Could this be the Christ?
Being raised in church from an infant, I never knew a time when I did not believe in Jesus Christ. There have been times in my life when I have not followed Him, not allowed Him to be my Lord (my master), but I have always believed.
The Disciples Rejoin Jesus
John 4:27Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”
28Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29“Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ[a]?” 30They came out of the town and made their way toward him.
31Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”
32But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”
33Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”
34“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. 38I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”
Many Samaritans Believe
39Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41And because of his words many more became believers.
42They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”
In our Scripture today, John 4:27-42, we see the results of Jesus’ encounter with the woman at the well. Samaria was the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel at the time the Assyrians captured that kingdom in 722 B.C. More than 20,000 young men were carried off to be slaves (Daniel, Shadrach, Meschach, and Abdednigo among them) and the rest began to intermarry with the Assyrians. The result was what the orthodox Jews believed to be an impure race who still used the Torah as their basis for religion, but worshipped other gods as well.
It is now 750 years later, and there is much animosity between Jews and Samaritans. It is for this reason the Samaritan woman expresses surprise when Jesus, a Jew, speaks to her. Although Samaria lay between Judea and Jerusalem, most Jews traveled out of their way to avoid going through Samaria. Not so with Jesus.
In yesterday’s lesson we saw that Jesus confronts the woman with her past, and acknowledges to her that He is the Christ. She leaves her water jar behind and goes to tell others of this man, and asks, “Could this be the Christ?”
Indeed, the disciples return with food and Jesus tells them He has no need of food–His food is to do the will of the One who sent Him. As usual, the disciples are in the dark and wonder if someone else has brought Jesus food while they were away. Jesus tells them the fields are white unto harvest, and it is time to reap what is sown.
In the meantime, the woman from the well has told many of her encounter with Jesus, with an interesting result. Some people believe in Jesus, the Christ, just from her re-telling of the story. Others go to Him and ask Him to remain in Samaria. He does so for two days, and at the end of the His time there, they said to the woman that now they no longer believe just because of what she said, but because they have seen and heard for themselves that Jesus is the Christ.
What a wonderful revelation when we recognize that Jesus is the Christ! And, if the fields were white unto harvest then, can you imagine how ready they are now to be harvested? May we be as obedient as the woman at the well, who repented of her sins and went straight away to share the living waters with others.
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Seeking Holiness 