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12/14 Reading Portions: 2 Chronicles 16; Revelation 5; Zechariah 1; John 4
John 4:39
Many Samaritans from that town believed in Him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.”
SIN
The woman at Jacob’s well in Shechem gave a very interesting testimony of her encounter with the Lord Jesus. She testified to her fellow Samaritans that Jesus “told [her] all that [she] ever did.” Did Jesus really unfold every detail of her life? Of course not. He merely pointed out her sins. Jesus said to her,
“Go, call your husband, and come here.” John 4:16
The woman replied,
“I have no husband.” John 4:17a
Jesus immediately responded,
“You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” John 4:17b-18
This episode is true of every sinner saved by God’s grace in Christ. When we encounter the Lord Jesus Christ, and the truth of His person and work reveals to us our sin, we recognize that the best of our thoughts, words, and deeds are wicked and depraved when compared to His sinless perfection. Though we may not quote the verse, or even know the passage, the experience exemplifies the words of the prophet:
We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. Isaiah 64:6a
Our lives in their entirety are summed up in our revealed sinfulness in the light of Christ’s righteousness. In other words, like the woman at the well, we confess that Jesus told us all that we ever did. Your testimony and mine becomes that of Paul toward the end of his third missionary journey, whereas he cries out in the middle of dictating his wonderful letter to the Christians at Rome,
Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Romans 7:24
We should note that the apostle doesn’t say, “Oh, wretched man that I was!” He uses the present tense. Filled with the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit convicts him of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8). This is why we…
…rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 1 Peter 1:8
When we see our sin for what it is, our souls magnify Christ’s sacrifice upon Calvary’s cross, of His paying a debt He did not owe, for a debt we owe and cannot possibly pay. Hallelujah! What a Savior!
The testimony we confess
When Jesus our great sin reveals
That all our life was one big mess
And by His cross we must be heal’d.
