When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?" (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water." John 4:7-10REFLECTION
At an unusual time of the day – when everybody else is trying to protect themselves from the burning heat of the merciless sun - a Samaritan woman comes to Jacob’s well to draw water. Being a Samaritan woman is not a problem at this site, but being a lady with a questionable reputation for having serial sexual relationships does make her feel uncomfortable when other women are around. When everybody is gone, it seems safe for her to go to the well. But why is that Jewish man still sitting there in the shade and what does he want from her? Water? But he has nothing to draw with – or has he? Did he draw her with his unconditional love?
PRAYER
Dear Lord, I don’t want to exclude people, but secretly I still do. Sometimes I even exclude myself because I feel too embarrassed, too guilty and too unworthy to come into your presence. But there you are, waiting for me, asking for a little favour. It’s my pleasure, Lord. What can I do for you?
I want to be just as political incorrect as you are, Jesus. I don’t want to ignore or exclude people, I don’t want to be blind for their feelings of embarrassment and rejection and deeper needs for love and acceptance. I come to you, Lord, although I can’t even bring my own empty bucket. Silly man I am. But I do have a bottomless pit, a deep desire that only you can truly fulfil. Please come and pour your love into my heart till it overflows with compassion for all the lost people you came to serve and rescue.
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9 comments:
It was after Jesus enumerated her sins that the Samaritan woman said to Him, “Sir, I can see that you are a prophet.” Jesus took an interesting tack here—he didn’t require any act of repentance from her, simply a confession of sin. In fact, He used those failings—she went back to her village and told her fellows, “He knows everything I ever did.” (This story is another great example of Jesus using broken people to advance the Kingdom of God.)
There is a subtle distinction here between this and the tendency in the modern church to normalize sinful behavior. Jesus never told the woman that her behavior was wrong (He hardly needed to, since she blurted it out at the first opportunity). But he didn’t tell her it was OK, either.
There is a line, “Hate the sin, Love the sinner,” which is frequently trashed by believers and non-believers alike. It isn’t a Bible quotation, but methinks it reflects the reality of what Jesus was doing here. Too often, we believers unconsciously turn it on its head, and are fascinated by the sin and cruel to the sinner.
For example, every time we read the salacious details of Anna Nicole Smith’s sad life, we were wallowing vicariously in sexual sin, even if our enjoyment took the form of clucking censoriously at her. But did we pray for her? I confess; I did not.
Words of wisdom, Carol. Thank you so much - I love to read your comments!
There is so much to say about this encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well (as a matter of fact this is one of my favourite parts in the Bible) - it was really hard for me to choose one angle. This time I focussed on the fact that Jesus came with empty hands (no bucket, no vessel) and asked for a favour. Just the fact that He was willing to talk with this lady was unheard of in those days. Jesus was not interested in social disputes, he took an interest in this lost soul and he went straight away to the core of her problems and the heart of her desires.
I also love the fact that Jesus reveals his true identity to this Samaritan (!) woman (!). Isn't he amazing? Yes HE is!
@ Carol
Oh yes, and you are so right about our wrong attitude towards sin and sinners. We all make this mistake, I'm afraid to say. It's so easy to put other people right without any consideration for their feelings and / or backgrounds. I do hope to see people like Anna Nichole Smith in Heaven, seriously (and I'm not saying this because I am a man). I trust that we will be surprised by all the people God's grace has included (the same people we often excluded mercilessly) Jesus quoted from the Bible to correct the devil and the Pharisees. He was tough on the "know-it-alls" but He was (and is!) full of loving-kindness (what a great word is that!!) for the brokenhearted. That's my King.
A mark of a merciful Christian is that he or she wants to see as many people as possible in Heaven.
Trust me; I make the same error all the time—focusing on the sin, forgetting the suffering of the sinner. Anna Nicole has suffered enough, and I doubt her breast implants will survive into the next world anyway, so your motives are beyond reproach.
My friend Toby asks the question of whether the Samaritan woman ever actually acknowledged that Jesus is the Messiah. I believe she recognized Him as such, but what do y'all think?
