JOHN 4:3-26 NKJV

By Almon Bartholomew

This is one of the most fascinating stories to be found in Jesus visit upon earth. It is the most unlikely dramas ever to be played out. The Son of God talks with a moral compromising woman. A Jew conversed with a Samaritan. She approached a well to quench her physical thirst. Although she never knew she needed one, she discovered a divine tonic that satisfied her spiritual thirst. Before her encounter with Jesus she avoided any interaction with a hostile public. Upon meeting Him, and drinking water from the well of salvation she ran to the city and told everyone what had happened to her. She was transformed from a self imposed exile to a publically exposed evangelist!

Before we get down that road to far, let us look back upon a divine interruption. He took no shortcut going to Galilee from Jerusalem. He felt compelled to go through Samaria, a longer and more tiring journey. As Jesus and His disciples approached Samaria they came upon the well of Sychar. In weariness, Jesus sat down to rest by the well while his disciples went to hunt down some food. In the midst of that long, long trip, Jesus had a moment of silent solitude, just recouping from the arduous trek. His quiet time was suddenly interrupted by a woman with a checkered past and His tranquil moment ceased.

We have experienced those times interruption. When we moved from Albany to Mount Ephraim, NJ we finally got our bed set up at 2:00 O’clock in the morning. A drug addict was at our door at six A.M. We reached the home of our parents for vacation time some 300 miles away from our church in New Jersey. A call was waiting for us of a death in the church. The next day we made a special return trip for the funeral. The man who expired had given his heart to Jesus Christ just three weeks earlier. Many, many more interruptions in ministry and life occurred. Duty called and God met us in those divine interruptions.

None of us like to get interrupted. We all ask the question, “Why, in the hospital when I am sound asleep, should the nurse wake me up to give me a sleeping pill”? That just doesn’t make any sense! Don’t interrupt me when I am sleeping! Doesn’t it annoy you when you are half way through doing something and someone stops you and asks you to do something else? How many of you have been awakened at 2:30 in the morning by a telephone ringing and the person on the other end says, “Sorry, wrong number”? I will tell you something worse; that’s when the telephone rings at that ungodly hour and it is the right number. Phone calls at that hour are generally not filled with good news.

Let us change the scene for just a moment. It happened at the house where Jesus dwelt. It was midnight. A persistent knock came at the door. Who could possibly be coming at that hour? It could be a friend, a total stranger, a believer in need, an antagonist bringing trouble, “Who could it be”? John wrote, in chapter three of his gospel that it was Nicodemus, a member of the high court, the Jewish San Hedron. He would be the equivalent of the Chief Justice of our Supreme Court. This group stoutly opposed Jesus. What could this man possibly want?

This was a divine interruption occurring in the middle of the night. Some leaders would have said, send my assistant to the door and tell the person to see me in my office at 9:30 tomorrow morning. But, not Jesus, he politely invited this leader in and heard his plea. Nicodemus spoke respectfully addressing Him as Teacher, Master, acknowledging that Jesus was sent from God and the miracles of His ministry confirmed this. Jesus cut right across the formalities and went to the heart of the matter and clearly told him that a person must be born again to enter the Kingdom of God. This startled this highly esteemed religious leader and he asked how this new birth could happen. Jesus explained the way to true salvation. This is what Nicodemus needed to hear. The divine interruption turned out to be a divine appointment.

God is still turning the interruptions in our lives to give us opportunity to come to know Him by being born again, the beginning of a brand new life by accepting him as Lord and Savior.

In Luke 8:41-42 a desperate father, a ruler in the local Synagogue came to Jesus, falling at his feet and pleading for Him to come and heal his dying 12 year old daughter. Nothing could be more urgent. As Jesus and His entourage hastily made their way Jesus suddenly stopped and asked “Who Touched Me”? His disciples said “you have been pushed and shoved and crunched by the crowd all day. How can you ask who touched me?” It was a divine interruption. Jesus told them that virtue went out from him. A woman who suffered for twelve years with excessive bleeding was instantly healed. Jesus recognized her faith. They continued on and by the time they Jairus home the young girl had already died and the mourners were there bemoaning her loss of life. Jesus removed everyone from the room, where the girl was lying, except Peter, James and John, and raised her from the dead. A divine interruption made time for a miracle of healing and a resurrection from the dead.

There are many more such interruptions. I choose, for lack of time, but one more instance. The event was recorded in Luke 7:12-16. A woman, from the city of Nain, a widow and mother of one son was suddenly once again bereaved. This son died. With grief, and broken heart, joined by a large crowd of people, the lonely mother followed the casket bearing her son’s body. For some unknown reason the procession halted. There was an interruption. Jesus showed up and touched the side of the casket. Suddenly the son sat up and began to speak. A mother received her only son back to life. It was a divine interruption initiated by Jesus.

I don’t claim to know all of the needs in each of your lives today. But, there is one who knows all of your needs, and which need is the most pressing. The Lord wants to change the course of our lives, redirecting us from an earthly journey to a heavenly one. He interrupts us to tell us that He loves us that He died for us, that He wants to give us a new hope and a new life that be eternal. This life begins by inviting him to come into your heart and asking Him to forgive you of each and every sin. He will answer your sincere prayer and become the greatest friend you could ever have. A divine Interruption awaits each one of us. Seize the opportunity right now.

For over 70 years, Al Bartholomew has been bringing the Word of God to the people of New York State.