Out of the Way

Hey, my friend, pull up a chair today, grab your Bible, pen and paper. Maybe even a cup of hot chocolate. Today we are going to look at a familiar passage. I'm not sure where this part of scripture will stop. That's the fun part of this roller coaster with Jesus, just hang on and enjoy the ride.

John 4, typically associated with the woman at the well. Today we are only going to look at verses 1-6. How far out of the way will Jesus go for the woman at the well?!? How far will He go for you?!?

1. Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John

2(although Jesus himself did not baptize, but only his disciples),

3 he left Judea and departed again for Galilee.

4 And he had to pass through Samaria.

5 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.

6 Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. (ESV)

Verses 1-2, while they are part of the chapter, the focus is not on them. The commentaries had different comments, so to save an argument that does not matter in the grand scheme of things, we are moving down to 3-6.

See the map of above.

3. Jesus left Judea and departed for Gailee.

Let's take a look as to why He left. He was becoming popular, but not the popular in a good way. His signs and miracles were causing a big stir with the Pharisees. The Pharisees, well, they were the Jewish teachers of the Law. Self-righteous, hypocrites. Jesus knew He needed to get out of there, because it was not "His time." "His time" will be when He returns back to Jerusalem for the crucifixion. But that's a story for another time.

4. He HAD to pass through Samaria. If you look at the map above, you can probably see He could have taken a different route going to Gailee. He could have gone by the sea, Caesarea. Or He could have gone up to Jericho, crossed the Jordan. But He went through Samaria.

5 and 6. He came to Sychar, Samaria to what is known as Jacob's well.

Let's do a bit of digging in the Old Testament for a minute. Abraham and Sarah had Isaac. Isaac had Jacob. Jacob had the twelve sons that would become the twelve tribes of Judah/Israel. Totally confused yet?!? But it gets better, one of those sons was Joseph-the dude with the coat of many colors, thrown in a pit, sold, imprisoned. Remember him?!? Two of his sons were Ephraim and Manasseh. The Samaritans claimed to be from those two sons of Joseph. While God's chosen people the Israelites, also came from Jacob (hence Jacob's well), they did not get along with the Samaritans. Jesus is from the tribe of Judah, also one of Jacob's sons. He was a Jew, see why it is was out of His way for Him to go to Sychar. A Jewish person would not have associated with a Samaritan, much less gone out of the way just to see the woman at the well. Samaritans and the Israelites-ancestors/family, yet, more like a dysfunctional family Thanksgiving!

But isn't it just like Jesus to put the function in dysfunction.

But Jesus went out of His way to Sychar to have a "planned" meeting with a woman by the well. Her story is for a different day.

If He would go about 40 miles (per one commentary), out of the way for an encounter with her. How far would He go for you?

Matthew 18: 12-13 states, "If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray."

Jesus will go after you. He will keep searching and calling out to you until you come home to Him. Remember He longs for you. He watches you sleep. He knows every struggle, every good day. He sees you laugh, and He sees you cry. Maybe it's time to just let Him lead you home.

Where's that cup of hot chocolate?! Can you lean in close? I have a story to tell you. I was the one. The one who strayed from the flock. I grew up in church. I knew Jesus, and I loved Him. But life...bad influences, wrong choices, bad decisions, lead me down a road that separated me from Jesus. I tried to get back on track, several times, but bad choices seemed to be a way of life. Matthew (our youngest child) died in 2000. About the time, I thought I was getting ok, my Nana died in 2012. She was my person, her and my Papa (who is still living and will be 96 on 11/8) . I loved my Nana so much. Then in 2013, my best friend, Amy, died. My life began to spiral out of control, the roller coaster I was on was not fun. It may have looked fun, but my roller coaster was headed in a direction that could cost me my eternity.

It was in 2015, my friend, Cindy, had metastatic breast cancer. And let me tell you, that's not all she had. She had a fiery Spirit of the Lord on her. Man, she could pray! She wanted to go to a women's conference in Houston with Kari Jobe and Miss Kay, from Duck Dynasty. I tried everything to get out of it. But she prayed! And probably prayed some more. I finally relented, dug my Bible out and dusted it off, and went to the conference with her and some friends. It changed my life!! I started falling back in love with Jesus. Was it a quick transformation? Nope! It was little by little, day by day. He's still working on me. But I am more in love with Jesus today than I ever thought imaginable. He wooed me back to the 99. He went out of His way, on more than one occasion to get me. Pulling me by the ear! Oh, but my sweet friend, it has been so worth it.

Let Him woo you back today. If He will go out of the way for the woman at the well over two thousand years ago, me just a few years ago, He will come for you, too. And may He not have to drag you by the ear, like He did me!

Be blessed and wooed today by our Savior.

In Christ,

Veronica