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?” John 4:25-27 (NLT)
Three
characters. There is a woman who has sinned. There is a messiah who
came. There are disciples who are shocked by grace. It seems that,
best-case scenario, I am a shocked disciple.
One
day someone I know did something he should not have done. It is
probably fair to say that he sinned that day. He thought he had a
small injury as a result of this something. He talked to me about
this something and his injury, looking at the floor. He seemed
embarrassed and ashamed. Rightly so, I expect. A few days later he
started to suspect that his injury was not as small as he thought.
Then I delivered a message to him that his doctor called. He looked
worried. He doesn't know this but I saw him a little while later
when I passed him while I was driving. At this point, it was clear
that his injury actually was more severe than he thought. His face
was sad. Two feelings crossed my mind. Immediately I felt sorry for
him. His injury would heal, but it would be a nuisance and it would
hurt for a few weeks. A few minutes later I thought, “Well, he did
this to himself. It is hard to feel too bad for him.”
Imagine
if Jesus had the same reaction I did. What if...
God
the Father watched Adam sin and he watched Eve sin. God the Father
goes to God the Son and says, “My son. Our creation is broken.
The man and woman we created broke it when they themselves sinned.
Now they will have difficult lives – work will be exhausting and
childbirth will be agonizing – and then they will die. Son, I have
a way to fix this.” Then the Father tells the Son the plan. The
Son responds with initial compassion, but then says, “Well, they
did it to themselves. It is hard to feel too bad for them.”
God
the Father and God the Son had the right and ability to react like
they did in our imagined scenario. They did not react this way,
however. We were created by a God who is gracious. We need to be
mindful of this and grateful for this always.
I
will not pretend that I spent a lot of time reflecting about my
second reaction to come to this realization. I probably would never
have thought of it again; however; I had to run an unexpected errand
this morning. On this errand I walked down the road that I drove on
previously. I walked past the spot where the man I know was sitting
and I remembered his face. Immediately, I thought about the woman at
the well...
Then
I thought about Jesus...
Then
I thought about me...
Then
I thanked Jesus because Jesus is not like me. I thanked him for
grace.
