As I have indicated recently, I have been teaching a class on the gospel of John. This next week, we will be looking at the story of the woman at the well. (John 4:4-26) This story really resonates with me for some reason. I just think that it gives a great picture of who Jesus is and why He came…
The first thing I recognize about Jesus is that He doesn’t care about race, sex, or spiritual history. This woman was a Samaritan. The Jews wanted nothing to do with the Samaritans, calling them half-breeds and unclean... basically treating them as outcasts. This woman was a woman. (duh!) In that culture, women were not respected as anything but child-bearers, housekeepers, and child-raisers. Most men in that culture figured that that was all women were good for. This woman had a bad history of poor marital choices. She had been with many men… five husbands and currently with a live-in boyfriend. Women like that were shunned. This Samaritan woman had three strikes against her: She was of an ‘inferior’ race, was part of the ‘inferior’ sex, and would have been very ‘inferior’ spiritually. Yet Jesus chose to speak extensively to her… and even chose to start a revival through her.
I’ll be honest, I’ve never had to deal with race or sex discrimination. I can’t even begin to identify with minorities of any kind of social group. So, it’s hard for me to put myself in the Samaritan woman’s shoes… except for one thing: Sin. We both have made mistakes, we both have experienced shame and guilt, we both have been embarrassed of our actions, we both deserve death, neither one of us deserve even a moment of Jesus’ time or attention. And I guess that is what resonates with me so much about this passage: Jesus didn’t care about what the woman had done in her past, He just cared about the woman.
Another thing I notice in this passage: “It was the sixth hour.” Which means it was NOON. Typically, the women of the town would gather water during the coolest part of the day… which might be early morning or late evening. Why would this woman be drawing water during the hottest part of the day? I think it is a direct result of her sin. The other people in the town knew what kind of a woman she was. I think this woman choose to go during the part of the day when she wouldn’t have to face any of the other women at the well.
The woman says to Jesus (after He has told her about living water): “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” I think this lady is talking about more than the physical labor of drawing water everyday. I think she is also suggesting that she would like to not have to carry around her shame anymore. She would like to stop drawing water at the hottest part of the day to avoid the judgmental looks from the other women. She would like to be reinstated. She would like to be accepted. She would like to be loved.
Jesus extends that gift to her. He empowers her to go back to the town and tell the people about this Messiah 'who told me everything I ever did.' For some reason, whether it was her passion or newfound boldness, the townspeople listened to her and went to find out for themselves that Jesus is the Messiah. That’s what I love about Jesus: Who could have predicted that the person He chose to start a revival in this Samaritan town would have been a dirty, shame-filled woman? Jesus can use anybody with a willing heart. Race, sex, and history don’t mean anything to Him. He is greater than any of those things.
I don’t know about you, but that’s the best news I’ve heard all day…
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