He is Waiting

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

HE IS WAITING

John 4:4-6

4 Now he had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.

NIV

We all know the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman which is narrative is the set up for, but there is something else here that perhaps might be of a slight interest to investigate. Why would John write that Jesus was tired from the journey?  Why would Jesus get tired, isn’t he God in the flesh? How can God get tired? Although it is true that he is fully God he is also fully man, but why was he the only one that was tired as his disciples kept going on into town to buy food and bring it back to him? Weren’t they tired as well from the journey? It does seem strange that Jesus was the only one that was so tired he had to sit down by Jacob’s well. Now if he had not gotten tired he would have never had the opportunity to talk with the woman which led to a whole area of people experiencing his divine personality and coming to believe in him. Is it possible that Jesus, although fully human, and maybe experiencing tiredness so he can identify with us when we are tired from a journey, was actually pretending to be tired so as to have this encounter with the Samaritan woman. Is it possible that Jesus is always right there ready to have an encounter with whoever needs to have an experience of a lifetime? The answer is a resounding yes. Jesus will always reveal the truth about our lives to us. He will be there waiting to meet us, to speak with us, to give us an opportunity to serve him, as he was to ask of this woman. But we get ahead of ourselves here and we should simply see the truth here of Jesus waiting for us to come along, to be there ready to show us the truth of our lives. He was not really tired, he needed to be there, he knew want he was going to do and he set it up perfectly as only he could. Whenever we need, Jesus will always be there waiting by the well to speak with us. He is waiting.