Radical Reversal

Miracles on Miracles series

“Radical Reversal” by Wandy Vargas

September 26, 2021

A Samaritan Woman Meets Her Messiah

He [Jesus] left Judea and departed again to Galilee. But He needed to go through Samaria.

John 4:3-4 (NKJV)

The story of the Samaritan woman is a story of radical reversal. Two things about this story stand out the most: (1) There were religious differences between the Jews and the Samaritans - a difference that lasted over four hundred years. To say that they were divided would be an understatement; and (2) Jewish men, more specifically Jewish rabbis, did not speak to women in public, not even their own wives or their daughters.

In John 4, Jesus “needed” to go through Samaria. Jesus could have simply said that he wanted to go through Samaria, but no, he said needed to. Jesus went out of his way to find this Samaritan woman. Jesus, the Messiah, let the Samaritan woman know that day that he saw her. He saw her and knew her, and she was not forgotten. By doing so, Jesus let her know that she had value.

God sees us. He has gone out of his way for all of us. In fact, so far out of his way that he went onto the cross for us. When we accept the love of God personally and believe that we are his beloved, he asks us one important thing: Will we do the same for others, especially for those who are hurting?

Jesus talks about caring for the poor, the marginalized, and the vulnerable more than just about anything else during his time on earth. The Bible has more than 2,000 verses on how we should treat the poor and advocate for justice for the vulnerable.

Matthew 25 famously expresses Jesus' sentiments on how we should treat the poor. Jesus’ kingdom is one of radical reversal. Instead of riding in on a stallion, our king rides in on a donkey. He challenges us to think about every single thing in this life differently. We are called to restore broken circumstances in our world and affirm the inherent dignity of people. Inherent dignity means that no matter who the person is or what title they bear, they are worthy simply because they are created in the image of God.

We often gloss over one of the action steps of Matthew 25 when Jesus calls the people who are hungry, thirsty, homeless, and hurting, those who have the least in this world, his brothers and sisters. In doing so, he affirms their inherent dignity. Often, we tend to protect the false narrative that when people have less, they are less, but Jesus says these are people made in his image and likeness. They are image-bearers of the one true king.

When we say yes to helping build the reversing Kingdom of God, our lives are changed in ways we never thought possible.

Reflection/Discussion Questions:

1. Have you ever experienced a radical reversal in your life? What happened?

2. Have you ever felt less-than, even though you have inherent dignity? What caused you to move out of that place?

3. What has your experience been with the false narrative that when people have less, they are less?

4. What is Jesus calling you to do to help those who have less and are marginalized in our world?