“Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” John 4:29
Lord Jesus, I wish I had been there to hear this liberated woman recount her collision with the gospel—her story of meeting you and coming alive to the transforming power of grace (John 4:1–42). Water from Jacob’s Well wasn’t sufficient to slate her deepest thirst—the thirst we all carry.
You exposed her sequential affairs. Yet instead of ridiculing her, you redeemed her; instead of condemning her, you cherished her; instead of shaming her, you saved her.
En route to the nations, you brought the gospel of the kingdom to the dark continent of her heart. As she stood vulnerable in the public square, she’d never been so free, so loved, so whole. No more need to pose or pretend, minimize her need or make excuses, fear rejection or deny her brokenness.
“Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” Nothing but the gospel can free us for being thoroughly known without shame. Jesus, your love is unlike anything else we can experience in this life. In fact, your love is better than life itself.
We too acknowledge you today as the Christ, God’s promised Messiah; the heart-knower and loving Savior, our righteousness from God and hope of glory; our peace in the storm and freedom in life.
You know every vain, foolish, evil thought we’ve ever conceived; every lustful, greedy fantasy we indulge. Only you hear every grace-robbing, grandstanding, gossipy word we speak. Only you know our broken cisterns of choice, the worthless idols to which we cling, and where we run when you’re not enough. YET, you pursue us, welcome us, and love us, and are changing us.
What a wonderful, merciful Savior you are, Jesus. Life, temporal and eternal, can only be found in you. That you desire us, and delight in us, is almost too much to take in. Hallelujah, the gospel is true! So very Amen we pray, in your most glorious name.
