Mensa Otabil - A Gracious Confrontation
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So John chapter 4, verses 16 to 18, Jesus said to her, "Go call your husband and come here." The woman answered and said, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You have said well, 'I have no husband,' for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband. In that, you spoke truly."
The woman at the well expressed interest in the living water Jesus was talking about. So Jesus says, "Go and bring your husband. " I suppose Jesus said that because he also wanted the woman to know, "I have good intentions. I'm not trying to play tricks knowing your history. Go and bring your husband." But Jesus also knew that was the big issue in the woman's life. In fact, that is the reason why she's alone at the well without any friends with her, because nobody will go to the well with her. She's a woman of bad reputation; she's an outcast. So she just lives her life alone, minds her own business, and Jesus meets her. As Jesus starts speaking to her, knowing her experience with men, she's trying to figure Jesus out.
What kind of man is he? But at this time, Jesus says, "I need your husband involved in this conversation." The woman answered the big issue that Jesus had raised in a very evasive way. She says, "I have no husband." I suppose if we were there and we looked at her face, the question would have horrified her and irritated her. I can almost see her giving Jesus a cheeky answer: "I have no husband" in a very cheeky Samaritan way. And Jesus, unfazed, is still pursuing her. He didn't back down. He says, "I know you have no husband because you've had five husbands."
How she got five husbands is not discussed. But the implication just from the conversation seems to be that she doesn't have a good reputation. She says, "You've had five husbands, and you have a number six, and that is not even your husband." It could be somebody's husband or could be someone she's just living with. Now, Jesus knew this all along when the conversation started. Why didn't he just say, "Hey, woman, I know you have five husbands and you're living with somebody. Repent"? Why didn't Jesus say that? Why did he have to go through living water and water to get to this point? Because we don't use information we know from the gospel to condemn people, to knock them on the head, to make them feel nasty, or to belittle them.
The gospel is a life-giving word. It enhances life, not diminishes people. So Jesus said, "You have spoken well." Even in telling her about her past-that she's had five husbands and then the number six she's not married to- Jesus says, "You have spoken the truth." Even in telling her about her past, he speaks about something good about her: that she is a truthful person. You are an honest person, and I like that you are honest.
So, as you look at it, Jesus is giving information. There's no condemnation; there is empathy, there is love, there is appreciation, there is honor for a human being. Anytime we preach the gospel, that should be our attitude. Not to put people down, not to diminish them, not to criticize them, but to help people to have a noble life, a good life. Because that is the life that Jesus gives to us. But people must be confronted with their sin. They must not run away from their sin.
Jesus wanted the woman to know, "You are a sinner, but God still loves you. You have a bad past, but God still loves you." You can't pretend you are not who you are. You can't pretend you have no sin. You have to acknowledge it. But in acknowledging it, we also see the grace of God, the mercy of God, and the love of God that sees who we are at our core as we are, but still loves us and pursues us with the truth. What a glorious Savior Jesus is! Just watching him preach the gospel to somebody shows us how we should also preach the gospel.
So, if God gives you the opportunity to share the gospel, look at how Jesus went about this process and use the same methodology to reach people. Go humbly. Don't go condemning people. Be patient. Explain your terminologies well and help people to come to the point of truth. Even when you are confronting them with their sin, do it graciously, acknowledging their humanity. And it's in that that the true gospel is preached. But that's not the end of the story. Next week from tomorrow, we're going to see how this story goes on.
Let's pray. Say with me, "Heavenly Father, you know me just as I am. Help me to know myself as you know me. In Jesus' name." Amen. And amen.