How Jesus Sees Us

 Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”

 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people,“Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?”  They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

John 4:27-30

A favorite story of mine from the Bible is the story of the “Woman at the Well”. Here, Jesus encounters a woman who had been an outcast in her own village, and she ended up having a chance (inspired) meeting with Jesus at the well. You likely know the story. My favorite takeaway is that after Jesus spoke with her and she became aware that this was the awaited  Messiah, she hurried back to the village to share the news.

Remember now that she likely was not “Miss Popularity” in that village. After all, she came alone to the well at noon, which was not the cultural norm. She was alone for a reason I am guessing.  Yet here she is, telling people in her Samaritan village that this Jew that she met at the well is the Messiah.

And they listened to her.

So, here was a woman who was a bit of an outcast, telling her story with so much excitement and fervor that people were moved by her. While she did not likely see herself as worthy, and the villagers saw her as a five-time loser in the marriage department, Jesus saw her as an evangelist.

So, we need to define ourselves not by our own sometimes jaded opinion of ourselves, but we need to see ourselves through the eyes of Jesus.

Prayer: Lord, help us to see others as you see them, Amen