Ryker joined the garden club at school. He’s the small guy, bottom right, blue shirt with stripped white sleeves. Sofia, Bulgaria.

The Contrarian 

John 4, part two  

Here in chapter four of John, Jesus is going to reveal that he is the Messiah to the Samaritans. Here we see that Christ’s strategy is different than our strategy. It seems to us that everything is wrong about what Jesus does here. We would seek out people of influence to spread the message. If we wanted to impact Samaria, we would go to the leading men of Samaria and convince them first. Our strategy would be that they, the leaders of Samaria, would then influence other Samaritans.  

Jesus had a different plan. He took the contrarian path. Typically, Jews don’t talk to Samaritans. Typically, Jewish men do not initiate conversations with women, especially a Samaritan woman. Typically, a Rabbi will instruct the men and then the men will teach their wives and children. In this case, the Rabbi, Jesus, taught the woman and then she “left her water pot, and went into the city and said to the MEN…”  She taught the men! 

It appears that all of her friends and acquaintances were men and not women. She was most likely an outcast among woman because of her lifestyle. Jesus chose a woman of tremendous moral failures. Samaritan women travel to the well in groups; she was alone. An outcast of outcasts among women. Why did women despise her and men befriend her? Rather obvious, I suppose.  

Jesus revealed who He was to the most unlikely person imaginable.  

Nevertheless, verse 39 says “from that city many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified.”  

Why do we allow our inadequacies to prevent us from being available to God? In the case of the Samaritan woman, the power of change for Samaria was not the sinful messenger, but the gospel message and the power of God. All of us are immensely inadequate, nevertheless, God can and will use us. 

Lord, help me. Like Isaiah, when He was called by God, he responded, “woe is me, for I am a man of unclean lips.”  I also tend to shy away from God’s calling upon me because I have a heart of flesh. I am often overcome by my shortcomings and inadequacies. Lord, change my perspective so that I will say every day and every hour, “Here I am, send me”. Lord, you know that I’m a frail, weak and sinful, but if you want to use me, I’m ready and available. Amen!