Series: God and the Nations

Jesus and the Nations

Matthew 15.21-28; Luke 7.1-10; John 4.20-24

In this series we are getting the panoramic view of the purpose of God. Set against the dark backdrop of the Tower of Babel, this purpose began when God called Abram out of Ur and promised to bless the whole world through his family line. God then developed a nation from Abraham and worked almost exclusively with them for several thousand years. But in the fullness of time God purposed to send His Son into the world. When the Son of God was born He was a part of that nation that God had been working with for all those years. Jesus was not born in Egypt, Babylon, Persia, Greece, or Rome. Jesus was born a Jew. He was their Messiah. He was the seed of Abraham. He was the son of David. When Jesus was hanging on a Roman cross, the epitaph above His head stated, with intentional irony, “the king of the Jews.” During His short life, Jesus never left that area of the world we now call Palestine. He was raised by Jewish parents, worshiped in the Temple in Jerusalem, and was later called “Rabbi” by his closest followers, who were all Jews.

But we should not miss the significance of the fact that Jesus also had some encounters with people who were not Jews. And the response of Jesus to these people, along with their response to Him, is an important part of the Gospel and the purpose of God. Remember that God’s promise to Abraham was to bless the whole world through his family. The Jews would also be blessed, but they would be the conduit for blessing every other nation. The writers of the New Testament Scriptures make it very clear that Jesus was the fulfillment of God’s promises to Israel.

So it should not surprise us to read about Jesus blessing people who were not a part of the covenant people. This was what God had been planning from the beginning. There are three episodes I want to consider where Jesus had an encounter with a person who was not Jewish where that person went away with a blessing. Jesus encountered a Roman centurion who had a sick servant he wanted healed. Jesus healed the centurion’s servant and was amazed at the faith of someone who was not even part of Israel. Jesus also encountered a woman who was of Canaanite origins. These were the old enemies of Israel who had occupied the land before God brought the people out of Egypt. This woman had a daughter who was demon-possessed. She asked Jesus to cast out the demon. Jesus tested her faith and her resolve, and the woman passed the test with flying colors and was granted her request. Finally, Jesus went to Samaria, that region to the north of Jerusalem where the people were of a mixed heritage with a distorted version of Judaism, and He spoke to a woman who came to draw water at Jacob’s Well. Not only did Jesus reveal that woman’s heart, He also revealed Himself to her as the Christ, something He never did publicly to the Jews, opening up the door of the Kingdom of God even to the hated Samaritans.

But what is even more surprising than Jesus’ dealings with these outsiders was His contentious dealings with the insiders. Jesus’ own people, the Jews, often did not have much of an interest in what He was saying, unless it would fit in with their own political and social aspirations. The crowds followed Jesus for all the wrong reasons while refusing to really become His disciples and submit themselves to His true agenda. And the response of the religious elites of the Jews was nothing but rejection, unbelief, hostility, and even violence.

The Jews, who thought they were the insiders, were actually being left on the outside of the Kingdom of God while those who were previously the outsiders were being welcomed. Many times those who are the insiders, or who think that they are, forget about how they became insiders in the first place and seem to relish the role of keeping those they deem to be outsiders as far outside as possible. But Jesus’ interaction with the centurion, the Canaanite woman, and the Samaritan woman at the well is a natural and inevitable development in the unfolding of God’s purpose for the nations, even if the nation God used to bring it about mostly failed to see it. And this was just the beginning.

Being a part of the purpose of God has nothing to do with a person’s national origin or ethnic identity. God is not looking for people according to those criteria. There are other qualities that God is attracted to and that make a person eligible to enter the Kingdom: people like the Centurion, the Canaanite woman, and the Samaritan woman are True Seekers, Believing Askers, and Spiritual Worshipers. These are the people Jesus came to bless and gather. These are the people God accepts regardless of their national, religious, or ethnic origins.

