MORNING WATCH • DAY 17
Jesus Values and Includes Those Others Reject
(Based on John 4:1-26 – The Woman at the Well)
KEY SCRIPTURE FOCUS
John 4:1-26
Jesus intentionally reaches out to a Samaritan woman shunned by society. He sees her true worth, speaks to her with dignity, and reveals Himself as the Messiah – choosing to share this truth first with one the world had cast aside.
RELATED SCRIPTURES
- Matthew 9:10-13 – Jesus eats with tax collectors and sinners: “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
- Luke 19:1-10 – Jesus seeks out Zacchaeus, a hated tax collector, and declares salvation has come to his home.
- Galatians 3:28 – “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
REFLECTION
It’s easy to let society’s labels and judgments shape how we see others. But Jesus shows us that every person carries infinite worth in God’s eyes – no matter their background or past. We are called to look beyond surface differences and recognize the soul that Christ died to save.
QUOTE FROM ELLEN G. WHITE
“Jesus did not hesitate to meet this woman face to face, though she was of a race despised by the Jews, and her character was one that men held in abhorrence. He saw in her a soul for which He had paid the ransom of His own life. He ignored neither her nationality nor her guilt, but He looked beneath the surface of her degradation to the possibilities that would be awakened by the presence of divine love.”
– The Desire of Ages, p. 186
PRACTICAL STEPS FOR TODAY
- Look beyond labels to see every person as Jesus does
- Initiate connection with those others avoid
- Tear down barriers of prejudice in your life
- Share truth with grace and love
- Lift up and empower those who feel rejected