John 4 always messes me up…
I could go on and on about the amazing story that unfolds in this text; however, John 4:27 really stood out to me.
Let me explain why…
Jesus (who was Jewish) was going through Samaria with his disciples and stopped at a well. His guys went into town to get some food and He winds up having a conversation with a Samaritan woman!
WHOA! That’s huge…not only did Jews not associate with Samaritans…but men didn’t associate (publically) with women either…so right off the bat Jesus breaks two man made rules in even striking up a conversation with her.
As we read along in the story we find out a third “bad” thing about this lady…she…uh…well, she gets around…and Jesus point that out in John 4:16-18.
He then goes on to reveal to her that He is the Messiah…THEN his disciples come back from the town…and Scripture says in John 4:27 (NLT), “Just then his disciples came back. They were shocked to find him talking to a woman…”
SHOCKED!
Jesus didn’t just “shock” the religious leaders by demoloshing their ridiculous man made rules…but He shocked those who thought they knew Him best by…
#1 - Going to where no one else was willing to go! The religious leaders of the day ignored Samaria…Jesus went right into the middle of it!
If we are going to honor God with our lives we’ve GOT to be willing to go where others are not willing to go! AND we KNOW we are becoming more like Jesus when even those closest to us say, “Whoa, dude, I didn’t see that coming!”
#2 - Loving those no one else loved! Jesus went to Samaria to reach this lady that society had pretty much written off as trash. They looked at her and saw a prostitute…Jesus looked at her and saw POTENTIAL…and Scripture says in John 4:28-30 that because of her testimony that people came out to see Jesus!
If we are going to get out of safe mode as a church we HAVE to begin to reach out to people who are different than us…meaning…
- A different color
- A different political background
- A different sexual preference
- A different view on life
Christians, for far to long, have retreated to their holy cacoon and loved those who were just like them…which is the most blatant form of idolatry there has ever been. We’ve GOT to reach this world for Christ.
#3 - Having a “I don’t give a crap” attitude about what others thought. Seriously…read through the Scriptures sometime and see how many times Jesus intentionally healed someone on the Sabbath! He didn’t HAVE to do it then…He could have done it on a Tuesday or something. But NO—He wanted to clearly communicate to the religious professionals, “I am not here to win your approval!”
BUT…as I mentioned earlier…not only were the religious leaders shocked…but the 12 could not believe it either. I believe that if a leader is consistently spending time with Jesus and being set on fire that, from time to time, he or she will cast a vision that is so bold that everyone in the room becomes uncomfortably excited!
Jesus didn’t play it safe…we can’t either…IF we are truly His followers!