What a testimony!

The fact that the conversation is recorded here is a testimony in itself. How did John know what was said? He either heard it from the woman or heard it when it was said to her. Either way, he, and whoever said it to him, had broken through the racial and religious barriers which separated the Samaritans from the Jews. When you come to know Jesus, barriers break down. We are all one in Him (Col 3:11).

Colossians 3:11  Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

The words “believe” and “know” indicates that there are 2 levels of acknowledgement of who Jesus really is mentioned here:

1. believe (pisteuo) means to think to be true, to place confidence in, to trust in, to be persuaded of
2. know (eido) means to see with the mind’s eye; it signifies a clear and purely mental perception

The Samaritans were originally persuaded by the testimony of the woman, but now they know, deep within themselves, that Jesus is the One Who is bringing salvation to the entire world. This is a journey that many of us have taken.

“saviour” is soter, the cognate of “sozo” and means to make sound, heal, save, preserve, keep alive.  This is the Greek word that translates the Hebrew “yasha” (2Sam 22:3) which means to deliver, liberate from that which restricts or binds.  The name given to Jesus at birth is a form of this Hebrew word and literally means “Yahweh saves.” Matt 1:21  Jesus was born to save God’s people from their sin and from their enemies.  Who or what are your enemies? Are you letting Jesus save you from them?

2 Samuel 22:3  my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my saviour—from violent men you save me.

Matthew 1:21  She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

According to Wilson in Baker’s Dictionary of Theology, “salvation involves three ideas.

1. Justification. Man must be freed from the just punishment which God’s judicial sentiment requires so that he may without fear be reconciled to God, but in such a way that God may still be just in his justifying or saving action…
2. Temporal victory. Victory over evil was promised through the ‘seed of the woman’ (Genesis 3:15)…Christ sends the Holy Spirit to work in and through the church so that believers work out their own victory over evil (Phillipians 2:12-13).
3. Final deliverance and blessing. Christ will come a second time to deal finally with evil powers and the consequences of sin; he will have complete victory over Satan, destroying him and his allies, while on the other hand he will give immortal bodies to believers and usher them into a new heaven and earth (Hebrews 9:28)”

“the world” is the group of people to whom Jesus is savior; not just the Jews, even though “salvation is of the Jews” as Jesus told the Samaritan woman. (verse #22)  John 3:16, 1 John 2:2

John 3:16  “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

1 John 2:2  He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.