Thought from today’s Bible reading from John 2-4.
When Jesus stopped at a well in Samaria and spoke with the woman who came to draw water, it triggered a spiritual awakening in that city.
“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.’ So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they were asking Him to stay with them; and He stayed there two days. Many more believed because of His word; 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).
At first, the woman who spoke with Jesus told the men of the city about the conversation she had with Him: “Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not the Christ, is it?” (John 4:29). Many of the Samaritans believed in Christ because of her testimony.
Yet John tells us that “many more believed” when they heard Jesus for themselves (John 4:41). Though they first learned of Jesus from her testimony, the message was far more convincing when it came directly from the source.
We do not have Jesus here on the earth today as they did. But we do have the Scriptures – and remember, Jesus was the Word in the flesh (John 1:1, 14). Paul tells us that the word is what will produce faith in man today: “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17).
The lesson that we should take from this is that the gospel spreads far more effectively when people search the Scriptures to see the truth themselves instead of relying solely on the words of others. If we are trying to lead others to Christ, we need to direct them to the word of God so they can see Christ, understand what He has done, and know what they must do to obey Him.
Tomorrow’s reading: Mark 2
[I’m using the Chronological reading plan on the Bible Gateway website if you’d like to follow along, too.]
Daily Notes & Observations contains all 365 articles from this series and is available in paperback from Gospel Armory.
