Sensing the Sync

"Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not the Christ, is it?" (John 4:29)

I have always had a sense that these words have much deeper meaning than what they seem to be saying on the surface. It just doesn't fit or resonate that because Jesus said a few things about this woman's past that suddenly she was ready to believe that He was a prophet or the Messiah. This is actually one of the means of deceiving many people into believing and trusting in another person and accepting undo control over their mind and conscience.

Just because someone can surprise you with information about your private life that you were sure no one else knew anything about does not warrant implicit trust in that person's authority in your life. It is so easy to feel that if someone can blindside you by revealing the hidden things in your life that they must have the supernatural insights gifted to them by God and so they must be trusted in whatever else they may teach you or ask you to do. This line of reasoning is actually used to gain and keep control over the lives of many people in churches where this practice is used as the basis of asserting authority. But in reality the leaders of those kinds of groups are not really in sync with the true Spirit of heaven.

This is why I have probably felt uneasy about viewing this statement by this woman in the way that it is often presented – as a proof that her faith in Jesus was based primarily in His ability to expose what she thought was hidden from Him. Just because she stated her confidence in Him using these words is not enough to justify making this technique a valid way of proving authority. She chose these words partly because she may have felt this would have the greatest impact in arousing the interest of others who did know her past, but partly I believe it was because this was her way of expressing something that might actually have been more accurately expressed in a slightly different way. The accuracy of her language is not nearly so important as the passion and belief that compelled her to speak what she did.

I have not seen this in this passage before today, but what I now am starting to sense in these words is that this woman felt that Jesus understood her all of heart, could really understand and sympathize with her deepest longings and emotions and was the first man she had ever met that she felt like she could synchronize with at the deepest levels of her soul. Her life history showed that she was seeking for fulfillment, love, satisfaction and connection in ways that repeatedly ended in frustration of those desires. She was now living in a relationship that seemed to be a signal of defeat, a reluctant surrender to hopelessness and a resignation to the reality that she would likely never experience what her heart really yearned to feel.

And into this time of her life, into this emotional place of spiritual resignation and defeat, Jesus breaks into her emotional and spiritual life with the most stunning revelation of love, acceptance, understanding and compassion beyond anything she had come to believe could be a part of her life. Jesus suddenly offered her absolutely everything that she had ever longed for in her soul and all in just a very few minutes of conversation. It was not just the words that He spoke to her but much more the whole experience of love and kindness and respect and compassion that emanated from His whole being while they were together. Jesus was far more than anyone could ever condense into words and so her explanation to her fellow citizens was simply a crude attempt to convey in words what simply could never be put into language.

Just as Jesus' real message can never be comprehended by simply looking at the words that He spoke to her, I suspect that the dramatic effect of this woman's words on her fellow townspeople likewise cannot be appreciated by simply analyzing the content of her simple few words. Her whole body and facial expressions and tone of voice projected much, much more than her words could ever convey by reading them from a page. The clear message that was unavoidable, that generated such intense interest by so many people had little to do with the words she said and far more to do with the rest of her expressions. They knew who this woman was and what she was like, so what they now saw in her demeanor and expression was so radically opposite from what they had known before that they could not suppress their reaction to find out what had caused such a dramatic change.

She used to be covered with shame. Now she was bold and confident and unafraid.

She used to slink around and avoid looking at anyone. Now she was in their face and smiling contagiously.

She used to be intimidated by what everyone thought of her. Now she was obsessed with what some stranger outside of town thought of her.

She used to be easily manipulated and intimidated by a simple word or look. Now she was unflappable and confident.

She used to seem depressed and hopeless and had nearly given up on life. Now she was contagiously optimistic, full of hope and joy.

The dramatic change was so unmistakable that everyone had to investigate the cause. But why? What is it about someone's dramatic change in demeanor that causes others to feel so compelled to want to experience something similar for themselves?

Because at heart we all really crave the very same things. It is true that many people project an appearance of having it all together, of confidence and assurance and peace. But deep inside sin has left us all groping for something better and grappling with unmet cravings for love and acceptance. It is just that many of us have accrued all sorts of other means to subdue these cravings, to medicate them, to numb their effect in our souls. But the hunger remains no matter what we have done in reaction to it. And the hunger will always be there to haunt us until we truly encounter the same Man that this woman encountered.

