‘And many more believed because of his word, and they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of your words, but because we have heard for ourselves and know that this is indeed the Saviour of the world”.'
Jesus, considerably revived by the experience and no longer tired, taught them for ‘two' days. And it was to their credit that they recognised what the majority of the Jews would not, that here indeed was the Saviour of the world (compare Isaiah 45:21). The words deliberately bring out that they had gone beyond belief in Him as the Taheb, as a result of His teaching, and had recognised the significance of His coming in greater depth. They now knew that He had come to save the whole world. This would be partly apparent from the fact that this Taheb was a Jew not a Samaritan, and yet was reaching out to the Samaritans. The only other use of this phrase ‘Saviour of the world' is in 1 John 4:14, where it is connected with the giving of the Spirit. Clearly John, who had possibly written the epistle earlier, recognised that here the Spirit had been at work and their eyes had been opened. The idea is summarised in Acts 1:8. The title would have even more significance to John's readers who would be aware of the ascription of this title ‘Saviour of the world' to Roman emperors. Here was the One Who was the true Saviour of the world.