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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy
word.
Leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town
and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did.
Could this be the Messiah?” They came out of the town and made their way toward
Him.
Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in Him
because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” So when
the Samaritans came to Him, they urged Him to stay with them, and He stayed two
days. And because of His words many more became believers.
They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just
because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that
this man really is the Savior of the world.”
John 4:28-30, 39-42
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be
to God.
How many times have you heard someone testify as to how
much Jesus has meant to them, confessing and professing about the many ways He
has changed their lives or the lives of people they know?
As someone who stays immersed in the Christian community,
I can say it’s a daily occurrence for me and I never tire of hearing the good
news of what Christ is doing amongst His people, especially those who may have
not known Him before. Indeed, sometimes the mere testimony of one person can
drive others to want to seek and find Jesus in their own lives, the end result
being some of those in that number believing and finding their salvation as a
result.
This isn’t merely a modern day, 21st century phenomenon
by any means. For as we continue our study of the Gospel of John, we find that
Jesus’ encounter with a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well didn’t just change her
but impacted the lives of many others, others who sought Him out as a result of
the woman’s testimony. Look again at these words here:
Leaving her water
jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man
who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” They came out of
the town and made their way toward Him.
Many of the
Samaritans from that town believed in Him because of the woman’s testimony, “He
told me everything I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to Him, they urged
Him to stay with them, and He stayed two days. And because of His words many
more became believers.
They said to the
woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard
for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.” John 4:28-30, 39-42
Jesus had told the Samaritan woman that He would offer
anyone who came to Him water that would quench their thirst forever, water that
would create a spring within welling up to eternal life (John 4:14). His mere
words inspired the woman to want the water He offered. Jesus would go on to
tell the woman things about her past that He could not have possibly known
unless He has some special otherworldly power and went away from their meeting
to tell others in town about Him, suggesting that He may even be the long
predicted Messiah the prophets had talked about.
As we look at our passage for today, we find the
townspeople, all of them Samaritans like the woman, believing in Jesus with
never even meeting Him. The woman’s testimony was enough to convince them to
place their faith and trust in Him, underscoring the power found in our
personal stories as to what the Savior has done for us and how much His presence
has meant to the lives we’ve been blessed with.
The scriptures tell us these new Samaritan believers as
well as other peers yet to buy into Jesus went to Him with one simple request:
They wanted Jesus to stay with them for a short time.
Imagine this for a moment. Jesus was a Jew and the people
requesting Him to stay in their company were Samaritans, a population of people
who were despised and rejected within Jewish society, mostly because their
lineage traced back to the Assyrian captivity of the northern kingdom as many
Jews intermarried with Assyrians and became known as Samaritans. The Samaritans
believed in the Torah but clashed with the Jews over many particulars which
included the proper place of worship as evidenced by the dialogue between Jesus
and the Samaritan woman about the matter (John 4:19-23). For this reason among
others, the schism between Jews and Samaritans had grown so great that the
woman at the well said this to Jesus after He asked her for a drink from the
well:
“You are a Jew and
I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not
associate with Samaritans.) John 4:9
It was a definite surprise, and a pleasant one for her
and her fellow Samaritans who urged Jesus to remain with them, a request He
honored for God’s word tells us He remained in their town for two days.
What did He do over that time?
Well, He did what Jesus normally did. He talked. A lot.
And His words carried with them an amazing power, a power that influenced,
inspired, and transformed. We know this because many more Samaritans in that
town were added to the number of believers through what they heard Jesus say. We
read where those believers proclaimed this to the Samaritan woman:
“We no longer
believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we
know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”
In other words, the new believers validated that Jesus
was who she said He was through their own personal encounter with Him.
Friends, this kind of event has happened over and over
and over again since those two days more than 2,000 years ago in Samaria. For
people continue to tell others about Jesus and those who hear of Him look for
Him on their own, interested in spending time with Him and hearing what He has
to say. And although we might not have Jesus in our midst in bodily form as the
Samaritans did, we have Him always with us in Spirit and through the Holy Word
found in the Bible. Through both, people continue to be influenced, inspired,
transformed, and ultimately saved by the Jesus, the Savior of the world.
Given this, it’s time for all Christ followers to ensure
they tell their story about Jesus to all and, in doing so, help expand the
kingdom of heaven here on earth by leading others to their Savior where they
will develop their own stories to share.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
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