Is there something you’re ashamed of? We all have shame in our life; whether it be insecurities, embarrassing life circumstances, or guilt over a particular sin. Did you know the gospel takes that shame away?
In John 4 Jesus meets a woman collecting water in the middle of the day, as opposed to early morning, with the rest of the townsfolk. She was presumably avoiding their stares and comments, for she was dealing with deep shame.
Jesus offers this lady ‘living water’; a metaphor for rest for the soul. Yet the woman is evasive, resisting Jesus’ kindness. Refusing to give up on her, Jesus changes tact in v. 16, by asking the woman to ‘go and call your husband’. As we learn, the woman has had 5 husbands, and is currently shacked up with a 6th man, which was deeply frowned upon in a religious society such as hers. So why does Jesus so blatantly point out this woman’s shame to her? Is it to embarrass her? No. He is trying to help her, in two ways:
Firstly, he is showing her the ‘water’ she has been drinking (i.e. having a man in her life) will never satisfy, meaning she will continue to jump from partner to partner, unless she accepts Jesus’ ‘living water’ (i.e. Jesus himself).
Second, he is saying ‘even though I see right into her very heart, I still love you’. The woman, now stripped of her shame, runs TO the townsfolk to tell them the good news.
No matter how deep our shame may be, it is taken away when we realise the creator of the universe loves us, in spite of any insecurity, embarrassment or sin in our lives. Do you want your shame gone? Then turn to Jesus, who promises to love us in spite of any shame we may carry.
