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27The disciples returned about this time and were surprised to find Jesus talking with a woman. But none of them asked him what he wanted or why he was talking with her.
28The woman left her water jar and ran back into town, where she said to the people, 29“Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! Could he be the Messiah?” 30Everyone in town went out to see Jesus.
31While this was happening, Jesus' disciples were saying to him, “Teacher, please eat something.”
32But Jesus told them, “I have food you don't know anything about.”
33His disciples started asking each other, “Has someone brought him something to eat?”
34Jesus said:
My food is to do what God wants! He is the one who sent me, and I must finish the work that he gave me to do. 35You may say there are still four months until harvest time. But I tell you to look, and you will see that the fields are ripe and ready to harvest.
36Even now the harvest workers are receiving their reward by gathering a harvest that brings eternal life. Then everyone who planted the seed and everyone who harvests the crop will celebrate together. 37So the saying proves true, “Some plant the seed, and others harvest the crop.” 38I am sending you to harvest crops in fields where others have done all the hard work.
39A lot of Samaritans in that town put their faith in Jesus because the woman had said, “This man told me everything I have ever done.” 40They came and asked him to stay in their town, and he stayed on for two days.
41Many more Samaritans put their faith in Jesus because of what they heard him say. 42They told the woman, “We no longer have faith in Jesus just because of what you told us. We have heard him ourselves, and we are certain that he is the Savior of the world!”
Reflect
Badges, tags, titles. CEO, President, Commander, Officer, Honorable, Prime Minister, Professor, Doctor; societies lack no titles. Used improperly, titles pretend, deceive, abuse. But in the best case scenario, titles identity, testify, certify.
After speaking with Jesus at the well, the Samaritan woman told her own people (the form of the question expecting a negative answer in the original language): “Come see a man who told me everything I did. This one can’t be the Messiah, can he?” (John 4:29, personal translation). But when people from her village heard more, and straight from Jesus, they concluded: “We are certain that he is the Saviour of the world” (4:42).
Like Caiaphas later on (see John 11:49-52), these Samaritans spoke more than they knew. For them, “Saviour of the world” most probably meant Saviour for Jews and Samaritans alike.
Indeed, this “Saviour of the world” offers salvation not only to Jews and Samaritans, but also to the world. This “world” in the fourth gospel is known, however, for its refusal of the light, its preference for darkness, its hostility toward the Son. This is the world God loved so much that he gave his only Son. The love of God for this world is marvellous not because this world is so great, but because it is so evil.
This whole world is in darkness (see 1 John 5:19). But God, through Jesus’ death as a sacrifice for our sins, forgave our sins, rescued us from the power of darkness, and “brought us into the kingdom of his dear Son” (Colossians 1:13).
For us who were far away from God, “Christ offered his life’s blood as a sacrifice and brought [us] near God. . . And because of Christ, all of us can come to the Father by the same Spirit” (Ephesians 2:13, 18).
Respond
Father from whom all beings in heaven and earth receive their life, Thank you that you have sent your Son to be the Saviour of the world. Transform my life to be such as to lead others to confess Jesus as Lord and Saviour. In his precious name. Amen.
Pierre Constant
Pierre teaches Greek, Hermeneutics and NT Theology at Toronto Baptist Seminary since 2003. Married to Lise, they have four children and live in Gatineau, Québec. Involved in French speaking ministries, he mentors teenagers and young adults, and serves as teaching elder. Pierre has a B.A. in Philosophy from Ottawa University, a M.A. and a Ph.D. from Trinity International University (Deerfield, Illinois). His Master's thesis and doctoral Dissertation were written under the supervision of D. A. Carson. Publications: Survol des Évangiles. Montréal : SEMBEQ, 2012;"The Risen Lord," and "The Ascended Christ." Chapters in A Foundation for Life: A Study of Key Christian Doctrines and their Application, ed. Michael A. G. Haykin. Dundas: Joshuah Press, 2002