue for people. People He had grown up with were quite sure they knew Him: “Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” (Mark 6:3). But they couldn’t see beyond His family to His deeper identity. Then, John the Baptist, the man whom God sent to proclaim Jesus, wasn’t absolutely sure he’d got the right person. He sent his disciples to check Jesus’ identity (Luke 7:20) and, yes, they returned with the accounts of His miracles.  

People in the crowds who were amazed at Jesus’ spiritual power were also confused about who He actually was. They thought He might be one of the prophets returned from the dead, perhaps Elijah or Jeremiah (Matthew 16:14). Yet religious leaders, who feared Jesus’ exposure of their wrongdoing, were determined not to allow others to find out who He was. They made every effort to undermine His identity, even alleging that His authority was linked to demonic powers (Matthew 12:24). When they tried to convince a man born blind that Jesus was a sinner and not from God, the man whose sight was now miraculously restored gave the definitive answer: “One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!” (John 9:25).

The women sure of who Jesus was

In all the debates about Jesus’ identity, the witness of three women in the Gospel of John stands out. Because their hearts were open, they each showed clarity and understanding about who Jesus was. Though the women had different lives and personalities, they had three things in common. First, they all encountered Jesus at a time of vulnerability and need. Second, Jesus engaged with them personally and spoke to their deepest longings. Third, Jesus affirmed them in their faith, and revealed His identity to them. 

We meet the first woman in John 4 when she had gone to fetch water from the public well. She was from Samaria and had a somewhat checkered marital history, having been married five times. This meant of course that her various husbands had either died or divorced her, because women could take no legal initiative to end a marriage relationship. She had gone to the well late in the morning, deliberately expecting to be alone, but Jesus was resting there, waiting for the return of His disciples. To her shock, He asked her for a drink (v7), disclosing His own vulnerability and ignoring the ablution laws that operated between Jews and Samaritans. 

What followed were significant remarks about water and its link with Jesus, which took her completely by surprise. When He went on to disclose her marital history and that she now lived with a man who had not married her, she realised He must be a prophet (vv16-19). But after further deep spiritual conversations about the nature of God and worship, she said pointedly that she knew Messiah was coming and He would explain all these things (v25). Jesus’ reply came as a confirmation for what she now believed: “I, the one speaking to you – I am he” (v26). He had chosen to reveal His identity to someone beyond the Jewish community: a much-abandoned Samaritan woman. For her, the revelation was life-transforming. Utterly convinced of His identity, she rushed back to tell the very neighbours whom she wanted to avoid, to take them to meet Jesus (vv29-30). She became the evangelist who led others into faith. 

The second woman, Martha, whom we encounter in John 11, was a faithful Jewish worshipper and long-term friend of Jesus. She and her brother and sister had happily provided Him and His disciples with hospitality, enjoying their company at home. The text tells us that Jesus loved them. But tragedy had struck and the brother, Lazarus, had died. Both Mary and Martha felt utterly bereaved and sad that Jesus had not come to their help when they called for Him. As Martha went to meet Him and share her grief, she let Jesus know that she still trusted Him. Jesus consoled her with the assurance that Lazarus would rise again, and she agreed for she believed in the resurrection. But when Jesus asked if she also believed that He was the resurrection and the life, her reply rang with conviction: “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world” (v27). Martha’s clear witness to the truth of Jesus’ identity was to be reinforced by the amazing miracle that followed. Her brother Lazarus would be called out of the tomb, raised from the dead (vv43-44). 

Idolatry is now so built into the culture we live in, that it requires commitment and determination to live differently

We find the third woman in John 20. Mary was from a town called Magdala and Jesus had healed her of some mysterious affliction. For three years, she had been one of Jesus’ close followers, who journeyed with Him. But she was now a broken person, having watched in utter desolation and despair as Jesus had been brutally nailed on the cross, and then lifted high to die in agony. The helplessness she endured must have been overwhelming. She had huddled together with the other grieving women as they prepared the spices to anoint His corpse after Sabbath ended. But now she was at the tomb and it was empty. She listened in confusion to the two angelic figures sitting where His body would have lain (v12). Weeping and bewildered she turned around, but didn’t recognise the man who confronted her. “Thinking he was the gardener” (v15) she pleaded for His help. It was when Jesus spoke her name that His identity became clear beyond all doubt (v16). Her tears of desperation turned to a cry of overwhelming joy (v16). As first witness to Christ’s resurrection, Mary herself became the messenger sent to Jesus’ disciples (v17) and through them to the whole world. Her witness to the identity of Jesus confirmed that of the other women. Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, our Saviour, risen from the dead. 

How do we respond to Jesus’ identity today?

The Christian Church as the body of Christ has been entrusted with the message of Jesus’ unique identity, and asked to proclaim it through the whole world. In the two millennia since the resurrection, millions have heard and believed. But the task of spreading the good news is as urgent as ever. Today, we face more scepticism and indifference than ever. Our heavily secularised society worships the self far more than God, and everything in our culture pushes us in that direction. Inviting people to become followers of Jesus is a big ask, for it means saying ‘no’ to self in many areas where people take self-indulgence for granted. Idolatry is now so built into the culture we live in, that it requires commitment and determination to live differently.

We also face unbelief in the Church, as some who use Christ’s name still struggle with the depth of His identity. For some, it is easier to believe He was a good man who lived a life of love and kindness to others, than to enter into the spiritual truths of His uniqueness and divinity. Yet, if Jesus is God, along with the Father and the Spirit, then everything that is written about Him in the New Testament must be received with faith and celebrated. His death on the cross was for our sins. His resurrection was His victory over death, and is our assurance of eternal life. If Jesus is the living God, who loves us, then we are creatures of His love and power and are called to centre our lives on that love. 

There is also encouragement for the body of Christ, for we don’t spread the truth about Jesus on our own. The Holy Spirit is at work in our world and right now is making Jesus known across the globe. Let’s pray that the Spirit might empower us, as we uphold Christ’s unique identity and spread the news of His deep, forgiving love to all those lives that touch ours.