【读圣经学英语】有过五个丈夫

这妇人是撒谎，还是说真话？是真话，可是又是谎话。她说真话来撒谎，这是真实的谎话。这就是堕落之人的欺诈本性。然而主对她非常温柔，也不责备她。主说，『你说没有丈夫，是不错的；因为你有过五个丈夫，现在有的，并不是你的丈夫，你所说的是真的。』（约四17～18。）妇人对祂说，『先生，我看出你是申言者。』主的话震惊了她。这就是福音谈话的诀窍。不要与人空谈，乃要摸他们的良心；不是用责备的方式，乃是显明他们的隐情。因主满有恩典而又智慧的话，那妇人的良心被摸着了。传福音的正确途径乃是摸人的良心。

因为主所说关于她丈夫的话摸着了她的良心，她立刻转开话题到敬拜的事上，说，『我们的祖宗在这山上敬拜，你们倒说，敬拜的地方必须在耶路撒冷。』这妇人所谈关于敬拜的问题，是对错的问题，但主把她转到灵，（约四21～24，）这是属于生命树。（参创二9，17。）当妇人将她的话题从她丈夫转到敬拜的事上，主耶稣就抓住机会向她启示接受活水的正当途径。

Enlightenment:

Did the woman lie or tell the truth? It was a truth, yet it was a lie. She told a lie by speaking the truth. It was a truthful lie. This is the deceptive nature of fallen man. However, the Lord was gentle with her and did not rebuke her. He said, “You have well said, I don’t have a husband; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband; this you said truly” (4:17-18). The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet.” The Lord’s words frightened her. This is the way to have a gospel talk. Do not talk vainly to people, but touch their conscience, not in the way of rebuking them, but in the way of unveiling them. By the Lord’s gracious and wise words that woman’s conscience was touched. The proper way to minister the gospel is to touch people’s conscience.

Because the Lord’s word about her husbands touched her conscience, she immediately changed the conversation to the matter of worship, saying, “Our fathers worshipped in this mountain, and you say that in Jerusalem is the place where men must worship.”  The woman’s problem with the matter of worship, was a matter of yes or no; but the Lord turns her to the spirit (vv. 21-24), which belongs to the tree of life (cf. Gen. 2:9-17). When the woman changed the subject from her husband to worship, the Lord Jesus took the opportunity to reveal to her the proper way of receiving the living water.