Many Samaritans from that town believed in Him because
of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” John 4:39
How
beautiful is the gospel message contained within this single verse! Many came to believe! And not just many
random global citizens, but many Samaritans
came to believe. Yes, many of those greatly despised, religious “half-breed” Samaritans came to faith in
Christ based upon the testimony of this woman. Ah, but it gets better, because
the woman being referenced is none other than the infamous Samaritan woman who
met Jesus at the well. Remember her? Yeah, she’s the one who had gone to fetch
water during the hottest part of the day. During an hour when most people would
have been safely shaded from the scorching sun, this woman went down to Jacob’s
watering hole. Hoping to avoid everyone, she found the Only Begotten One, Jesus,
sitting there weary from His travel.
Jesus
asked for a drink, but their conversation quickly transitioned from the
physical realm of water and thirst to the spiritual truth at hand: she was
being presented with something radically more refreshing. The woman discovered
that she was talking to the very Messiah she had heard would one day come. And somehow this Christ was already conscience of her sinful past and her promiscuous present; she
had five previous husbands and was living with one she had not yet married.
This is why her testimony involved the phrase, “He told me all that I ever did.” Now, it is this very fact that captivated
her heart. For though Jesus fully knew her story, He loved her still; He
extended to her living water; He lifted the shame that laid heavily upon her
soul; her Savior brought the healing and hope she so desperately longed to
experience. She came for water, but left her pitcher at the well for she had
good news to share. Aware of such priceless and undeserved favor, she ran to tell
of her amazing encounter.
And
because she did, the Scripture says that many came to believe. Hmmm… So, do you
have a story? I’m sure it is worth sharing. But have you? Have you done so
recently? It may not involve five failed marriages, drug and alcohol abuse,
being part of a biker gang, or anything else that you believe makes for a “powerful” testimony. But if you’ve tasted
of the righteousness and refreshment that can only come through the Living
Water, Jesus, then you have something to say. For self-righteous piety is just
as perverse in God’s economy as those deeds of debauchery you’ve envisioned in
others. Without the cross, without the atoning blood of Jesus, without the work
of our wonderful Savior, we’re all in the same sinking ship. In fact, were not
just sinking, we are sunk – dead in our sins, deceased on the floor of the sea,
scattered among the wreckage of the world.
That’s exactly
where this woman was walking and precisely why Jesus “had to pass through Samaria (John 4:4).” Though most devout Jews
would have rather endured the longer route to Galilee that bypassed Samaria
altogether, Jesus traveled directly through. Why? Because there was need that
could only be met by Him. For this woman wasn’t alive, she merely existed. That
is until Jesus came through offering life. More than that, He was the Life for her. And as it should be
for us today, it was for here then, no little matter. She identified within her
heart that extravagant grace had been granted to her by God. This was far more
than just becoming a “better” her; it involved much more than self-improvement,
greatly exceeding any kind of moral makeover. She was a picture of what
happens when light invades darkness; she was a dead woman brought to life in
Christ.
So then
friend, the obvious question is this: Do we see our salvation as such a miraculous
transaction? Have we acknowledged our utter helplessness outside of Christ? If
not, our lack of evangelistic zeal can be explained quite easily. Perhaps this describes
why we sit on a gospel promised to set captives free. But what might happen if
we looked afresh at Calvary? What if we remembered the pit we were pulled from?
What if we recalled the depths of our depravity and yet God’s grace that runs deeper
still? If we shared of how the Lord interrupted our plans, intervening in our
most desperate hour, might it play a part in bringing many sons to glory? Might it maybe move one to
believe? And wouldn’t that one be worthy of our effort? Oh, but how will we know until we try? Bottom line is that God has designed it this way. The one who has been reconciled makes it his
business to help reconcile others. The gospel has and will continue to go
forward through the testimony of the redeemed.
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| Matt Fowler Associate Pastor of Missions & Students matt@nbchurch.info @fattmowler |
