“True Evangelism Is Not the Persuasion of Knowledge, but a Living Testimony of Transformation That Leaves My Water Jar Behind.”

“True Evangelism Is Not the Persuasion of Knowledge, but a Living Testimony of Transformation That Leaves My Water Jar Behind.”

 

 

 

 

“The woman said to Him, ‘I know that Messiah is coming’ (who is called Christ). ‘When He comes, He will tell us all things.’  Jesus said to her, ‘I who speak to you am He.’  At this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He was talking with a woman; yet no one said, ‘What do You seek?’ or, ‘Why are You talking with her?’  The woman then left her water jar, went into the city, and said to the people, ‘Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did.  Could this be the Christ?’  They went out of the city and came to Him” (John 4:25–30).

 

 

 

(1)    Today, I would like to meditate only on the fourth section, John 4:25–30, of the passage in John 4:3–42, which records Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman.  When I read verses 25–30 in both the Korean Bible and the Greek Bible, the first thing that caught my attention was that this Samaritan woman also knew that “the Messiah, who is called Christ,” would come, and she was expecting and waiting for Him (v. 25).  Jesus had clearly said, “Salvation is from the Jews” (v. 22).  Why, then, was she expecting and waiting for the Messiah, who is called Christ?  Was her expectation different from the Jewish Messianic Expectation?

 

(a)    Like the Jews, the Samaritans had long yearned for and awaited the Messiah.  However, there was a decisive difference between the character of the Messiah they expected and the Jewish Messianic Expectation.  To help all believers and those called to ministry fully understand the historical flow of Scripture and the Lord’s perspective, artificial intelligence has organized the theological background into three dimensions (Internet).

 

1.       The Samaritans’ Messianic Hope → The “Taheb”: A Great Prophet Like Moses: The Taheb is a savior figure in Samaritanism who, according to Samaritan belief, will appear at the end of the age.  The word, derived from an Aramaic linguistic background, means “the one who returns” or “the one who restores.” 

 

The secret that enabled the Samaritans to await the Messiah even though they did not associate with the Jews lay in the scope of the canon—the Scriptures they accepted and upheld.

 

The limitation of their Scriptures and Deuteronomy 18: The Samaritans categorically rejected the historical books accepted by the Jews and the prophetic books that foretold David’s kingship.  They believed that only the Pentateuch—the Samaritan Pentateuch—was the Word of God (Jn. 4:22).  Consequently, their understanding of the Messiah was not centered on a political king who would come from the lineage of David.  Instead, it rested firmly on the promise in Deuteronomy 18:15, where Moses prophesied: “The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear.”

 

The One who teaches them (Jn. 4:25b): The Samaritans called the Messiah who was to come the “Taheb,” meaning “the one who returns” or “the one who restores,” in Samaritan, a language belonging to the Aramaic linguistic family.  This explains why the woman confessed in the second half of verse 25, “When He comes, He will tell us all things.”  The Messiah they awaited was not a military king who would wage war.  Rather, they understood Him to be a true spiritual Teacher and Prophet who would teach them God’s perfect truth and fully explain their broken worship and every religious question.

 

2.       A Decisive Comparison with the Jewish Messianic Expectation

 

When we compare the Messianic Expectations of these two groups, the mystery of why the Lord left Judea and first declared Himself to be the Christ beside a well in Samaria begins to unfold.

A comparison of the Jewish and Samaritan expectations of the Messiah:

 

First, the foundational Scriptures on which they based their Messianic hope were different.  The Jews awaited the Messiah on the basis of the Pentateuch, the historical books, and the Prophets as a whole, which they accepted as Scripture.  The Samaritans, by contrast, set aside the other biblical books and based their Messianic hope exclusively on the Pentateuch, particularly the promise contained in Deuteronomy 18:15.

 

Second, the central figure they expected the Messiah to be was different.  The Jews anticipated a powerful military ruler who would be a “descendant of King David” and possess heroic royal authority.  The Samaritans, however, awaited not a king exercising Davidic rule but “a great Prophet like Moses.” They called Him the Taheb, meaning “the one who returns” or “the one who restores,” in Aramaic.

