Jesus and the Woman of Samaria (7)¹

George Hutcheson

John 4:16-18. Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: for thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.

1. Grace is little known or esteemed, while we do not know our misery. So where the offer of mercy does not persuade, Christ will reveal their misery to sinners, to make them either come quickly to Him or else resolve on hell. Therefore, after the former offers had no success, He rips up her bosom.

¹These are the “Doctrines”, or lessons, as edited, that Hutcheson (1626-74) draws from these verses, in his Exposition of the Gospel of John.

1. Christ is very meek and tender even in revealing to men their misery, so long as they are not incorrigible. And He is willing that they should judge and accuse themselves, that He may deal tenderly with them. Therefore He so mildly tells her: “Go, call thy husband,” that He might draw a confession out of her own mouth.

2. It is not every sin of which natural men are guilty for which they can at first be capable of conviction; for not every sin will be odious to everyone in every condition. But there are some sins which only grace – and much grace, and grace in exercise – will make them see to be sinful. Therefore though she was guilty of many other sins, Christ points only to this sin of gross filthiness, as that which she would see best.

3. It is not every sight of sin that will convince the sinner. But Christ must bring it home upon the conscience, and show sin to be marked by His all-searching eye before it works upon the sinner; for she knew her own condition (and therefore says, “I have no husband”, as putting away the matter, of which she supposed Him to be ignorant). But she is without any sense of her sin, till He rips up her bosom and lets her see He knew her.

4. Christ will commend a small good under much rubbish; and particularly He accounts a true acknowledgment, even of a heinous crime, as a commendable duty. Therefore He makes so much of her confession: “Thou hast well said . . . in that saidst thou truly”.

5. Christ has particular knowledge of what sins men are lying in, however hidden. And particularly He has an eye upon secret uncleanness; and however loath sinners are to be discovered by Christ, yet where He pleases and has a purpose of mercy, no evasions will hide them. So much does this large discovery teach after her evasive confession: “Thou hast had five husbands, and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband”.

6. Such is the pollution of our nature that lust will be insatiable unless grace curbs it. So much is seen in this woman, who after so many marriages lives in uncleanness.

These are the three decisive marks of being in the covenant of grace: conviction of sin, faith in Christ and holiness of life. By the first we see our misery, by the second we accept of deliverance, and by the third we testify our thankfulness to Him who delivered us. The first has a relation to the covenant of works, the second to the covenant of grace, and the third to the law of Christ. The first is a conviction of our deplorable state, the second an acceptance of God’s salvation, and the third a cordial performance of duty. In the one we see our misery by the first covenant; in the other we repair to the second; and in the last we perform the duties consequential of our covenant state. By the first the sinner is humbled; by the second the Saviour is exalted; and by the third, God is glorified.

Thomas Bell