My heart sunk as I looked at my calendar. I’d had an appointment to keep, but I’d missed it. 

Again.

For the second time, I missed my appointment with my child’s school principal.

Shrouded in shame, I reached for my phone and froze as I imagined the principal reaching for his—but not to call me.

“Department of Social Services. May I help you?” 

“Yes, this is the principal of Pineview Elementary. I’d like to report an unfit mom.”

Unfit Woman at the Well

Ages ago, Jesus also had an appointment to keep. We know because John recorded it. 

“And He had to pass through Samaria.”

John 4:4

Jesus had to pass through Samaria? Surely he didn’t have to.

No good Jew in those days traveled through Samaria. They despised the Samaritans and wore a well-trodden path around their land to avoid them. 

If Jesus didn’t have to go through Samaria because of roads, then why did He? He showed us by what He did when He got there. 

Jesus rested by Jacob’s well and waited. He had an appointment no one else knew about except His Father. And she showed up right on time. 

Jesus, a Jew, had an appointment with an unmarried Samaritan woman who was living with a man—the sixth man she’d lived with. 

She would never have expected to have an appointment with a Jewish man. But Jesus knew it all. In fact, he told her everything she’d done.

He spared us the details, but no doubt her activities were of questionable nature. What was Jesus thinking? No proper Jew would’ve kept that appointment. But Jesus did because God had words of hope and Truth for Jesus to give her. He had the words of Life.

Before His appointment ended, Jesus had changed more than this unfit Samaritan woman. His words of Truth and Life, seasoned with grace and mercy, changed many in her town (John 4:39-42).

His Words are still changing lives.

Unfit College Student on I-75

More than 2,000 years later, in 1982, Jesus had another appointment to keep. 

If John had recorded it, he may have written, “And He had to travel on I-75.” 

Jesus had an appointment with a college student as she drove on I-75. He spoke to her heart and told her everything she’d ever done.

Like the woman at the well, Jesus didn’t drive this student away in shame. Instead, He used His words of Truth, seasoned with grace and mercy, to draw her to Himself. 

Jesus drew me back to Himself. 

Years earlier, I’d taken a wrong turn and wound up far from God. But from the foundations of the earth, Jesus had an appointment with me set for that moment in my Honda Accord on I-75. And He didn’t miss it. 

Jesus Came for the Ungodly

Jesus travels the highways and byways for the ones He died to save. To bring the dead back to life and restore those far from Him back into relationship with Him. Restored to the Father.

Are you like me? Have you followed a road away from God? Have you steered off in pursuit of your own plans, hopes, and dreams?

I wanted to show God I knew what would make me truly happy. But I learned I was never happier than when I was in the center of God’s will.

And I learned I have a compassionate Savior.

Jesus left the throne room of heaven for the dirt of earth, not for the godly, but for those like me—the ungodly (Luke 5:31-32).

He came to give life to those who are dead in their sins—to give them Living water and life abundant (John 4:10; John 10:10).

Jesus Keeps His Appointments

Perhaps you have a loved one who doesn’t know Jesus or has wandered far from Him. Pray, trust, and rest because Jesus knows. 

Whether your loved one is driving on a highway, working in a corner office, or sitting in a prison cell, do not fret. Jesus keeps His appointments. 

Wait for the Lord; 
Be strong and let your heart take courage;
Yes, wait for the Lord.
Psalm 27:14 NASB

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Listen to: The Woman at the Well

For more on this powerful passage in John 4, listen to this excellent sermon by Pastor Jason Gillespie of Grace Bible Church in Lexington, SC.

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