True Seekers

All three of these individuals Jesus met were what I would call true seekers. The centurion and the Canaanite woman both came to Jesus. The Samaritan woman evidenced that she was waiting for the Christ to come. One thing we learn from speaking with ordinary people is that everyone is seeking for something, even if they don’t know what it is, and it will often surprise us just how spiritually thirsty people really are.

Sometimes it takes something to bring this to the surface, like some kind of tragedy or personal crisis, or maybe just asking the right questions. Jesus brought out what was really in people, both the good and the bad. The religious leaders of Israel were not the kind of seekers we might have expected them to be. But here is a Roman, a Canaanite, and a Samaritan all coming to Jesus and getting something special from Him. We should never underestimate the spiritual thirst of the human race, even though it is often buried deeply under a lot of warped and twisted desires. Most people don’t really know what they want, but they know they want something that nothing in this world has satisfied. This feeling is something that comes from God because He has made us for Himself, and our hearts will always be restless until we find rest in Him, as Augustine said. And this is true for people all over the world, regardless of their national, ethnic, or religious backgrounds. People are thirsty and they keep going to different wells, looking for a drink that will quench the desires in their souls. Unfortunately, some of those wells are broken cisterns that do not hold any water, as one of the prophets said. And drinking from some of those wells is the spiritual equivalent of drinking from the toilet. But everyone is seeking. Everyone is thirsty. Jesus came for people like that.

We are seeking something because we all sense that something is missing from our lives. We all have a sense of loss that we cannot understand or explain, until it is explained to us. The Bible calls it alienation. We are all homeless, exiled in a world that is really not our true home and is not able to welcome us or care for our deepest needs. Ever since we were kicked out of Eden we have been trying to get home and we never seem to be able to find our way. But when Jesus came He said “I am the way. Follow me and you can come home to the Father’s house.”

Like this Centurion and the Canaanite woman, many people are simply seeking help. Life is hard. People get hurt. It is often our need that drives us to God because we know we can’t handle life on our own. And Jesus did not despise an honest cry for help. Jesus had compassion for people who were hurting. The healing miracles of Jesus were done to show us a certain aspect of the Kingdom of God: God intends to heal all the hurts of the world that have been caused by sin and death. When Jesus healed sick people this was a sign that the Kingdom of God was breaking through. It has not come in its fullness yet. But someone has called the healing miracles of Jesus “previews of coming attractions.” The day is coming when there will be no more death, crying, or pain. It is true that Jesus did not heal every sick person. But when people came to Him and asked, He almost always responded with compassion because that is how God is. God does not turn away people who come to Him with their needs seeking help.

Unfortunately, while everyone is seeking something, many people go to the wrong sources. We go to these different wells thinking that that water will quench our thirst. But we are thirsty still. Many of the sources in this world promises satisfaction, peace, security, happiness, and prosperity cannot deliver what they are promising people. Some of these sources are simply lying and using people. And this leaves people weary and disillusioned. Religion is one of those things that makes promises to people that it cannot deliver. And we are living in a generation that is weary of religion and the people promoting it as the answer to life’s dilemmas. But this is nothing new. Jesus came into a world that was weary and He offered rest. But what Jesus offered was different from anything else the world was offering, and this is still true. Jesus is offering Himself. He is our rest. Jesus is not selling something for His own profit. He is giving us Himself. Jesus came to give. He Himself is God’s gift to the world.

All men are seekers, but we could never find God on our own. The truth is, God is seeking us. Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost. The only reason we are seeking Him is because He is seeking us first. And He wants to be found. The whole purpose of our lives in this world is to seek God. And God is not playing a game of cosmic hide and seek. God is not playing a cruel game with the human race: demanding that we seek Him and then hiding from view while we grope around in vain. The Centurion, Canaanite woman, and the Samaritan woman are examples of people who found God. Or, we could say that they were found by God. And the Gospel writers want us to see that by finding Jesus, who is the Son of God, these individuals found God. When we find Jesus, or are found by Him, we have found God. There is no hope of finding God apart from Jesus. This is why the New Testament is so dogmatic about the Gospel being preached to all the nations. People need to hear this message because they cannot find God on their own.