 

Third, they had completely different understandings of the Messiah’s central mission.  The Jews mistakenly believed that the Messiah’s mission would be to overthrow the Roman Empire, establish Israel’s political independence, and cause the nation’s religious power and influence to flourish over the whole world.  The Samaritans, by contrast, were convinced that their Messiah would personally teach and reveal to humanity, in terms people could understand, all the perfect heavenly mysteries of God and the truth (Jn. 4:25).

 

Fourth, the Lord’s attitude toward these groups was also clearly different.  Whenever the Jews displayed religious enthusiasm and attempted to make Jesus their political king, the Lord withdrew rather than entrusting Himself to their false faith (Jn. 2:23–24; 6:15).  But when the Samaritan woman sincerely sought the truth, the Lord did not hesitate to reveal His divine sovereignty in the fullest way, declaring, “I who speak to you am He” (John 4:26).

 

3.       A Great Lesson for the Lives of All Believers and Those Called to Ministry

 

①  The Lord seeks those who hunger for the Word in their hearts rather than those who possess outward religious titles.

Nicodemus and the Jews possessed an apparently perfect knowledge of the Law and the privileged religious system represented by a magnificent temple built over forty-six years. Yet they rejected Jesus, the very reality of salvation, and tried to put Him through an ideological examination. By contrast, although this Samaritan woman was marginalized by her ancestry and had a morally broken life, deep within her heart she sincerely longed for the Word: “When He comes, He will teach us all the truth.”

 

All believers should gladly and completely overturn before the Lord the outward table of status represented by their positions, titles, and the size of their ministries.  Please believe that only when we become poor in spirit through thorough self-denial, refusing to trust our own strength and experience, will the Spirit’s limitless living water begin to spring up within us for eternal life.

 

②  When we cast away the water jar of our own calculations as rubbish, the joy of completed salvation comes.

 

When the woman cried out as though in a sigh, “I know that Messiah is coming,” the Lord, for the first time in the Gospel of John, opened wide the revelation of His holy divine identity and sovereignty through the words, “I who speak to you am He” [ἐγώ εἰμι (egō eimi)] (Jn. 4:26).  As soon as she encountered this radiant light of the gospel, she boldly left behind the water jar she had brought to draw water at noon—the very hour when she had come to avoid the eyes of others—and hurried into the town (vv. 6, 28).

 

Believers are not people who thirstingly stake their lives on worldly possessions, reputation—including one’s place at a banquet—or worldly success.  The knowledge of Jesus Christ, who thirsted in our place on the cross and thereby broke the power of all our deprivation and curses, is of supreme worth (Phil. 3:8; Jn. 19:28).  Therefore, today we should gladly cast away the water jar before us as rubbish, tune our ears solely to the voice of Jesus the Bridegroom Himself, and live as genuine Christians—the church—marching forward confidently in the joy of salvation already accomplished (Internet).

 

(2)    Second, as I meditated on the fact that when the Samaritan woman cried out, “I know that Messiah is coming” (Jn. 4:25), the Lord said for the first time in the history of John’s Gospel, “I who speak to you am He” [ἐγώ εἰμι (egō eimi)] (v. 26), I remembered what I learned in seminary: the apostle John recorded only seven sayings in the entire Gospel of John in which Jesus says, “I am …” [ἐγώ εἰμι (egō eimi)].  But if Jesus first said to the Samaritan woman in John 4:26, “I who speak to you am He” [ἐγώ εἰμι (egō eimi)], would that not make eight sayings in total? In other words, Jesus’ words “I am He” mean, “I am the very Messiah you have been speaking about.” Is this statement also included among Jesus’ seven “I am …” [ἐγώ εἰμι (egō eimi)] sayings?  If not, why did the apostle John record Jesus’ declaration “I who speak to you am He” [ἐγώ εἰμι (egō eimi)] for the first time in the history of the Gospel of John in this passage, John 4:26?

