Jesus Knew Her

Jesus Knew Her

 

Jesus knew she would be there.  It wasn't an accident.  Jesus knew His disciples wouldn't understand why He wanted to go through where the hated Samaritans, the half-breeds, lived.  Jesus led the way.  He saw the woman at the well and told her about the 'living water' He gave to all who asked. 

 

She had been rejected and shunned so many times by her culture and society, and not just by men, but by women as well.  She didn't fit in.  She had made mistakes but even when she did things right, it didn't matter, all her culture and community saw was the things she didn't do well.  And, we don't know if she had done things wrong to be divorced, or even if she was divorced.  If she was divorced, it's a man's world and he could divorce her for any number of reasons. He could have liked her sister more, she could have burned his toast, she might not have been able to bear him a son.  If she wasn't divorced, she could have lost her husband to death or war.  It didn't matter what the reason was, everyone saw her filtered through the lens of her past, and filtered through the lens of her present, with no husband. 

 

That didn't scare Jesus at all.  He wasn't concerned about her past, He saw her today and her tomorrow.  He knew she was a veteran of Genesis 3:15, 'I will put enmity, 'deep seated hatred,' between you and the woman.'  That is the verse which goes on to say 'and between her seed and your seed,' and because every word in the bible speaks truth we can't jump over the first part of the phrase, nor the significance of it.

 

And so, the woman at the well was a veteran of that war and Christ knew she was exactly the right person for the job of running through the streets of the Samaritan community calling out, "Come see a man……"  She wasn't worried about rejection.  Her entire life had been filled with rejection.  She wasn't worried about shunning.  Her every day was filled with it and is why she went to the well during the heat of the day so she didn't have to see or hear the muffled voices of the other women openly shunning her. 

 

But that didn't scare Jesus at all.  He knew she would run into the village as one of the first missionaries of the gospel and eternity would be different because she did.  What could they say or do to her that they had not already said or done?  And on that day, it no longer mattered. She was free!  Men and women would come out to meet Jesus to get His 'living water,' which she spoke of. 

 

Jesus knew her, the good, the bad and everything in between.  Jesus knows me and you, the good, the bad, and everything in between.  This Christmas, let Him give you His living water.  That is the true Gift He is to us.  This Christmas……I invite you…..Come see a Man!  Come see the freedom the woman at the well received.  Your life will never be the same, and, your eternity will not either.  John 4:1-42 

 

We are not better at sinning, than God is at forgiving.