Jesus Is The Savior Of The World
A study of John 4:39-42
"Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me all that I ever did." So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, "It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.""
John 4:39-42 ESV
Definitions of the original language in the context of this passage:
-Samaritans: "Σαμαριτῶν"; "Σαμαρίτης", "samaritēs"; proper masculine noun - a Samaritan, an inhabitant of the region of Samaria.
Believed: "ἐπίστευσαν"; "πιστεύω", "pisteuō"; verb - to trust in Christ; through one's agency to be brought to faith. Used especially of the faith by which a man embraces Jesus, i. e. a conviction, full of joyful trust, that Jesus is the Messiah — the divinely appointed author of eternal salvation in the kingdom of God, conjoined with obedience to Christ.
-All The Things: "πάντα"; "πᾶς", "pas"; adjective - everything.
-I Ever Did (Have Done): "ἐποίησα"; "ποιέω", "poieō"; verb - to do a thing.
-Came: "ἦλθον"; "ἔρχομαι", "erchomai"; verb - of persons: to come from one place to another; used of those arriving and of those returning.
-They Asked: "ἠρώτων"; "ἐρωτάω", "erōtaō"; verb - to ask, entreat, beseech.
-To Stay: "μεῖναι"; "μένω", "menō"; verb - in reference to place: to remain, not to depart, abide.
-Two: "δύο", "dyo"; indeclinable noun - two.
-Days: "ἡμέρας"; "ἡμέρα", "hēmera"; feminine noun - of the civil day, or the space of 24 hours.
-We Have Heard: "ἀκηκόαμεν"; "ἀκούω", "akouō"; verb - to hear; to understand, perceive the meaning of what is said.
-Know: "οἴδαμεν"; "εἴδω", "eidō"; verb - to know, i.e. get knowledge of, understand, perceive of any fact.
-Indeed: "ἀληθῶς", "alēthōs"; adverb - truly, of a truth, in reality, most certainly.
-Savior: "σωτήρ", "sōtēr"; masculine noun - savior, deliverer, preserver. The Messiah, Jesus as the Messiah through whom God gives salvation.
-World: "κόσμου"; "κόσμος", "kosmos"; masculine noun - the inhabitants of the world, the human race.
Observation/Summary (short explanation of what the passage says in your own words):
Many of the Samaritan people from Sychar believed in Jesus because the woman told them, "He told me all that I ever did." The people came from the city to the well where Jesus had spoken to the Samaritan woman, and they asked Him to stay with them; so He stayed for two days. And many more people believed during these two days. Then, the people of Sychar told the woman they no longer believed because of what she said, but because they had met Jesus for themselves. And to make it perfectly clear what they believed about Jesus, verse 42 says they believed He is the Savior of the world.
Implication (what does this mean to us):
In the preceding verses Jesus' disciples returned from a food buying errand to find Him conversing with a Samaritan woman. This was quite a shock because Rabbi's at this time did not speak to women in public, and Jews and Samaritans did not get along. But Jesus is different. Although this scene challenged their cultural perspective, they wisely remained silent, correctly assuming Jesus to be in the right. After the Samaritan woman rushed back into town to tell people about Jesus, He spoke to His disciples about the unparalleled delight that comes from doing God's will, and compared it to working in a field at harvest time. From this we learned that fulfilling the role God has called us to in building His Kingdom is far more satisfying than mere physical food that only satisfies for a day at best. And also, by comparison to the time of agricultural harvests, the time to labor in this harvest of souls is now, it will not last long, and it is a team effort led by God himself.
In the passage for this study we see an example of this very thing happening with the woman of Samaria. She is both the produce of the harvest and a laborer in the harvest. After her encounter with Jesus, she believed in Him, and is therefore the produce of the harvest. Then, she immediately went back into town to tell others, and is therefore also a laborer in the harvest. This is the pattern for all Christians. Once we have been saved, Jesus sends us back into our communities to proclaim and demonstrate His truth and love to others, so that they might also "come and see" Him, and be saved.
God does not need us to tell people about Him. But He delights in using us, and it is a delight to be used by Him. He is our Father, and He wants us to work with Him and be a part of what He is doing. He is also our King, and it pleases Him when we serve Him in the roles and situations He has sent us into and equipped us for. He used this Lady who was estranged from the people of her city, and who no Rabbi of the time would have spoken to, to bring nearly an entire city to Himself. God loves to wield the weak and despised people of the world to do great things, like Samson wielded the jaw bone of a donkey (Judges 15:14-16). God uses us to save people and bring forth the supernatural fruit of the Spirit into a world under the curse of sin and death. But we are not the mighty warrior standing victorious over the heaps of vanquished foes, we are the jaw bone in His hand. It is a miracle and a privilege to be used by God in this way. But we must always remember, we are the jawbone and He is the mighty warrior. He is the King and we are the servants.
