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JOHN’S GOSPEL…WHY NO JUDGMENT? – 10

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For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

‭‭John‬ ‭3‬:‭17‬ ‭NIV‬‬

These words, spoken to Nicodemus, spill over into the narrative of chapter 4 in a tender and poignant story.  Let me explain.

We are familiar with the story of Jesus’ encounter with the  Samaritan woman. She was, if anything, a woman of loose morals…a “sinner” in the eyes of religious Jews. The fact that she came for water at midday spoke volumes about her place in society…shunned, an outcast, someone the people in her village preferred to avoid.  

Why would Jesus, of all people, even acknowledge her, let alone talk to her? 

I have recently watched/listened to a number of testimonies of ex-Muslims, some from the highest echelons of Muslim society, who have had a personal encounter with Jesus.  A thread runs through every story. Despite the attitude of hatred, disgust, and contempt cultivated towards Jesus from childhood, every convert encountered, whether in a dream or a near-death experience, a person of infinite love. Never was there a word or an attitude of judgment or condemnation. 

Surely Jesus, the Son of God and Creator of the universe, has the right to be incensed by the words spoken against Him, and the cruel treatment people receive when they learn the truth about Him.  Yet, He loves despite the insults, the rejection, the enmity of mere humans. 

What was it, above all else, that drew this sinful woman to an infinitely holy man? When He disclosed His knowledge about her…

“Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.””

‭‭John‬ ‭4‬:‭18‬ ‭NIV‬‬

…she should have run from Him in shame, but she didn’t. Were His to her words not judgment and condemnation? No! Jesus’ treatment and words conveyed, not judgment but understanding. “I know you!” If we dig deeper, we will recognise that His message  was not “You are a sinful woman,” but “You are a thirsty woman!”

She ran back to the very people who shunned her with an exciting confession…”He knows me.” Not shame but wonder! Of all the things Jesus said to her, this disclosure hit her the hardest. “Can He be the Messiah?” 

In her sinful lifestyle, Jesus recognised a heart yearning for authentic love. Five times she tried and failed. Marriage was not the answer, so why bother. Just shack up. She could walk away if it didn’t work. She kept drinking at the wrong fountain.  

Jesus saw, not her sin but her heart. 

What dos this story say about Jesus’ attitude towards those who run from Him through ignorance or those who have been taught to hate and revile Him? He knows them! His response to the vile things people think and say about Him, and even the evil things they do in rebellion against Him, is not judgment but understanding. 

This doesn’t mean that Jesus excuses sin. Far from it! However, He knows every heart. He forgave those who crucified Him in ignorance.  

The theme of God’s forbearance runs throughout Scripture. 

David celebrated…

“The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭103‬:‭8‬-‭10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus declared to a Pharisee…

“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

‭‭John‬ ‭3‬:‭17‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Paul wrote to believers…

“…God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.”

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭5‬:‭19‬ ‭NIV‬‬

 … and preached to unbelievers…

 “In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.””

‭‭Acts‬ ‭17‬:‭30‬-‭31‬ ‭NIV‬‬

What lies at the heart of God’s patience and mercy towards sinners?  The CROSS! All sin was judged at the cross. The cross casts its shadow over all time. The cross paid for the sin of all people. 

Jesus offered the Samaritan woman the living water flowing freely to all people, regardless of who she was or what she had done, if she was willing to receive it.  

If I were to invent a religion to rival the truth about Jesus, the god of my imagination would have this quality above all else…he would love and understand, not judge and condemn. 

This great truth sets Jesus apart from all others. His is a love that cancels the paralysing fear of punishment. His holiness does not drive us from Him. It draws us to Him because He has dealt with, by His own intervention, the very barrier that excludes us from His holy presence. 

“This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins…There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”

‭‭1 John‬ ‭4‬:‭10‬, ‭18‬ ‭NIV‬‬

If there is ever a reason to believe in Jesus, it’s this. 

“People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.””

‭‭1 Samuel‬ ‭16‬:‭7‬ ‭NIV‬‬

JOHN’S GOSPEL… LOST AND FOUND-10

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The simple story of a lost woman, and, in it, a mirror of the heart of Jesus…

Jesus was on His way from Judea to Galilee. He had to face an obstacle on His journey…Samaria!

Why was Samaria an obstacle? Samaria was the territory of the historical enemies of the Jews. What used to be a section of the original northern kingdom of Israel, had become the land of aliens, half Jews who were an abomination to the full Jews who lived in Judah and Galilee. These Samaritans were the offspring of Gentiles and Jews after the conquest of Samaria by the Assyrians. Jewish territory was split by Samaria and Jews avoided crossing it at all costs.

John 4:4 NIV
[4] “Now he had to go through Samaria.”

Jesus’ “had to” had the aroma of the Father about it. Somewhere in Samaria was someone who needed Him despite cultural taboos. He ignored the foolish hatred of His fellow Jews and set off for Galilee through Samaria.

A long journey on foot! Hot and tired, He stopped to rest beside a well outside a Samaritan village. What could be more ordinary than that? His disciples had set off to buy food, leaving Him alone in the hot midday sun to catch His breath.

By and by, a woman approached the well. An unusual situation began to unfold. Any other Jewish man might have looked the away, turned his back on her, ignored her or done something to show his contempt.

