THE POWER TO SAVE
John 4:39-54
If we ever needed motivation to share the good news of salvation with others, all we need to do is to look around at the mess many people have made of their lives. Many are in desperate need of help. It may be that someone has already told them about what God has done but they need to hear something at the moment of their current needs in order to surrender their lives to God through trusting in Jesus.
If the need is so great, then what can we do? There is a brief story about a boy walking along the shore where literally thousands of starfishes had been washed up on the beach and he was picking them up (one at a time) and throwing them back into the water so they would not die. Someone told the kid that such an effort was not going to make a lot of difference since there were so many that needed to be rescued. The kid’s answer was that it was making a difference to the ones he had thrown back. In John’s Gospel we see Jesus engaging people from all walks of life, in all kinds of circumstances, wherever they were and whenever He met them. The lesson from what Jesus did is that we are to follow God’s leading to engage whoever, whatever the circumstances, wherever and whenever. We can’t touch all who are perishing but we can make a difference to some. How?
Tell Others You Believe – 4:39-42
39 From that city many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all the things that I have done.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they were asking Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. 41 Many more believed because of His word; 42 and they were saying to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed the Savior of the world.” John 4:39-42 (NASB95)
It is amazing how the witness of a Christian seems to be more effective when they have abandoned a life that is very much in contrast with what is considered acceptable. I guess that the power of the gospel is much more evident in such cases because of the dramatic change. The people of Sychar could see that something had happened in the life the woman and such change is a powerful witness. Some have labeled such a change as moving from the “gutter most to the utter most.”
What about people whose lives are more typical of what we might call normal behavior? As most of us have noticed there are many actions and practices that are considered to be acceptable by the culture in which we live that are totally contrary to what the Bible teaches us as God’s norm for acceptable behavior. For our witness to be effective, we need to be distinctive from the rest of the world in our lifestyle and value system. In the world of today in which we live the distinctions seem to have much clearer boundaries than we saw several decades ago. (We told our children when they were growing up that it is OK to be different as long as your differences are in being better.) God uses ordinary people, just like us, to be His witnesses and our very lives are to give testimony that God’s salvation makes a difference.
This passage shows two distinct responses to the gospel message. One group believed simply because of the testimony of the woman. The other group did not believe until they themselves had heard Jesus. We will find these same responses among people today. Some will believe the gospel message based on the testimony of others. They will then experience Jesus in their lives as a result of the initial belief. Other people tend to be skeptical and it may take a significant happening (sometimes a traumatic event or crisis) before they will believe. The Samaritans responded to the gospel in a much better way than did the Jews. They confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior of the world.
It is noteworthy that they did not demand signs and wonders from Jesus as was the case with the Jews. Jesus commented on this difference when He and His disciples returned to Galilee.
Our testimony has a powerful influence on others but only if we share it with them. We should know by now that there are many ways to give a witness to the changes that we have experienced since we have trusted in Jesus that go beyond a simple verbal expression of those changes. We can appreciate that actions speak louder than words and the contrast in our behavior “after salvation” compared to “before salvation” in addition to the contrast in our actions compared to the society in which we live will be evident to those who see or experience what we do. Our verbal testimony is a way to give clarity and an appropriate interpretation of the cause of the change.
Just as the Samaritans urged Jesus to stay with them, many today are searching for the truth and will seek to know more of someone who can change lives in the way this woman was changed. Eventually, people have to experience the transforming power of the presence of Jesus for themselves since the testimony of others cannot sustain us.
The need for the continuing presence of Christ is why we have been given the Holy Spirit to be with us and in us. Just as the Samaritans believed because of His word, we are sustained in our belief by the Spirit and the word and the powerful synergy that these two produce in transforming us from interpreting what we see in light of the wisdom of the world to having eyes to see and ears to hear from the perspective of eternity.
The effectiveness of what God is doing in our lives through the ministry of the Spirit and the word will be influenced by our cooperation with God. There are at least three things that should be happening. It is difficult to say which is most important since all three are essential. One that should happen “naturally” (actually supernaturally) is that we have an awareness of the presence of Christ in our lives. In various writing on the “devotional life,” some have called this “practicing the presence of Christ.” That terminology carries with it somewhat of an implication that we have to “work up” some special mood or go through some meditation process. Such ideas border on Eastern Mysticism and some writers would advocate doing “exercises” that are similar to yoga. If we have been born again by the Spirit of God, then He is with us and in us and His presence is driving the life changes that we are experiencing. The second thing that we must do in being cooperative with what God is doing in our lives is to expose ourselves to the Word of God. Since most of us do not have the Bible memorized, we need to read, remember, or recall the words in the Word and be open to God revealing new insights to us as to the message of the words. The final thing that is needed for effectiveness is to “walk out” in our daily lives what God has “worked in” us. In other words, we must let the changes in what we believe impact the way we behave.
