“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.’ After the two days he departed for Galilee. (For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.) So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast.”

1. The Power of Another’s Testimony.

Matthew 28:18-20 says,

“And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’”

It is our responsibility and our honor as children of God to share the good news of the gospel with others. In our words and actions, we are to behave in a manner that is pleasing to God, worshiping Him as is right. There are different ways that evangelizing can manifest itself in our lives. In Matthew 5:14 Jesus says, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.” And in John 8:12 He states, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” In this we see that Jesus as the divine light of the world places in us a light, that in following Him, we come to reflect Him and share His light with those around us. In Matthew 5:1 through 7:29 we see Jesus preach the Sermon on the Mount and lay out principles that when guided by the Spirit, bring us in line as obedient servants of God. In 2 Peter 1:5-8 we’re given principles to supplement our faith and confirm our calling in Christ,

“For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Paul’s writing on the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-24,

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

As well as his words concerning the armor of God in Ephesians 6:13-18,

“Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication…”

Both help us to check ourselves in conduct and Spirit, to make sure that we’re not straying in laziness or complacency. When we have these qualities, we stand out in the world because we show ourselves as not of this world. Sometimes this draws condemnation, as Jesus speaks of in John 15:18-21,

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.”

The world in its fallen, sin stained nature does not know God, and so often those doing the will of God are mocked and ridiculed, if not outright persecuted. We are watered down, trivialized, and written off, because in the Spirit of Christ, we’re not understood by worldly minds. But to those who have begun to awaken to their spiritual emptiness and the broken state of the world we serve as beacons, living testaments being used by God – I say this not to glorify myself or my brothers and sisters in Christ or to applaud our virtue, but to praise and revere the might, influence, and wisdom of God. This is by no means the only way in which we are to share the gospel, but it is the easiest and most visible. While this could look very similar among many believers, another component in sharing the good news is the testimony of everyone who has received salvation.

“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.”

While we don’t know the entire story of all the Samaritan woman who met Jesus at the well had been through, we know enough to appreciate the tragedy and hopelessness of her position. The past and present that Jesus speaks of in 4:18, “… for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband…” tells us that her societal worth would have been exceptionally low and as a Samaritan she was deprived of having a proper relationship with God and understanding of worship as the Jews did. In the span of a single conversation, Jesus reaches out to this woman and raises her up with hope. His insight into her life, His divine foreknowledge gives validation to His claim that He is the Christ. In this new hope, in the promise of Jesus she goes from having nothing, to possessing a powerful testimony. Her story is so zealous, “He told me all I ever did” that we see many Samaritans believe and come to Jesus asking Him to stay with them, which He accepts – another blow to the Jewish/ Samaritan biases.

2. The Power of Your own Testimony

“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.’”

There is power in someone else’s testimony. It is something that God graciously uses to validate His work and draw others to Him. To hear accounts from those whose lives were broken and have been changed and lifted up through salvation in Christ, in acceptance of the good news of His death and resurrection is a powerful and beautiful thing to witness. To be clear, it is not just those who have been through extreme pain and suffering, but anyone who has gone from lacking Christ to having Him in their lives. But God’s glory and power is revealed to greater extents when he redeems and restores those who we, in our flesh, might think are permanently damaged or broken beyond repair. When we see people whose lives were dominated by addiction or violence, people who have had their relationships destroyed or their bodies wracked with disease made new again – either by physical, restorative miracle work, or the miracle of the Spirit working within people to transform and bring to life, there’s a profound impact. It serves to validate the Word of God, the teachings of Jesus and the stirring of the Spirit that draws the non-believer toward the Truth. But Christianity is not a religion based on faith in the experiences and changes in other’s lives. God does not require us to trust in Him solely on another person’s words or testimony, but invites you into a personal relationship with Him and by working in your life, giving you your own testimony. The redeeming power of Christ isn’t something that’s just observed, it is something that is experienced. We see in John 4 that while many Samaritans believe because of the woman’s profound testimony, the establishment of their faith doesn’t end there. Looking back to the beginning we see God make man in His image, breathe life into him, make woman so that man will not be alone, and place them in Eden, a place where there was a sense of community between God and man. Psalm 24:3-6 says,

“Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. He will receive blessing from the LORD and righteousness from the God of his salvation. Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob.”

Psalm 27:7-10 says,

“Hear, O LORD, when I cry aloud; be gracious to me and answer me! You have said, ‘Seek my face.’ My heart says to you, ‘Your face, LORD, do I seek.’ Hide not your face from me. Turn not your servant away in anger, O you who have been my help. Cast me not off; forsake me not, O God of my salvation! For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the LORD will take me in.”

Both passages deal with seeking the face of God, but in doing so, God does not hide His face. As we progress through the Old Testament, we see God make provision and establish those who pursue His righteousness. From Noah, to Abraham, to Moses, to David, to the major and minor prophets, past the Babylonia exile and destruction of the temple, we see God again and again pass judgement on unrighteousness and sin, but make a path to Him for those who seek Him. This lends itself to the principle that while another’s testimony may be used to give rise to faith or supplement our own, we will not be deprived of a personal relationship with God, or go without experiencing His work in our lives when we seek Him. The principle in John 4 shown by the Samaritans, of faith in another’s testimony leading to the development of your own is also reflected by the sailors in the book of Jonah.

