When the Rejected Share the Good News “Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” So, the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” They went out of the town and were coming to him.” ~John 4:27-30 Here we are in the third week of our brief series on John 4, studying the Woman at the Well. We have already seen how Jesus gives us the Living Water and that we are the Church together. Today we are looking at how Jesus chose those who society rejected to share the Gospel.
Towards the end of this story the disciples come back from looking for food to find Jesus talking to a Samaritan woman. They were shocked to see their Teacher talking to a woman (this was not allowed by Jewish Law), a Samaritan woman at that (an ethnic group not respected by the Israelites), and worse, a Samaritan woman who was divorced but living with a man who was not her husband (Yeah, that one’s bad too). How did Jesus break so many social rules while they were gone? It hadn’t taken them that long to get dinner. The disciples seemed to forget they were picked by Him to be His closest followers. They were not wonderful scholars. They weren’t the highly sought out bunch that rabbis looking for students would seek. Each of them had already been passed up by all the other rabbis to be their students. They were rejected until Jesus found them and invited them to follow Him. The Woman at the Well, as we have seen, was rejected by the town because of her past divorces and now she was living with a man. It is the reason she was at the well at Noon and not the morning when everyone else went to get their water for the day. She was rejected by others but was selected by Jesus. Take note of what she did as the disciples were talking with Jesus. She left her water at the well to go into the town. There she told as many people as she could that she met the long-promised Messiah, the Savior. Because of her invitation the town came to meet Jesus for themselves. As we read further in the Gospels and the rest of the New Testament, we see these same Disciples (minus Judas Iscariot) go out telling towns all over Asia and into Europe about the long-promised Messiah, Jesus Christ. Two different societal rejects passionately go share the Good News of Jesus Christ. You may be sitting there wondering how you could possibly share the Good News yourself. Maybe you think you don’t know enough about the Bible so that is why you can’t share the Good News. Perhaps you can’t think of someone in your life that is not already a Christian. But what we learn from the Disciples and the Woman at the Well is that Jesus calls everyone, regardless of how society judges them. He qualifies them to share the Good News. They respond from their relationship with Jesus Christ to go and tell others. They simply share why they love Jesus with someone who has not heard yet. This week see yourself as an evangelist for Jesus Christ. Start with the reason why you love Jesus. Write down the difference the Holy Spirit has made in your inner being since becoming a follower of Jesus Christ. Then pray to God the Father for who He is placing in front of you to share your story. When you feel scared pray for the peace of God to wrap you up. If you fear the words won’t come when needed ask the Holy Spirit to give them to you when needed. Remember Jesus is sitting beside you at the well as He was with the Woman at the Well. He is giving you the Living Water to sustain you through all things. You are an evangelist. Go with joy, sharing your own story with Jesus Christ with all you meet. ~Pastor Vicki Epper
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