Going to Places Others' Avoid

People did not understand Jesus. People could not predict his next move because it seemed that he did things that were counter-intuitive. He would say things that were not popular. He would spend time with people that were not desireable. He would go to places that many avoided.

  People naturally seek to live and visit places that are safe and have many things to offer them and their families. There is nothing wrong with this. God put in us an innate sense to seek after things that would be enjoyable. We would rather see a beautiful mountain scape or a scenic beach rather than a smelly swamp or an abandoned graveyard. No doubt Jesus enjoyed the beautiful and joyful things that the Father has given to men; but he had a mission. His mission was to go into the mess of the world and redeem it into something beautiful.  

When Jesus called his disciples to follow him at the beginning of the book of John. Philip was trying to convince his friend Nathanael that Jesus was indeed the one sent from God to save people. Nathanael responded that nothing good can come from Nazareth, the hometown of Jesus. Later in the book of John, the pharisees said that a prophet could never come from Galilee, the province where Nazareth was located. According to scholars, Galilee was an undesirable place in the minds of the religious elite because of its mixture of races and it’s sporadic observance of the law.  

Jesus lived in an undesirable town perfectly observing the law of God and being an example of holiness to all. He changed the reputation of Nazareth for all time. It was a town in which people did not want to live. It now is known as the birthplace of the Savour of the world. Everyone else saw a place with no potential. God saw the place from which Jesus would begin the mission of redeeming the whole world.  

In the time of the New Testament, Samaria was a region hated by the Jews because they looked down on the samaritans, again because of their mixed race and faulty observance of the law. On one of Jesus’ travels with his disciples, he told them that he had to travel through Samaria. Samaria was not in the direct route to his destination. The disciples surely did not want to go their because of its reputation. But for some reason, Jesus had to go there.

When he got there, he met a woman that was known as an adulter. This is scandalous in three regards. Women at this time were viewed as lesser than men. He was a Jew and she was a samaritan. She had a known scandalous reputation. All of this did not matter to Jesus because he wanted this woman to know that he could give her forgiveness, acceptance and a new life. His disciples could not believe that he would be associating with this woman. Nevertheless, Jesus shared the good news that he could connect her to a loving God.

Not only did this woman believe in Jesus, but she was used by God to tell her whole town about what Jesus had down for her. They could not believe that this woman could be as bold as to tell about a Savior who would redeem the whole world. This town that was avoided by most was selected by Jesus to be a place of redemption and joy.

And all of us, if we are honest, are undesirable in some ways. We are unjust and sinful. Our hearts are turned inward toward selfishness. Jesus did not steer away for us. He came for us in our place of mess. He suffered and died as a sacrifice for our sins so that we could connect to God and be made new, beautiful, holy.

Therefore, let’s follow the Lord’s example in going towards people and places that others would avoid to be his instruments of reconciliation. We will suffer. It will be uncomfortable. But, we will join in the mission of Jesus and experience joy that no one can take from us.