 

(a)    It is correct that John 4:26 is not included among the “Seven Declarations” I learned about in seminary.  This is because the Gospel of John contains two forms of “egō eimi” [ἐγώ εἰμι, “I am …”], distinguished by their grammatical structure and theological character.  To help all believers and those called to ministry clearly understand the reality of these glorious divine declarations, artificial intelligence has organized the differences between the two forms of “egō eimi” and explained why the apostle John recorded this declaration for the first time in Samaria (Internet).

 

1.       First Explanation: The Difference Between the Seven Predicate “I Am” Declarations and the Absolute “I Am”

 

The “egō eimi” [ἐγώ εἰμι, “I am …”] declarations spoken by Jesus in the Gospel of John can broadly be classified into two kinds.

 

①  Predicate “I am” declarations → The “Seven Declarations” learned in seminary

 

In terms of Greek grammar, these declarations have a structure in which a predicate noun or expression follows “egō eimi.”  Through metaphors, Jesus taught these truths about His identity and attributes as Savior.

 

The seven declarations are: (1) The Bread of Life (Jn. 6:35), (2) The Light of the World (8:12), (3) The Door of the Sheep (10:7), (4) The Good Shepherd (10:11), (5) The Resurrection and the Life (11:25), (6) The Way, the Truth, and the Life (14:6), (7) The True Vine (15:1).

 

②  The absolute “I am” → The declaration of divine sovereignty, including today’s passage, John 4:26

 

The original wording of John 4:26 is translated, “I who speak to you am He,” which may make it appear that the predicate “Messiah” follows the statement. In the actual Greek text, however, no noun follows it.  The statement ends simply with “I am” [ἐγώ εἰμι (egō eimi)]. It is therefore an “absolute” (Absolute) “I am” declaration.  Jesus directly took the words “egō eimi,” the Septuagint (LXX) translation of God’s self-revelation to Moses in Exodus 3:14—“I AM WHO I AM”—and proclaimed them with His own lips.  Unlike the seven declarations that describe His attributes through metaphors, this is a sovereign declaration that fully reveals His divine identity as the Creator in His very essence: “I am none other than the LORD God Himself revealed in the Old Testament!” (Jn. 1:1; 4:26).

 

2.       Second Explanation: Why Did the Apostle John First Record This Declaration in Samaria?

 

Why did the Lord, who had concealed His identity amid numerous debates with Jewish religious leaders, proclaim this majestic declaration of His divine identity—“egō eimi” [ἐγώ εἰμι, “I am …”]—for the first time before an unnamed Samaritan woman, in a place despised by Jews?

 

Rejecting the Jews’ false “Davidic heroism”: The Jews expected the Messiah to be merely a political and military king.  Therefore, whenever the Lord declared Himself to be the Messiah, they responded with human impatience and tried to make Him king, even to the point of inciting an uprising (Jn. 6:15).  For this reason, the Lord did not reveal Himself openly in Judea and did not entrust Himself to their false enthusiasm (2:24–25).

 

A complete response to the Samaritan woman’s “Mosaic longing for truth”: The Samaritans, by contrast, were not waiting for a political king exercising Davidic authority.  They sincerely awaited a Prophet who would personally teach them God’s perfect heavenly mysteries and the truth, in accordance with the promise in Deuteronomy 18:15 in the Pentateuch (Jn. 4:25).  At the very moment when the woman sincerely confessed her desire for truth, saying, “When He comes, He will tell us all things,” the Lord did not hesitate. He fully opened the door of grace through His revelation: “I am the LORD God Himself, speaking the living words of heaven to you right now!” (3:34; 4:6, 26).

 

3.       Lessons for the Lives of All Believers and Those Called to Ministry

 

①  We must completely dismantle our own will and depend solely on the sovereignty of Jesus’ “egō eimi” [ἐγώ εἰμι, “I am”].

