"15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” 19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
27 Just then his disciples came back. They marvelled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” 28 So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” 30 They went out of the town and were coming to him."
John 4:15-30
We include the next few verses in this reading to complete this part of the story. Our Lord's words spoken in answer to the 'red herring' the woman drew across the discussion seem to have left a marked impression upon her mind, bringing her right back to serious spiritual realities - and in view of what He said, is this really surprising, for they are among the most spiritual and exalted in the New Testament. At all events, she gave voice to a statement about the Messiah which, coming from a Samaritan woman, was remarkably thoughtful and penetrating. All the more so when we bear in mind the almost total misunderstanding the Jews themselves had about their own long-promised One; for they looked for a warrior-hero, but she spoke of One who 'will tell us all things' - a very much more spiritual conception. Jesus' response to her in 26, plainly confessing Himself Messiah - something He never directly did to the Jews during His ministry - is a good instance of the truth of the words, 'to them that hath it shall be given'. Her mind was open to spiritual considerations and ideas (25), and to that openness He gave Himself. Her words in 29 are doubly significant: not only was she impressed with His apparent omniscience concerning her (cf. the same astonished awareness in Psalm 139), but also - and even more important for her - that He should have known all about her and still treat her with courtesy, and respect and dignity. To have known the worst about her, and still be so kind - this was the amazed awareness that convinced her that this must be the Messiah.