The Testimony of the Redeemed

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.

Matt Fowler
Associate Pastor of Missions & Students
matt@nbchurch.info
@fattmowler