3/25 Through the Bible in devotions

John 4

“Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?” (v. 29)

We see here a very unique event in the annals of Scripture. We have a woman who, upon meeting the Savior, becomes an instant witness for Him. The unique thing about it is that no where else in the Bible does a woman do the work of an evangelist in going out and getting people saved by directing them to the Lord. We know that a woman is not to usurp the office of the preacher (1 Timothy 2:12); she is not to teach the man, but is to remain silent concerning the Gospel message, and “learn in silence” (1 Tim 2:11), “with all subjection”. Furthermore, all the examples of women in the Bible were to minister unto the men, and to keep them going for the Gospels’ sake; they remained in the background when it came to evangelizing the world. This may be hard to swallow today, but it is Bible. In our passage in John, some believed for the woman’s words (Jn. 4:39), and others did not believe until they heard Him for themselves (vs. 41-42), but the woman nonetheless, was a soul winner, and the only one we see in the Bible. Mary Magdalene washed the feet of Jesus and wiped them with her hair, as a form of worship and adoration, but we do not read of her ever going out after souls like this Samaritan woman did. She was not even a full-blooded Jew either! Pointing people to Jesus is everyone’s duty, but the preaching and duties of the church are left up to the men to do.

In 1 Corinthians 14, we see the misuse of the gift of tongues, and that women had a prominent part in it. They were admonished in that chapter to keep silent in the church concerning tongues in v. 34, and were to ask questions to their own husbands, at home, (v. 35), and it even goes as far to say that it is a shame for women to speak in church! You can interpret that whichever way you will, but the point is that the woman at the well did something no other woman could legally do, and brought people to Christ as a result of it. Today, some of the church’s best soul winners are women, but they need to remain humble in their witnessing, lest they usurp the authority of the man in their presentation of the gospel message. The lines are drawn, and very fine they are, as to what is preaching or teaching, and what is soul winning. The woman at the well had a simple message, “Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did” and then she asked a simple question, “is not this the Christ?” (Jn. 4:34) Now we must determine for ourselves the extent of this message, and the admonitions it contains, and apply it accordingly. Read and study it for yourself, it is very important what you do with the examples and commands of the Bible, and we all are accountable for how we interpret it.