The Parenthesis in John 4 and the New Statues at Temple Square

Verse 8 of John 4 is in parentheses, and I read straight past it for something like thirty years. "For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat." It sounds like a stage direction, the kind of thing an editor tucks in so you know where everybody is standing. It also happens to be the reason the whole conversation takes place at all, because for about twenty verses nobody else is at the well.

I'm thinking about that parenthesis because the Church announced this morning that three new statues of Jesus Christ were installed at Temple Square on July 15 and 16, and one of them is Jesus with the woman at the well. I haven't seen any of them. We're at the Bear Lake cabin until the eighth, and I read the newsroom post on my phone on the porch, squinting at it in the glare. The last time I was on that square was a Saturday in May, after the farmers' market, with Ben in the stroller and Lily walking beside me and the new visitors' center only a few weeks old. Lily stopped at a rope strung across the doorway of one of the replica temple rooms and asked, very reasonably, why there was a rope when the room wasn't even real. I said something about the furniture. She looked at me the way she looks at me when she knows I've answered a different question than the one she asked.

Whether the new statues have ropes around them, the newsroom piece doesn't say, and I'll find out in August when we go up.

Look at who got the firsts

The Church describes each of the three as a first. Jesus with the woman at the well is the first recorded time He says plainly that He is the Messiah. Jesus ordaining apostles is the first apostles called to establish His church. Jesus and Mary at the tomb is the first person to see Him risen. Two more are due within a few weeks, Jesus with Mary and Martha and Jesus blessing the children, so the set isn't finished yet.

I'd never lined those up and looked at who was standing there. The plainest statement of who He is goes to a Samaritan woman who has come to draw water at noon, which is what the sixth hour was, and the first sight of Him risen goes to a woman crying outside a tomb. The twelve are in between, and they get sent out.

The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he. (John 4:25-26)

His disciples come back in verse 27 and the text says they marvelled that He talked with a woman, though nobody says anything to Him about it. Then comes the detail I'd point out to anyone standing at that statue. She leaves her waterpot. She came there for water, and she goes back into the city without it, and the next thing she says to the men is "Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?" (John 4:29).

Verse 39 says many in that town believed because of what she said, and by verse 42 they're saying they believe because they've heard Him themselves. They took her word and then went out and asked Him to stay, and He stayed two days, which the chapter mentions in a few words and I'd missed that too.

Mary stayed

John 20 starts with Peter and the other disciple running to the tomb and looking in and going home. Verse 10 says it just like that, "went away again unto their own home." Mary stays outside and cries, and when Jesus speaks to her she thinks He's the gardener and asks where the body has been taken.

Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master. (John 20:16)

She knows Him the moment He says her name, and nothing in the passage explains why she didn't a minute earlier, so I'd leave it unexplained for a child who asks, or say only that she was looking for a body and people tend to see what they came looking for. She had already decided where the story ended.

Then He sends her. Verse 17 has Him tell her to go to His brethren, and in verse 18 she does, and she "told the disciples that she had seen the Lord." Primary lessons give the apostles most of the attention, and here the first witness is telling the apostles something they haven't seen for themselves.

The apostles, briefly

Mark 3:14 says Jesus "ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach." The order matters to me, with Him first and sent out second, because a small child can take that as being asked to stay close before being asked to do anything. I wouldn't push it further than that at the statue.

Reading it before you go

I'd read the passage in the car or on a bench, not at the statue. Four or five minutes, out loud, the verses themselves and not a summary of mine, and then let whoever's youngest ask the first question. When I taught third grade I learned to hold my explanation back until somebody asked, because once I'd explained the picture nobody looked at it anymore. Standing there is the same, and the statue turns into a backdrop for a photo.

For the asking, try something small. What is she holding, or what did she put down? That does more than "what do you think this means" ever did in my classroom. If you have a child who freezes when asked something out loud, ask for one word and take it, the way we did with Lily's closing prayer.

The renovation isn't scheduled to finish until fall, so I'd expect some of the grounds to be fenced off, and I'd tell the kids so ahead of time. A fence shouldn't become the whole outing. If it's been a long summer at home and everyone's tank is low, one statue and a walk to the car beats all of them. What worked for us in July is in what I tried with the kids home all summer.

The two that aren't up yet

Mark 10 is the passage behind the children statue. Verse 13 says they brought young children to Jesus "that he should touch them: and his disciples rebuked those that brought them." The disciples were the ones doing the blocking.

But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. (Mark 10:14)

Verse 16 goes on, "he took them up in his arms, put his hands upon them, and blessed them." I'll read that one aloud again when the statue goes up.

Frequently Asked Questions

When are the other two statues going in?

The Church says within a few weeks and I haven't seen a date. They're Jesus with Mary and Martha from Luke 10 and Jesus blessing the children from Mark 10. If you're hoping to see all five in one trip, wait for the next announcement.

Will the statues scare little kids?

Nothing in the Church's description sounds frightening, though the tomb story has the most feeling in it, since Mary is crying when it starts, so I'd read it first and you'll know how yours takes it. I wouldn't skip it, because it ends well.

Can children touch them?

Nobody has said, and the newsroom piece doesn't mention barriers one way or the other. Ask someone working the grounds when you get there and tell the kids the answer before they reach.

Is this a replacement for going inside the temple?

No, and the Church doesn't present it that way, since the grounds are open to anyone, and the newsroom piece says the new experience "invites people of every faith and background to learn about Jesus Christ." Inside the Salt Lake Temple is a separate matter that comes with the open house, April 5 through October 1, 2027. Reservations open September 1, 2026.

Do I have to teach the whole story at the statue?

Skip it. One verse is plenty, and a question on the drive home works as well as one asked on the spot.

Which of these stories do your kids tell back most accurately, and which one do they get wrong in a way nobody has ever corrected?

with love, Melissa