 

Amid the shame of having had five husbands and the burning thirst of her life, the Samaritan woman wandered in confusion, asking humanly oriented questions such as, “How can this be?” (Jn. 3:4, 9; 4:9, 15).  But the moment the Lord came into the very center of her life and declared, “I am He” [egō eimi], every limitation and despair came to an end (4:26).

 

All believers should gladly and completely overturn before the cross the privileges represented by our positions, the size of our ministries, and the false human structures built over forty-six years.  We must tear down all Pharisaic spirituality that trusts in personal strength and experience.  The truly genuine Israelite is the one who marches forward relying one hundred percent, and in every way, on the omnipotence of the self-existent Lord who dwells within us and on the limitless leading of the Holy Spirit.

 

②  When we cast away the water jar of our own calculations as rubbish, an unending rest in the state of completed salvation begins.

 

As soon as the woman encountered Jesus as the self-existent God, she boldly left beside the well the water jar to which she had clung so desperately and with which she had come at noon to avoid people’s eyes.  Then she hurried into the town (Jn. 4:6, 28).  Because she had come to possess the supremely excellent knowledge of Jesus (Phil. 3:8), she could gladly regard as rubbish the worldly water jar for which she had thirsted before.

 

Believers are not people who thirstingly entrust their lives to the opinions of others—including their place at a banquet—the size of their material possessions, or their worldly success.  The DNA of God’s children, already planted within us, is a sure receipt of victory over the power of death (Jn. 1:13; 1 Jn. 3:9).  Even if the wilderness of our present circumstances is exhausting, possess the complete joy of salvation—joy that fills you once and for all—through Jesus Christ alone, who thirsted in your place on the cross and removed all your condemnation.  Abandon earthly thinking, walk boldly into the light, worship in spirit and truth, and live as genuine Christians who transform everyday life into a heavenly feast (Internet).

 

(3)    Third, I would like to meditate on Jesus’ words: “At this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He was talking with a woman; yet no one said, ‘What do You seek?’ or, ‘Why are You talking with her?’”  The Greek text is:  ἐπὶ τούτῳ ἦλθαν οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐθαύμαζον ὅτι μετὰ γυναικὸς ἐλάλει· οὐδεὶς μέντοι εἶπεν· Τί ζητεῖς; ἤ· Τί λαλεῖς μετ᾿ αὐτῆς (epi toutō ēlthan hoi mathētai autou, kai ethaumazon hoti meta gynaikos elalei; oudeis mentoi eipen; ti zēteis? ē ti laleis met’ autēs?) (Jn. 4:27).  Why did the disciples, even though they “marveled” [ἐθαύμαζον (ethaumazon)], refrain from asking, “What do You seek?” [Τί ζητεῖς (ti zēteis)] or “Why are You talking with her?”  In particular, I am interested in the Greek word “ζητεῖς” (zēteis) in the question “What do You seek?”  The reason is that the apostle John seems to use this word frequently.

 

(a)    Artificial intelligence has organized the reasons the disciples were astonished but did not dare to question the Lord, along with three redemptive-historical principles and practical applications for the lives of the entire church that the apostle John presents through the word “zēteō” in this passage (Internet).

 

1.       The First Purpose: The Solemn Majesty of the Creator That Overturns Human Superficial Knowledge and Preconceptions (Jn. 4:27)

 

When the disciples returned, the scene before their eyes was a shocking event that completely overturned the accepted conventions of Jewish society at that time.

 

Why the disciples were astonished [ἐθαύμαζον (ethaumazon), “they marveled”]: The original Greek word ethaumazon is in the imperfect tense.  It describes a continuing state of being overwhelmed by the sight before them—standing in astonishment and bewilderment, as though their mouths had fallen open.

 

In Jewish society at that time, it was considered shameful for a rabbi to converse with a woman in the street or another public place, because such conduct was thought to diminish the authority of the Law.  How much more astonishing, then, that their Rabbi and Lord was engaged in an intimate conversation about the truth with a Samaritan woman whom Jews despised and would not associate with!  The disciples were so bewildered that they must have felt spiritually dizzy.

