An Unqualified Messenger

(Read John 4:1-30)

This morning we continue our series “Grace that is Simply Amazing.”  John 4 opens with a debate about the number of baptisms people were performing.  The legalistic and graceless Pharisees kept count and posted the score that Jesus was ahead of John, as if the number of baptisms was a competition.  In that climate Jesus decided to leave the Judean countryside and head back to Galilee.  This time, however, he would take an interesting route and pass through Samaria.  This land was Taboo for Jews because the racial divide between Jews and Gentiles, especially Samaritans, was deep.  But Jesus went that way nonetheless.  They group stopped in Sychar, a little town near the historic plot of land Jacob gave to his son, Joseph, and “Jacob’s Well” was there.  Jesus, worn out from the journey, sat down beside the well.  It was about noon and His disciples went into town to buy food for lunch.  A Samaritan woman arrived to draw some water and Jesus asked, “Would you give me a drink of water?”  The Samaritan woman, taken aback, asked, “Why are you, a Jew, asking me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?”  The racial tension between the groups was so bad that a Jew would not be caught dead talking to a Samaritan, much less a Jewish man talking to a Samaritan woman in public.  But Jesus was no ordinary man and He refused to confine Himself to legalistic and graceless laws.

Jesus went on to have a lengthy conversation with the woman about natural water (that she could offer Him) vs. living water (that He could offer her).  The woman wanted this living water, but when she asked for it Jesus said, “Go call your husband and then come back.”  The woman, without hesitating, said, “I have no husband.”  Jesus then said, in what some might consider to be a rude approach, “That’s nicely put: ‘I have no husband.’  You’ve had five husbands, and the man you’re living with now isn’t even your husband.  You spoke the truth there, sure enough.”  You would think the woman would be offended, but this woman was quick on her feet.  She responded, “Oh, so you’re a prophet!  Well, tell me this: Our ancestors worshiped God at this mountain, but you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place for worship, right?”  This woman was amazing.  She did not back down at all and she was ready for a Theological debate with a Jewish man in public; one who had just been somewhat rude to her.

The conversation touched on ancestry and it was clear that this Samaritan woman saw herself as a descendant of Jacob, with every right to worship Jehovah, waiting on the Messiah to come.  She said, “When the Messiah comes, we’ll get the whole story.”  Jesus had not yet revealed to anyone that He was the Messiah.  But this was the day.  Jesus said, “I am He, you don’t have to wait any longer or look any further.”  Just then His disciples came back and they were shocked at what they saw.  They couldn’t believe Jesus was talking with a Samaritan woman, especially in public.  No one said what they were all thinking, but their faces showed it.  So the woman quickly decided to leave.  But back in the village she told the people, “Come see a man who knew all about the things I did, who knows me inside and out.  Do you think this could be the Messiah?”  And they went out to see for themselves.

So what does this mean to you today?  It means that when you are motivated by grace you don’t get demotivated by race, rules, or religion.  This woman, rejected by the Jews on account of her race, rejected by her neighbors on account of her serial marriages, became the first “missionary” appointed by Jesus and the first person to whom He openly revealed his identity as Messiah.  Was she worthy of this honor?  No.  Did she earn this assignment?  Of course not.  Jesus revealed Himself to her by grace, during a divine appointment on His calendar, and her life was changed forever.  Moreover, God used this woman – a loose living, non-Jew, divorcée – to reach countless people in her town.  That is grace, and yes, it is amazing!

Closing Confession:  Father, I thank You for all the Biblical examples of You using people whom the world considered to be unworthy.  I acknowledge the fact that I am unworthy and I have gotten over it.  Jesus made me worthy and that is good enough for me.  Like the woman in the text, I am unqualified to share Your gospel and I could never earn the right to share such righteous truths from my unrighteous lips.  However, I ask You to send me to help reach others, not because I earned the assignment, but because of Your grace.  I receive the assignment by grace and I will openly share Your love and light with a dark, dying, and decaying world.  Use me Father to reach the lost today.  I will be Your legs to walk.  I will be Your mouth to talk.  Here I am Father, send me!  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

This is Today’s Word!  Apply it and Prosper!