Monday, July 4
Unlikely
Scripture: 1 Chronicles 10-11, John 4
John 4:25–26 The woman said to him, “I know that the Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
26 Jesus told her, “I, the one speaking to you, am he.”
Observation
When I read John 4:26 this morning, I gasped out loud. Imagine how startling this must have been for this scorned Samaritan woman. She was looking forward to the Messiah’s coming and then…Jesus says, “I am he.” Hundreds of years of anticipation and waiting, and suddenly, there He is.
Even more startling: as far as we know, this is the first time Jesus told someone He is the long-awaited Messiah. And look who it is.
- A Samaritan, not a Jew.
- A woman, not a man.
- Someone with a questionable past (5 husbands and now living with man to whom she’s not married!), not a respectable religious person.
Jesus said, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mark 2:17). I guess so!
She was an unlikely disciple. When the disciples returned, they were amazed He was talking with a woman. Jesus moved towards the other—always.
Application
I hear people say about someone of sterling character, “They would make such a good Christian.” No one would have said that about this woman. She might have been voted “Least Likely to Become a Christian.” Unlikely. Yet Jesus saw her and called her and saved her—a person that most everyone else would overlook or avoid.
Move toward the other.
That person that you think is unlikely to follow Jesus…you might be surprised. They might, just like this unlikely lady, respond to love and truth and grace.
Move toward the other.
Prayer: Lord, I still judge the book by its cover far too often. You call people that I would avoid. Including me. Please help me to move toward the other as You have with me.