John 4: His Light Penetrates Barriers
“Now we believe, not just because of what you told us, but because we have heard Him (Jesus) ourselves. Now we know that He is indeed the Savior of the world.” John 4:42b (NLT)
When Jesus turns the light on in our lives it produces inspiration and inspiration fuels passion! We experience life – real life, the life God intended for us to live with the Creator Himself restored in His creature, making of us a new creation in Christ! Old things pass away, and everything becomes new! This is what happened to a Samaritan woman and a Roman official in the fourth chapter of John’s Gospel. Both of them were considered outcasts by religious Jews.
The first was a Samaritan woman. She had two strikes against her. I call her “the shady-lady of Sychar”. Sychar was the village in Samaria where she was from. She went to the well in Samaria at the heat of the day, most likely to avoid the shameful stares of the village women who knew all about her immoral lifestyle. She was the kind of woman who was looking for love in all the wrong places, who thought being married to the wrong person was still better than being alone. Yet, when she encountered Jesus at that well, her life was changed forever! Her past and the fact that she was a Samaritan were enough for Jews to avoid her. Even the disciples were shocked to see Jesus speaking with her when they returned from the local “McBagel’s” with lunch. Like us, these disciples suffered from prejudices that limited the scope of their ministry. Jesus had no such prejudice. This chapter reveals His love and compassion for everyone regardless of their race, religion, or morality. It demonstrates the uncompromising power of speaking the truth in love! This unnamed woman was so impacted by the love of God that she “left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone, ‘Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could He possibly be the Messiah?’” (Vs. 28-29) Love breaks through all barriers! His light was shining through her now!
Curiosity must have gotten the best of the people because John said the people in the village came streaming to see Him, and many believed in Jesus because of what the woman had told them. Like that woman, your story matters! Let your light shine like she did! It is the greatest evidence for the existence of God and His redeeming love! Our stories are stories of grace you and I need to share that will bring others to Jesus. And, when they came, I love what they said! “Now we believe, not just because of what you told us, but because we have heard Him (Jesus) ourselves. Now we know that He is indeed the Savior of the world.” John 4:42b (NLT)
Like the immoral woman from Samaria, the second individual whose life would be forever changed was a Roman government official, probably an officer in Herod’s service. He would have been despised by the Jews for Rome’s oppressive treatment. He had walked 20 miles to see Jesus in hopes that He would come to his home to heal his dying son. His encounter with Jesus reveals the power of Jesus to speak words of healing. It would be the second miraculous sign of Jesus that John records. Jesus simply spoke the word, and the boy was healed. Read the chapter and see what happened. Then consider your own life. No one is beyond Jesus’ redeeming love! No problem is too great for His power. No darkness can extinguish His light! Whether it’s your body or soul that is afflicted, Jesus is the answer. Read or listen to John 4 and experience the compassion of Jesus in this chapter for those the world has written off and let His light shine on those around you. Click here to read John 4.