“He told me all that I ever did.”

Allow me to take you back some 2,000 years ago. Jesus on His way to Galilee stops by a town in Samaria called Sychar. Any Jew or Samaritan living back then knew that Jews and Samaritans were not friends, actually, there was quite a bit of hostility between them. So here was Jesus, resting from His travels by a well in Samaria.

Then comes a woman who is known to have had five husbands and is currently living with a man who is not her husband. I’d like you to wear Middle Eastern, 2,000-year-old glasses for a moment. This woman probably lived with a very heavy sense of shame to the extent that she went out to the well close to noon, while it was very hot, probably to avoid meeting people who would give her “the looks” that she did everything to try to avoid.

She meets a Jewish man at the well and I’m guessing she probably tried to avoid eye contact with him, let alone a conversation! Jesus initiates this incredible conversation that you may be familiar with. He reveals to her that He knows about her life of sin, but graciously does not condemn her, but rather commends her for telling the truth! Not only does He reveal to her that He knows about her life of sin, but He reveals who He is with such direct authoritativeness that gives me goose bumps reading it, “I who speak to you am he (the Messiah)” (John 4:26). Wow! Imagine being there and asking Jesus about the Messiah and having Him reply, “I who speak to you am he!” I probably would have lost consciousness!

And what does she do then? Jesus’ disciples return from having bought food, and the woman leaves her water jar and goes back to her town. And what does she do? She goes around telling everyone she meets that she just met “a man who told me all that I ever did” (John 4:29). What?! Do you seriously want to tell people about what you’ve done? How has your source of shame suddenly become something you’re proud of?!

My friends, this is the result of the miraculous encounter with Jesus Christ! She was no longer ashamed of her sin. She left her town trying to avoid meeting people. She returned talking to everyone she met about her encounter. She left covered in shame. She returned covered in grace. She left thinking only of herself. She returned thinking of everyone else except herself. She left totally immersed in her own story. She returned immersed in His story.

My friends, knowing Jesus is not about religion! Knowing Jesus is an intimate relationship that changes our being at the deepest level! And the amazing thing is that the initiative and invitation come from Him! Just as He initiated conversation with a woman who wouldn’t have dared speak to Him, He does the same with you and me today. He came to earth, became a man, died a physically excruciating and emotionally humiliating death, to restore our relationship with Him.

Don’t let Satan trick you into believing that you’re not good enough. None of us are good enough. Jesus had the longest conversation recorded in the Bible with a woman drowned in sin. This is the supernatural transformation that occurs when we meet Jesus.

I’ll close with the words that the Samaritans told the woman after they met Jesus themselves and believed, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world” (John 4:42).

My friends, His door is open. See and hear and know for yourselves. I promise you that your life will never be the same again, for He will tell you all that you ever did, but will do so with such gentleness, such respect, such grace, such forgiveness that will transform you forevermore.