Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary John 4:26

"Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am [he]." — John 4:26 (ASV)

This is the one occasion when Jesus voluntarily declared his messiahship. In the Synoptic Gospels, normally he did not make such a public claim; on the contrary, he urged his disciples to silence (Matthew 16:20; Mark 8:29–30). In Galilee, where there were many would-be messiahs and a constant unrest based on the messianic hope, such a claim would have been dangerous. In Samaria the concept would probably have been regarded more as religious than political and would have elicited a ready hearing for his teaching rather than a subversive revolt.