Jesus and Sinners

This morning I am reading out of John's Gospel. Here is an excerpt from the 4th chapter, dealing with Jesus and the women at the well:

John 4:15-26, 39-41 NIV
[15] The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
[16] He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”
[17] “I have no husband,” she replied.
Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. [18] The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”
[19] “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. [20] Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
[21] “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. [22] You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. [23] Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. [24] God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
[25] The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
[26] Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you---I am he.”

[39] Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” [40] So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. [41] And because of his words many more became believers.

I am always amazed when I read this story, and I think sometimes we overlook some pretty astounding things. First Jews and Samaritans did not interact. The Samaritans were a foreign people who were planted in the land, and told to worship the God of the land (2 Kings 17:24-28) - the same God as the Jews, but were not of Jewish decent. The whole land was generally off limits, and all good Jews knew this, yet Jesus is walking right through with His disciples, and I am sure many of them were more than uncomfortable with the idea.

Secondly, Jesus was having along conversation with an adulteress! He knew her living situation, knew the kind of women that she was, yet had a long conversation with her - one of the longest described in the Gospels - and at the end revealed He was the Messiah to her, a full blown sinner! Wow!

If we ever think we are too far immersed in sin for the Lord to be able to break into our lives, or care for us, this story is a great example of Him doing just that! The women had a bad reputation. The town people didn't want to interact with her, which is why she was out in the heat of the day. We could say she had made her own bed and was now having to sleep in it - in other words her reputation was the result of her bad choices and sin, and she had no real way to change either. Jesus seemed unconcerned with her sin, and her sin did not keep Jesus from breaking in. We have been taught that sin separates us from God, but that is clearly not the case here, as Jesus, even after telling her He knows about her sin continues the conversation. What a great truth - Jesus is not afraid of our sin, is not repulsed by our confession, does not see us as our sin, but as people whom He was sent to love and save. It was AFTER she confessed her sin that He told her He was the messiah.

I am reminded of Paul's statement in 1 Timothy 1:15: ..."Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners---of whom I am the worst.". In this story of the women at the well, we see Jesus doing exactly that, saving a sinner. This is the heart of the Gospel, and true for us all. We must not lose touch with this fact, and separate ourselves from those the Lord came to save.

My final reflection this morning is that Jesus stayed two full days in that town - a Samaritan village - and many were saved. This women, a confessed sinner, became one of the first Christian evangelists to her own people, and many came to know Jesus because of her testimony, and their desire to hear more from this man. We have heard how sin can open a door, and in this case Jesus walked through that door, and into the lives of all the people in that village. Talk about poetic justice. Taking a little literary license - the woman was trying to find a love that would fulfill her, and had swung wide the door and all sorts of bad things had happened, yet in walks the only One who could love her perfectly, and He redeems her from her life of shame, guilt and separation! Not only that but He walks into the life of all her neighbors and family and friends, and redeems them as well! It was clearly a great few days for the Kingdom of God!

So as we encounter sinners in our lives, walking as Jesus' representatives, let us be aware that any one of them could become the doorway to all their people, who are equally needy of the Lord's salvation! Let us lean on the Lord and let Him lead us to those He came to save.