Jesus WITH the Outcasts

So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days.  John 4: 40

For the next few days I want to focus on Jesus being with people throughout his life. He is our Emmanuel. God became human and fully understood the human struggle, our cares, our joys, our battles, our grief and pain. Next week, we’ll focus on the nativity, but now, I want us to see Emmanuel in action!

​Jesus and the disciples journey from a feast in Jerusalem back to Galilee. Most Jews avoided the route they took since it passed through Samaria, their “enemy”. In John 4, we get a clear view into Jesus choosing to be with people who others didn’t see as worthy. When they first arrive in Samaria, the disciples leave Jesus at a well to go into town for food. Meanwhile Jesus talks with a lonely woman who came to draw water at the heat of the day. She is clearly choosing to avoid the towns women in her shame. We find out that she has had five husbands and in currently living with a man. Jesus doesn’t rebuke her or shame her. Instead he offers her eternal life and declares to this foreign, shame-filled woman that he is the Messiah, for the first time. She brings out the town to see him and they beg him to stay. Not only is the one conversation against cultural and religious regulations, he has compassion on this village and stays with them for two full days. Ladies, Jesus is not just for the seemingly perfect church ladies. He is with us in our messes, in our shame and regrets. He lifts our faces and joins with us in our loneliness. He seeks out those who others cast off. Let us open our broken places to him and allow him to fill us with his living water!
 
Lord Jesus, thank you for seeing us completely and still loving us immensely. You know all the messes of our lives just as you did the Samaritan woman and you love us anyway. Help us today to loosen our fears and let you heal our most broken places. I pray we’d find freedom from shame and hope for the path and purpose you have for each of us. Thank you for being with us today, no matter what!