‘So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim, where our ancestors worshiped?”’ John 4:20(NLT)
‘When Jesus heard this, he told them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”’ Mark 2:17(NLT)
‘For the Son of Man#19:10 “Son of Man” is a title Jesus used for himself. came to seek and save those who are lost.”’ Luke 19:10(NLT)
‘The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. ‘ 2 Peter 3:9(NLT)
‘The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed.’ Isaiah 61:1(NLT)
Let’s start today by going back to Jesus’ first miracle at the wedding in Cana. Do you remember what His first response was to His mother Mary? He said, “Woman, why do you involve me? My hour has not yet come.”
When we look at the verbiage He uses with the Samaritan woman in today’s reading, we see that He uses the same line! He was saying to her, “Believe me, the hour is coming when my spirit will be poured out and you’ll marry me.”
Remember, when Mary asked Jesus at the wedding to help fix the wine situation, He was agitated because He couldn’t yet marry his bride and share a cup with her. But now, He’s telling the Samaritan woman that the hour is coming when He can be betrothed to His bride, and the hour has come when He’s met His bride.
Again, the Samaritan woman is a representation of the bride of Christ. She symbolizes who He came for: the sinners, the sick, the lost, the poor, the brokenhearted, and the prisoners.
Through this encounter, we see that Jesus’ bride is anyone who has sinned and needs a Savior. His bride is anyone who’s messed up and needs freedom from the bondage of sin and shame, which is all of us.
Jesus reminds us here that if we drink the cup of acceptance and choose to say yes to Him, we’ll be washed clean by His blood and set free from the power of darkness. We’ll have a seat at His banquet table and a room in His Father’s house. We’ll be married to Him for eternity.
The hour is now and our time is short. Jesus is offering you His hand in marriage—and believe me, the hour has come for you to accept His offer!
from Will You Marry Me?