Go and call me your husband...

The Diary of an Agonized Lady - Avoiding public Shame

Bible Texts (Concordant Version of the Old Testament and Concordant Literal New Testament with keywords Concordance-CLNT: Isaiah 53:3; John 4:16-19

 

Isaiah 53:3

3 He is despised and shunned of men, A Man of pains and knowing illness, And, as a concealing of faces from Him, He is despised, and we judge Him of no account.

 

John 4: 16-19

16 Jesus is saying to her, "Go, summon your husband and come to this place."
17 The woman answered and said to Him, "No husband have I."
18 Jesus is saying to her, "Ideally said you that 'A husband I have not,' for five husbands have you had, and now he whom you have is not your husband. This you have declared truly."
19 The woman is saying to Him, "Lord, I behold that thou art a prophet.

Last week's blog explored the wonderful truth that understanding God's free gift of salvation becomes like a spring of living water within us. This is not an ordinary spring—it is supernatural. It begins to flow in the hearts of those who have come to understand God's gracious work of salvation through Yeshua - being aware of the gratuity.  Such people will have this water to eonian life. This is the "water" that leads to eonian life, just as we see in John 3:16 and in Paul's words in 1 Timothy 4:10.

This living water is not something we discover through our own effort. According to John 6:44, it is the Father who draws people to His Son. In other words, salvation begins with God's gracious initiative, not human achievement.

The Samaritan woman did not understand this at first. Like many of us would have, she thought Yeshua was talking about the physical water from Jacob's well. Little did she know that He had come to offer her something far greater—something that would satisfy the deepest thirst of her soul.

This week, we will see how Yeshua gently led this broken woman to that spiritual source of life.

One detail in this story has always touched my heart. Before speaking deeply with the Samaritan woman, Yeshua made sure His twelve disciples were away. They had gone into the city to buy food (John 4:8). I believe this shows His compassion. He chose to meet this hurting woman privately, sparing her from unnecessary public embarrassment. He met her at the point of her greatest need—not to expose her, but to restore her.

The Shame

As the conversation continued, the woman realized that Yeshua was speaking about something much deeper than the water in the well. Then Yeshua made a surprising request:

"Go, call your husband and come back."

It was an unexpected instruction. After all, He was a Jewish man speaking with a Samaritan woman—two people from communities that had been divided for centuries, dating back to the days of Ezra.

The woman answered simply,

"I have no husband."

What an honest response.

Many people would have hidden such a painful part of their lives. But this woman did not pretend. She did not make excuses or invent a story. She simply told the truth.

Yeshua immediately affirmed her honesty. He revealed that He already knew her story. She had been married five times, and the man she was now living with was not her husband.

Imagine the weight she had been carrying.

Think about the whispers she must have heard in her community. The judgment. The disappointment. The loneliness. Whether her marriages ended through divorce, death, abandonment, or circumstances we are not told, one thing is clear—this woman was carrying a heavy burden of shame.

Yet notice what Yeshua did not do.

He did not mock her.

He did not condemn her.

He did not embarrass her.

Instead, He acknowledged the truth with grace.

That is the heart of our Savior.

He confronts our brokenness, not to crush us, but to heal us. He brings hidden wounds into the light so they can finally be restored.

The woman's response is fascinating. She was astonished that a complete stranger knew the details of her life. Filled with amazement, she said,

"Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet."

She knew she was standing before someone extraordinary, even though she had not yet realized He was the promised Messiah.

This reminds me of Isaiah 53:3, which tells us that Yeshua is "a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief." He came into Samaria because one broken, forgotten woman mattered to Him.

The same Yeshua still seeks out the broken today.

Perhaps you are carrying shame from your past. Perhaps you feel rejected, misunderstood, or weighed down by failures that seem impossible to escape.

Take heart.

Yeshua has not changed.

He still meets people where they are. He still speaks with grace. He still heals wounded hearts. And He still offers living water that satisfies forever.

My prayer is that the Holy Spirit will visit you today, comfort every hurting place in your heart, and remind you that your past does not have the final word. God's grace does.

We'll pause here for this week.

In the next blog, we'll continue this beautiful conversation and discover how Yeshua led this woman from shame into true worship and lasting transformation.

Until then, I'd love to hear from you. Please leave your thoughts, questions, or reflections in the comments below.

Shalom!

 

References:

https://www.concordant.org/version/read-concordant-old-testament-online

https://www.concordant.org/version/read-concordant-new-testament-online

https://www.google.com/search?q=Picture+of+Jesus