And They Marveled

“And at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman…” John 4:27

From one end of the Bible to the other is Jesus overturning the religious mindsets and traditions of a culture rooted in ways soon to be deemed old and finished. It doesn’t mean there is no value in what once was but something new was brewing and Jesus was now declaring the past to become the past. Even Isaiah foreshadowed the Messiah and His coming to birth a new thing.

But the culture was steeped in law and few could see past it.

Something new was on the horizon and His intentional actions beforehand set a new tone for those born of the Spirit.

He began to do the unthinkable mirroring the heart of the Kingdom of Heaven. Doing what He saw the Father do. Freeing captives from religious bondage and generations of oppression. They weren’t in Egypt anymore but Egypt was still in them.

The religious institutions and its leaders were stunned and offended and even the disciples were “marveling” over Christ and His ways. He was doing something “out of the ordinary.” They simply could not understand it. It opposed all they had ever known.

Today our head knowledge is not lacking but our heart knowledge and divine revelation of Jesus is left, at times, wanting. Much like those in Bible days, we have a picture of Christ that’s not entirely accurate and the body is suffering because of it.

Seminaries and denominations have undergirded our thinking with theologies that make no biblical sense. We’ve accepted lies for truth and partnered with the lording of it over God’s people.

Today we seem to be still marveling over Christ using women. Yet throughout the ages He has done so. Evidence is consistent with scripture while some of our preaching still is not.

I’ve had some that clearly let me know “I’m not listening to a woman.”

Ok. So the Word of God changes based on the gender of the one delivering it?

Hmmm.

Again, no common sense.

Some of us haven’t received the blessings we could have had because Jesus sent them through a woman we in turn rejected or refused to hear.

Some of us women have fallen prey to many lies where the scriptures have been used against us and our rights in the Kingdom. The devil has twisted scripture for generations.

Many have lacked courage to relook at the scriptures for fear of being noted as “rebellious.”

So the approval of man has become more important to us than the truth that sets folks free?

I think it is an important topic to Christ. Think not too lofty of yourself and your dying loyalty to a deeply rooted untruth.

Humility is paramount in the Kingdom of God and pride still comes before a fall.

There is nothing as beautiful as letting God unearth a lie. In that very moment where truth is revealed, we see more of the nature of Jesus.

And we, too, will be found marveling at the lovely ways Christ works, perhaps in ways, and with those, we never thought possible.