12/15/2014

Gift of Love

John 4:11-14 11“She said to Him, ‘Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water? 12You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?’ 13Jesus answered and said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; 14but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.’”

Jesus didn’t have to go through Samaria. Nor did Jesus have to stop in this village and wait for this woman to arrive at the well. He knew she would be there, he knew she was living in sin, he knew the Samaritans did not interact with Jews.

And yet, Jesus sent his disciples away and sat down at the well to wait.

With a purpose he went among those who were considered “lowlifes” and social outcasts. With intention, Christ went to those with whom the church would never associate.

Jesus transcended the boundaries of social structure, race, gender, and theology. He did not demand the Samaritan woman to clean up her act, turn from her sin, and only then come and seek him. Instead, fully knowing her brokenness and her unworthiness of receiving what he was about to offer, Jesus reaches out to her in love and offers her the best that he has, the ability to thirst no more.