The First Missionary
April 29, 2024
It is so striking to me that the first ever witness/evangelizer/missionary proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah is a sinful Samaritan woman. Let’s give some context – the entirety of John chapter 4 is the story of how Jesus sought out one particular woman to bring her to a saving knowledge of Him. Jesus is traveling with His disciples, and verse 4 says He “needed to pass through Samaria”. In this time, Jews actively avoided Samaria and found routes around, so they didn’t have to mix with these ‘unclean people’. But Jesus made sure that they went there, and specifically stopped at Jacob’s well, sending the disciples away so He could be there alone. When the Samaritan woman approaches, we see how confused she is that Jesus would even talk to her, as Jews don’t speak to Samaritans. Jesus then turns His request for water into a moment to reveal Himself as Messiah, as the living water that leads to salvation (v. 14). He knows her intimately, even her past as someone with many husbands and currently living with someone who wasn’t her husband. She is so shocked and overjoyed that she drops her water jug and runs back into her city. And this is where we come to verse 29, which is her testimony, her witness of Jesus to everyone she knows – “Come, see a man who told me everything that I did. Can this be the Christ?” Her testimony leads to Jesus and His disciples staying at that town for 2 days, and we see in vs 41-42: “Many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of your speaking; for we have heard for ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.”
During this point of Jesus’ ministry, He was telling people who had received healing and other miracles not to tell anyone about Him, because His time had not yet come. But there was something different about this unnamed woman, and this city. The people group who had been cast off from the remnant of Israel, were the first to receive the Good News of Jesus, the first to believe in mass in His salvation. I see so much redemption in that! We cannot understand God’s ways, and at times we may not understand why He calls some to Him and not others, or the timing of it. It seems clear from the text that Jesus’ disciples didn’t understand why He chose this woman at this moment, but the fruit of that choice is so evident. She has gone down in history as the first missionary, and a sinful female at that! As a female missionary myself, it is so encouraging to put my life in the Lord’s hands, knowing that I can trust Him completely with my heart and future. I hope you can be encouraged in seeing how God can redeem any past into something beautiful and long lasting for His glory. Go out and share your story of redemption with the world, you never know what God will accomplish through your faith!
Brittany H
“94 / ’08 San Jose Costa Rica
CoLaborers International Missionary
Doris Jean H
’44 / ’55 Manheim PA