We, like the woman of Samaria, are loved and cherished by the Lord, but there is also nothing impressive about us on our own. It gives great glory to God when He transforms us from people who are dead in our sin to people alive in His righteousness. And this transformation helps others to see how glorious God is. We should endeavor to be like a magnifying glass so that people have a larger view of God when they look at us. This is what the woman is to the people of her city.
Many of the Samaritans of this city believed in Jesus because of her testimony, "He told me all that I ever did." This means her testimony was that Jesus told her about all the things she was most ashamed of. But instead of shrinking back in shame, she surged forward in boldness. She was emboldened because she had been transformed by Jesus into a beautiful soul who now reflects His beauty. He did not confront her on her sin to condemn her. He confronted her to offer her something better; living water and eternal life. She had just met the Messiah, and her shame over her sin which isolated her from her community has been transformed into a joyous tale of the grace of the Messiah. God grabbed hold of this previously downcast and isolated woman who was desperate for love and acceptance but had not found it, and showed her love like she had never seen before. And He wielded her as an instrument of love and grace to defeat His enemies by transforming them into beautiful new creations too when they believed in Him. Like Samson with the jawbone of a donkey who piled up the defeated Philistines in heaps upon heaps, Jesus grabbed a hold of this lady and piled heaps upon heaps of conquered, believing followers of Him.
We are also meant to see a contrast between the rejection of many of the Jews in Jerusalem and the belief of the Samaritans. The people of Jerusalem in the previous chapter had Jesus Himself come to them. And while many believed, many did not. But rather than Jesus initially coming Himself, the people of Sychar first heard about Him only from this woman and many believed. In this culture the opinions of women were not held in high regard. But Jesus is different. Jesus values and elevates women. And He elevated this woman to be like a lamp shining His light on the people of her city. And while many of the Jews in Jerusalem did not believe Jesus, many of the people of Sychar believed in Him simply because of this woman's testimony. The Holy Spirit was clearly at work here. It could not just have been because this lady was especially convincing. She was an outcast, but now everyone is listening to her, many are believing in Jesus, and many who are streaming out of the city to see Him are about to believe too.
As they came to Him, they asked Jesus to stay with them, and He stayed for two days. During these two days many more believed. Because of the historic animosity between Jews and Samaritans this would have been shocking. Jesus was on a journey from Jerusalem to Galilee, but He did not take the shorter route through Samaria to save time. He went to Samaria to stay for a while, and reap a great harvest of souls. The people's belief at this time obviously did not include His redemptive work on the cross. But they were believing in Him as the Messiah, the Savior of the world.
They asked Him to stay with them and He did. Jesus is eager for us to ask Him to come and stay or "abide" with us before we ever even ask. In Revelation 3:20 He says, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me." While Jesus is Lord of all, He does not force us to have a relationship with Him. He is standing at the door of our hearts and knocking, waiting for us to invite Him in. The glorious news is He will always accept our invitation; and once accepted, He will never leave us or forsake us.
Lastly, in verse 41, we read that during His two day stay, Jesus taught them and many more believed. And in verse 42 we read that the people went to the Woman of Samaria and told her they no longer believed because of what she had said. They now believed Jesus to be the Savior of the world because of their own personal encounter with Him. The testimony of the woman had been used powerfully by God to bring them closer to Jesus, but in coming to Jesus they obtained a personal connection and faith in Him as the Savior of not only the Jews, but of all mankind.
Application (How does this change how I think, act and pray?):
From this passage we learn to think of ourselves as God's beloved children, and also as beloved, yet weak and unimpressive tools He wields like a mighty warrior to pile up heaps upon heaps of defeated, surrendered, saved souls. We also learn from this that doing His will in loving others and graciously proclaiming the truth is a joy and a privilege, but God uses us in this because He loves us, not because He needs us. He loves to transform people who were previously dead in their sin, into beautiful new creations that reflect His beauty, love and grace to a world dead in sin and rebellion. He loves to wield us, the weak and despised of this world, to show His glory and power in defeating His enemies, by transforming them into His beloved children.
For this reason we know there is no pressure on us to convert people to Christianity. We are simply called to graciously proclaim the truth and show the love of Christ to those who do not know Him, as we pray for God to grant them repentance and knowledge of the truth (2 Timothy 2:24-26). Their response is between them and God. We are the jawbone, God is the warrior. And oh what a joy it is to be held firmly in His hand and wielded to display His glorious Light to a world lost in darkness!
Self Reflection:
Do I have an accurate view of myself? While I am God's cherished child, do I see myself as the jaw bone, or the Warrior? Do I see myself as the servant, or the Master? The steward, or the King? The child, or the Father?
How does the fact that it is only by God's power that a person can choose to believe in Him help give me cheerful confidence in sharing about Jesus with others? (The pressure is off. I am simply the messenger. God has work for me to do, but the power to save is His alone.)
How can I grow in displaying God's beautiful character, and proclaiming the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ to the people God has sent me to live among? (Prayer is always the best place to start, then comes action, and then more prayer.)
#JesusChrist #SaviorOfTheWorld #Hear #See #Believe