The Most Valuable Person Ever.

The Most Valuable Person Ever.

John 4:5-26NKJV

Matthew Kelly stated in his book Rediscover Jesus—Every person is as important and valuable as the person you consider most important and valuable.

Jesus took people whom you and I would mindlessly pass on the streets, people we would never choose to be in the same room with, people from the very margins of society, and he placed them at the center of the narrative we call the Gospel.

They came to Jesus in a hundred guises—the sick, the poor, the despised, women, children, and sinners of every type—but in each of them Jesus saw a child of God.

Jesus sees acres of diamonds, He sees a diamond in the rough, He see the potential buried in the back yard, He sees a righteous people, a holy nation.

For sure—Jesus doesn’t see the way we do. P.H

I want to read to you the longest recorded conversation between Jesus and any other human being.

I want to look at verse by verse of this conversation.

John 4:1-4NKJV Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John 2 (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples), 3 He left Judea and departed again to Galilee. 4 But He needed to go through Samaria.

The Pharisees in this day and time were God’s spiritual elite. News of Jesus baptizing, became more ammunition for these elite.

What did the Pharisees detest about Jesus? They were angered by Jesus’ actions and words, they were outraged by Jesus’ approach to ministry, stating, “I say nothing without my Father.”

Again verse 4, states, Jesus needed to go through Samaria.

Enduring Word Commentary—Although the road through Samaria was the shortest route from Jerusalem to Galilee, pious Jews often avoided it. They did so because there was a deep distrust and dislike between many of the Jewish people and the Samaritans.

Hear these powerful verses from—Psalm 82:3-4NKJV Defend the poor and fatherless; Do justice to the afflicted and needy. 4 Deliver the poor and needy; Free them from the hand of the wicked.

Jesus came to produce freedom. He came to defend the helpless, the poor and needy.

He came to free them from the hand of the wicked! Jesus could careless about your past and you should careless and let go too.

John 4:5-6NKJV So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.

Why Samaria? There was a broken woman that needed Jesus.

Samaria—This is where Abram first came when he arrived into Canaan from Babylonia, Genesis 12:6.

This is where God first appeared to Abram in Canaan, and renewed the promise of giving the land to him and his descendants, Genesis 12:7.

This is where Abram built an altar and called upon the name of the Lord, Genesis 12:8.

This is where Joshua made a covenant with Israel, renewing their commitment to the God of Israel and proclaiming, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord Joshua 24.

John 4:6, Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.

Around 12 noon, Jesus was tried and weary.

John 4:7-9TM A woman, a Samaritan, came to draw water. Jesus said, “Would you give me a drink of water?” (His disciples had gone to the village to buy food for lunch.) 9 The Samaritan woman, taken aback, asked, “How come you, a Jew, are asking me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” (Jews in those days wouldn’t be caught dead talking to Samaritans.)

Maclaren writes, This woman seems to be quick to talk, easily turning a serious sentence to jests, but hidden beneath masses of unclean vanities a conscience and a yearning for something better than she has.

Again, Psalm 82:3-4TM You’re here to defend the defenseless, to make sure that underdogs get a fair break; Your job is to stand up for the powerless, and prosecute all those who exploit them.”

Here’s a key to life—The most important person in any room has to be yourself, but the second most important person in the room is the person you might detest, maybe the person right next to you! P.H

Everyone—the Jews, the gentiles, the Romans—despised the Samaritans. So what did Jesus do? He gave them a central place in the Gospel.

Remember for a moment—First, there is the Good Samaritan parable, which has made the name Samaritan synonymous with good works and mercy. Lk. 10:25-37.

Secondly, in this encounter, Jesus not only came to a Samaritan, but a Samaritan woman. She’d been divorced several times, Jesus was truly on the fringes of the social structure when he decided to strike up a conversation with this woman. The stigma attached to this woman was monumental. Her own people looked down upon her.