Students,If you and I were to sit down at a table over lunch to discuss the question “who needs Jesus?” what would be said? More than likely our minds and our conversations would lead to “those people who” – which would consist of the trouble makers in your school or the “bad” people in your parent’s workplaces. The problem is we would never turn it inward, to examine ourselves, nor would we really be discussing the big picture of God.
If we look to the Scriptures, in John 3 and 4, we see the range of those who need Jesus. We have the religious, moral, and upstanding community guy named Nick. He is knowledgeable of God’s law, attends worship, and does his part. In John 4, though, we have a different person. It is the woman at the well. She is an outcast in her community. She has tried to find fulfillment for her life in all the wrong places, which has led to several marriages that ended in divorce, and she’s shacking up with a man now that’s not her husband.
Now, these are very different people, different circumstances, and definitely viewed differently in their communities, yet Jesus interacts with them both and tells them both that something is missing in their lives. This missing link is a relationship with Him.
So you see the range is wide and deep, and vast when we consider who needs Jesus. Basically it is everyone and anyone – the good, the bad, and everyone in between.
Our culture as a whole lives as if morals earn us a spot in heaven and immorality earns us a spot in hell. Both views are misinformed. Nick, although religious and moral, still lacked what was needed. The woman at the well, although her life was in shambles, still had an opportunity to be made whole. Both needed Jesus.
If we look to the Scriptures, in John 3 and 4, we see the range of those who need Jesus. We have the religious, moral, and upstanding community guy named Nick. He is knowledgeable of God’s law, attends worship, and does his part. In John 4, though, we have a different person. It is the woman at the well. She is an outcast in her community. She has tried to find fulfillment for her life in all the wrong places, which has led to several marriages that ended in divorce, and she’s shacking up with a man now that’s not her husband.
Now, these are very different people, different circumstances, and definitely viewed differently in their communities, yet Jesus interacts with them both and tells them both that something is missing in their lives. This missing link is a relationship with Him.
So you see the range is wide and deep, and vast when we consider who needs Jesus. Basically it is everyone and anyone – the good, the bad, and everyone in between.
Our culture as a whole lives as if morals earn us a spot in heaven and immorality earns us a spot in hell. Both views are misinformed. Nick, although religious and moral, still lacked what was needed. The woman at the well, although her life was in shambles, still had an opportunity to be made whole. Both needed Jesus.
So when you and I interact with others as we travel through our everyday routines let’s ask this question, “Does this person need Jesus?” The answer will always be yes.
John 3:16,
SB
