Previously, the Evangelist had shown how Christ’s teaching (vv. 7-26) had born fruit in the Samaritan woman, for she gave witness to Christ by proclaiming His greatness to the people of her city (vv. 28-29).
Next, he offered three proofs that demonstrated how her testimony bore fruit in the Samaritans (vv. 39-42). First, her testimony bore fruit because the Samaritans came to believe in Christ on account of her testimony. “Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me all that I ever did’” (Jn 4:39). Her testimony must have been charismatic, sincere, and most persuasive, for many believed in Christ on the strength of her testimony alone, before they had ever seen Him in person. Faith is something that is passed along from one person to another, for faith comes by hearing the spoken word, as St. Paul said, “faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes by the preaching of Christ” (Rom 10:17). The people apparently regarded her as a highly credible witness. Perhaps this was because she so freely admitted her darkest secrets when she acknowledged that Christ knew all about her past and present sins. Surely, she would not have been inclined to mention such shameful secrets in public unless she had done so to demonstrate the power of Christ. And she would not have been inclined to demonstrate His powers unless she had been brought to believe in Him. She no longer protected her reputation with a lie, but henceforth began to spread the truth about the Messiah. Second, her testimony bore fruit because many Samaritans subsequently came to Christ because of her. Thus, St. John wrote, “So when the Samaritans came to him” (Jn 4:40a). One who has faith desires the thing he believes in. The Lord enlightens those who approach Him, as the Psalmist said, “Look to him, and be radiant” (Ps 34:6). He refreshes the souls of those who sit at the Master’s feet, waiting for instruction, as Christ said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Mt 11:28-29) Third, her testimony bore fruit because the people desired that Christ remain with them. Thus, St. John added, “they asked him to stay with them” (Jn 4:40b). It is not good enough for a penitent to simply come to Christ; he must also desire to remain with Him for eternity, else he will soon regress into the comfort of his familiar sinful habits. He remains with God by doing His will and by not falling back into sin. To remain with God in this way is a sign of faithful love. Christ said, “If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him” (Jn 14:23), that is, God will dwell within the believer who remains with Him.
St. John added, “and he stayed there two days” (Jn 4:40c). In a spiritual sense, Christ stayed there for two days because there are two precepts of charity. The first is, “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might” (Dt 6:5); and the second is, “you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Lv 19:18). Christ said, “On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets” (Mt 22:40). The third day is the day of man’s glory, which has yet to come. It is of this day that Hosea spoke, when he prophesied in the years leading up to the fall of the Kingdom of Israel: “After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him” (Hos 6:3). Christ remained with the Samaritans for only two days, and not for the third day, for they were not yet capable of glory.
The fruit of the woman’s testimony was increased in three ways on account of the presence of Christ among those people during the two days He stayed with them. This increase is seen in the number of those who came to believe, in the manner in which they believed, and in the sort of truth they believed.
1. The number of those who came to believe. The increase in the fruit of the woman’s testimony is evident in the fact that a greater number of Samaritans came to believe after hearing Christ. “And many more believed because of his word” (Jn 4:41). While many believed in Christ on the strength of the woman’s testimony alone, many more believed after they had heard Him speak. Just as many had faith on account of the words spoken by the prophets, many more came to believe on account of the words spoken by Christ, the Word of God.
A person is led to believe in God in one or more of the following ways. First, a person may be led to believe by human reason, as the Apostle explained to the Romans, “Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made” (Rom 1:20). Second, a person may be led to believe by the testimony of the law and the prophets: “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it, the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe” (Rom 3:21-22). Third, a person may be led to believe by the preaching of the apostles and their successors. For this reason, St. Paul argued that preachers of the Word of God were necessary: “But how are men to call upon him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher?” (Rom 10:14) Fourth, a person may be led to believe by the truth itself, which God infuses directly into the intellect of the person He has chosen to enlighten in a special way. Abraham, our father in faith, believed for this reason. He had not been instructed according to human wisdom, nor did he have the law or the prophets or the apostles. Rather, he believed solely on account of the truth itself, which God had personally revealed to him. His subsequent faith was a faith with such great conviction that his faith made him righteous: “he believed the Lord; and he reckoned it to him as righteousness” (Gn 15:6).