But when we do encounter Him in such a way that we are synchronized with Him, in a way that causes us to realize that He can lock in to our needs, can understand our deepest longings and has everything that we need and want in life, we too may suddenly explode with irrepressible joy and contagious exuberance and an unstoppable desire to splash around in the living water that brings such deep inner fulfillment to our hearts. We will want to throw buckets of this water on others who we know are just as thirsty as we were so they can begin to taste real life and come to drink from the same fountain of real joy that we have finally encountered.

Come, meet a man like I have never known before.

Come, meet the man of my dreams – and of your dreams too.

Come, meet a man that can not only expose what you thought was hidden from everyone but will in that exposing only relate to you in perfect love, understanding, compassion and grace.

Come, meet the real man who is like no other man I have ever met.

Come, meet the only man who can show you what God is really like.

Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.

Yet you refuse to come to me to have life. (Matthew 11:28 John 5:40 NRSV)

Clueless but Growing

But He said to them, "I have food to eat that you do not know about." (John 4:32)

How many years have I remained hungry because I have been ignorant and oblivious to the kind of food that so energized Jesus?

How many people claiming to follow Jesus and who attend church and may even teach others still are not tasting the kind of food that Jesus was enjoying?

What will it take to wake us up to the real nature of our hunger? To realize that religion is not what God is offering us but a relationship with Him (that at times may seem very uncomfortable)?

It is easy to talk about having a relationship with God and all the benefits that doing that can bring us. But when it comes right down to everyday life, how very few people actually are willing to get serious about investing the emotional time and energy needed to develop the bonds required to have a relationship with anyone, especially God. Most people want to appear to be spiritual, to have others compliment them on how righteous they may be or to conform to traditional assumptions about what a religious person is supposed to do. But when all of the externals and religious exercises are swept away, how much of what might be left would give evidence that I have a vital connection with my Father in heaven that is not dependent on religious rituals or other people's opinions about me?

These disciples were not atheists. They were not men who lived outside the religious structures and practices that were at least in part handed to their ancestors by Jesus Himself. These men were all Jews, a race of people chosen by God to be His representatives on earth and to attract all other nations to a knowledge of God. The Jews had certainly abused that privilege to the point where they were about to divorce themselves completely and finally as a nation from this privileged relationship to God. But they were certainly a people who were very religious and their religion was based on worship of the true God more than any other religion of that day.

Granted, these disciples did not come from among the religious teachers of the day. They were common men from average occupations and likely all of them were quite young at that time. But still, their religious heritage as Jews had immersed them all of their lives in an atmosphere where the Torah was taught and enforced for everyone living in Israel at that time. They very likely were in the habit of attending services every Sabbath day listening to the sermons and attending all of the religious feasts each year. They were very familiar with the sacrificial system and all of the routines and laws handed down by Moses along with many more added by well-meaning priests and rabbis since.

But given all of the religious background and culture and practices, we find these disciples standing here in this story completely confused about what was important and the real implications of Who they were following around everyday. They thought that they believed that Jesus was the Messiah, but their self-centered notions about the real meaning of that word had blinded them to the spiritual dimension of Jesus' presence and their own deep hunger that had been suppressed all of their lives by the elaborate system of religion and its external forms and routines.

The very people who had the most religion were discovered in this story to be the least aware of true spiritual realities. I have no doubt that their souls were just as much in need of spiritual nurturing and nutrition as were the hearts of the people from Samaria. But their minds were so completely clouded with false ideas about God, about the Messiah, about religion and about the true condition of their own hearts – clouded because of deeply entrenched prejudices and misconceptions of all kinds – that when faced with a scene of great joy and one of the most explicit revelations of true conversion taking place in hearts of people who really did understand their need, the disciples were left scratching their heads because they were totally focused on the externals alone.

Because they could only see the externals they could not figure out why Jesus was acting so excited and nearly delirious with pleasure. They could clearly see that He was experiencing something that had seemed to eliminate His interest in physical food, but in trying to solve this mystery they could only consider options that might explain how He may have satisfied His physical hunger some way without their knowing about it. Nothing else could explain it because their capacity to comprehend spiritual realities was still far too small. They were familiar with religion but they were not tapped into the spiritual dimension of their lives yet.

