Breaking Barriers, Finding Grace

The incident of Jesus asking the Samaritan woman for a drink of water illustrates how the divine comes seeking the lost sinner (John 4:1—26).

First, the divine comes to where we are and can be found. Sometimes, we seek him; most of the time, he seeks us. There are no strict rules for divine-human encounters. There are no specific places. Nicodemus met him in Jesus’ night shelter; the woman met him at the well; the paralytic met him where he was lying.

There are no rules regarding who makes the first move. We can make the first move and seek him, as Nicodemus did (John 3:1—21). However, if our physical limitations or gender hinder us from making the first move, then he will come seeking us. When the social and intellectual elite came seeking him, Jesus sought the woman considered an outcast. In the case of the man who was limited by his physical ability, Jesus sought him out and offered him healing.

When the divine visits the human, he first breaks all barriers. He breaks down the gender barriers. The woman was very much conscious of the gender differences (4:9): “The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?”’ She is a woman, and he is a Jewish male. However, the divine does not respect the gender rules that human beings have created.

Christ breaks down barriers of spiritualities, the barricades between the sinner and the saint. Saints consider themselves so holy that the sinners should keep their distance. However, Jesus does not avoid sinners but allows them to touch him.

The divine transcends racial barriers as well. Although the Samaritans and Jews considered each other racially inferior, Jesus, a Jew, chose to stay three days in the Samaritan village (John 4:40).

Christ comes to our level to meet us where we are. He can be found everywhere but not in everything. When we are treated as untouchables, reproached, and sidelined, he breaks through those fences to reach us.

The barriers we build, he breaks. Let today be the day you welcome the One who crosses every boundary to reach you.