Jesus A True Friend Of Mine John 4:4-29

We often want to over spiritualize Jesus and forget that he was every bit a regular person like you or I before his three years of ministry. He came from very humble beginnings much like you and I. He could have easily worked on a factory line or in an auto part's store. "Common" would be a great word to describe him and it was common people that he was most comfortable being with. You could say, "Jesus would be more comfortable in our house than in the White House. "
Unfortunately, most Christians in their desire to "lift Jesus higher," lift him so high that he is beyond the reach of common people.
John 4:4-19 Jesus' encounter with the woman at the well, is just one of many examples, of his desire to reach out to people just like you and I.
Jesus was labeled a "glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners," not by the average Joe, but by the so called "spiritual elite" of the day. Jesus was a friend not to dunkards or tax collectors or even sinners, but rather he friends with people who had names like Zacheus, Mary Magdaline, Peter, James, and John (to name a few).
Jesus' friendships were not based who measured up, and who didn't, but rather with people who needed and wanted the kind of friendship only Jesus could offer. When Jesus looks upon a person, what he sees, is value. Unlike you and I who will often judge people on looks and first impressions, Jesus looks past all of that and sees a person's heart. A person he wants to know better, a person he wants to truly call his Friend.
This was the kind of woman Jesus met at the well. We are not told her name only that she was a Samaritan woman. Its another way of saying that any decent person would rather go thirsty than stoop so low as to ask her for a drink. I suppose Jesus couldn't be considered a "decent" person, because he did ask her for a drink of water. She was stunned and replied, "How could you ask me for a drink of water?"
Don't let anyone tell you that you can't offer something to Jesus. The fact of the matter is, any healthy friendship is a two way street. What can we offer God that has real meaning? All God asks of anybody, is a genuine love and respect. That is why he created us, so that we could love him with our whole heart and live in respect to his ways.
She couldn't believe that anyone would ask her for water, much less Jesus. Here is a fact; we all have things in our lives that we are not proud of, and there will always be those who make it their self-appointed job to remind us everyday. So much so, that we may believe that any "normal" person wouldn't ever want anything to do with us. Yet Jesus isn't just any normal person. Jesus has the love and grace to receive everybody, no matter what others have led us to believe or our own actions might otherwise tells us.
Jesus told the woman, "Go and get your husband." She replied, "I have no husband." Jesus said, "Your right," "You have had five husbands and the man you have now is not your husband." Here is a great truth and even greater relief, Jesus already knows everything about us. Therefore, there is no need to fear him, nor be embarrased about our lives, or even attempt to clean them up. Jesus knows us better than we know ourselves, and still he holds out his hand in friendship to anyone willing to recieve it.
This woman was a nobody, infact she was considered the lowest of the low, and knowing all of this, Jesus looked past all of the junk, and saw a person just like you and I. She was exactly the kind of person he wanted to spend an eternity getting to know.
Do you know Jesus as your personal friend? Wouldn't you want a true friend like Jesus, one who has the love and grace to look past all the junk in our lives and says to us, "If your willing, I'm willing."