Of course, it is easier to see such things in the lives of others in stories like this than it is to admit that maybe I am in the same condition as they were.

But how willing am I to have my assumptions about what is important be challenged by events such as this that defy my simplistic ways of explaining things?

How willing am I to have God move me past my prejudices and limited views of reality and take me out of my comfort zone?

How teachable am I?

How humble am I willing to be to lay aside my preconceptions about religion and allow the Spirit to convict me of things I have never thought about before?

How willing am I to admit that my immaturity may limit my capacity to comprehend or figure out things that make no sense to me in spiritual situations?

Father, thank-you for keeping me close to you and having me follow Jesus even when I am clueless as to what He is doing or feeling. Jesus didn't get upset with His disciples for being so clueless and prejudiced that day; He just exposed them to things way over their heads and modeled to them relationships and spiritual dimensions of life that would later become intensely useful for them when they were converted and more mature themselves. I want to be Your disciple too, but I don't want to take so long to catch on to what You are trying to show me.

Father, I come to You for enlightenment, but most of all for an awakening of my own spirit as You bring more of Your light into my heart. I want to have an experience with You more along the lines of what this woman had with Jesus rather than what the disciples demonstrated in this story. And though I want to stay close to You like they did, I want to be less clueless as to what You are really up to and what You are feeling and experiencing. I want to be more in tune with how You see things and situations and people and be more in sympathy with Your heart. Dwell in me today and grow me up so I can see reality and people around me more like You see them.

What Am I Hungry For?

"Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not the Christ, is it?" They went out of the city, and were coming to Him. Meanwhile the disciples were urging Him, saying, "Rabbi, eat." But He said to them, "I have food to eat that you do not know about." (John 4:29-32)

I opened my Bible this morning to this passage that I have been meditating on for so long now and at first could see nothing that jumped out at me. But I know from good experience now that God always has something waiting for me if I am ready to listen and allow my heart and spirit to be tuned to hear His voice. So I read these verses over a couple of times looking for anything that might be of interest that might act as a clue to what is waiting.

Then it nearly jumped off the page. Look at all the different ways people expressed their hunger in this story and how different were the things that they craved. From what I can see so far, it appears that the disciples themselves were the only ones in this story that were only hungry for just plain food and they were left standing in puzzlement about all the commotion going on as everyone else began feasting on food that they had not yet learned to appreciate very well.

The beginning of the story starts out saying that Jesus was very tired and thirsty. But that is only part of the context as is seen later in the story. His body was thirsty and likely also quite hungry as evidenced by His disciple's concern for Him to eat after they returned from town, but His soul seemed to be hungry for something much more than physical food and that emotional hunger seemed to become the dominant interest for Him very quickly. He was so hungry to share the good news about God with people who were ready and were desperately hungry for that revelation that it soon eclipsed almost completely His physical hunger.

The woman who showed up at the well soon after the disciples had left to go buy food in town was also very hungry, but again not for regular food like we usually associate with hunger. As evidenced by her past history and her conversation with Jesus and what happened at the end of that conversation, she was very hungry for love, for healthy, bonded relationships, for healing for her damaged emotions and heart that had been wounded and abused for so long by other people in her life, for community where she might enjoy respect and inclusion. All the evidence points to the perception that these things had conspired to starve her emotionally and she was dying of that starvation and ready to devour the kind of food and water that Jesus was eager to share with her.

But these were not the only hungry people in this story. This woman, though apparently ostracized to a great extent by her own people and certainly by most Jews, knew that people back in town were really hungry as well. Never mind that they were often the source of her pain and shame; as she began to taste the wonderful water that Jesus was offering her she suddenly realized that all those who had been hurting her for so long were really acting out of their own pain and brokenness too. And this is always the case. When our own hearts are wounded we tend to turn around and inflict similar wounds on others along the way.

But the nature of the food and water that Jesus shared with this woman motivates a person to suddenly see others differently, to have sympathy and compassion for the very people that before we tried to avoid to minimize our pain and exposure. Now, instead of wanting to stay far away from everyone in her community as she had likely done for quite awhile, she now could not stop herself from rushing back home to arouse the curiosity of everyone else and tantalize them with the offer of food and living water that could really satisfy where they were really hungry. She had discovered water that could eliminate her thirst forever as Jesus had promised her and she could not be content to just enjoy it alone; she had to invite others to enjoy it with her.

