Facing the Gospel
John 4:4–26
I perceive that you are a prophet. John 4:19
In the city of Basel, Switzerland, there is a carnival each year called Fashnacht. It is much like the Mardi Gras, but it is held during the first week of Lent instead of before it, presumably to show that Basel is Protestant. Whatever the case, Fashnacht certainly does not show the city to be Christian in the biblical sense, for the carnival is always a time of riotous behavior in which the normally restrained and stolid Baselers let themselves go morally. Everyone knows what goes on. But no one knows precisely who is doing what because the revelers wear masks. Each year, however, the Salvation Army makes an attempt to challenge people to a higher standard of conduct by placing posters around the city bearing the German inscription “Gott sieht hinter deine Maske”—“God sees behind your mask.” The point is that God knows what is going on within and who is doing it.
The Lord Jesus Christ is looking into your heart and mind. What does he see? Does he see all that you have done and are doing, unconfessed and demanding his judgment? Must he say of you, “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one” (Rom. 3:10–12)? And is there no more to say? Or can he look at you as one who is indeed a sinner, but whose sin has been judged in his death and who now stands before him clothed in God’s own righteousness?
This is the gospel. All indeed “have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (v. 23). But “there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (8:1).
You may be one who has seen something of your own sinfulness. I know that the first reaction upon seeing one’s sin is to back off in despair. “If I am really so sinful,” you ask, “how can God love me? How can he have anything to do with me?” Look at one more phrase in Christ’s words to the Samaritan woman. What did Jesus say to the woman? He said, “Go, call your husband”—that is true; it was an attempt to establish her sinfulness—but he finished the sentence by saying, “and come [back] here” (John 4:16).
“Go, call your husband.” That was a word for her conscience. “Come [back].” That was a word for her heart.
In the same way he speaks to you. You must see your need. You need to face the truth about your own condition. Yet you must also hear his warm invitation. “Come to me” (Matt. 11:28). The way is open. Say, “Yes, I am coming, Lord Jesus.
Taken from Come to the Waters by James Boice ISBN 9798887790954 used with permission from P&R Publishing, Phillipsburg NJ 08865
Scripture quotations are from the ESV (the Holy Bible English Standard Version) copyright 2001 by Crossway a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved.