John 4:1-9 – A reaching heart

John 4:1 indicates to us that Jesus didn’t want to confront the Pharisees, who were opposing His ministry. It was not because He was afraid of them but because He was fully conscious of divine timings. He knew it wasn’t the time for Him to confront the Pharisees yet. They were already opposing John’s ministry and when they heard that Jesus’ ministry was attracting more followings, they were even more intense in their opposition against Him. Wanting to avoid confrontation at this point, the Lord chose to go to Galilee for a quiet retreat. Verse 2 tells us Jesus Himself did not baptize any, but it was His disciples that were doing the baptizing. This implies that the person doing the baptism on the Lord’s behalf is inconsequential, but who a person is baptized into is important. Believers must be baptized into the Lord Jesus Christ.

The route from Judea to Galilee would require that He passed through Samaria. Although to go through Samaria was necessary, His encounter with the woman at Jacob’s well at Sachar was not co-incidental. Verse 4 implied that this moment was brought about by a divine providence. The intention of this verse is to indicate to us a deeper reason for why He had to pass through Samaria. It implies that divine will and plan was involved. It was a planned moment by Him to gather one other sheep for the Kingdom. He came to Samaria and rest at the well for the sake of reaching a women in deep emotional embroils. Jesus deliberately chose this moment to challenge her faith and change her life. This is an indication of how large the heart of God is.

John tells us that Jesus was tired and wearied from the journey and had paused at the well to have a rest. And it was already the sixth hour, meaning it was noon time and the sun was probably shinning at its hottest. It was an hour no one would come to the well to fetch water. It was at this moment that the woman came to the well to draw water. Here the Lord could have easily excused Himself from talking to the lady about the Kingdom because He was truly physically tired at this point. But at the brim of physical exhaustion, Jesus still took the initiative to engage her in a conversation. He could have given Himself the excuse that He was truly tired and allow the opportunity to pass, so that He could catch a little rest. Instead, He engaged the woman and wisely drew her into a conversation. Jesus’ action here leaves us with the call: not to find the slightest excuse so as to get out of being involved in ministry.

This incident also tells us that Jesus would overcome any barrier to reach someone. This Samaritan woman was totally caught by surprise that Jesus, a Jew, would engage a woman and a Samaritan at that, in conversation.  History tells us that the Jews and the Samaritans were bitter enemies. Yet Jesus would breach the racial barrier to talk to her. In so doing, He had also crossed the social barrier. No rabbi would ever talk to a woman, but Jesus did. He laid aside the social norm to get to a woman in need. In this, Jesus shows us that a reaching heart can cross barriers – social, gender and racial barriers.  

We all need to cultivate a ministering heart. When we have such a heart we will find the capacity to overcome barriers to reach out to others. We are also not hampered by physical exhaustion or racial, gender and ethnic barriers. When we develop such a heart, we may be opened to hurt and rejection but it’s worth all the risks. For the sake of Christ, let us develop such a reaching heart.