4:25-42 The Saviour of the world

February 20, 2021

Read John 4:25-42

The woman remained uncertain – perhaps it all seemed too good to be true. Only the Messiah, the Christ, would know the truth about such things (25). With the Jews Jesus did not speak of his Messiahship openly because it would have been misunderstood to refer to political kingship. But to this Samaritan woman he declared that “I am he” (26). Indeed, by these words Jesus indicated that he is more than the Messiah, for the phrase in Greek is ego eimi, literally I am, echoing the name of God and so pointing to Jesus’s deity, as we shall see (8:12).

This was too good to keep to herself. To her townspeople, she posed the wonderful possibility, “Could this be the Christ?” (26). While she was gone, the conversation between Jesus and his disciples moved from water to food, though still with a spiritual aspect. Doing the will and work of God, said Jesus, is spiritual food for God’s servants (34). This was why he had come and what he was completely dedicated to doing (6:38; 9:4; 17:4). There was (and is) an urgency about this work for it produces a harvest of eternal life (35-36).

That the harvest was ready was demonstrated by the response of many in Samaria (39-41). They became believers and so discovered that Jesus is the Saviour, not just of the Jews, nor even of Jews and Samaritans, but of the whole world (42; 1 John 4:14). Jesus had come not to condemn the world but to save it (3:17; 12:47). He is the gate; “whoever enters through me will be saved” (10:9). These Samaritans show us that the way to enter the gate is through personal faith. We need to hear for ourselves the words of Jesus and respond to them by believing in him as our Saviour (42).