Yes, I am quite sure that she recognized and acknowledged her Messiah and Saviour, Jesus Christ!
The Samaritans were expecting the Messiah, but in a different way than their Jewish counterparts. They only believed in the first 5 books of the Bible and were expecting a prophet and deliverer like Moses. (As a matter of fact: Samaritans still expect this type of Messiah TODAY - I will tell you more about this later.)
In Jesus' days Samaritans were excluded from the Jewish worship in the temple and that is why they set up an alternative worship site on mount Gerizim. The woman is trying to discuss this religious dispute with Jesus and the Son of God is not compromising the truth, of course. I just have to cut & paste the whole passage because this is really deep and intriguing stuff:
"Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem."
Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."
The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us."
Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he."
Jesus makes clear that He is the One and Only Messiah and - like the Scriptures said - He is the Son of David, a Jewish man!
Just think about the implications of Jesus' last words in the quotation above: "I who speak to you am he." (Jesus is identifying himself with the Great I AM!).
No doubt, the woman is 100% convinced, but when she forgets her water jar (funny little detail!) and runs to her fellow Samaritans to bring them the good news, she does this in an appropriate, cultural acceptable way - only suggesting that this man could be the ONE: "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?"
But wait, there's more (there's ALWAYS more, ha ha!!) - read on (v 39-42):
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."
So, I am quite sure that the woman had recognized and acknowledged her Saviour. And her fellow Samaritans were convinced as well!
Sorry for this XXL comment, but - if you go to www.the-samaritans.com you can find out about the approx. 600 Samaritans still living on the Westbank today (!) - a religious sect that is STILL waiting for the Deliverer.
This is the sad truth for many Jewish and some Samaritan believers in 2007 - and I quote the Messiah:
"You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life." (John 5:39-40)
These words bring tears to my eyes.
How long Lord, how long will it take before ALL people will bow down before you, the One and Only Messiah - the Son of God?
Great post, Paul and thanks for being so detailed. I’ve mailed it to Toby along with a link to your blog. The Samaritan link is excellent and I hope I remember to consult it next time I want reference for painting.
Meanwhile back at the ranch we continue to see the same error noted in John 5:39-40 continued, as foundational truths within Christianity are “updated” by our intellectual betters. Every Christmas and Easter, the American media trots some “expert” out to attack the fundamentals of the faith. This year it’s James Cameron’s “The Lost Tomb of Jesus” which purports to prove a relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene which resulted in children. Here are some comments I’ve received from my former co-religionists on the subject:
“To label something as heresy because we've always labeled it as such and because it runs counter to our current interpretation of scripture repeats the same mistake the church has made many times. I also think it is bad strategy. To call something heresy will convince some people that the church has something to hide. The attempts to suppress the Gnostic gospels gave them more validity in the eyes of some. I believe we should invite a full review of the information by a variety of experts. If this turns out to be another forgery then the church hasn't lost anything. If the claims have some validity (hey, you never know) then we can initiate a fresh interpretation of scripture in light of new evidence.”
“An RC priest said on this report, ‘Christianity stands or falls on the bodily resurrection of Jesus.’ I disagree. The Roman church would be damaged because they have maintained the myth of infallibility, but denominations that have consistently encouraged personal reflection (i.e. Episcopal) would be OK…”
“Okay; there's one thing no one has discussed. Let's agree that it's a bodily resurrection. What happened to the body after he used it? Had to put it somewhere, right? Or is it our belief that Jesus is roaming the universe in a 2000 year old human body?”
Now, here’s the amazing thing—these comments are from professing Christians who are in church every Sunday.
But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves... 2 Peter 2
What more can I say?
Btw, the story of the Samaritan woman at the well inspired me to write two poems today! You can find them on my blog www.abspoel.blogspot.com
I do hope I didn't make any funny mistakes in my 'poetic' English - still a bit uncertain about that!
If you see any, please let me know...
Good poems! Now learn to play guitar and set them to music.
Well, I can play guitar - but I need to work on my song writing skills... But thanks!
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