Day and Night Part 2

Day and Night, Part 2
John 4:1-26

He was hot and tired. He was hungry and thirsty. He had been walking for hours. This first leg of the trip covered some 25 miles as the crow flies; but, walking through the desert mountains that 25 miles seem to stretch into 50. So often we think of Jesus as a super human -
"Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings at a single bound!"
"Look! Up in the sky!"
"It's a bird!"
"It's a plane!"
"It's SUPER JESUS"
It's hard for us to remember at times that Jesus was fully human. He would tire. He would thirst. He would hunger. Jesus was like any one of us in that respect. This day was no different.
I wonder if he had thought much about his conversation with Nicodemus just days before. A leader, a teacher, a ruler of the Jews, one who truly should have understood who Jesus was and why he was there yet he went back to the Pharisees still confused, still trying to understand, still in the dark. Jesus had talked to these types many times but Nicodemus was different. He truly was searching.
Now here he sits, waiting by the well for someone to come and draw the water that he may have a drink. His disciples had left him alone as they went to gather and buy food in Sychar. So, here Jesus sits: tired, thirsty, and alone.

I wonder if Jesus knew she would be coming at this time to this place.
Had he seen her coming at noon when he passed through this part of Samaria on other trips, wondering why she didn't come with the other women in the morning and afternoon?
Did he have divine knowledge that she would be there?
Did it just happen that they both ended up at the well together at noon?


We don't know, but what we find as a result of their encounter is the longest recorded conversation between Jesus and anyone else. You might expect it to be with one of the elite. Maybe with a Roman official as the ruler of the territory. You might expect Jesus' long conversation to be with another Pharisee or a Sadducee, the religious elite of the Jewish circles. Maybe even a Priest of the Samaritan Temple at Mt. Gerrazim. But a woman? A Samaritan Woman? A culturally suspect Samaritan Woman? A sinner that has even been ostracized by the other Samaritan Women?
Surly Jesus had more self respect that to spend the heat of the afternoon in deep theological conversation with a person like that!
Yet, that is precisely whom Jesus spends his time with.
Notice, in Chapter 3 it is Nicodemus who engages Jesus is conversation. Not so here in Chapter 4, it is Jesus that initiates the conversation. In chapter 3 the conversation takes place at night; here it takes place in the day. With Nicodemus it takes place hidden from others and few knew of the conversation. In fact, there is no mention of Nic at Night even leaving much less bearing witness to how Jesus' conversation had strangely warmed him, or impacted him in any way. But here, this un-named, sinful woman has a lengthy conversation with Jesus and leaves to tell others all about what has happened and who this man of God is - the Messiah, the one who bears living water, the one who is the very light of the world.

Now may I ask? which one do you wish to be compared too? The sinful outcast that has given more than taken, been hurt more than helped, been rejected rather than received
OR
The insider that has been educated in the finest schools, dressed in the finest clothes, and received in the finest homes?
The one that others talk about
OR
The one that people hope to talk to?
The one that everyone knows the business of but few know the name
OR
The one that everyone wants to support and even vote for in public office?
I dare say most of us would prefer to be the later rather than the former. We don't want to be the sinner of the community, we want to be the saint. We don't want to be the outcast, we want to be accepted and loved by everyone. We don't want to be a nobody, we want to be a somebody. I know I do.

Yet, time and again we see Jesus warning the somebodies and caring for the nobodies. Time and again we see the somebodies are in the dark as through it were the dead of night and the nobodies are the ones in the light as though it were noon and the sun was high in a cloudless sky.

How is it that those of us who gain an education, live the good life, and play by the rules are the ones that so often have the hardest struggles with our faith? Why do we find ourselves in the dark while "those people" seem to always bask in the light?

Maybe it's because we have established our rules and set up our standards and accepted our "best life" and called it living in the blessings of God when in fact the standards of our world are far from the standards of God.
Everywhere Jesus went he upset the apple cart.
The world was looking for a Messiah that would be a military ruler and king, what they got was a teacher, a rabbi, and one that didn't even follow all their interpretations of the law.
The world said that there was a Social Order that all were to follow. Jew's didn't associate with Samaritans, Romans were superior to Greeks, Men were superior to Women. The healthy were superior to the sick. The wealthy were privileged and the poor were being punished and on and on and on the order goes. Yet Jesus came in and told stories where the Samaritans were the heros. Jesus came and healed the sick. Jesus blessed the poor. Jesus taught women, Greeks, Romans, and Jews without prejudice.

The world said that life ended with sin and death. Jesus defeated the power of sin and death.


Each of those things that were true then are also relevant and true today.
So often we look for Jesus to give us our blessings rather than being a blessing to others
So often we try to fit Jesus into our mold
So often, instead of being like Jesus we find ourselves trying to make Jesus like us.

And that is the crucial difference we find between Nicodemus and the woman at the well.
Nicodemus wouldn't accept the waters he was offered by Jesus because it didn't make sense yet.
The woman at the well received the living waters and let them overflow into a blessing for others.
Eventually Nicodemus, the cultural and religious insider, would receive that water too, but by then an entire community had been changed because a socially unacceptable woman dared to believe on faith and let it change her life.

What would happen if you too went out and shared how Jesus had made a difference in your life? Last week I challenged you to look at where you have been hiding in the dark and then pray about how you are to step out into the light.
This week I want you to do more than just step out into the light. This week I want you to find one place where you can let that light reflect out for the world to see. I want you to let God's light shine forth in the darkness. I want you to let the living waters overflow that you may be a blessing to others.