Jesus Knows
Scripture Reading — John 4:7-18
[Jesus] told her, "Go, call your husband and come back." "I have no husband," she replied." John 4:16-17
Even the most harmless small talk can poke into areas we might rather not talk about. When someone asks, "How are you?" what do you say if you feel rotten? Often you force a smile and say, "I'm fine. How are you?" Or what do you say if you're a construction worker who's been laid off for three months? When someone asks what you do for a living, you might just say, "Oh, I'm in construction."
If you're a Samaritan woman in Jesus' day and a Jewish stranger says to you, "Hey, I'd like to meet your husband," how do you answer? If you've been divorced five times and are now living with somebody else, you might simply say, "I don't have a husband." You don't feel like explaining. Why give a stranger all the details of your broken promises and shattered dreams?
But what if this stranger already knows your hurts, failures, and sins? Jesus knows every dark corner of your life, and yet he has not rejected you. Instead, he is still talking to you. When Jesus says he can quench your thirst and empower you to live forever, you begin to believe him. If he knows you so thoroughly and still cares about you, he just might be the deliverer you've been looking for. The Samaritan woman told her neighbors, "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" (John 4:29).
Lord Jesus, with you we have no secrets. Thank you for probing our painful areas and cleansing us of our guilt. Refresh us with the living water of your Holy Spirit. Amen.
About the author — David Feddes
Dr. David Feddes is pastor of Family of Faith Church and provost of Christian Leaders Institute, which supports mentor-based ministry training through online courses. David is also adjunct missiologist for Crossroad Bible Institute, which provides biblical distance education to more than 40,000 people in prison. Previously he served as broadcast minister for the Back to God radio program, reaching people in more than fifty countries. David earned his Ph.D. in intercultural studies from Trinity International University, Deerfield, IL. He and his wife, Wendy, have nine children (one in heaven).
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