Not Jesus! He watched her approach, began to feel a stirring in His spirit. There was something unusual about her appearance in the middle of the day. She should have been drawing water in the early morning or late afternoon, not in the heat of the day. He examined her appearance. Her DEMEANOUR was discomforting … defiance, challenge, something unsavoury in her look that anticipated a contemptuous gesture or a snarky comment from this Jewish man.

The woman was shocked by Jesus’ friendly attitude. He even spoke to her, not cursing or insulting words but a simple request. She had what He needed…water, so He asked her for a drink.

Slowly, the Jesus we are beginning to know, began to surface. Opportunity! He turned a simple request into a masterful opportunity to reach deep into her troubled soul. Slowly, tenderly, unlike any other human she has ever met, He began to probe, to uncover her secret, not to judge or condemn but to redirect her heart towards truth and freedom.

Let’s pause for a moment.

As we travel through John’s gospel, let’s gaze at the heart of the Father through the words and hands of Jesus. What was He about? He gave us a clear mission statement in His words to Nicodemus.

John 3:17 NIV
[17] “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

Let His words echo in our spirits… “not to condemn but to save!” This implies that every thought or attitude in His heart was not to judge, not to condemn, unlike our hearts that judge, condemn, and sentence another that does NOT reflect the heart of Jesus.

Now, let’s continue.

Step by step, gently, responding even to her questions that attempted to steer Him away from her own sordid situation, Jesus made a shocking statement that said it all.

Probing deep…

John 4:16-18 NIV
[16] “He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” [17] “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. [18] The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”

What a disclosure! Did He condemn her? No! This was her “lightbulb” moment. What did He tell her? “I know you!” Despite her attempt to evade His probing, this was her turning point and her testimony…

John 4:28-29 NIV
[28] “Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, [29] “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?”

Excited, free, and unashamed, she testified to her fellow Samaritans, “He knows me! ”

Above every other disclosure, the reality that Jesus knew her, knows us, deeply, intimately, despite all our efforts to dodge or hide, should convince us that He is God.

What if we face, on the day we meet Him, His sad, but terrifying words, “I never knew you!” not because, for a moment He lost His omniscience, but because we never allowed Him into our souls. We thought we knew Him and acted on what we knew…did all the religious things we thought He liked, but never gained access to His heart.

It’s the knowing of intimacy that changes everything.

So, Jesus’ little excursion through enemy territory, ignoring cultural taboos, listening to the voice of the Father, grasping a golden opportunity, turns out to have had eternal results…a woman rescued from her futile attempts to slake her heart’s thirst, a village rescued from a lost eternity…all because He chose to go through Samaria.

NAILED!

Bible Study, ,

NAILED!

“He told her, ‘Go, call your husband and come back.’ ‘I have no husband,’ she replied. Jesus said to her, ‘You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.’

‘Sir,’ the woman said, ‘I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.'” John 4:16-20 (NIV).

O-oh! This conversation is getting a bit uncomfortable. How did Jesus know that?

If this woman was to admit her thirst and come clean, she had to open up the cupboard and get all the skeletons out. Jesus didn’t pussyfoot around. He could read her like a book. Why did He expose her, just like that?

First of all, they were alone at the well. There was no-one around to eavesdrop on her private life. Jesus would never have exposed her in front of His disciples. It was not His intention to shame or embarrass her but to open up the lines of communication between her and Him so that He could speak to her heart.

Secondly, as long as she kept secrets, there would be a wall between them. He knew and she knew but, until she knew that He knew, she would not hear Him or receive what He was offering her. He told her that He knew exactly what was going on, not to accuse but to show her that her lifestyle was a symptom of her real thirst. She thought she needed a man to love her but what she really need was to reconnect with the God who loved her unconditionally for who she was.

She did what every person does when faced with having to own up to what they are doing — she became religious. ‘This is scary. You must be a prophet. We Samaritans go to this church, but you Jews insist that your church is the right one. So, which one is the right one?’ A convenient “red herring” to take the heat off her!

However, whether she liked it or not, her interest was aroused. This was not just a casual conversation – small talk at the well while she was getting water; this man was getting very personal and she had to change direction before He embarrassed her even more. Let’s talk religion. That’s safe ground, so she thought.

But her question got Jesus even more fired up. This exchange was going somewhere and He was nudging it on. “‘Woman,’ Jesus replied, ‘believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is of the Jews.”’  John 4: 21, 22 (NIV).

‘It’s not about where you worship, but who you worship. It’s not about this church or that denomination. It’s about worshipping the Father.’ That must have startled her. Her religion was a hotchpotch of religions, man-made and futile because it was not the truth. Her problem began with a false idea about God. She had no foundation upon which to build her life and so she was doing what Adam did — making her own rules which didn’t work and left her heart empty and thirsty.

Jesus gently took her back to basics. ‘Who are you worshipping? There is only one God and He is your Father, the source of your life. All other gods are products of someone’s imagination, and worthless substitutes for the true God.’ 

She had to learn that God was neither an intrusion nor an add-on to her life but the source and foundation of everything that would provide peace and wholeness. Her life was in tatters because she had no Father to give her identity and stability, no one to worship and honour, to follow and obey and to be the authority in her life. Like a captain-less ship, she was trying to navigate life without knowing who she was, where she was going and who was in charge, and it wasn’t working for her.

Only the Creator knows how His creation should function. Without Him, nothing works. You have to get reconnected. Have you?

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.