Many Samaritans from that town believed in Him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.”
John 4:39
There is a false narrative that if a person lives a good life that he or she is an evangelist. In speaking with thousands of college students over the past twenty years, this has primarily been the position. Many of those college students are now working full-time and supporting their families. But, their thoughts about social evangelism remains the same. If I live a moral life, people will somehow guess why and give their lives to Jesus. This line of reasoning is just not true.
There has to be more. People have to understand the “why” of our actions. Without words, we are only moral people.
The Cultural Barrier Broken
Jesus did something remarkable that day. He was a Jew and spoke to a woman from Samaria. To add some context, the Samaritans came from the tribes of Manassah and Ephriam, who intermarried with Assyrian colonists. Culturally, they were not in good standing with the Jews of that day. So when Jesus came and spoke to the Samaritan woman, there was a definite breakthrough.
Jesus broke the cultural barrier and did not seem to care. He was more interested in her spiritual condition than her cultural condition. I have always found this to be a great example of the grace and mercy of Jesus. He looked beyond the culture and straight to her heart.
The Spiritual Barrier Broken
Because of their intermarriage with the Assyrians, they worshiped the Lord and also other gods. This practice is called syncretism and was like a salad bowl of spiritual beliefs. This convoluted belief system caused quite a rift between the Jews and Samaritans, and some of the historical writers refer to quite violent acts between the two groups.
This is what makes Jesus’ two-day stop in that town an incredible broken barrier.
Jesus offered salvation to a Samaritan. In John 4:26, Jesus told this Samaritan woman He was the Messiah. This was the point that the Samaritan woman’s life was changed forever. She became a Christ-follower.
The Relational Barrier Broken
When Jesus changes your life, you cannot help but tell others about the change that happened in your life. This is precisely what the Samaritan woman did. She told people in her city. She told her family, friends, and others that Jesus was the Messiah. John 4:39 says that “MANY SAMARITANS from that town BELIEVED IN HIM because of the woman’s TESTIMONY.”
This testimony is remarkable because it is a demonstration of the significant change that happened in her life. How about you? Has Jesus made the kind of difference in your life that would cause you to tell those you know that Jesus is real and that He changes a person’s life forever? And He also changes their forever. That’s right. Jesus offers eternal life with Him for all those who follow Him.
Do you love people enough to tell them about their only hope to make it to heaven? Do you love people enough to tell them about their only true source of joy in a world that continually tries to tears us down?