Jesus and the Samaritan Woman
39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers. 42 They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.” (NIV)
As we come to the end of this story of the woman at the well, we see Jesus swinging the sickle for the harvest. He stayed as long as it took to preach to the people and bring the living water of faith to their thirsty souls. They called Jesus “the Savior of the world,” and put their faith in him.
This is the goal of all preaching: to save souls. If our only goal were to make a better society, we might do a better job by creating more rules of behavior and less worrying about the grace of God. And there would be no reason for forgiveness. There would be no reason for the gospel. But our role is to bring people to faith and to strengthen that faith.
We deepen our knowledge of God and our love for God by hearing his word; by studying it, by meditating on it, and by sharing it. We praise him and make requests in prayer. We worship him out of love. We live Christian lives to serve him, to thank him, and to bring his word to people who, just like us, need to hear it.
We have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. (1 John 4:14-16).
Something extra:
Psalm 20:9
9 O LORD, save the king!
Answer us when we call! (NIV)
The final prayer in Psalm 20 is a request to God to “save the king.” Although the army of David may have prayed this about their king’s physical life, David no doubt intended it also as a prayer for his soul; he was fully aware of the need to be right with God through confession and repentance. Finally, David teaches his soldiers to be bold with their prayers, “Answer us when we call” is not a timid request.
Throughout this psalm, David has taught his mighty men to trust in the true God; to revere, respect and honor his name; to remember that God is the one who accepts offerings and forgives sins. He has taught them to pray with God’s own good will in mind, to thank God for blessings, to look ahead to the anointed Christ, and to trust in God rather than their equipment or anything else.
Our help is in the name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.
You answer us with awesome deeds of righteousness, O God our Savior.
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. His wife, Kathryn, attended Chapel from 1987-1990 while studying Secondary Education (Theater and Math) at UW-Madison. Kathryn’s father, John Meyer, was also the first man to serve as a Vicar at Chapel.
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