But we are learning in these examples that people who really want to know the truth will be able to do so. People who really want to get to Jesus can come. Those who seek really do find. Those who knock will eventually find the door opening to them. When everything is seen in retrospect, it will become obvious that everyone got what they really wanted. And God is no respecter of persons. ANYONE who truly seeks shall find. God shows no favoritism. “To those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life” (Romans 2:7). But the Scriptures teach us that the bold are the ones who get blessed. There must be some effort, some reaching, some asking, and a little knocking on the door before we see it open. We do not have because we do not ask. God is ready and willing to give. We do not come to a stingy, uncaring, or impotent God.

Believing Askers

The very act of coming to God and asking is itself an act of and evidence of faith. The people who don’t come and ask are not believing. No one goes to a source they don’t believe can really help. The Centurion and the Canaanite woman were coming to Jesus because they believed He could do something. They may not have had a full understanding of who Jesus is. But faith has to start somewhere. The irony here is that these Gentiles were believing while most of the Jews did not believe in Jesus. Remember that the father of the Jewish race was known primarily for his faith in God. “Abraham believed God and it was credited to Him as righteousness.” It makes sense that the children of Abraham would also be known by faith. But the natural children were unbelieving. And so the door is open to all people to become children of Abraham by believing in Jesus. Everything depends on faith. Unbelief keeps you out. Belief lets you in.

And these folks were coming to Jesus outside of the official, sanctioned, religious channels. These encounters in the Gospels were rough and raw, taking place in the middle of ordinary, daily life. What is more ordinary than going to a well for a drink? There is nothing religious about that! Jesus destroys all distinctions between religious and secular. Jesus makes all of life into a Divine appointment. Nobody has to wait for a religious ceremony or the invitation hymn to start. Not only that, but no one has to worry about being worthy. In fact, all of these people Jesus encountered already knew they were unworthy. Faith is not moralism. Jesus does not demand that we go and work on our morality until we reach that moment of perfection when we can come to Him and be accepted.

Jesus was always accepting people who had less than perfect moral records, which was one of the things that made the religious establishment so angry with Him. But the Gospel says it is by faith that we are justified, not by works. The people who were coming to Jesus were those who knew they were unworthy of coming to Jesus, while those who thought they were worthy stayed away and became offended at Jesus’ unmerited favor.

But the people who were coming to Jesus were coming because they wanted something from Him. They believed in Him and that He could do something for them. Their faith was personal. They were believing in Jesus Himself. The object of faith is the key. We must believe in Jesus. We have no confidence in ourselves, our ability, or our worthiness. People who DO have confidence in these things have no reason to come to Jesus at all. If you believe in yourself, why do you need Jesus? Jesus didn’t come to call the righteous.

All three of these people exhibit some aspect of true faith. It is important to know what real faith really looks like. Here are some examples. First, there is the Centurion. He illustrates that faith is the recognition of authority. The Centurion simply believes that Jesus can do it because Jesus had authority. There is something refreshingly simple about this man’s faith! The recognition of Jesus’ authority is key to believing in Jesus. Jesus is the Christ, which is a title of authority. It was the religious leaders who, in their unbelief, would later question Jesus’ authority to do and say certain things. But this Centurion had no trouble recognizing Jesus’ authority. In the same way, we are saved when we confess Jesus as Lord, or when we recognize His authority that comes directly from the Throne of God.

And then there is this Canaanite woman. This is an interesting encounter because Jesus pretends not to be interested in her at all. Not only that, He basically calls her a dog! Is she offended? Does she go away in anger, her pride having been hurt? No! She has no pride to be hurt! She not only takes Jesus’ seeming racial insult, she uses it to her advantage to get what she came to get from Jesus. She is not thinking of herself at all, attempting to protect her dignity. She is ready and willing to beg! “I may be a dog and I am willing to eat whatever crumbs just happen to fall from your table.” This woman’s faith was characterized by a humble, self-abandonment that Jesus could not resist!