Jonah 1:7-16,

“And they said to one another, ‘Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.’ So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. Then they said to him, ‘Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?’ And he said to them, ‘I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.’ Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, ‘What is this that you have done!’ For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them. Then they said to him, ‘What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?’ For the sea grew more and more tempestuous. He said to them, ‘Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.’ Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. Therefore they called out to the LORD, ‘O LORD, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O LORD, have done as it pleased you.’ So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging. Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows.”

Originally, they believe that one of the pagan gods they serve is responsible for the violent storm they find themselves in, and cry out to them for help. After casting lots and hearing Jonah’s testimony they believe him at his word, that the one true God was responsible for their peril. Despite Jonah’s instruction to throw him into the sea, their new fear for God causes them to be reluctant to sacrifice a man in His service, and they fight to get back to land without killing Jonah. When this proves impossible, they call out to God, asking His pardon for throwing Jonah overboard. All of this is simply based on what they believe from what Jonah told them, the testimony of someone else. Once Jonah is thrown over and the sea calms the men, seeing proof of God’s might for themselves “feared the LORD exceedingly.” They now have a testimony of their own, they haven’t just heard about or seen things attributed to God, they’ve seen His hand with their own eyes. This causes a response of obedience and praise, offering a sacrifice and making vows to the LORD.

3. The Power of the Repeating Cycle

The sharing of one’s testimony can be an important part of sharing the gospel. We see in Acts 22:1-21, Paul uses his own persecution of Christians, the revelation he experienced through Jesus and his actions thereafter both as explanation and defense before the Jews (which because of their hard hearts, is not well received). But in doing so, we see that he’s also sharing the power of God in his life that wrought such a change. Peter writes in 2 Peter 1:16,

“For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.”

The teaching of Jesus, that of the early church and our own testimonies are all centered around the same thing: Truth, which comes from God. Sharing the gospel is only a matter of sharing the truth, sharing your testimony is only about sharing the truth – it may be your testimony, but it’s not actually about you, it’s about God and what he’s done in you. And because it’s used divinely, there’s a miraculous ripple effect. God uses what He’s done in your life to inspire or draw others. If they see their need and answer His call, they in turn are changed by God and given a message of their own, which God can use to continue to demonstrate His perfection, power, and grace. As Jesus’s message causes waves of change and enlightenment among the Samaritans, He sets His sights on the next location for His ministry.

“After the two days he departed for Galilee. (For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.) So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast.”

I had always read that “a prophet has no honor in his own hometown” with the same tone and context here as I would when Jesus speaks to the people of Nazareth after they reject Him in Matthew 13, Mark 5, and Luke 4. In the three synoptic gospels they deny that He can be the Christ and take offence to His teaching, as they know Him only as the son of Mary and Joseph, and refuse to believe more. Luke’s gospel actually shows the people of the Nazarene synagogue as being so enraged they try to kill Jesus. But my study Bible makes a distinction between the use and tone in John and the other three gospels. While the records are in no way contradictory, John’s gospel shows us that despite the recorded rejection at Nazareth in the other accounts, the Galileans as a whole showed more receptivity. Jesus goes here to repeat the cycle of His ministry, to share the message and the truth of the kingdom with those who have not yet seen Him as the Christ. There is also a further distinction that I think is worth making, that while Nazareth, the town where Jesus grew up is in the region of Galilee, there’s certainly much more to this area than this one town. Matthew 13, while ending by showing Jesus rejected at Nazareth, holds two well known parables earlier in the chapter: The parable of the sower and the parable of the weeds. Both parables show the people’s mixed receptions to receiving the Word, and the consequences that result from this. Both parables support the recurring cycle of speaking the truth and sharing the Word. It is our right, our duty, our privilege as children of God to share the Truth of His Word and what He has done in our lives by redeeming us. There will be mixed receptions to this – when we speak the truth, which comes from God, the enemy who is the father of lies and has sway over the worldly culture is in direct opposition to this. Truth will be suppressed, twisted, blurred, and distorted. In Matthew 13:18-23 Jesus explains these reasons why the seeds of the gospel both succeed and fail to take root in the hearts and minds of some. In verses 24-30 He shows in the parable of the weeds that while plants producing grain grow alongside the weeds sown by the enemy, their destinations are two very different places. What Jesus tells us in parables and exemplifies in His ministry is that we are to be dedicated and faithful in sharing the Word, in sharing the Truth of who God is and what He has done both in the world and personally in our own lives. We see the almost instantaneous ripple effect that one woman’s testimony had in Samaria and how that impacted others and led them to their own personal experiences with God. We also see how the work Jesus did in Jerusalem at the Passover feast laid the groundwork and led to His ministry being welcomed by the Galileans.

There is power, inspiration and blessings in seeing what God has done for others, but there is greater impact to your spiritual life and relationship with God in the gift of your own testimony. What we see play out is that God invites you in welcoming you to be His child, to be changed in Him and in so, to be given your own testimony about His greatness, seen through His impact on your life. In surrendering to Christ, we take on reflecting His light into the world and we receive the blessing of God using us in His continued cycle of offering salvation and hope to a fallen world.

Pastor Chris’s sermon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TLVBCUb0xo