JESUS MAKES DISCIPLES

John 4:1,2 – So then, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that He was making and baptizing more disciples than John (although Jesus Himself was not baptizing; rather, His disciples were),

Jesus was all about making disciples. Disciple making was woven into the fabric of everything He did. One of the reasons He became a man was to model for us what a godly man would look like. He lived His life above reproach and gathered disciples around Him for that very purpose. The reason we have Christianity today has a lot to do with the disciples He acquired in His ministry. It started that day on the beach after the supernatural catch of fish that He blessed Peter, Andrew, James, and John with. “Come and follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.” The key to discipleship is seen in this verse, “Come and follow Me”. Discipleship is more than teaching correct doctrine, it is actually observing and mimicking life in someone else. A child learns from observing the parent (for better or for worse) and a disciple matures by being with his teacher. Here is what Matthew Henry said about this.

“That he made disciples; he prevailed with many to embrace his doctrine, and to follow him as a teacher come from God.….The souls which they had gotten, which they had made (so the word is), which they had made proselytes. Note, It is Christ’s prerogative to make disciples, first to bring them to his foot, and then to form and fashion them to his will. The Christian is made such, not born such. Tertullian. That he made and baptized more disciples than John; not only more than John did at this time, but more than he had done at any time. Christ’s converse was more winning than John’s. His miracles were convincing, and the cures he wrought gratis very inviting.”

So what does this have to do with Samaria and Jacob’s well and all of that? Jesus was looking to begin His disciple making here in a most unusual way. He would choose this questionable woman to be his first disciple in this region. We know Jesus spent three days here after the well encounter. We also know of a revival here in Acts 8. Beyond that we don’t know much from the Bible about Samaria’s first disciple, history tells us here name was Photina and she became a powerful traveling evangelist. Today Jesus is still hanging out around drinking holes. What is He looking for? He is looking for worshippers who will become His disciples.