Jesus the evangelist
We’ve learned a lot by looking closely at the parts of Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well. However, as good Bible students, we now need to step back and look at the whole conversation. Whenever we zoom into parts of a passage to dig into and digest the details, our best next step is to zoom out and look at the big picture.
So, let’s reflect on Jesus’ encounter with the woman. He met her where she was, not chastising and not condescending. Jesus initiated the conversation, but allowed her space to participate. He was also patient with her incomplete answers, misguided thoughts, and ill-informed religious traditions. Jesus definitely provides us with a beautiful example of how to go about 1:1 evangelism.
So, how did Jesus evangelize? What, according to Jesus, is the “salvation message”?
The biggest observation from their discussion is that Jesus directly revealed Himself as the Messiah – He didn’t do that with the Jews. Over their recent centuries, the Jewish people had been battered around and taken advantage of by the Egyptians, the Greeks, and, most recently, the Romans. As such, the Jews were expecting a Messiah who would come in and fix everything. They assumed the first step in doing so would be to start the revolution to liberate Israel. They were not expecting Jesus to come on the scene like He did, and as such, many in Israel had difficulty accepting Him as Messiah. This is the reason why Jesus taught in parables and performed miracles among them – they needed to work through His teachings and signs to come to the conclusion that Jesus really was the God-promised Messiah. The teachings and parables were Jesus’ way of circumventing the Jews’ preconceived expectations.
This Samaritan woman, however, would have had no access to His teaching in the Jewish country, nor would she have been able to witness His miracles. So Jesus directly introduced Himself. Look closely at the claims Jesus made in His conversation with her:
He claimed to be the gift of God:
Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God, and who is saying to you…” (John 4:10)
He claimed to be the one who quenches thirst:
“But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again…” (John 4:14)
He claimed to be the one who gives eternal life:
“In fact, the water I will give him will become a well of water springing up in him for eternal life.” (John 4:14)
He claimed that He is the Messiah:
“I, the one speaking to you, am He” (John 4:26)
But did you notice what Jesus did not say to her?
She didn’t know of His death on the cross, burial, or resurrection (because those things hadn’t happened yet). She wasn’t required to confess all her sins, or commit her life to Christ, or repent of her sins. She didn’t promise to stop living with the guy who wasn’t her husband before Jesus accepted her belief in Him. Her current sinful lifestyle and previous life choices did not prevent her from believing in Jesus as the Messiah. There were lots of things, facts, and theological concepts she didn’t know…but that didn’t stop Jesus from giving her eternal life the moment she believed in Him as Messiah/Savior.
Jesus offered the woman eternal life if she believed in Him as the Messiah. But note – and this is a HUGE observation – Jesus’ offer to her is before the cross happens. Jesus offered her eternal life right then, knowing that He would eventually remove the sin barrier that keeps all of us from being in relationship with God. But the woman (and later, the townspeople) knew nothing of the cross and how Jesus’ death on it would declare them legally righteous before God. The only thing they knew was Jesus – and they believed in Him for eternal life. Because of their belief in Him, they had it.
This might feel like we’re treading into controversial waters, but let’s think this through together:
The standard, modern gospel message – that Jesus lived a perfect life, died on the cross as a substitute for our well-deserved sin penalty, and that He rose again on the 3rd day – is good news…but being introduced to these facts will not save us or bring us into God’s family. This good news should be what persuades us that Jesus is the Messiah and that He has the power/authority to give us eternal life, if we believe in Him for it. Remember, the Samaritans didn’t know any of what we would consider the “standard gospel message”…and yet, Jesus gave them eternal life.
Therefore, the reason we are saved is because we believe in Jesus for eternal life. Knowing facts about Jesus and His life may help convince us, turning from sin may change our path and bring us closer to belief in Him, and there will be new desires and actions to come from our future relationship with Him…but the central, saving message of Jesus is that one drink of His free-gift living water, one act of belief in Him, gives us eternal life.
John 4:14
“But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again. In fact, the water I will give him will become a well of water springing up in him for eternal life.”
Do you believe in Jesus for eternal life? If so, you have it. Because Jesus the evangelist said so.
Keep Pressing,
Ken