The Fields Are Ripe
ALL people are created in the image of God!
Jesus chose one of the most socially shunned people to be the first to identify Him as the Messiah!
Jesus proclaimed a time of great chaos to be the occasion that the harvest was ready!
In John 4 we read the account of Jesus and the woman at the well. Of the many lessons to learn from this event, there are 3 I ask you to consider.
First:
Jesus went out of His way to travel through Samaria for the specific purpose of meeting the Samaritan woman. In doing so, Jesus blasted through multiple social barriers shattering the sinful cultural barricades to splinters. The Samaritan woman was rejected because of her gender, rejected because of her ethnicity, and rejected because of her sin. She was as low in society as one could get. This is the person whom God chose to be the one to first publicly hear that Jesus is the Messiah. This is the person God chose to be the one to initiate the public ministry of Jesus, the Christ. Jesus did not reject her. Jesus showed her love, called her out of sin, and gave her great honor.
Second:
This powerful beginning to Jesus’ public ministry remained a foundation of the gospel. Mankind seeks to determine the value of people based upon earthly differences. This is sin and rebellion against the nature and heart of God. Starting with the Samaritan woman, Jesus modeled the truth that ALL people are created in the image of God regardless of mistakes, color, or socio-economic status. Thereby, ALL people should be treated as image-bearers of God.
Third:
God sent His Son into the world during great struggle. If there had been social media during that time, you would have been reading daily posts of racial hate, extreme poverty, deadly diseases, and extreme debauchery. A common earthly response would be to consider hope gone. However, it was exactly when God said, “The time is now!” Upon concluding the conversation with the Samaritan woman, Jesus openly declared to the disciples, “Lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are ripe for harvest.”
We are currently looking to recover from a health pandemic and watching unrest in our streets. Many may think hope is gone. But now is the day of salvation. Now is the time for harvest. Now is the time for the Church to lead the way in what real love is. Just as in the days of Jesus, now is the time. The fields are ripe for the harvest. Now is the day of salvation!
