Text: John 4:39-42 (NKJV)
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.”
Devotional Thoughts and Commentary:
So, here we pick back up into the narrative of the Samaritans. Looking back to verses 29 and 30 from two days ago, we saw that the original woman was not totally convinced but excitedly called the villagers out to meet Jesus. They people of Sychar rushed out to meet Jesus. In the intervening minutes (?) between her departure from the well and their arrival, Jesus taught the disciples a thing or two.
Anyway, verses 39 and 42 paint an interesting picture. How is it that the people believe because of the word of the woman but then say they believed not because of what she had said? We have to follow the chronological pattern here. First, they had casual, superficial belief because of what she said. Basically, "Oh wow. That's amazing. I need to go check that out." After they talk with Jesus, they really believe. Their knowledge before Jesus was incomplete, but He has now taught them what they needed to know. These people became the foundation of the church in Samaria.
A key phrase for the author of this book, John, is "Savior of the world," occurring only here and 1 John 4:14. This is a very important phrase but needs to not be misinterpreted. This "Samaritan Confession" does not say that Jesus is the Savior of the world in the sense that everyone will actually be saved (universalism). It is theoretically possible, but we know from the entirety of the rest of the Bible that all people are not saved. In fact, there are more who will go to Hell than will go to Heaven (Matthew 7:13-14). What this attribution does mean is that Jesus is the only one who can save the world. He is their Savior, whether or not they accept Him and thus enjoy the benefits of Him.
How powerful the words of Jesus to turn this village to Him from this encounter and what compassion to spend such time with people that the Jews rejected!
Applications:
Do not judge people by anything but the Gospel. Spiritually there are only two categories that matter: Saved followers of Jesus and those on their way to Hell. Ethnicity, race, socio-economic status, smell, gender, and everything superficial must be laid aside for the Gospel. This sounds really easy to get behind, but it can be harder to apply. When that "less desirable" person comes into church wearing clothing you feel is inappropriate and smelling like alcohol, do you simply see a person who needs to hear the truth in love? That is where the rubber meets the road.
Praise Jesus today for who He is. He is God, He is the promised one, and He is the Savior of the world. Without Him, you and I would be on our way to Hell with no hope.
Other Studies from John
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