The Story of a Sinner

Apostle John records the story of a bad Samaritan who became a good Samaritan. John chapter four begins with a valuable truth where we find Jesus giving priority to personal evangelism than to big baptism events (read vs. 1-3). This story therefore reveals to us the evangelistic heartbeat of Jesus. The following one-line sub-titles make us think on evangelistic strategies relevant to missions today.

“Give me a drink!”

John 4 depicts the story of an unnamed bad Samaritan who was a woman living in the margins, to whom Jesus shared the good news. Jewish men of her days praised God every day for not being born as a woman! As a Samaritan, she was also a victim of her ancestral past. Jews had got mixed up with idolatrous gentiles in her previous generations.  And as a divorced woman she would have been a suspect. And as a woman divorced five times she became an outcaste among outcastes, because she came to the well at odd noon hour. She was then living with a man who was not her husband. So unquestionably, the weight of guilt rested heavily upon her. A Woman, a Samaritan, a Sinner – which Jewish male would like to associate with her? Jesus did. Jesus’ evangelistic zeal is seen evident in this story where he clearly crossed boundaries and biases of gender, race and status to share with her the good news. He gave a pleasant surprise to the so called polluted Samaritan woman, when he said to her, “Give me a drink.” What a great unbiased start before sharing the good news!

We see a thirsty Jesus here in this story just as we see him in his dying moments in the cross. In both these occasions he was truly physically thirsty. In both cases we see his thirst for souls too. His food, he says in the Samaritan woman’s story was to do the will of God who sent him and to finish his work (v.34). Interestingly here in this story and at the cross, he uses these words about “finishing” his work. Biases and prejudices should not prevent us to finish our work in this world.

“I who speak to you am He!”

Another surprise is expressed in this chapter when the disciples of Jesus saw their guru speaking to a woman in public (v.27). We see here that gender is not incidental to the story but central to it. Hypocrites like the Pharisees would not speak to a woman in public, but would cause her to sin in private! In fact there were a group of Pharisees called the “bleeding Pharisees.” They closed their eyes every time they met a woman in the street, bouncing off walls and whatever else might be in their path. In chapter three of John, the strategy of Jesus’ personal evangelism was quite different with a man like Nicodemus. He willingly spent a night conversing with Nicodemus. I admire the wise strategy of Jesus with respect to gender in these two evangelistic outreaches among the many others. If it was someone to whom Jesus proclaimed himself directly as Messiah, it was only to the Samaritan woman! When she revealed her anxiety to see the Messiah, not knowing who he was, Jesus said to her “I who speak to you am He!”(vs. 25-26)

“Come and See”

Meanwhile, the Samaritan woman realises that Jesus is not merely a prophet who told her about her past, but a Messiah who would save her from her sinful past and give her eternal life. An outcaste, a hopeless woman now gets her self-esteem and realises her worth in eternal perspective. She kept her water jar, went back to the town and said to the people whom she earlier had avoided, "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did.” The Bible says that many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony. And because of Jesus’ words many more became believers. The Samaritans  called him as “Saviour of the world.” (vs. 39-42). Later Jesus challenged his disciples to witness in Samaria as a continuation to this mass revival (Acts 1:8). Philip opened a mission field in Samaria (chapter 8).

Jesus, a hard-core evangelist transformed and empowered the sinner Samaritan woman as an evangelist. Even today, we are called to b evangelists following the model of Jesus. Every believer is a missionary. Every non believer is a mission field. Missionaries and Evangelists all over the world have been reaching out to non-believers. What is our role in this task of evangelisation and how do we do it? It is time to think and act.

Grace In Place Of Grace

Evening hours of 18 August 2009. Place: SAIACS library. I am hearing the song on Psalm 91 “unnathamanavarin” through my earphones, thanking the Lord for the incident that had changed my life upside down on that very same day in the year 1992. It was another happy day because that was the day my D. Min thesis had been approved by the academic committee after a rigorous scrutiny. Circumstances in life (both good and bad) had made me do my research for five years (normally three). The joy was so real. But things turned different within hours.

At the parking lot I had kept my laptop bag. My husband Suresh was there to take me home by scooter. In my excitement I sat on the scooter, forgetting to take my laptop bag. Before we reached Hennur cross, I realised that my laptop bag was missing. I became dizzy realising the fact that my five years of hard-worked researched stuff had been  lost by then. Anyone could have taken my laptop bag and walked out of the gate. I immediately rang up to my friend Shibhi who was in hostel there asking her to check it at the gate. Praise God! My laptop was safe with the security guard at the gate. The joy of getting my laptop back and imaginations of graduating D.Min lasted for few minutes only. Something else was going to happen which we never knew!

It started to drizzle. Both of us wore our raincoats and started our journey back home happily. This time before reaching Hennur Cross we met with an accident. My husband who was driving did not see a big pothole covered with rain water. The scooter skidded and both of us were thrown out on the main highway. I got up without any scratch, but I saw Suresh bleeding profusely. While I was still in a state of shock, I saw a big, muscled gentle man walking to him, putting his arms around him and bringing him to the side of the road. He tears off his new cotton T-shirt and gives first aid to my husband. I stare at the Good Samaritan. He looked familiar to me by then. While doing my “Urban Ministry” module  at SAIACS, I had gone for a field trip to “Home of Hope” and I had seen this man there! I told him that I know him and he says, “I am Raja.” My joy knew no bounds then. “Auto Raja?” I ask. He says, “Yes.” By now he has informed his colleagues at Home of Hope. They came there with their ambulance. Bro Raja (not a medical doctor!) gives my husband tetanus and a pain-killer injection, all by himself, on the road. He and his friends lift up the scooter and put it on the ambulance. He asks us both to get into the vehicle. We reached home safe that night. We realised the grace of God in bringing the “Good Samaritan” of the city of Bengaluru onto the accident site and taking good care of us in a time of despair and need!

Satan tried his best to touch our lives on the very same day God showered his grace in 1992 in letting me live. Satan is a defeated foe. God is victor in our lives. Amen!

“Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given.” (John 1:16)