Now we come to the last aspect of the way to take the living water—believing that Jesus is the Christ. When the Samaritan woman heard the Lord’s answer to her question about worship, she still tried to turn away to another subject saying, “I know that Messiah is coming, He who is called Christ; when He comes, He will declare all things to us” (4:25). She seemed to be saying, “You are telling me so many things, but we are waiting for the Messiah to come. When He comes, He will manifest everything.” What an excuse! Then the Lord answered her, “I who speak to you am He” (4:26). By this word, Jesus led her to believe that He is the Christ in order that she might have eternal life (20:31). We see from verse 29 that she believed. Although the Samaritan woman tried every way to escape the Lord, He, in His wisdom, caught her. Never try to escape the hand of the Lord. The Samaritan woman was convinced, believed in Him, and received the living water. There was a great change in her life. She was such an immoral person, but was still under the influence of religious tradition, taking care of yes or no, here or there, this way or that way. She was absolutely in a death situation. However, the Lord touched her and turned her from death to life. Undoubtedly, she was under the tree of knowledge, but the Lord turned her to the tree of life. He changed her death into life eternal.
The Lord revealed to the Samaritan woman that the real satisfaction in human life is the Lord Himself. The Lord revealed to her three aspects about Himself: that He is the gift, the Giver, and the way to obtain the gift. The Lord mentioned at least three things about Himself. In verse 10 He said, “If you knew the gift of God,” indicating that the gift of God was the Lord Himself as life eternal. He also told her, “You would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water,” showing that the Lord Himself is the Giver. Finally, by careful reading, we shall discover that the way for the woman to obtain the gift was to contact or drink the Giver Himself.
After the woman heard that the Lord Jesus was the Christ who was coming, she believed. There was a great change in her life. She left her waterpot, went into the city, and gave a living testimony to the people. This testimony brought in a marvelous harvest (4:28-42).
According to our natural concept, it takes time to help a person to be saved. We must drop this concept. People can be changed in a second. The Lord can turn people in such a fast way because, just as He did in His creation, He calls things not being as being. There is no need of the time element. According to our concept, a sinner needs time to consider, believe, and turn. This concept frustrates our gospel preaching and makes it impotent. We must have the faith that while we are talking with people, the Lord is working in a prevailing way. The Samaritan woman was turned in an instant. In the past, beyond our belief, we have seen many people turn in such a way. The Lord’s way to turn people is in the Spirit, in the way of life, not in the way of education. Education takes time. It takes time to teach people. However, when the Lord regenerates people, He makes them a new creation and calls things not being as being. We must have this prevailing faith whenever we talk to a sinner. While we are speaking with him, we must exercise our spirit to believe that the Lord is working in him. Spontaneously, something will happen to him, and he will be turned from death to life. Although the Samaritan woman was so immoral, low, and deep in sin, she was turned within a fraction of a second. Her whole life was changed. She went to the people and said, “Come, see a man who told me all that I have done; is this not the Christ?” (4:29). This indicates that the woman believed that Jesus was the Christ and that by believing she received the living water and was satisfied. She was certain that Jesus was the Christ, and the Spirit came into her.
The picture in John 4 also shows us that after the woman contacted Christ, she gave up everything. She left both the well and the waterpot. She left everything and went into the city to tell the people about Christ, which means that once she contacted Christ, she gave up everything in order to have only Christ as her satisfaction. When she told the people in the city, “Is this not the Christ?” she recognized that He was the Christ. In the eyes of God, she had Christ already and was bringing Christ to her people. What a testimony! It is only when we contact Christ, recognize Christ, and receive Christ that we can be satisfied. Then spontaneously we shall give up everything that is other than Christ.
I can never forget an incident that occurred in 1937 when I went to the capital of China for several nights of meetings. After the last meeting, a young wife of a highly educated man said to me, “Mr. Lee, I am much influenced by your preaching and desire to believe in Christ. But I have a problem. I like to go to the theaters and see the operas. If I am going to be a Christian, I am willing to give up all of my bad habits. But there is one thing that I cannot give up—that is the dramas and operas. This I could not give up. What shall I do?” She was very serious. I was afraid to tell her that it is not right for a Christian to go to the Chinese operas, because she would refuse to become a Christian. Of course, I could not tell her that it was all right for her to become a Christian and still go to the theaters. I prayed that the Lord would give me wisdom. Finally, I said, “Suppose your little child is fond of a dangerous knife that is in his hands. What is the best way to take that knife out of his hands?” She said, “That would be easy to do, if you would scatter a lot of candy on the floor around him.” I asked how that would help, and she replied, “The child would drop the knife in order to take the candy. Unless his two hands were full of candy, he would not drop the knife even if you told him to.” I commended her on her answer and said, “Do you realize that once you receive Christ the same thing will happen to you?” Immediately, she became clear and was saved that very night.
Do you know why people are thirsting after so many things other than Christ? Simply because they are not satisfied with Christ. If they were satisfied with Christ, all of the other things would be forgotten. The well and the waterpot meant so much to the Samaritan woman, but after she recognized Christ, she spontaneously gave up those cherished things and went to the people, testifying that Christ was now her satisfying life. Do you have satisfaction in your human life? With what are you satisfied—with Christ, or with the physical, religious, and traditional things? We can be satisfied only with Christ and not with any other thing. If we are going to help others, we must first be satisfied with Christ in order to bring Christ as satisfaction to others. Only when we are satisfied with Christ can we let others know how to receive Christ and contact Him. The Samaritan woman did not go to her people with the doctrine of Christ; she first gained Christ and then went to them with Christ.