 

Why they did not dare to ask—the principle of silence: The real reason the disciples did not dare to ask, “What do You seek?” or “Why are You talking with her?” was that they were overwhelmed by the astonishing divine majesty and sovereignty of Jesus Christ, which filled the scene beside the well.

 

Physically, Jesus appeared to be a frail human being who had become exhausted from walking and had sat down beside the well (Jn. 4:6).  Yet, before the authority of His truth—the Lord who fully revealed the very nature of the self-existent God (v. 26)—the disciples sensed the solemnity of having their shallow theological knowledge and preconceived notions completely overturned. They could do nothing but instinctively remain silent.

 

2.       The Second Purpose: The Complete Fulfillment of John’s Gospel Doctrine of Salvation Through the Contrast in “Zēteō” (ζητέω), “To Seek”

 

Throughout the Gospel of John and the First Epistle of John, the apostle places the word zēteō (“to seek” or “to look for”) at decisive moments in redemptive history, revealing the confrontation between humanity and God.

 

Humanity’s sinful “zēteō” (ζητέω), “to seek” or “to look for” → Seeking Jesus in order to seize and kill Him for selfish purposes

 

At the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, the Jews and Pharisees “sought” and pursued Jesus [zēteō (ζητέω)] in order to interrogate Him about His qualifications, find grounds for accusing Him, and ultimately put Him to death.  They were trying to preserve the privileges and hierarchical boundaries represented by the false temple structure they had built over forty-six years (Jn. 2:20; 4:1; 5:18; 7:1).

 

The crowds also had no interest in the true nature of the baptism of the Holy Spirit that Jesus offered. Instead, they selfishly “sought” Him [zēteō (ζητέω)] merely to satisfy their desire for earthly bread and a full stomach (6:26).  Indeed, the first question the Lord directed to His disciples in John 1:38 was itself a searching question that exposed their motives: “What do you seek?” [Τί ζητεῖτε (ti zēteite)].

 

God’s gracious “zēteō” (ζητέω), “to seek” or “to look for” → Pursuing and finding a lost soul in order to give it life

 

The holy word that stands in complete contrast to humanity’s stubborn and ugly sinfulness had already been proclaimed in the preceding passage, John 4:23: “The Father seeks such to worship Him” [ζητεῖ (zētei)].

 

The mystery of the connection: The true answer to the question the disciples might have asked—“What do You seek?” [Τί ζητεῖς (ti zēteis)]—was already being revealed through the Lord’s very footsteps (v. 27).  The Lord had not come to Samaria to seek physical food [zēteō (ζητέω)]. Rather, He was the true Shepherd whose heart was set on pursuing and finding the one lost sheep, the Samaritan woman whom the Father had loved and chosen before the creation of the world, and rescuing her without the slightest error.  The magnificent design of this passage proclaims that, in accordance with the timetable of salvation ordained from the beginning, the Lord had placed His entire being into that mission and was pursuing the woman’s soul with urgent determination in the scorching midday sun [zēteō (ζητέω)] (4:4, 6, 23).

 

3.       Lessons for the Lives of All Believers and Those Called to Ministry

 

① We must break through human preconceptions and the barriers of numbers, submitting solely to the Lord’s sovereignty over all things.

 

The disciples were confined within the boundaries of the impressive Jewish religious system—Jerusalem, Passover, and religious festivals.  They saw Jesus talking with the Samaritan woman only from the perspective of earthly appearances, and they were astonished and tempted to judge what they saw.

 

Today, all of us as believers can likewise fall into the darkness of trying to restrict God’s power by applying human prejudices and preconceived ideas to everyday life and ministry, saying, “That person is unqualified,” or “There is no hope in that situation.”  We must gladly and completely dismantle our Pharisaic spirituality, which trusts in ourselves, before the cross every day.  When we erase ourselves and trust entirely in the almighty gaze of the Lord, who comes from above and is over all things, we can be confident that the gospel will break through and work powerfully, shattering in an instant every denominational, presbytery, and social barrier that human beings have erected to keep people apart.

