John 4:25-30: a reflection

When the Samaritan woman at the well realizes that Jesus is the Christ, the promised Messiah, her response is immediate and telling: she leaves her water pot behind and hurries into the town to bring others to him. So the woman left her water pot, the account says, went away into the city, and said to the people, Come, see a man who told me everything that I have done. Can this be the Christ? Having met Christ, she cannot keep it to herself; she leaves even the errand that brought her to the well, and goes to bring her whole town to him. Her meeting with Christ overflowed at once into an eager impulse to bring others to him. She did not wait, did not hesitate; she went, and urged others, Come, see. When we have truly met Christ, there is a natural impulse to bring others to him, to say, come and see; the woman's abandoned water pot and eager errand show a heart that, having found Christ, wants others to find him too. Meeting Christ overflows into bringing others to him.

Notice the woman's immediate response to meeting Christ: she left her water pot and went to bring others. She did not keep her discovery to herself, or wait, or hesitate; the moment she understood who Jesus was, she hurried to tell her town, urging them, Come, see. Her water pot, the whole reason she had come to the well, was left behind, so eager was she to bring others to Christ. This is a beautiful picture of what meeting Christ naturally does: it overflows into an impulse to bring others to him, to say, come and see. When we have truly found Christ, we do not want to keep it to ourselves; there is a natural desire to bring others to the one we have found. The woman's eager errand, her Come, see, is the overflow of a heart that has met Christ and wants others to meet him too. To bring others to Christ, to invite them to come and see, is the natural fruit of having met him ourselves. Having found Christ, she ran to share him.

That is worth taking to heart, for meeting Christ naturally overflows into an eager impulse to bring others to him. When we have truly met Christ, we can keep it to ourselves, hesitant or slow to share him; but the Samaritan woman, having met Christ, left her water pot and hurried to bring her whole town to him, urging them, Come, see. Meeting Christ overflows into a desire to bring others to him. When we have found him, there is a natural impulse to say to others, come and see. Do not keep Christ to yourself once you have met him; let the meeting overflow into bringing others to him, as the woman left her water pot to call her town. Let your meeting with Christ overflow into an eager impulse to bring others to him, saying, come and see, as the Samaritan woman, having realized who Jesus was, left her water pot and hurried into the town to bring the people to him; for meeting Christ naturally overflows into a desire to share him, and the heart that has truly found Christ does not keep him to itself but wants others to find him too, urging them, come and see the one we have met.