March 8, 2025 - John 4:29 - An Awakened Sinner

John 4:29

"Come, see a Man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?"

What a beautiful testimony of God's sovereign will and grace in the LORD Jesus calling this Samaritan woman to Himself, even before she realized that He was drawing her. The narrative begins with our LORD purposefully passing through Samaria on His way north to Galilee. Typically, the Jews would cross over the Jordan and follow the river north on the east side, avoiding any contact with the Samaritans, whom they considered “half-breeds.” Yet, in John 4:4, it is written that He "must needs go through Samaria." This could only have been for one purpose: to draw the Samaritan woman to the well and speak with her of Himself as the True Water of Life, which He did in John 4:7-26.

Her name is not revealed, but she is described as a woman who lived in shame, with a past marked by brokenness and sin. She had been married five times, and the man she was living with at the time of their meeting was not her husband, suggesting a very sinful lifestyle (John 4:7,18). Yet, suddenly, because of the LORD Jesus meeting her and revealing Himself in her as the promised Messiah (John 4:20-26), her heart was opened, and she was awakened to Christ in grace and truth. She, who had once lived in the darkness of her sin, was now awakened by the LORD Jesus and testified of Him who sought her, even though, at first, she did not seek Him.

For the awakened sinner, like this Samaritan woman, salvation is not something earned, merited, or achieved, nor is it fully understood in the moment of awakening. Rather, it is the gracious work of God, made effective by His sovereign will and power alone, through His Spirit. This divine awakening is not a self-generated response but a work of God's grace—His will calling the sinner from death into life, for whom the LORD Jesus came to pay their sin debt. As the LORD told Nicodemus: "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit" (John 3:8).

The Samaritan woman did not seek the LORD Jesus—He sought her. She was simply going about her daily task, drawing water at the well, when the LORD engaged her in a conversation that would change her life forever. Likewise, God, in His sovereign purpose, does not wait for sinners to come to Him but instead acts by coming to those sinners He has chosen. The Gospel is not about the sinner choosing God, but about God choosing those sinners He purposed to save, even before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4-5).

This is the heart of salvation: God initiates. He chooses. He calls. Furthermore, He awakens. The power to save resides in God's hands, not in any ability of our own to respond. When any of God's elected sinners, like the Samaritan woman, are brought to Christ, they will learn that there is nothing hidden from Him and that He already knows them fully—their hidden evil thoughts, their sin, and their shame. But it is to such as these that He reveals Himself as the Living Water, awakening them from their spiritually dead state to find in Him all they need—the Water of Life and the Giver of Life.

The woman's testimony in John 4:29 is powerful because it reflects the revelation of Christ within her. The LORD Jesus had not only known her before she knew Him; He knew her life of sin, and yet He did not condemn her. He came to save her and would soon pay her sin debt on the cross. Rather than condemning her, He revealed in her the Gift of Living Water, symbolizing Salvation and Eternal Life. This was not something she could have obtained by her own efforts. Her past was filled with sin and failure, yet the LORD Jesus came to save her—not because of her worthiness, but because of His Sovereign Grace. When we are awakened from our sin, it is never because we have somehow earned God’s favor. We are awakened because God, in His mercy, chose to reveal Himself to us. This act of grace shifts the focus away from ourselves and places it on the unmerited love of God the Savior, Who is mighty to save. It is God's will and power, not ours, that brings about salvation.

The awakened sinner is not just saved but transformed in their mind and heart. The Savior, having come to the Samaritan woman and revealed Himself to her, made her a new creation in Christ. She went from being a woman hiding her shame to a bold witness of Christ's redeeming work. She didn’t have all the answers, but she simply knew that she had met the Savior, Who had changed her heart and direction by His grace.

When God awakens the chosen sinner, He not only brings them from death to life, from darkness to light, but He changes their direction. Where once they were born with their backs to God, headed toward condemnation, they are now converted, given repentance and faith, and called to follow Christ for the rest of their lives. Those who are saved by God’s grace are no longer defined by their sins and failures. They are defined by the grace of God and salvation in Christ alone, Who bore their sin debt away. As a result, the Samaritan woman could not keep silent but was compelled by that same grace to tell others of the Christ Who knew her so completely and yet loved her fully with an everlasting love (John 4:29). So it is with all those whom God has chosen, Christ has redeemed, and the Spirit has called.

"O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;"

Psalm 107:1, 2