And then there is the Samaritan woman. She does not come to Jesus. Jesus went to her. But her faith grows as she comes to know more and more about who Jesus is. By the end of the encounter she is even telling the other Samaritans that Jesus is the Christ! Faith is a dynamic thing. Faith grows and expands in the heart of a true believer. That is why people who show some initial faith, no matter how small, always get more knowledge and revelation from Jesus. Those who show no interest get nothing more. “To him who has, more will be given.” The most important response to Jesus is faith, even if there is little understanding. We believe in order to know. Jesus can work with a person who believes, even if that person knows very little to begin with. Jesus wants people who will become His disciples: people who are willing to stay, follow, and learn. The unbelieving and disinterested got very little from Jesus.

Jesus was willing to give more to this Samaritan woman than He was to any of the Jews. Jesus never explicitly revealed to a group of Jews that He was the Christ. But He did reveal that to this Samaritan woman. The difference was in the willingness of the receiver, not in the willingness of Jesus to give.

The Jews did not believe in Him and would not have received this word from Jesus anyway. In spite of all the signs He did, they always demanded another sign! That is unbelief. This Samaritan woman asked for no sign but simply took Jesus at His word, which is what true faith does. To those whose faith was really nothing more than presumption and dead orthodoxy, Jesus was able to give very little. But to an open, honest believer, even one who has questions, Jesus makes Himself known openly and without reservation.

Spiritual Worshipers

The Centurion and the Canaanite woman both displayed faith and got what they wanted from Jesus. But it was to this Samaritan woman at the well, who had not gone in search of Jesus, who got to hear the most profound revelation from Jesus. The more profound revelation is not our search for God but God’s search for us. God is seeking worshipers. God is looking for a certain kind of person who will worship Him and He is not at all particular about where they come from or where they have been previously. The things that God is attracted to in people do not match what men think is important.

The most important thing to God is the worshiper. That’s why Jesus went to Samaria, in violation of all the religious and cultural expectations of that time. Jesus had to go to Samaria because people are more important than religious traditions and institutions. Jesus did not come to build another institution. He came to seek worshipers. God did not send His Son into the world to build another Temple in Jerusalem. That Temple in Jerusalem would be torn down. The Temple Jesus would build will never be torn down because it is made up of living stones. God was not wanting to dwell in a building. He wants to dwell with His people. And right now He is gathering the people who will eventually inhabit the New Jerusalem where a Temple will not be necessary.

And Jesus often appears to be rather indifferent about the moral character and quality of the people He invites to be a part of His community. The Samaritan woman at the well was certainly not a paragon of virtue! But Jesus did not come to call perfect people. There are no perfect people to call. And that is the point. No one deserves to be here. No one is worthy. The only people unworthy are those who think they are already worthy. The only people excluded are those who exclude themselves. And it is always surprising who those people are. The Insiders are becoming Outsiders and the Outsiders get to become Insiders. And that is called grace. Grace is turning the world’s values upside-down. Men value the external. God values what is internal. According to men’s values, this Samaritan woman was disqualified. According to God, she was qualified to become a worshiper.

Of course, there was some baggage that she had to leave behind. You can’t meet Jesus and remain the same person you were before. When we encounter the Truth we are the ones who are changed. Jesus is the Truth. And this Truth is available to all people who want to know. And that is what the Church is supposed to be all about: making the Truth known so that all kinds of people can become true worshipers of the true God. It will often surprise us who these folks turn out to be! The Church Jesus is building sometimes looks like a motley crew of misfits and outsiders, at least right now. But Jesus has thrown the doors of the Kingdom of God wide open! The Door just seems to keep getting wider and wider. And what God has opened, no man should try to shut because no man can.