That is the nature of eating and drinking after all, isn't it? Eating a good meal just never has the same level of enjoyment and satisfaction when done alone as it produces when shared with others. There is an incredible bonding effect that can take place when people eat together. God designed us that way and Jesus tapped into that truth when in Revelation He asks us to allow Him to come in and eat with us. (Rev. 3:20) In middle eastern culture, especially in those times, when a person was allowed to come in and eat with you, a covenant was formed that was extremely significant and powerful. So long as that person was within the boundaries of your house or tent you were obligated by custom to treat them as honored guests and even protect them with your very life if necessary – even if they happened to be your worst enemy.

I find it interesting and wonder what might be hiding behind the fact that Jesus did all of this from outside the city mentioned in this story. While His disciples went into town to buy food – and also had opportunity to share good news with others but which never seemed to cross their mind – Jesus stayed out at the well where all the good stuff began to really happen. By the time the disciples returned with goodies for what they thought was the most important part of their needs, Jesus and the woman were already both so energized from feasting on far more delightful food with their spirits that they couldn't figure out what was going on. All they could see was that He was sitting with a look of ecstasy and delight on His face while she was rushing past them racing into town to hail everyone she could find to come join a party.

It is almost humorous if it wasn't so sad, how the disciples were left standing around completely clueless as to what was really going on. They found themselves bewildered because what they considered important wasn't being paid attention to at all. At the same time what really was important was going right over their heads because of the prejudices that prevented them from enjoying the same food and drink that was getting everyone else around them so excited. It is not only terribly sad that they missed out on all the bonding and fellowship that everyone else was enjoying all around them but it is a serious warning to all of us today who find ourselves in the very same position.

Real Overcomers

There are many people today who feel very strongly about the need to become an overcomer. The book of Revelation that prophecies about the intense events that are even now beginning to take place on this planet bringing the history of this world as we know it to a catastrophic end, repeatedly talks about those who are overcomers. Over and over in His messages and warnings to the seven churches right near the beginning of Revelation Jesus addresses messages of hope to “him who overcomes”.

It becomes quite apparent when studying Revelation seriously that if one is not willing to take these messages about being an overcomer seriously that they will be eternally lost. This is not an option for those who want to spend eternity with God, it is an absolute requirement and necessity.

But like pretty much every other religious term from the Bible, the true meaning of what it means to be an overcomer has often been largely obscured by skewed pictures of what God is like and mistaken notions about how to be righteous. Legalism particularly has distorted our assumptions about what it means to be an overcomer and has kept millions of people stuck in a mode of trying to achieve some high level of “righteousness” in order to earn God's favor and gain entrance into heaven. Even though many of them would deny that they are doing it for these reasons because that is clearly against the teachings of the gospel, deep in their heart can be found that this is their real motives.

This group of people generally share a definition of what it means to be an overcomer that is based on some sort of performance checklist by which to measure how close they are to being perfect. I know, I have spent my whole life living among many of these kinds of people and have wasted many years myself trying to measure up through every means possible to high standards set down for me by others who were always seeking to create ever-changing lists of rules and requirements needed to become perfect in order to be ready for Jesus to come.

This mindset is subtly woven through many phrases tossed around that outsiders might never pick up on if they are not privy to all the expectations of the insiders. Subjects like the Second Coming of Jesus take on great terror in the heart because phrases like “developing Christian character” or “we need to get ready for Jesus to come” have implicit within them the connotation that one has to perfect their character through hard work and the elimination of every last sin from the life in order to be ready and acceptable for Jesus to save.

All of this and much more was wrapped up in the term “overcomer” and so this word for most of my life has not exactly been a positive word that was very attractive to me.

But not long ago someone pointed out to me that they believed this word actually had a very different flavor to it than what we grew up thinking. Sometimes when you switch a word around internally you can discover surprising meanings that help to explain it in a very new and refreshing way. In this case the meaning of overcomer can at least partially be seen more clearly by considering it as one who comes over. And when this is compared with many other Scriptures (which is how all interpretation should be arrived at) it really makes a lot of sense.

