Boundaries Jesus crossed.

[Rev. Sham P Thomas]

Jesus is an eternal boundary breaker. First by his incarnation and then by his ministry of preference for sinners rather than for the righteous.The boundaries that Jesus broken are (in John 4)

1. Geographical: (John 4:3-4) He always used to the less traveled path. Samaria was not a short cut. But he just had to go. (This is mentioned in the following verses from John: 3:14, 9:4, 10:16, 12:34, 20:9 and 4:20,24.) He came not only for the people of Israel but also to the people marginalised and despised. (Mark 7:24-30)
2. Racial: (John 4:4-6) Jews didn't come in contact with Samaritans, whereas Jesus came to a Samaritan woman for water.
3. Social: Jesus gave alternative narrations. He crossed boundaries through stories. He gave a story about Samaritans as models of faith and carriers of faith. Jesus brought out alternative actions. He touched and ate with the untouchables. Finally Jesus made himself vulnerable in front of an untouchable by allowing an untouchable to touch him. He lived with the untouchables for two days.
4. Gender: (John 4:27) The disciples were surprised to see Jesus talking to an woman. She was an exploited woman. She was married 5 times (may be divorced each time) and a man is now imposing himself on her without a named relationship. This Samaritan woman became a successful apostle. She brought the entire village to Jesus. She is placed above the Jew (Nicodemus) who came to Jesus in the dark.
5. Religious: (John 4:20-26) The Samaritan woman wanted to know the right place for worship. Jesus tells her that there is no such place. (In Rev 21-22, we see that there is no temple in Heaven.)

Jesus was not a rebel, He was a revolutionary. Our society tolerates a rebel, but not a revolutionary. His revolution was to move from religion to spirituality.

There were risk involved for Jesus by crossing these boundaries. He was called a Samaritan (John 8:48). The irony being "The one who crossed the boundaries was crucified outside the boundary".

Crossing boundaries.

[Rev. Valsan Tambu]

1. Rootedness is a pre-requisite for crossing boundaries. This is a lot different from the drifting of wood. Crossing boundaries doesn't mean geographical displacement. A mustard seed takes root and grows. It then throws its seeds to all four corners of the world. *This* is crossing boundaries. This is possible only because it maintains its roots.
2. Our personality matters to God. He knows each one of us by name. The fundamental need for knowing a person is Love. This is the reason why God knows us. Since God wants to know us, he is ready to cross all boundaries.
3. Jesus came into this world to help us know God and to love Him. Knowledge is love (not power). Power says "understanding others in my terms, even if it means misunderstanding them". Crossing boundaries because of love results in understanding and knowing others. This doesn't occur without love.
4. Crossing boundaries is not recklessness, rebelliousness or non-conformity.

Boundaries can prevent us from being with people or things. Jesus crossed a lot of boundaries in His life in this world.

• One of them is when He touches the leper to heal him. The leper was able to cross the boundary because Jesus decided to cross it first.
• Just before Jesus is arrested, He takes his disciples to Caesarea Phillipi to ask them a couple of questions. He took them outside the boundary of their comfort zone. As long as a person is in his comfort zone, he wont seek. As long as you stay put, you wont find answers.
• Jesus cross from one side of the river to another during a storm. We need to cross over to others in a similar way. The others may be known or unknown.
  In both cases we will face turbulences.

In the parable of the prodigal son, the prodigal son crosses boundary twice.

1. He leaves home and goes out into the country (journey of rebelliousness).
2. He leaves the country and gets back home (journey of reconcile).

One of the earliest examples of crossing the boundaries is by the eating of the forbidden fruit. Eve gave up the whole to get a part.

The hardest boundary to cross is hard-heartedness. The pharaoh in the book of Exodus can be considered as both a person and a symbol. In the physical sense, the Israelites are the slaves. But in the spiritual sense, pharaoh is the slave. A slave of his hard-heartedness and is a slave of himself.

Some points mentioned by achen during the message

• You can touch nothing without changing it. Even if you touch a glass, you will leave behind a fingerprint.
• Stereotypes are the most formidable barriers we have to overcome.
• Misunderstanding may not always be created out of wickedness. It can rise out of very good intentions. These misunderstanding are the problem.
• Everything is life is a complete, there is no half. There is no such thing as a half breath. It can be a shallow or deep breath. There is no such thing as a half leap. All leaps are full. They are either short or long. Spiritual blindness makes you consider the part as a whole. Jesus says healing is a state of fullness. This implies that disease is an entrapment of partness.
• By saying "I am the way", Jesus implied that spirituality is a journey that needs to be traveled.
• God says "Behold I send you as sheep among wolves". Here "sheep" indicates sacrificial love while "wolves" indicate power.
• "If I had lived 2000 years ago, I'd have washed the feet of the Nazareth, not with tears, but with the blood of my heart". - Swami Vivekananda
• There are two kinds of people in this world. One who work for peace and second who destroy peace. The only two people who worked for peace are Jesus and Buddha. The only difference between them being that Buddha didn't have to pay for his work for peace.
• When you fail to understand the worth of others, it indicates that you suffer from low self worth. This is the worst epidemic in this world.
• If any one uses you, you should understand that they don't know your worth.
• Any one who uses fear as his weapon, has no other intention but to exploit you.