 

②  When we gladly cast away the earthly water jar as rubbish, the joy of completed salvation becomes active in our lives.

 

At the very moment when the disciples stood around in astonishment, the Samaritan woman, having realized that Jesus was the self-existent God, experienced a spiritual explosion (Jn. 4:26).  She boldly left behind beside the well the water jar that symbolized her old self—the self to which she had clung so desperately while hiding from the eyes of others—and hurried into the town, beginning to testify about the Lord by saying, “Come and see” (1:46; 4:28–29).

 

Believers are not people who thirstingly entrust their lives to worldly possessions, reputation—including their place at a banquet—or temporary advantages before their eyes. The knowledge of Jesus Christ, who hung on the tree of the curse in our place and removed all our deprivation, is of supreme worth (3:14; Phil. 3:8).  Therefore, today we should gladly cast away as rubbish the earthly water jar we have been holding close to our hearts.  We should tune our ears solely to the voice of Jesus the Bridegroom Himself and walk forward confidently in the joy of completed salvation (Jn. 3:29, 36; Eph. 5:27; 1 Jn. 5:12) (Internet).

 

(4)    Fourth and last, I would like to meditate on the Samaritan woman’s words after she left her water jar and went into the town: “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?”  The Greek text is: δεῦτε ἴδετε ἄνθρωπον ὃς εἶπέν μοι πάντα ὅσα ἐποίησα, μήτι οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ χριστός (deute idete anthrōpon hos eipen moi panta hosa epoiēsa, mēti houtos estin ho Christos?) (Jn. 4:28–29).  As I meditated on the words “Come and see” [δεῦτε ἴδετε (deute idete)], this evangelistic declaration and confession reminded me of Jesus’ words to the two disciples of John the Baptist, “Come and see” [Ἔρχεσθε καὶ ὄψεσθε (erchesthe kai opsesthe)] (1:39), and Philip’s words to Nathanael, “Come and see” [Ἔρχου καὶ ἴδε (erchou kai ide)] (v. 46).  All three passages are translated “Come and see” in Korean, but the Greek expressions are different.  What lessons do these different expressions of “Come and see” teach us?  What is the significance of the sequence in which Jesus first says, “Come and see,” Philip then says, “Come and see” to Nathanael, and finally the Samaritan woman says, “Come and see” to the entire crowd in her town in John 4:29?

 

1.       The Original-Language Significance of the Three Expressions “Come and See” and Their Development in Redemptive History

 

①  John 1:39 → Ἔρχεσθε καὶ ὄψεσθε (erchesthe kai opsesthe), “Come and see.”

 

Grammatical character: This expression combines a present-tense plural imperative verb (erchesthe) with a future-tense plural indicative verb (opsesthe).

 

Redemptive-historical meaning: Jesus, the source of salvation and the true Light, personally opened the door to an “ontological invitation” by calling people to Himself: “Come now and stay with Me, and then you will see the mysteries of heaven.”  This signifies the absolute sovereignty of salvation: God the Son does not examine human qualifications but first comes to the places where people live—the well, the wilderness—and establishes a relationship with them.

 

②  John 1:46 → Ἔρχου καὶ ἴδε (erchou kai ide), “Come and see.”

 

Grammatical character: This expression combines a present-tense singular imperative verb (erchou) with an aorist-tense singular imperative verb (ide).

 

Redemptive-historical meaning: Philip had stayed with the Lord and gained the assurance of completed salvation: “We have found the Messiah.”  He then firmly called out to Nathanael, one individual soul, who was wandering under the influence of prejudice.  This is a form of “personal evangelism.” Rather than trying to persuade another person through his own wisdom, Philip faithfully serves as a bridge—a voice that directs the other person to encounter the unique Person of Jesus Christ directly (v. 23).

③  John 4:29 → δεῦτε ἴδετε (deute idete), “Come and see.”

 

Grammatical character: This expression combines a strong plural imperative meaning “Come here!” with an aorist-tense plural imperative verb.

