encounter with Jesus | Find Hope @ The Hem

Then Jesus turned around and saw they were following him and asked, “What do you want?”They responded, “Rabbi (which means, Master Teacher), where are you staying?” Jesus answered, “Come and discover for yourselves.” So they went with him and saw where he was staying, and since it was late in the afternoon, they spent the rest of the day with Jesus. (John 1:38 – 39 TPT)

In the devotion I read this morning, the author refers to the passage in John 1:38 -39 where two of John the Baptist’s disciples saw Jesus walking by and began to follow him. In these two verses, Jesus wants to reveal the condition of their heart so he turns to them and gets straight to the “heart” of the matter and asks “What do you want?”

Now, I’m not sure about you, but…how do you think you would have reacted here? Can you imagine yourself at the scene? This was just after you were standing on the banks of the Jordan River the day John baptized Jesus. You were in the crowd with these two men when you saw a dove descend from heaven and land on Jesus’ shoulder and then, you heard the voice of God say “this is my son whom I love.” Now, this man turns to you and says “what do you want?”

Whoa… “what do you want?” These men could have asked for anything. But scripture says they wanted to know where Jesus was staying. There was something about Jesus that drew people to him. These men wanted to hang out with Jesus and get to know him better, perhaps even be one of his close friends. In other words… they wanted more than just “religion” they wanted “relationship.”

Jesus saw past these two men and what they “needed” in their “moment” and saw into their hearts.

The same is true today. In this same passage, he is inviting us to come and hang out with him each morning over a cup of coffee or tea and get to know him on a deeper more intimate level. How do we get to know him? By reading the Bible, by praying, and by journaling what we believe He is saying to us through our reading. This will allow us to discover for ourselves what Jesus is all about and who He is; not who other people say He is. The only way we can have a deeper relationship with someone is by spending time with them. The same is true of our relationship with Christ.

The invitation is open, Jesus has invited us all to “come and discover” who he really is. The question becomes, will we decide to set some quality time aside to spend with him.

In John chapter 4, we see Jesus crossing racial and social boundaries to talk to a Samaritan woman. If you’ve been reading my posts, today I am trying something just a little different. If you have a Bible handy turn with me to John 4, if not it’s ok….read on I will do my best to explain the story.

Try to picture this scene in your mind. Jesus and his disciples were headed back to Galilee from Judea. The shortest route home was through Samaria. During this time period, Jews and Samaritans didn’t speak, in fact the Jews would rather go out of their way than take a short cut through the city of Samaria. But not Jesus, he had no reason to live by what the culture around him dictated.

When Jesus and his disciples approached a well, Jesus sat down to rest while his disciples went into town to buy food. As he waited, a Samaritan woman came to the well to draw water. Each time I read this passage, I wonder what this woman was thinking as she approached the well. Scripture tell us that she knew Jesus was a Jewish man (verse 9). So I put myself at the scene. If I approach a stranger, I tend to have a quick conversation with myself. Perhaps that day I would have said something like:

“I wonder who that guy is? He looks tired and thirsty. Maybe I should just acknowledge his presence with a nod.”

The Bible doesn’t tell us what was going through her mind. It really doesn’t matter. What matters is that Jesus crossed the barrier first.

His request was a simple one. “Please give me some water.” Again, I have to go back to the woman. She was a Samaritan, she wasn’t suppose be talking to, much less hanging out with, a Jew. Here she was, face to face with Jesus. The Bible says she was surprised that Jesus even said anything to her. I wonder how she felt in that very moment.

Her response was accurate for the culture in which she lived “I am a Samaritan, you are a Jew. How can you ask me for a drink?”

Jesus said “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

Living water? Yes that’s the gift – living water…eternal life.

He had her captivated. “Where? Where can I get this living water?” she desperately longed for water that would last.

“Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but WHOEVER drinks this water I give will never be thirsty. The water I give will become a spring of water gushing up inside the person, giving eternal life.”

Can you just imagine the conversation the woman is having with herself? “Did you hear that? He said WHOEVER!”

Have you ever thought about “who” whoever encompasses? The loveable, the unlovable, the hurting, the poor, the downcast, the murderer, the liar, the adulterer, the angry, the bitter, the unfaithful.

This woman must have decided in her mind “I’m a whoever! A spring of water will gush up inside of me. I can only imagine how refreshing that will be. I want this water. I have to ask him how I get it!” The woman responds “Sir, please give me this water.”

Jesus looks at her “Go get your husband and come back here.”

The woman could have said anything here. She could have made an excuse but she didn’t with honesty she told Jesus “I don’t have a husband.”

Looking at her with love filled eyes Jesus said “You’re right. You’ve had five husbands and the one you live with now is not your husband.”

I don’t know about you, but if I were that woman, my jaw would have just hit the ground. There was something different about this man at the well and she knew it. “I can see you’re a prophet.”

Jesus’ response perhaps another jaw dropping moment for the woman “I am the Messiah.”

The Bible doesn’t tell us if there were words exchanged after this. What the Bible does say is that the woman left everything to go back to her town and tell the people of her encounter with Jesus. The woman wasn’t concerned about the water at the well. She probably forgot all about it. She just had an encounter with the Messiah! A spring of water now gushing inside inside and she has to tell everyone she knows.

“Everyone listen! You have to come see the Messiah. He told me everything I had ever done. He wasn’t harsh at all. He didn’t condemn me. His words were kind and caring and he gave me eternal life!”

Have you ever thought about how this woman must have felt? She knew the mistakes she had made in her past but that didn’t seem to matter anymore. After her personal encounter with Jesus she had a spring of new life gushing from within and it changed her forever.

Psalm 32: 1 – 2, Isaiah 55: 6 – 7, Matthew 11:28 – 30, Colossians 1: 13 – 14

Category: encounter with Jesus

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