SAVING SAMARITANS

By Kevin Rutherford

There were so many Jews who rejected the teaching of Jesus even though they had seen Him perform many miracles (John 12:37-41). They just would not bring themselves to admit that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior of the world.

Jesus received a different response when traveling through Samaria (John 4:4-42). He had stopped at a well and had spoken to a Samaritan woman. She was amazed at how much Jesus knew about her so she ran into the city to tell others about Jesus. The Samaritans from that city urged Jesus to stay. Jesus stayed with them for two more days before leaving for Galilee. By the time He left many of the Samaritans had become believers. The Samaritans said, “...we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world (John 4:42).”

Once the church was established, Philip the evangelist went into Samaria to preach the Gospel (Acts 8:4-25). Philip found among the Samaritans multitudes that saw the miracles he performed and believed in the word he spoke. The Bible says, “But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized (Acts 8:12).”

Salvation was not just for the Jews. Both Jesus and Philip spent time saving Samaritans through the preaching of the truth. In fact, salvation is for all men who fear God and work righteousness (Acts 10:34, 35). As Paul, said the Gospel is “...the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes... (Romans 1:16).”