John 4

I have missed a few days of blogging. But I am back at it.

As I have been going through John, I have just been reminded of glory and supremacy of Christ. I read through John 4 the other day, the story of Jesus' encounter with the woman at the well. I have read this story multiple times, and heard quite a few sermons about it. But there were a few things that I read that I had never noticed before that struck me. First, Jesus declares Himself to be the Messiah in verse 26. He just comes right out and says it. This is interesting, because other than this instance, it isn't until much later in the gospels that Jesus makes absolute statements like that. It seem like for most of His ministry, he actually avoids telling people blatantly who He really is. I wonder what makes this instance so special? Is it the woman, the encounter? I am not sure.

I love later in this chapter, verse 42. "They said to the woman, It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves's and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world." This amazes me. A few verses earlier, it says that Jesus stayed with the people of the Samaritan's woman town for two days. In those two days, many of the towns people came to the conclusion that Jesus was truly the messiah to come. Just by being with Jesus, they knew who He is. And they had confidence in that. As I have been reading later in the book, many of the Jews constantly asked Jesus for signs to verify His identity. These Samaritan women did not need any signs. They just believed and knew indeed that He is the Savior of the world.

"And many more believed because of his word" John 4:41

Application: Do we believe Jesus because of His word? Do we trust that word? Can we recognize His voice? If we were to see Jesus for two days, would simply spending time with Him be enough to convince us He is the Son of God?