“Come, see a man who told me
everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” John 4:29
When you think of
“evangelists” who comes to mind first?? Ok, I am sure you have thought of all
the usual suspects, but did you think of people back in Jesus’ time? Yes, the
disciples but… there were others even before them! Can you think of any? Let’s
see.
Tom and I were talking one day and he was getting ready for his
group and the Lord was really speaking to him about how Jesus went out of his
way for the unloved, disliked, rejects of the world. This is a very important
point for the guys that he works with because that is exactly how they feel!!
Unloved, disliked and rejected by everyone around them, their friends, wife,
family, church friends, leaders of the church and sometimes their Pastors
(thankfully not all of them!). So, they automatically think that Jesus feels
the same way about them and have a hard time pursuing a relationship with Him.
But, what is so cool about Jesus is, those are the very people He goes to! Yes!
He goes to the physically, emotionally and spiritually bankrupt people that the
religious Pharisees have cast out and rejected.
Before we get to my selected evangelists, I would like to address
the obvious ones that Jesus chose as His “disciples”, I say chose because that
is what he says in John 15:16 “You did not choose me, but I chose
you and appointed you to go and bear fruit”. These were fisherman!
Rough, gruff, dirty men who were “Unschooled and ordinary men”
(Acts 4:13)! He didn’t pick from the knowledgeable, wealthy, clean cut group
from the Pharisee school… So, it makes me wonder, why do we?
Ok, first up on my
list is a woman. Yes, a woman! In Jesus’ time that is truly unheard of! Can you
guess who this is? I probably gave it away with the first scripture. Yep, the
woman at the well. In my journey to know God I have become more and more aware
of the fact that NOTHING is a coincidence or accidental! God does not waste a
moment, movement or word but EVERYTHING that happens, is done or is said for
His purpose in His amazing plan, and this little rest stop at the well is no
exception! Jesus KNEW who was coming to the well and he was there for HER. Who
was this woman? She was an outcast and rejected by the towns people so much so
that she had to come to the well to get water when there was NO ONE else there.
He spoke to her kindly, lovingly, and did not cast judgment or stones at her.
Typically men did not speak to women and additionally Jews didn’t speak to
Samaritans but Jesus did not follow man’s rules but did only what the Father
told Him to do. In the Biblical account, in addition to kindness, He gave her
words of LIFE, freedom and Living Water! He made such an impact on her that she
went and told the town’s people all about him! “Many of the Samaritans
from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told
me everything I ever did." So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged
him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many
more became believers. They said to the woman, "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 4:39-42). He chose her too! She was one of the first
evangelists! He didn’t choose the qualified, but he qualified the chosen.
Next up has to be one
of our favorites. He is one of the lowest of low, so low he couldn’t even live
among the living but lived in a grave yard! Tortured, naked, demon possessed,
screaming, cutting himself with stones and broken in every way imaginable. “…no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. For he had often
been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on
his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him.” (Mark 5:3-4). But
Jesus had an appointment with this man and nothing was going to stop Him! Even
as they were crossing the lake to the region of the Gerasenes to meet this man a
furious storm came upon them and they feared for their lives. But Jesus spoke
to the wind and the waves and stopped the storm (Mark 4:35-41). This man was
important and Jesus was not to be detained from meeting with him. Jesus did not
see this man the way everyone else did, He saw him through the eyes of love,
grace and compassion and knew just what he needed. Just like He spoke to the
storm and calmed the raging waters and the wind on the lake, Jesus spoke and
cast out the demons and then spoke truth and life into this tortured and
rejected man! And when He was done “... they saw the man who had been
possessed by the legion of demons, sitting
there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid… As Jesus was
getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with
him. Jesus did not let him, but said,
"Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you,
and how he has had mercy on you." So the man went away and began to
tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were
amazed.” (Mark 5:15-20).
Initially the people were so afraid of Jesus because of what
he did with that man that they asked him to leave. I don’t think He was
surprised at this, I think He knew all along that this man was the only
appointment he had there. But, after the man of the tombs did what Jesus told
him to do, and told everyone what Jesus had done for him, the next time Jesus
was in that area, he fed 4000 people who had gathered to hear him (Mark 7:31,
8:1-10)! One of the first evangelists was a broken, rejected, unloved, demon
possessed man! He didn’t choose the qualified, but he qualified the chosen.
The third person was
a very small man by the name of Zacchaeus. While he wasn’t as bad off as the
man of the tombs, he wasn’t very well liked by many people because he was a
chief tax collector and made himself wealthy doing it! Everyone saw him as a ruthless
sinner and low life but to Jesus, he was the perfect evangelist. He had an
appointment with a low life, cheating tax collector and actually invited
himself to his house! Because Zacchaeus was so short he had to climb a tree to
see Jesus through the crowd, and when “Jesus reached the spot, he looked
up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your
house today." So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly. All the
people saw this and began to mutter, "He has gone to be the guest of a
'sinner.' " But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord! Here and
now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody
out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount." Jesus said to
him, "Today salvation has come to this
house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came
to seek and to save what was lost." (Luke 19:1-10) I believe
Zacchaeus was no different than the women at the well or the man in the tombs,
Jesus touched his heart in a way that no other did, or could, with love,
acceptance, approval, kindness and grace and transformed him to be another
evangelist who told everyone what Jesus had done for him!
Jesus loved the
unlovable and touched the untouchable without flinching or fear. How about the
leper!? Jesus could have “spoken” words of healing to this man but instead, he
TOUCHED him! An unclean, contagious leper! This was not an accident and He was
fully aware of what He was doing. He was making a point to everyone around who
was watching Him, there was nothing that He could not do and there was NO ONE
He did not love or care for. “A man with leprosy came and knelt
before him and said, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me
clean." Jesus reached out his hand
and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be
clean!" Immediately he was cured of his leprosy. Then Jesus said to him, "See that you don't tell anyone. But
go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a
testimony to them." (Matthew 8:1-4) Even though Jesus said not
to tell anyone, you KNOW he did!! Another evangelist sent out to tell people
about Jesus!
How many more of these encounters and appointments did Jesus
have that were not recorded? I believe there were many, many more.
So, how about you? Do you feel unloved, unqualified,
rejected and cast out? Then I believe that Jesus has an appointment with you!!
For, it is by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony
that we overcome the enemy (Revelation 12:11)!
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