15.g. “They asked him to stay with them”

John 4:27  Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” They went out of the town and were coming to him.

John 4:39  Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”

John 4:45  So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him,

Mark 5:15  And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs.  And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region.

Jesus so impressed this woman that she was compelled to tell those in her city that they should come to the well and meet Jesus. Jesus impressed and attracted her, even though He confronted her with her sin.  Jesus displayed so much love and such a sense of security that she felt safe with Him even when her sin was exposed. The woman’s invitation was effective. The people came when she told them who Jesus was and how He had impacted her life with their brief conversation. The people came to see this man who the woman claimed “Can this be the Christ?”  They came to see Him.  What is clear to see about their hearts is that after a brief time with Him at the well they asked Him to stay with them.  The same clarity can be seen in those in Galilee – they welcomed Him.  A different mindset can be seen in the country of Gerasenes.  After a great miracle of casting out demons from a possessed man the shepherds fled and told of it in the city and country.  People came to see, but what they did reflects their heart.  They begged Jesus to leave and depart from their region.  Such is the heart of man.  Some will have a heart that invites Him in and others will beg Him to leave.  Each individual will make a choice of invitation or rejection.  Each individual decision results in either eternal life or eternal hell.  The open heart will find peace, love, refuge, and joy with their invitation to Jesus to stay.  The closed heart will find torment, fear, hatred, and anger with their rejection of Jesus.

Only Jesus can bring peace to the heart, mind, and soul.  Everything else that we believe can or will do this is a deception and lie.