for thou hast had five husbands, and he whom now thou hast is not thy husband this thou hast spoken truly.
The Lord had just told her to call her husband, and she replied that she had none. His answer agrees with her words, then fills in all she left out — five husbands, and a man now who is not her husband.
A life that had searched and come up empty
The short list of husbands sums up a whole life. One writer looks at her coming to the well alone, at the wrong hour, and sees where following her own will had left her.
This woman, tired of life, comes to draw water. Isolated in fact, isolated in her heart, she did not come at the time when women draw water. She had followed after pleasure in doing her own will. She had had five husbands, and she had probably been devoted to them. The one she had was not her husband. She was weary of life; her will and her sin had left her heart void; she was isolated and abandoned by the world.
Truth spoken to keep the truth hidden
Her "I have no husband" was accurate. It also shut a door. Notice how the Lord changes ground from what He gives to what she is.
He had been pouring out words of grace. It all flowed over her head. It passed over a heart absorbed with the things of the world. He takes the other side, not the gift of God, but the state of man — "Go, call your husband, and come here." The woman answered him, "I have no husband." Quite true. She tells the truth to hide the truth — as often happens in this poor world. The conscience is reached now: and that is where the word always enters.
Why the conscience, and not just the heart
Why press on her past at all? One writer explains why sin must be felt before grace can be enjoyed.
Man has a conscience. That conscience must be met and reached. The springs of the soul's history must be touched with a sense of its sin and guilt. Otherwise there will never be a link with God, or the true enjoyment of His grace.
Complete exposure, with no reproach
The wonder is not only that He knew, but how He spoke. There is no scolding — only her own words taken up and finished.
"I have no husband," she answers quickly. Jesus says to her, "You are right in saying, 'I have no husband'; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true." How overwhelming, yet how gracious! Not a reproach in His mouth! But He who knew all men drew from her, by a word of His, the confession of her actual state of sin and shame. He set before her such a sketch of her life that her conscience had to testify: in her case at least, all things were naked and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom she had to do.
Everything brought out in the day of grace
The Lord opened her whole record at that well. One writer shows why the timing of that exposure mattered.
He lets the light in upon her guilty life, and she feels herself in the presence of the Searcher of hearts. But it was the day of grace, and the grace in which He spoke to her enabled her to bear the searching. He told her all that she ever did. It was well for her that it took place in the day of grace. Had it taken place in the day of judgment it would have meant for her an eternity of woe. The great white throne was anticipated. All that could be brought to light was manifested, and there was no condemnation. When it was all out it was all gone.
The light drew her instead of driving her off
Being found out usually makes people run. She stayed, and then went to tell her town about the Man who told her everything.
This stranger did not resent the light shining into the deepest recesses of her heart, for the light that exposed her in all her sin and need also revealed the heart and mind of God, and the glory of the Person of Jesus, and this divine light did not repel her — it attracted her to the Son of God. God was working with her, otherwise she would have fled when exposed, and hated the light that showed how sinful she was.
Summary
- Empty. Five husbands and a sixth man left her heart void and her life isolated.
- Evasion. She told the truth to hide the truth; her accurate answer screened the real story.
- Conscience. He turned from the gift to her state, because that is where His word enters and a link with God begins.
- Grace. He laid her whole life bare, yet not one reproach came from His mouth.
- Timing. That well anticipated the great white throne. It all came out in the day of grace, and when it was all out it was all gone.