John 4:39-42
Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”
Truth: God uses those He saves to witness to others He will also save
In the story of the Woman at the Well we have many truths to discover and to rejoice over. Jesus meeting with a downcast and rejected woman at this public place is one such truth. Men didn't talk to women, especially women with the immoral, sorted past of this women. Jews didn't talk to Samaritans. This was as special moment, capture by the Apostle John to convey to us much truth. One particular truth is seen in the above set of verses. After Jesus talks with women and reveals His knowledge of her past, offers her new life, and encourages her to "know Him" (thus discovering "living water"), she returns to her village to tell everyone. Imagine that scene. Here is a woman who has slept with many of the men in the town who has an encounter with Jesus. She was already as social outcast. Yet, because of this excitement for Who she had meet and what He had said, she breaks across this social barrier and testifies for Christ!!! While the disciples where consumed with the temporal needs of food for the Savior, He was speaking life-giving words to this woman, who would, in-turn, give life giving words to the village. God was using this women to further the Gospel message. In the Gospel record we have many of these examples of God using social mis-fits of their day to proclaim the great news of Christ. The wild man of Gerasenes in Mark 5 is a great example. The man was possessed with demons and no chain could hold him down. However, once meeting Jesus he was found by the entire town sitting at Jesus' feet with a complete change of wardrobe. In John 9 we will read about the young man born blind who testifies to the religious leaders of the day about his changed life. Over and over God changes lives and those changed lives become the testimony of what God has done in their lives. God uses changed lives as a way to convey to entires towns that God is at work and does a complete work. God is about changing lives. This is what Jesus was trying to tell Nicodemus in the previous chapter. A life with Christ is a changed life. This Samaritan woman at the well had her life changed that day. She testified about Jesus. That brought others to Him. At that point His words would win them over to Him and they would believe. But, God used the testimony of a social misfit to draw them to Christ. God does that today, as well.
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