Bear Witness to Jesus

John 4:25-30 The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.” And at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Why are You talking with her?” The woman then left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” Then they went out of the city and came to Him.”

 

Ligonier Ministries continues that near the beginning of John’s account of the meeting between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well of Sychar, we learn that our Savior and the woman were able to have a private conversation because the disciples had gone into the city to buy food. John 4:25-30 tells us that soon after Jesus revealed His messianic identity to the woman, the disciples returned and found their Master talking to her. They marveled that He was speaking with the Samaritan woman. Here, Jesus was talking to a woman and even instructing her about the dawning kingdom and how it would change the worship of God’s people (4:1–24). 

 

That a Jewish rabbi was willing to speak not only with a woman but with a Samaritan woman of questionable moral character undoubtedly made an impact on her. Stronger still, however, was the impact of Jesus’ evident supernatural knowledge. Almost as soon as the disciples arrived, the woman went into town to tell her neighbors about Jesus. Her status as a social outcast was what prompted her to come to the well alone, but once she heard the good news that Jesus the Messiah had come, she could not help but push past the fear of others’ disapproval that kept her isolated – spiritual trumps social. She bore witness to Jesus, and her testimony was so powerful that many Samaritans went out to see Him. 

 

John 4:31-34 In the meantime His disciples urged Him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” But He said to them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” Therefore, the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.”

 

The woman was so eager to bear witness to Jesus that she even left her water jar behind. Ordinarily, women in that culture would not leave such things at the well, but this woman could not wait to tell others about Christ and would not even pause for a second to retrieve her possession. This is understandable, Augustine of Hippo comments in his sermon on today’s passage, for “having received Christ the Lord into her heart, what could she do but now leave her water-pot, and run to preach the gospel?”

 

The gospel is not only for the respectable and those who have their lives together. The gospel is also for the outcast, the dysfunctional, and those who have made shambles of their lives. We must welcome all kinds of people to our churches so that they can hear the gospel and experience the Holy Spirit’s power in their lives. For like the Lord, our food is to do the will of Him who sent Jesus, and to finish His work - to seek and save the lost and bear witness to Christ to whosoever.

 

Blessings in Christ