Be Known And Accepted

BE KNOWN AND ACCEPTED

a prayer to open

Here I am, Lord. Quiet my mind. Open my heart.

Give me ears to hear your invitation and the faith to respond.

Jesus knew the Pharisees had heard that he was baptizing and making more disciples than John. . . . So he left Judea and returned to Galilee. . . .

Eventually he came to the Samaritan village of Sychar. . . . Jacob’s well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat wearily beside the well about noontime. Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.” He was alone at the time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food.

The woman was surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans. She said to Jesus, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for a drink?”

Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.”

“But sir, you don’t have a rope or a bucket,” she said, “and this well is very deep. Where would you get this living water?” . . .

Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”

“Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me this water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get water.”

“Go and get your husband,” Jesus told her.

“I don’t have a husband,” the woman replied.

Jesus said, “You’re right! You don’t have a husband—for you have had five husbands, and you aren’t even married to the man you’re living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!”

“Sir,” the woman said, “you must be a prophet. So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim, where our ancestors worshiped?”

Jesus replied, “Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews. But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”

The woman said, “I know the Messiah is coming—the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

Then Jesus told her, “I AM the Messiah!”

Just then his disciples came back. They were shocked to find him talking to a woman, but none of them had the nerve to ask, “What do you want with her?” or “Why are you talking to her?” The woman 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?” So the people came streaming from the village to see him.

This passage is multilayered and touches on many different theological issues, but as we focus on Jesus’ invitations, it’s hard not to notice his unique one to the Samaritan woman: to be truly known. What stunned this woman—and caused her to share her experience with her entire town—was not that a Jewish man offered her living water to end her thirst or that he claimed to be the long-awaited Messiah. What astounded her was that he knew it all—every darkness of her heart and every thought that had crossed her mind—and yet loved her and invited her to drink.

• Jesus stayed with the Samaritans for two days, and many came to believe in him as the Savior (see John 4:40-41). Based on what we have read so far about Jesus, what do you imagine he said to the Samaritans that caused them to believe? What might his invitation to them have been?
• Read today’s passage again slowly. What invitation related to being fully known and accepted do you sense Jesus extending to you?
• Who do you know who seems ashamed of current or past experiences and might think they could never be loved if really known? Seek God’s guidance as to how you might be able to extend to that person an invitation to be fully known and accepted by Christ.

Loving God, thank you for the invitation to be fully known and accepted. At times, I have a nagging sense that if I were truly known—all the things I’ve done and thought and said, all my fears and failures—no one could accept me. But you already know and see all that is inside me—my mind, heart, and soul—and yet you call to me still, inviting me to receive your love and promising to renew my mind, transform my heart, and restore my soul. Thank you. Amen.