I who speak to you am he.
—John 4:26
For those who eagerly anticipated the coming of Messiah the good life didn’t begin with once upon a time, but with there will come a time. Misery was made bearable by belief that when Messiah came things would get better.
Those who are hurting find it easier to believe that Messiah will come than to believe that Messiah has come. Suffering makes belief that Messiah will come believable. The same suffering makes belief that Messiah has come questionable.
Jesus turned that perception upside down: it is not where Messiah is there will be no suffering, but where suffering is there will be Messiah.
A weary-of-life Samaritan woman said to Jesus, “I know that Messiah is coming.”
“I who speak to you,” declared Jesus, “am he.”
He is right here, right now.
Jesus comes as close as
you will allow him to come.