What Child is this?
The One Who Quenches our Thirst

John 4:5-26.27-30, 39-42

† In Jesus Name †

May we find our thirst for righteousness quenched, as we encounter the grace of God our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ!

A Direct Answer… to a Question She didn’t Ask.

Of all places, the revelation of God that took place that day…was there?
Of all the people that asked Jesus, she didn’t directly ask, but it was revealed directly to her?

“I am the Messiah,”

other translations say it, “I am He that speaks to you”
To her.

The wrong person, in the wrong place, heard what millions wanted to hear.

I AM He… I am He that is talking to you…..

I AM the Messiah!

But her?  Of all people?  Yeah – and what that means for us!

Every time I come across this recounting of Jesus meeting a woman, I am astounded.  The chapter before, we see Jesus meeting with a believer, a religious leader in the country.  Not a hypocrite, someone who would die for Jesus.  Yet to him, there were not the words that this lady heard.

Lady?  In Jesus’ eyes, in the Father’s eyes, yes.  However, she would avoid all because back then, her past would render her as an outcast, even among outcasts.  The filth of the world would look down on her, for her past was deserving of death according to the Law….

Not to Jesus.  She meant something to Him, and we would see His love poured out onto her brokenness.

She was not a slut, cheap or whatever euphemism you used for one who sold herself in God’s eyes.  She was someone broken, thirsty, in need of something that would make a difference, which would change survival into something that could be called life.  Sure, her way of survival included a lot of sin, but once that was identified, it didn’t push Jesus away…. In fact, it led to the incredible words of Christ, to her.  I AM the Messiah, I AM he… and I am talking with you.

It was to her, to her, that Jesus revealed that He was the Messiah.  That He confessed He was from God.

This was no chance meeting; it was a divine appointment to change her live, then to use her to change others’ lives.

Even ours….. to help us realize how God works….

As I read of her time with Jesus, I think of another person that met Jesus, on a different road. He would explain it this way,

“This is a true saying, to be completely accepted and believed: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. I am the worst of them, ¹⁶  but God was merciful to me in order that Christ Jesus might show his full patience in dealing with me, the worst of sinners, as an example for all those who would later believe in him and receive eternal life.

To this, he would add….

¹⁷  To the eternal King, immortal and invisible, the only God—to him be honor and glory forever and ever! Amen. 1 Timothy 1:15-17 (TEV) ¹⁵  
While I believe that Jesus gone to quench that lady’s thirst, even if she were the only one thirsty for his righteousness, there are lessons for us here…that is why it is included in scripture. The same lesson there as there is in Paul’s story. If God would come to these two people, broken, unstable, oppressed by sin, without hope… then surely we can have confidence that He is interested in people like us.

It doesn’t matter how we see ourselves, or even how the world does.  He wants to quench our desire, our thirst for righteousness, for His justice, a life that is free to interact with God/  A life that is free from starving for affection, for life, for peace. He was there for them, He will be here for us as well.

He is still revealing Himself, this time to us, and through our words to our “villages”, to our people.

One of the first “missionaries”?  But talk about a scary audience!

This lady, the one who was rejected by men, by so many because of her reputation, became an instant missionary.  She drops everything so as to go and tell these people, those she avoided  and tells them about the man who knew everything about her.  Including the bad, and the sinful, and that He didn’t drive her away.  But treated her as a lady, as a sister, as a child of God.

So great was her joy, even as Jesus knew all about her! Yet, He still loved her enough to reveal Himself to her. Maybe that has something to do with it, she was humble, not willing to hide anything to Him.

Knowing that kind of mercy, that kind of love, she had to share it with those around her.  Those even that criticized her, hit on her, shamed her,

This Messiah welcomed her, treated her like a lady, like the daughter of God….

If he would do this for her, wouldn’t he do it for all her village?  She didn’t ask herself if they would listen, she didn’t question whether she had what it took,

She knew God’s love… and she had to share it with her village.

Those that shouldn’t have heard her… hear her… & Jesus.

As I read through the passage this week… what struck me, that I don’t remember really seeing before, was verse 42.

⁴² Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not just because of what you told us, but because we have heard him ourselves. Now we know that he is indeed the Savior of the world.”

Her testimony they believed, and so they encountered Jesus.  She didn’t have a television ministry, or wear a robe.  She wasn’t the CEO of the company, and most people wouldn’t bother to notice her.  All of society would scream, “don’t listen to herrr..”

But they did… and then, they heard Jesus.

They so heard Him, they begged Him to stay…

They heard, because she heard… because she thirsted, they were all quenched of their thirst for God…..

Because God came to their village.  Because He came, and they were able to learn to worship, in spirit, and in truth.

Today, He is here… will we hear Him?  Will we let Him address our brokenness?  Will we hear of His love for us, and mercy, and will it overwhelm us and lead us to point Him our to “our people?”

He’s here… whether you have as colored a history as she did, or whether you were/are a self righteous Pharisee who only sees others as sinners.

He’s calling, His inviting you to know His peace. He is inviting you to share His peace with your village, in your world.

The peace of God which passes all understanding, and in which we are guarded, our hearts and minds… in Christ Jesus.