 

Redemptive-historical meaning: Through the baptism of water and the Holy Spirit, the Samaritan woman’s soul had been completely born again (3:5; 4:14).  Now she went beyond addressing a single individual and boldly proclaimed the gospel to the entire community—the town’s people and, by extension, the world.  This is an all-encompassing explosion of the gospel (4:28–29).  A soul that has encountered the true Light of the self-existent God breaks down in an instant all the barriers of privilege and exclusion erected by human beings. It then invites the whole world to the heavenly feast—the wine of Cana. This represents the final stage in the fulfillment of gospel proclamation (John 2:10; 4:9, 39).

 

2.       Lessons These Words Teach All Believers and Those Called to Ministry

 

a.       True evangelism is not the persuasion of knowledge, but a living testimony of transformation that leaves my water jar behind.

 

The Samaritan woman had a life marked by shame and wounds, to the point that she came to draw water at noon, at twelve o’clock, to avoid the eyes of others (Jn. 4:6–7).  But the moment she gained the supremely excellent knowledge that Jesus is the Christ (Phil. 3:8), she boldly left behind at the well the water jar that symbolized the old self to which she had clung, and hurried into the town (Jn. 4:28).

 

All believers should not try to teach the gospel to people in the world in a way that merely persuades them intellectually or interrogates their beliefs as though condemning them. Evangelism teaches us to tear down all the calculations of our own thinking and become a sincere voice that transparently demonstrates the transformation of our lives, saying: “Look at Jesus, who has given me the living water of the Holy Spirit, leaping and springing within me so powerfully that I can cast away the world’s decaying reputation—my water jar—as rubbish!”  This is the mission of being a sincere voice that points others to Jesus (1:23; 4:14; Phil. 3:8).

 

b.      The proclamation “Come and see” destroys human preconceptions and brings people face-to-face with the Person of Jesus alone.

 

When Philip encountered Nathanael’s prejudice—“Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”—he did not offer a long series of explanations or excuses. He simply declared, “Come and see” (John 1:46). In the same way, the Samaritan woman fixed the people’s attention solely on Jesus, saying, “Come and see. Could this be the Christ?” (Jn. 4:29).

 

As we go about our daily lives, we are repeatedly tempted to boast about the excellence of our church programs or the purity of our own conduct.  In doing so, we may take pride in the false human structures and systems built over forty-six years. But these are merely a merchant’s table—the kind the Lord knows all about and will overturn.  We must acknowledge that the true authority of the gospel lies solely in the beauty of the Person of Jesus Christ, who accomplished substitutionary atonement on the cross and demonstrated the love of the only begotten Son (3:16). We should lead the souls of the world to a place where they can be joined personally and directly to the Lord alone, establishing a one-to-one relationship with Him (2:19, 21; 4:8).

 

c.       When I gladly become a voice that “decreases,” the entire town eventually returns to the Lord’s embrace.

 

The holy necessity of God’s purpose expressed in John the Baptist’s confession—“He must increase, but I must decrease”—was fulfilled through the Samaritan woman’s obedience (3:30). She did not draw attention to herself; instead, she exalted Jesus alone. As a result, she helped bring about a great revival in which “they went out of the city and came to Him” (4:30).

 

The life and service of a believer are not meant to promote one’s own name or personal interests. They are a ministry of spiritual matchmaking: as a friend of the Bridegroom, we help prepare the Bride—the church—in purity and unite her with the voice of Jesus the Bridegroom (3:29).  When we empty ourselves in our families, workplaces, and Victory Presbyterian Church, and move forward trusting entirely in the Lord’s reign, I firmly believe that the Lord will use our sincere cry, “Come and see,” as a guarantee of His work. He will completely shatter the powers of Hades and fill the entire church with the joy of completed salvation and eternal life.

