NOW WE BELIEVE
John 4:39-42 NKJ
39 And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all that I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans had come to Him, they urged Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of His own word.
42 Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.”
This is the conclusion of the story known as the woman at the well. Jesus and His disciples were passing through Samaria, and Jesus interacts with a woman who came to draw water. The Jews typically avoided Samaria and usually walked around that area. The Jews and Samaritans were not on friendly terms. So for Jesus to be talking with a Samaritan woman went against the cultural norms of that day. But Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit, not the whims of culture.
The conversation Jesus has with this woman is profound. This woman had been married five times and was now living with a man she was not married to. She had to be well known in the town of Sychar but most likely not well thought of by the women of the town. And yet, with this woman with a somewhat sketchy life, Jesus reveals Himself to her as the Messiah. He did not do that often. Jesus responded to heart. There is a phrase: game recognizes game. Well, in the same manner, heart recognizes heart, and Jesus saw a heart hunger in this woman.
After Jesus told her that He was the Messiah, she ran back to town and told the men to come see this man who told me all the things I ever did. She pointed to Jesus as the possible Christ. And many of the Samaritans believed on Jesus because of what this woman said, so much so that the townspeople asked Jesus to stay with them. Again, realize that Samaritans and Jews rarely mixed, so to ask Jesus to stay with them was unusual. And Jesus stayed two days. I wonder how His disciples processed staying with Samaritans.
After Jesus stayed and spoke with the people, they made a subtle but profound change. The people of the town started believing Jesus, not because of the woman at the well. These Samaritans believed Jesus because they heard Him themselves. The words of Jesus hit home with them. So much so that this Samaritan village received Jesus as the Christ, the Savior of the world. Throughout His earthly ministry, Jesus was constantly bombarded with people who did not believe He was from God. Jewish religious leaders who questioned His legitimacy. People who argued about if Jesus was the prophet or the Messiah or was demon possessed. And this village of Samaritans, who differed in their religious beliefs from their more scripturally sound Jewish neighbors, accepted Jesus as the Christ, the Savior of the world.
APPLICATION
There are many takeaways from this woman at the well story. A big takeaway for us is that all of us need to come to the place of believing for ourselves. It’s fine to believe in Jesus because of what we have heard about Him from other people. But we want to come to the place where we hear Him for ourselves. When His words become personal to us, they become powerful in our lives.
This is another great reason to spend time reading God’s Word on your own. This is the first step in hearing the Lord for yourself and a big step toward spiritual maturity.
PRAYER
Thank You, Lord, that I believe You. I believe Your word and I believe what You whisper to my heart by Your Holy Spirit. I know that You are my Savior, Shepherd, Healer and Provider.