Yesterday, we saw the way in which Jesus touched the life of the woman who had suffered from an issue of blood. He healed her because he saw her—not her illness, not her uncleanliness, but rather her value in the kingdom.
Jesus did this often. He saw people in ways that no one else could or would. His own disciples chastised him when he invited the little children to come to him. They didn’t understand why he was talking with a Samaritan woman at the well in John 4.
Yet people were drawn to the Living Water with a thirst to be seen for who they truly were, warts and all.
The marginalized were recognized for the first time. The downtrodden were lifted up. Because Jesus offers redemption, not condemnation. He invites us to repentance instead of rejection.
Who else would be proud to have Rahab, the prostitute, and Ruth, the Moabite, in his genealogy?
I am not going to get into any sort of feminist debate or promote any sort of egalitarian ideals. However, I want us to highlight and appreciate how Jesus saw and treated women.
The Samaritan woman asked Jesus, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (John 4:9)
Jesus proceeds to offer himself as Living Water and reveals a truth to her that others have not dared to ask or understand, as of yet: the meaning of true worship.
God, in the flesh, offers one of his first explanations and invitations of worship to a foreign woman. Take a moment and let that sink in for a second…
And now let’s make it personal: Jesus sees you, values you, and offers himself as Living Water. He invites you to worship, in spirit and in truth, and to share that invitation with others, just as the Samaritan woman did.
Do you see how the Samaritan woman reacts (John 4:28-30)? What caused the greatest impact in her life? The vulnerability of her sin that he exposed? No. If it were just the revelation of her sin, would she have gone into the town to share with those she had initially avoided by going to draw water in the midday heat?
Rather, she had tasted of the Living Water. She had met the Messiah and wanted all who thirsted to be able to drink.
Jesus saw her for who she was, not for what she had done, and invited her to have access to the Father—to worship him. And she, impacted by her interaction with the Christ, could not help by share her testimony with others.