 

(a)    As I meditated on the words “Come and see” (John 1:29), I also began meditating on these other invitations: (1) Come and “follow Me” (Mt. 19:21), (2) Come and “rest” (Mk. 6:31), (3) Come and “eat breakfast” (Jn. 21:12), and (4) “Come to Me” (Mt. 11:28).  The series of Jesus’ invitations beginning with “Come” in the Gospels reflects the journey of faith in a believer’s life: (1) Come and see (Jn. 1:39): The first encounter with the gospel and the confirmation of its truth, (2) Come, follow Me (Mt. 19:21): A decision of commitment and the life of a disciple, (3) Come and rest (Mk. 6:31): Rest and renewal for both body and spirit, (4) Come and eat breakfast (Jn. 21:12): Love that covers failure and intimate fellowship (Internet).  Of these four invitations, I would like to receive more specific lessons from the words “Come and rest” and “Come and eat breakfast.”

 

a.       Come and “go away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a little” (Mk. 6:31) → Rest that brings human calculations and the building of forty-six years to a halt

 

The mystery and background of the original word [ἀναπαύσασθε (anapausasthe), “rest”]: This was the invitation the Lord extended when the disciples returned from ministry so exhausted that they did not even have time to eat (Mk. 6:31; Jn. 4:6).  The Greek word for “rest,” anapauō (ἀναπαύω), means more than physical rest or simply sleeping.  It signifies the restorative rest of stopping the earthly wheels that have been spinning breathlessly, putting down the calculator of our own wisdom, and remaining completely under the Creator’s shelter.

 

Practical application for all believers: We must dismantle the religious compulsion to build things through our own strength: When we serve the church or go about our daily lives, we can become trapped within the boundaries of Pharisaic hypocrisy, feeling that we must constantly prove something through our own enthusiasm and effort. In doing so, we exhaust ourselves.  The Lord does not pressure us, saying, “Go and produce more results and build another magnificent structure that takes forty-six years” (Jn. 2:20).  The true strength of a believer lies in gladly and completely overturning before the Lord the table of our own control and initiative (v. 15), entering the secluded place of retreat that the Lord has prepared for us—the quiet room, or beneath the fig tree—and thoroughly emptying ourselves (1:48; 3:30).  When we stop the busyness of ministry and expose ourselves completely to the presence of the Holy Spirit, God’s one-hundred-percent free gift from above, we can believe that the living water of eternal life—something the world can neither give nor understand—will once again spring up within us.

 

b.      Come and “eat breakfast” (Jn. 21:12) → Redemptive fellowship that covers the charcoal fire of my failure and shame

 

The mystery and background of the original word [ἀριστήσατε (aristēsate), “Come and eat breakfast”]: This is the scene in which the resurrected Lord came to His disciples on the shore of the Sea of Tiberias. They had spent the entire night fishing and had caught nothing, experiencing a devastating spiritual bankruptcy that exposed the old self of Simon Peter (1:42; 21:3, 12).  The Lord did not interrogate them about the shameful reality of their failures and shortcomings during the night, nor did He question them as though conducting an ideological examination. Instead, He personally prepared fish and bread on a charcoal fire, filling it generously. With the gracious gesture of didōmi (δίδωμι, “to give freely”), He took the fish and bread in His own hands, broke them into portions, and gave them to the disciples, inviting them: “Come and eat breakfast” (21:13).

 

Practical application for all believers: Cast away your shameful water jar as rubbish and come to the Lord’s table: This is like the Samaritan woman’s experience. When she tried to hide the shame of having had five husbands and the failures of her life, the Lord received her honest confession with grace, saying, “You have well said” (4:17–18).  Believers are not people who flee from the light of the Word and hide within the boundaries of darkness because they fear their faults and mistakes.  We must come forward honestly, throwing our entire being into the presence of the Lord’s true Light, just as we are—with our devastating inability, like someone who has failed to catch even a single fish, and with our broken hearts (3:21).  For those who possess Jesus Christ, who on the cross of the third Passover cried out, “I thirst,” drank the cup of all our failures and curses in our place, and completed salvation once and for all, no condemnation can remain permanently (19:28, 30).  Hold firmly to the hand of the Son, who completely covers the charcoal fire of our failures with His redemptive love and enables us to march forward again on the path of our calling (Rom. 8:14) (Internet).