2. The manner in which they believed. The fruit of the woman’s testimony was increased because of the reason they believed, after they had seen and heard Christ preach. “They said to the woman, ‘It is no longer because of your words that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves’” (Jn 4:42a). Three things are characteristic of a perfect faith: it is right, prompt, and certain. First, faith is right when it obeys the truth on account of the truth itself, not pursuant to some ulterior motive. Abraham believed on account of the truth itself. Those who came to believe after having heard Christ Himself, Who is the Truth, believed for a better reason than those who believed simply on account of the woman’s testimony. Second, faith is prompt when one believes without hesitation. This was true of the Samaritans, who professed without aforethought, “and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world” (Jn 4:42b). They came to believe quickly and without the benefit of the many signs and miracles that were shown to the Jews. One might argue that the Samaritans were gullible, for to believe in something too hastily is a sign of foolish thoughtlessness, for “One who trusts others too quickly is lightminded” (Sir 19:4). But, while this is true of one who is quick to believe in men, it is not true of one who readily believes God. On the contrary, such as man is praiseworthy, for the Psalmist commends people who readily obey God: “As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me” (Ps 18:44). Third, faith is certain when the believer casts his doubts to the wind, as St. James counseled: “let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind” (Jas 1:6). The Samaritans had a faith that was certain, for they did not say, “we think” this man is the Messiah, but rather, they confidently confessed, “we know” that He is the Messiah. One who believes is said to know (scire), for science (scientia) is to know in a more perfect way, to know with certainty. Science and perfect faith are alike, insofar as each is certain, but they are dissimilar in that the certainty of science derives from human reason, which is prone to error, whereas the certainty of faith derives from divine reason, which is incapable of error and cannot be contradicted or successfully refuted. The certitude of science rests upon first principles, which are known by the light of human reason, whereas the principles of faith are infused by God into the human intellect. St. Paul affirmed the certainty of faith when he wrote, “by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God” (Eph 2:8).
3. The sort of truth in which they believed. The increase in the fruit of the woman’s testimony is proven by the sort of truth the Samaritans came to believe in after they had heard Christ in person. They came to believe that He was in fact the Messiah: “this is indeed the Savior of the world.” They affirmed three truths about Christ: that He is the unique Savior, the true Savior, and the universal Savior. First, they affirmed that Christ is the unique Savior, for they confessed that He is “the Savior of the world,” not merely “a savior of the world.” He is the Messiah, not one savior among others of similar stature and authority. He alone came down from heaven to save mankind. He alone descended that He might raise us up. No other savior had done that. No one else had such authority and power. Hence, St. Peter professed, “there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). The Lord said that the nations would bow down before the chosen people, humbly admitting, “God is with you only, and there is no other, no god besides him” (Is 45:15). Second, the Samaritans affirmed that Christ is the true Savior when they said, “this is indeed” the Savior. They did not say that He “might be” a savior, but that He truly is the Savior. There are two kinds of saviors, for there are two kinds of salvation. One salvation is true, the other is not. A salvation that is not true frees people from temporal evils and preserves certain temporal goods, whereas true salvation frees us from true evils and preserves true goods in us. Now, temporal evils, like temporal goods, are not lasting, for we leave them behind when we die. By contrast, true goods last for eternity. The prudent man is willing to forgo temporal goods and to suffer temporal evils in order to attain true salvation and to obtain his greatest true good, namely, union with God. In the Old Testament, we read that a number of great historical figures had been sent by God to relieve the chosen people of certain temporal evils and to obtain for them certain temporal goods. The people regarded them as their saviors. But none of them were able to secure true salvation for the people, because none of them was the true Savior, the true Messiah. Christ is the only true Savior, for only He possesses the power, in His divine nature, to procure for man his true goods, which are spiritual goods, and to free man from true evils, which are his sins. Thus, the angel commanded Joseph of Nazareth in a dream, “you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Mt 1:21). Third, the Samaritans affirmed that Christ is the universal Savior when that confessed that He is the Savior “of the world.” He was a Jew, but He was not like the Jewish saviors before Him, for the others came only to help the Jews. Christ is not only for the Jews, nor is He only for the Samaritans, but He is for all mankind. His offer of salvation extends to people in every age and place, “that the world might be saved through him” (Jn 3:17).
