Crazy or God

John 4:5-15, 19-26, 39, 40-42:

Jesus came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there. Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down there at the well. It was about noon. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” His disciples had gone into the town to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, “How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” —For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.— Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink, ‘you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you do not even have a bucket and the cistern is deep; where then can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this cistern and drank from it himself with his children and his flocks?” Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water. “I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain; but you people say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus said to her, “Believe me, woman, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You people worship what you do not understand; we worship what we understand, because salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth; and indeed the Father seeks such people to worship him. God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that the Messiah is coming, the one called the Christ; when he comes, he will tell us everything.” Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking with you.” Many of the Samaritans of that town began to believe in him. When the Samaritans came to him, they invited him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. Many more began to believe in him because of his word, and they said to the woman, “We no longer believe because of your word; for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the savior of the world.”

Blog:

A lot of people say that Jesus was a “Good Teacher”, a “Prophet”, a “Wiseman”, etc., but many don’t acknowledge Him as God.  But Jesus couldn’t possibly be just any of those things given that He claimed to be God.  A “Good Teacher” wouldn’t lie to His students.  A “Prophet” wouldn’t tell false prophesies.  And, a “Wiseman” would be considered a fool (or worse) for making irrational claims.  But that’s what Jesus did.  He made what seemed to many people lots of irrational claims.  In fact, those same irrational claims got Him crucified by His very own people.  Many other religions and religious leaders acknowledge that Jesus was “special”, but unless we stand with Jesus on His claims to be One with the Almighty, He wouldn’t be very “special” to us at all.  If we claim to be a part of God, the world considers us crazy – just as it did with Jesus.  But we are all made in the Image of God and, for those Baptized in Christ, we have the Power of the Holy Spirit coursing through our Souls.  So, as we strive to be Holy like Jesus, we should get comfortable with the “craziness” that the world prescribes on those that follow Christ.  Remember, the world first labeled the early Believers as “Christians” as they were “turning the world upside down” (per Acts 17:6).  The world continues to label us even today – as “racists”, “antisemites”, “radical traditional Catholics”, “Evangelical domestic terrorists”, etc.  So, why worry?  Let’s embrace the “crazy” and love recklessly.  For, as One Body in Christ, the Universal Church today (made-up of all Christian Denominations) is the most diverse (race, ethnicity, age, gender), pro-Jewish (we Pray to the King of the Jews), and “radically-inclined” Group of folks the world has ever seen.  And, that “frightens” the world into kicking and screaming at us as we continue to shine our Lights into the darkness in Spirits of Love.  Shine on…