HE STILL VISITS THE MANGER! But he must needs go through Samaria John 4: 4 Point of departure Judea. Destination Galilee. Stopover Samaria. To the Jew, Samaria was anathema. Despised. Rejected. Unloved. Unwanted. A no-go area. But Jesus still had to stop over. Weary from the long trip, He decided to rest. His choice of a resting place was strategic. The well of Jacob. A legacy from the fathers. For centuries, men had religiously fetched water from this well. This hot afternoon wasn’t going to be any different, except of course in one respect. An ostracized woman in a rejected land was to witness the glorious declaration, “Messiah is here”. Not from the pinnacle of the Jewish temple where there would have been understandable veneration as the devil had earlier suggested. Not from the paneled marble colonnades of a Roman courtyard where it would have resulted in spontaneous celebration. But in a rejected land and to an ostracized woman who had been married, used and dumped by five men and who was now only good enough to be somebody’s mistress but definitely not his wife. True, tiredness made Him choose to rest but destiny made Him choose the well! Afterall, His twelve disciples had gone on to the City - to look for the food that thirteen of them would eat! But for Jesus, “man shall not live by bread alone…” So, in the open air of a wearisome afternoon, THE WELL sat on a well, and waited for the one person that no one really wanted. Soon enough, she showed up - and customarily too. She had followed this routine everyday for years. But this was going to be one day like no other. From now on, it would no longer be business as usual... As she drew up the first bucketful, The All Sufficient One made a request; “Please give me a drink”. Stunned by the preposterous nature of such a request, the woman must have thought, “Isn’t this man forgetting something?” And she quickly reminded Him! “You’re a Jew. I’m a Samaritan. We mix as easily as clay and iron. So how dare you?” “Woman, if only you knew who you’ve been talking with, the tables would turn. Then you’d be doing the asking”, came the cool, calm reply. When the race question didn’t work, she tried the tradition perspective. “You don’t even have a bucket, not to talk of a rope, so how should I expect water from you? Our ancestor Jacob dug this well. He used it and passed it down to us and we’ve been drawing from it ever since”. As it was in the beginning...Traditions of men. Then another bombshell. “You’ve drank this water for years, yet you’re thirsty and that keeps you coming back. But I’ll make YOU a well and the waters will spring forever from within you!” “Now you’re talking. Give me that NOW so I don’t ever have to come here again - ever!” “Not so fast woman...” Then followed a loaded discussion that saw her spinning the face-saving devices of tradition, morality, and religion. Until finally, she realized that with God, you can run but you can’t hide. When you’re confronted with the reality of your personality and existence, you don’t need anyone to tell you it is futile trying to hide behind a finger. In that moment of trying to unravel the greatest mysteries of her life by her declared expectation of the Messiah, Jesus nailed the point; “I that speak to you am he”. And the veil was removed. She suddenly realized that before then, she had known so much about the Christ, but now she was knowing the Christ. At that moment, she remembered His earlier request. The absurdity of it all. Why should the Creator make such a request from the created? Why should THE WELL want a drink from a well? And for her, the last puzzle on the jigsaw fitted. So all along, His concern was not about wells, water and weddings. It was really about me. He wants to take what I have but which cannot meet my deepest, though temporal needs and then give me what He has and which is the provision for my greatest and eternal needs! How awesome! Suddenly, the insignificance of her life was dwarfed, in fact, swallowed by the significance of the moment. “God is here. And He cares - for me...!” Nothing else mattered. Not the opinions of men, not their traditions. It didn’t matter anymore. In the eye of her spirit she saw a label removed. It was tagged “REJECTED”. And she saw it replaced with a new one; “ACCEPTED”. A new song with a refrain was born. Like a cracked gramophone record, she repeated it to anyone and everyone who cared to listen; “The Messiah is here. And He has come to me. For me. Come and see...” And she forsook her water pot. She wouldn’t need it anymore. In a swift, dramatic transformation orchestrated from the very courts of celestial majesty, she herself had become a WATER POT - in fact - a springing well! And Jesus was pleased. So was the Father. Then the disciples arrived with their first concern, food. They offered Him. He refused it. They wondered why. He gave an explanation but didn’t know and didn’t care if they understood. It didn’t matter. “For this reason was the Son of God made manifest...” An evangelist was born. A witness of raw, but divine energy. Hell just lost another victim and another battle. Jesus was excited. Heaven was thrilled. The torch of revival was lit in Gentile territory. The fire spread. The converts swelled. God’s kingdom increased. Satan’s kingdom suffered casualties. Angels rolled out the drums. The Elders in heaven clinked glasses. Heaven lit up in celebration. The manger had just produced another Champion! Now its your turn! Remember, the sky is not your limit, God is!
Posted on: Fri, 03 Oct 2014 21:50:17 +0000
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