Our encounter with Christ does not turn us inward;
it sends us outward.
One of the passages that has always inspired me is the story of Jesus encountering the Samaritan woman in John 4:1–42. I am deeply moved by the way Jesus transformed her. What is actually remarkable about the Samaritan woman is not her marital history (and we aren’t told what caused it). It is the progression of her understanding of Jesus.
She initially identifies him as a Jew (4:9). She addresses him as “sir” (4:11). After he reveals knowledge of her life, she says, “I see that you are a prophet” (4:19). Then she engages him in a serious theological question concerning Gerizim and Jerusalem (4:20). She speaks of her expectation that the Messiah is coming (4:25). And after Jesus’ self-disclosure (I am the Christ), she goes to her town wondering, “Could this be the Messiah?” (4:29).
We see a genuine movement of recognition. And importantly, she also becomes a witness.
…(she) said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” They came out of the town and made their way toward him.” John 4:28–30 NIV
Then, in verse 39, we read, “Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony” (NIV). They came to meet Jesus for themselves. And in verse 42, they told 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).
Paulina Barrero Salinas, Superintendent for Latin America
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