The King and I

The 4/25 verse of the day is John 4:25, "The woman said, 'I know the Messiah will come--the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.'" (NLT)

Recently we were back in Kentucky visiting and had the opportunity to tour a horse farm steeped in tradition and history. While I loved the feel of this horse farm, it wasn't what I was expecting. It was different, more normal really, than another horse farm I had toured several years earlier. This one really seemed like a farm. There were wooden barns with stables and hay and all the sights and smells that come with horse farms.

I had gone on a private tour with some co-workers to the other horse farm several years earlier. I told the tour guide the name of the farm and that it was totally different from the current farm we were touring. The other farm didn't even seem like a farm. The barns were more like massive structures of brick or stone and the interior was quiet immaculate and filled with grandeur and opulence. The walls were made of some kind of expensive wood, like oak, and the floors seemed spotless. I was convinced that these horses were better off than many humans, or at least their digs were much fancier.

I thought all horse farms were going to be this way. The previous farm I had toured was owned by two Arab brothers. I had even gotten to meet them outside of the main house and had the chance to shake hands with them. I really had no idea who they were. The guide informed me that one of the brothers had since died and the other was now the leader of Dubai! Wow, I had met royalty and didn't even know who he was. Furthermore, at the time, I could have cared less. I was more in awe of the barns than a prince who had since become the king of his country!

Can you relate to being in the presence of someone important, maybe even royalty, without having the slightest clue of who they really were? That was the case for the woman at the well with Jesus in the verse above. She was talking about a coming Messiah who was already in her presence! How could she not know who He was?

You'd think we would know Jesus if we met him, right? I mean, we've seen enough pictures, haven't we? I meant that facetiously, but we really have seen pictures of Jesus in our mind's eye and the stories of Him in the bible leave pictures in our hearts. Those pictures don't really have a face; they don't need to. They just need to have a "place" in our hearts.

Now, before you go getting too hard on the woman at the well, think about how blind we once were. Before you saw Jesus for who He really is, did you recognize all the times He met you where you were; showed up when you were in your shame, isolation or denial? This woman showed up at the well in the heat of the mid-day sun. No one else in town came to the well at this time. They came either earlier in the morning, before the sun got hot, or late in the evening, as the day got cooler. For her to show up alone there is good reason to believe that she was ashamed of being there when the others came for their water. She was ashamed and isolated and probably ridiculed for the life she led.

Jesus soon pegged her for her lifestyle. She was in yet another of a long line of relationships, and the man she was currently living with was not her husband. Nabbed! But not disgraced. The author of grace showed her His best seller. He told her who He was. Truth be known, He was only there to introduce her to the face of grace. He knew her thirst could never be quenched with the water she was drawing from the well. She needed to meet the Living Water to be washed of her sin and shame. He met her where she was. She would never be thirsty again.

Maybe you've never met an earthly king face to face. Even though I did, once, it didn't really leave much of an impact on me. On the other hand, when I finally met, and recognized, my King, I couldn't deny who He was. I gotta tell you, He's one tall drink of water and the only One who will ever quench my thirst. He's my Prince of Peace; my King of Kings. I guess I've come to recognize real royalty when I see Him, huh?