Still Incredulous

John 4:29 "Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?"

29 δεῦτε ἴδετε ἄνθρωπον ὃς εἶπέν μοι πάντα ὅσα ἐποίησα, μήτι οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ χριστός;

This is at the very end of a wonderful narrative about a Samaritan woman.  Jesus has a conversation with this woman that is life-changing for her and for all of us who read it.  He makes the offer for her to have living water that will always satisfy her.  This passage transformed my life through the ministry of Setting Captives Free.  I started to see that Jesus really does satisfy in a way that sin never can.  I need to be reminded of this frequently.  I think we all do.

What struck me this morning is that perhaps this is not the best passage to be used for evangelism.  It is often presented that way though.  The woman comes to know Jesus and she wants to introduce others to Him.  She becomes a great evangelist in bringing people to Christ.  And she certainly does that.  But what struck me is the way she phrases the question.  When she asks μήτι οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ χριστός; she expects a negative response.  We know that because she started the question with μήτι.  What she is effectively saying is, "This can't really be the Christ, can it?"

However, I also find some encouragement in this.  The woman was faithful despite her doubt.  She was obedient as well.  There are plenty of us who claim to be sure that Jesus of Nazareth is indeed the Christ.  We say that we've built our lives on Him.  But are we even as faithful as this woman who was pretty open about her doubts? This certainly convicts me.