Challenge Others to Believe – 4:43-48
43 After the two days He went forth from there into Galilee. 44 For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. 45 So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things that He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they themselves also went to the feast. 46 Therefore He came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine. And there was a royal official whose son was sick at Capernaum. 47 When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and was imploring Him to come down and heal his son; for he was at the point of death. 48 So Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you simply will not believe.” John 4:43-48 (NASB95)
Jesus’ original destination had been to go into the towns and villages of Galilee other than His hometown of Nazareth. Word of what had happened in Jerusalem preceded Him and people were open to His ministry. The miracles of Jesus were for the purposes of validating His message and to bring glory to God. People still need to know there is substance behind what we tell them. What is the main validation of our verbal witness if we don’t have ready access to miracles? The most obvious validation is the life we live. We tend to think of such validation in terms of examples of answers to prayers and the blessings that we and other believers may experience. A word of caution is needed in that we may have times when it seems that our prayers are unanswered and we may be having trials rather than blessings. Would we want to argue that such things are a repudiation of our verbal witness? I would hope not since this would be repeating the error in thinking that plagued Job’s friends. If such things as “answers to prayers” and “blessings” are not available as validation evidence, then what IS the evidence of the “life we live” that can be used? Listen to God’s testimony of Job: “There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”
Apparently, some kept up with the whereabouts of Jesus. The nobleman got word that Jesus had left Judea and was in the Galilee area. He had traveled some distance to find Jesus because of the need he had. People still have a need for healing for themselves and their loved ones. Even with all the wonders of modern medicine, there are still many ailments that cannot be cured by man’s efforts. The nobleman’s son could not be helped by the physicians of that day. He was not willing to accept their verdict and sought help wherever he could. This man can serve as an example to us. He had heard that Jesus could heal people and he believed the accounts. Evidence of his belief is that he sought out Jesus and asked (begged) Him for help. He did not know the whole truth about Jesus but He trusted (placed his confidence) in Him anyway. We who know that Jesus is God the Son and has ascended to the right hand of the Father should have even greater confidence in Him to provide anything we need. Our willingness to act on our belief is a sign of true faith which leads to new life. (The general truth of the matter is that we will act in accordance with our beliefs.)
Jesus’ comment about the need to see miraculous signs (apparently referring to the general populace) may have been a statement of why He did miracles. As mentioned before, most of us are sensitive to the physical things of life and what we can see. A typical expression that we hear many people say is “I’ll believe it when I see it.” Compare that to what David said in Psalms 27:13: “I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.” Without miracles to confirm what He said, they would not believe. By doing miracles, He took away their excuse for not believing. The irony of this is that many (perhaps most of them) did not believe (as in commit) even when they saw the miracles.
The Jews were religious and were settled in a self-satisfied way. Consequently, they needed something significant (as a miracle) to cause them to consider a change in their long-held beliefs. On the other hand, the Samaritans were somewhat alienated from the predominate religion of the area and, consequently, were more open to the message of Jesus. They did not require any additional signs in order to believe. Evangelism in a strongly religious area is not usually successful because so many have been exposed to so much religion they have become dull in their ability to hear the truth when it is proclaimed.
Guide Others to Believe – 4:49-54
49 The royal official said to Him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” 50 Jesus said to him, “Go; your son lives.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started off. 51 As he was now going down, his slaves met him, saying that his son was living. 52 So he inquired of them the hour when he began to get better. Then they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” 53 So the father knew that it was at that hour in which Jesus said to him, “Your son lives”; and he himself believed and his whole household. 54 This is again a second sign that Jesus performed when He had come out of Judea into Galilee. John 4:49-54 (NASB95)
The woman at the well and the nobleman were at opposite ends of the societal spectrum. Jesus met the needs of both. Sometimes we are reluctant to witness to those who are at the extremes of our cultural norms. We think those who are so immersed in sin will not be able or are unwilling to change and, therefore, we bypass them. We also think those on the upper end of society are so proud and self-sufficient they would not listen to anything we would have to say and we bypass them. We should not limit the power of the word of God to touch the needs of all who are lost and to continue to meet the needs of all who are saved.
In spite of the socioeconomic difference, we see some similarities with this incident and the encounter with the Samaritan woman. As the nobleman returned home, he was met by his servant who brought the good news that his son had been healed. The fact that the healing occurred at the hour Jesus pronounced that the man’s son would live served to strengthen the faith he already had. This fact also served as a witness reference with his household so they became believers in Jesus. He could not help sharing his belief any more than the woman at the well could keep from sharing her story with the people of Sychar.
What about us? Do we have good news to share with a neighbor or a friend? Can we keep from telling what Jesus means to us?
