Social media has exposed a festering disgrace in our culture. I’m referring to the lack of grace, respect, or kindness that we show to other human beings. It has become so evident to me that I have all but backed off from most popular media platforms, except the ones where I can interact with family members in different parts of the world. Social media isn’t to blame, but it has highlighted an ancient problem. We are prone to angry, dismissive, and hateful rhetoric with fellow human beings. Media platforms are great for advertising; advertising our bad character! 

If Jesus had an account on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or whatever, I know for a fact that He would not rant, attack, or be sarcastic. How do I know? Because Luke 4:22 says that when the people of Nazareth heard Jesus reading Scripture as a part of their Sabbath worship, “All spoke well of Him and marveled at the gracious words that were coming from His mouth.” They all spoke well of Him because of the grace that came from both His mouth and His heart. However, it’s not lost on any of us that just a little while after this event they sought to murder Him. His gracious words became convicting words. His hometown reacted just as violently as they had kindly. 

Remember too, that John summarized Jesus’ words by saying; “No one ever spoke like this man!” When Jesus spoke, He was the embodiment of the prophecy of David in Psalm 45, “Gracious words stream from your lips.”

In my opinion, there is no example of more gracious words spoken by Jesus than the words He shared with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. It’s the longest recorded conversation that Jesus shared with anyone, including His disciples. His encounter with the Samaritan woman was the personification of grace. 

A weary Messiah waits at Jacob’s well for a weary woman to offer her “living water” that would quench the thirsting of her soul. Stunned that He, a Jewish man, would engage her, she responds by accepting His offer. “The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.’” The story doesn’t tell us whether or not she gave Him a drink of water to quench His parched mouth. We can assume that she did while they carried on this grace talk. The imagery is stunning. The Source of living water asks for help from the one who needed His gift of grace. A weary woman gave Jesus what He needed in His moment of thirst. He did all this to draw out the longing of her heart to be loved, forgiven and treasured. Longings which He alone can quench.  

This beautiful exchange gives us a wonderful model for how we should extend grace to others just as God has extended it to us. 

I can’t wait to study this story with you this Sunday. Our services are in person at 9AM and 11AM. For those who can’t make it in person, join our livestream at citycentrebaptist.ca.