Greetings everyone and thanks for joining me for this edition of my Sunday School lesson commentary. This Sunday’s lesson is entitled “Called To Evangelize” and is found in John 4:25-42.
Evangelize means to “spread the news” and in this case the “good news” of salvation in Jesus Christ. The lesson text today is about a woman who spreads the news that she had encountered a man she believes is the Messiah or “the Promised and Anointed One” of God.
The encounter began when she met Jesus at a well during a time of the day when woman would not normally be there. Jesus began the conversation by asking her for a drink of water. During their conversation, Jesus told her some things about herself that she thought no one would know.
In addition to some other things He said, including that He is the Messiah, she was convinced that He may indeed by that Promised One. This was something she felt that she must share with others.
A question the becomes why did she feel the need to tell what she believed about Jesus to someone else? The gospel says that she left her waterpot and ran into the city and told the men, not the women, to come see a man that she believed could be the Messiah.
Her witness was so compelling that a number of those she told came out to meet this man for themselves. That raises another question which is why were they interested in meeting a man who could be the Messiah.
These people had a hope of a glorious future of a nation as God’s people as proclaimed by and through the prophets of Israel as well as for the Messiah who is to be the prominent figure in God’s perfected kingdom.
The woman in the text believed she has met the person who was to usher in this kingdom of which she and the others she dwelt with were connected and desired to be a part of. This is why she told others and why they came to see for themselves based on her enthusiastic testimony.
The text indicates that Jesus desire to fulfill His mission was like food to Him because of His response when His disciples urged Him to have something to eat. Jesus came preaching and proclaiming the kingdom of God. He was spreading the news of salvation and deliverance that God is offering to mankind. Others who believe what He says in turn spread that news to others and they do the same.
This is what evangelism is. This is what the church is organized to do. This is what we as members of the church are to do. Each of us are called to do what the woman in the lesson text did. She believed Jesus to be the Messiah and wanted others to come and see for themselves why she believed Him to be so.
No one told or made her to do this. She did it because the Messiah and the kingdom was something both she and they had been waiting for and wanted to be a part of. Today, what, if any, is our incentive to do what she did and to tell others about Jesus?
Well, I hope you will be able to attend SS this coming Sunday. Invite someone to come and share your thoughts with the class. Sunday School at Flag Branch will begin at 9:00 am and you are invited to join us at www.fbmbc.org and clicking the online services link. You and others can also join us by dialing 508 924-2490.
If you have any comments or questions before then, be sure to place them in the comment section of this preview and I will get back to you. So, as always remember to fear God and keep His commandments.
Pastor Jordan
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