A WELCOMING PLACE

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

After the two days, He left for Galilee. (Now Jesus Himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.) When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that He had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, for they also had been there.

John 4:43-45

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Have you ever went somewhere and felt the joy that comes with being welcomed?

I know I have.

For example, my little hometown of 5,000 in western Pennsylvania is around an eight hour drive from my home in Virginia Beach, Virginia. It’s a day trip to get home where I still have family, a trip that covers a lot of miles and wearies the traveler.

But something magical happens when I arrive home. My wife and I walk up to the door of my mother’s home and there she is, inviting us in with a warmth and love that melts away the fatigue of that long trip. Her hugs and kisses, born out of her deep love for us both, add icing to the proverbial welcome cake as we come in, sit down, and talk about life - past, present, and future. Later, we will usually enjoy a nice meal with each other, a meal that my mother always insists in preparing. Again, all in the spirit of welcoming us back home again.

Well, as we saw in yesterday’s message, Jesus had an experience where He had found a welcoming place with the most unlikely of inviters. For after His encounter with a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well, an encounter made so incredible because of the caustic relationship between the Samaritans and Jews, the scriptures tell us that the woman ran to town to tell others about Jesus and some came to believe in Him simply by her testimony. And so they asked Jesus if He would stay with them for two days and after accepting the offer, we read where many other Samaritans came to place their faith and trust in Him, proclaiming:

“We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.” John 4:42

You see, this is what happens when anyone opens their hearts up to Jesus and welcomes Him into their lives. They don’t have to rely on the testimony of others about Him for they discover for themselves that He really is the Savior of the world.

Going back to the scriptures, we see in today’s passage that there were others who wanted to spend time with Jesus as well, something that would be a common theme of His ministry as it built momentum and grew. Look at these verses and what took place after Jesus left Samaria:

After the two days, He left for Galilee. (Now Jesus Himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.) When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that He had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, for they also had been there. John 4:43-45

Jesus left Samaria after the two days He was asked to spend and “left for Galilee”. Now, Galilee should ring a bell for anyone who is in the know about Jesus and even if someone is just learning about Him through this devotional series, we have touched on the connection between Jesus and this region already. For we know that although Jesus was born in Bethlehem, He grew up in Nazareth which is referred to in the scriptures as His hometown. And so given this, Jesus would have been known as a Galilean which simply means He hailed from Galilee, much like a Samaritan would be connected to Samaria.

So essentially, Jesus was returning to His homeland after His time in Judea and Jerusalem as well as Samaria.

Go back to the start of this message and my testimony about the welcome I always get when I return home. Well, it wasn’t exactly always that way for Jesus and you may recall the time documented in the scriptures where His own kinfolk wanted to kill Him after He taught in their synagogue (Luke 4:14-30). Thank goodness this wasn’t always the case for as we read in today’s passage from John, the Galileans actually welcomed Jesus back, mostly because they had witnessed all He had done in Jerusalem during the Passover Festival, having been there as well.

Again, we see an example of what happens when we truly encounter Jesus.

The Samaritans encouraged Jesus to stay and were influenced and transformed by His words as a result.

The Galileans were a little different as they based their welcoming off a prior experience with the Savior of the world.

What’s your story?

Have you come to a place where you have welcomed Jesus into the home of your heart, mind, and soul?

Or if you have never encountered Jesus before today, are you ready to welcome into your life and allow Him to save and transform you?

In the case of the latter, I pray you will invite Him in because He’s waiting and ready to love you and show you a better life, one beyond your wildest imagination, one that will endure for all eternity.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark
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