Jesus when speaking from the very center of the gospel said that anyone who would come to Him would receive rest. (Matt. 11:28) We are nearing the climax of a titanic controversy that has been going on for thousands of years at least. But it is not going to last much longer because the great trial of God that is at the center of this controversy is nearly finished. Most of the evidence has been presented except for the last final violent attempt by evil to extinguish God's people from all the earth just before Jesus returns to rescue them. This will be a time when evil fully matures and it will be the ugliest time ever seen in all of history according to the prophecies in Daniel. (Dan. 12:1)

In this great controversy we all have to be on one side or the other. There is simply no other option: we are either going to be controlled by God and His angels and be trained to be authentic and truthful witnesses about what God is really like, or we are going to be dominated and manipulated by Satan and his angels to pervert the truth about God and promote the lies about Him that have permeated nearly everything that is believed on this earth.

Our part is to choose which side we are going to stand on and which side is going to shape our characters. Many will firmly and sincerely believe that they are on God's side while actually living for the enemy because they refuse to surrender absolutely everything in their life and heart to the control of Jesus. They may look and feel religious and may teach and preach from the Bible and may promote all kinds of wonderful teachings that may even bring others to a saving knowledge of God. But if their own heart is not fully submitted to the influence of God's true Spirit then they will actually become undercover agents of Satan living and operating within God's people and not even realize they are doing so. But if they cling to any selfish desires and refuse to allow God full access to every area of their heart this will be their final stance.

But those who in the end are going to be seen as God's true witnesses are those who accept Jesus' invitation to come over to His side and believe the real truth about God as it has been revealed in the life of His Son. As they surrender every area of their life to His control He has promised that He will come over to them and will dwell inside of them and live out the very life of God from within their heart. This is the only way that anyone will ever live a truly righteous life – when the only righteous One lives inside a fallen human being making them a reflection of the perfect love and goodness of the God that is dwelling within.

When I come to this word overcomer from this perspective it suddenly has a radically different connotation than how I have perceived it most of my life. Now when I hear the term overcomer I can remember that to be transformed into the likeness of God means that I must focus my attention on knowing His heart so intimately that His character will simply glow out of my life more and more clearly as I see Him more fully. This is the authentic life of an overcomer.

And what brought this to my attention this morning? It was the interesting reminders of this in the story I am studying about the Samaritan woman who had a most amazing encounter with Jesus at a well. As I am now beginning to see it, this story is a wonderful example of the real way a person becomes an overcomer. This woman actually became an overcomer and a very effective witness for Jesus (which is the same thing) because she chose to come over to Jesus' side and trust in His promises to give her living water and ravish her heart with new hope and life and love as her Messiah.

Compellingly the almost immediate results of her becoming an overcomer was that her whole town decided to come as well. Note what the text says about this.

"Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not the Christ, is it?" They went out of the city, and were coming to Him. (John 4:29-30)

It is hard to describe the relief and peace that belief in this new definition of the word overcomer can bring to me. Years of heavy baggage and religious works suddenly fall like ashes as I see that God is really inviting me to let Him overcome sin by living in me instead of expecting me to make myself perfect with a lot of assistance from Him. It is true that my life will become more and more like His perfect life as I allow Him full access to my heart. But trying to overcome sin and perfect myself through all sorts of formulas, effort, fear, lists and religious exercises will never even begin to make me righteous and ready for Jesus to take me home.

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night. And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death." (Revelation 12:10-11)

The blood of Jesus, as I am now beginning to see it more clearly, is the proof to my heart that nothing can separate me from the love of God except my own choice to resist it. When Jesus allowed sinners and demons to destroy His human life through torture and crucifixion, the blood that was extracted from His body and His heart was the ultimate proof that there is nothing so wicked, evil, violent and hateful that anyone could ever dream up and do to the Son of God to get Him to quit loving them or choose to quit forgiving them. This was the ultimate demonstration of the character of God, the ultimate contrast between how good God really is and how bad sin is at its core.

As I come to really perceive and appreciate deeply the real truth about God as revealed in Jesus, it is the evidence of His blood that transforms me and turns me into an overcomer – one who chooses to step over and be identified on the side of Jesus because of the overwhelming love seen in Him. And as I choose to come over to Jesus' side my testimony, the witness of both my life and my words, will become reflective of the real truth about God. My witness will be part of the evidence entered into court and will be presented in favor of God's claims about His character to refute the lies and all the false witnesses of those who choose to believe the father of lies and the accuser of the brethren.