Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John.... So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.
Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.
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.) (John 4:1-9)
It's a beloved story: Jesus sits down to talk with the woman at the well. He shares the good news with her. But before we get to that, we need to consider that she had several strikes against her.
First, she was a Samaritan. What's the deal with Samaritans? Here's the short version: When Assyria conquered the idolatrous northern tribes of Israel, they deported a lot of Israelites and imported foreign pagans to replace them. Those pagans intermarried with the remaining Israelites and eventually developed their own version of a Jewish-like religion. They only recognized the Pentateuch, the five books of Moses, as scripture, and they had their own version with some changes — such as saying they were supposed to worship on Mount Gerazim.
The southern kingdom of Judah didn't get along with these people. One Judean king destroyed their temple. The Samaritans desecrated the Jewish temple with bones. Samaritans would sometimes harass Jews making pilgrimage from Galilee to Jerusalem. They were not friends. Samaritans were half-breeds and heretics. Jews did not associate with them.
In this context Jesus sat down in a Samaritan town and asked a Samaritan woman for a drink. Jews would see the cups Samaritans used as unclean. She was understandably surprised. "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?"
And Jesus, being Jesus, changed the subject. “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” (4:10). Living water can mean a fresh spring. It can also be a symbol for God (cf, Jer 2:13). Later John says, "By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive" (John 7:39).
But she's thinking literal water.
“Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water."
He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”
“I have no husband,” she replied.
Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.” (John 4:15-18)
How could this woman have had five husbands? The text doesn't tell us. But there are no good ways. Has she been widowed five times? What would people say about such a woman? She's bad luck. Has she been divorced five times? What's wrong with her than men keep sending her away. Maybe it's a little bit of both, but by the time she's gone through five husbands, she's got a reputation. And that's probably why this last man didn't even want to marry her. She's now living in sin just to have a place to live. Samaritans didn't look any kinder on such a thing than the Jews. Second strike.
The final strike against her? She was a woman (v27). The Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible explains: "Most ancient Mediterranean culture disapproved of men speaking with women in private; Jewish sages warned against it repeatedly." They shouldn't even be talking.
And Jesus doesn't care about any of this. He ignores all these cultural taboos. He invites her to receive that living water. He is more open with her about being the Messiah (v26) than with anyone else in the gospels. He teaches us to do the same, to be willing to take the gospel to the outcast.
We've all heard this story before. But being placed where it is, I think John wants us to remember a similar story. When's the last time Jesus had a conversation like this? Probably on the previous page of your Bible.
This woman met Jesus at noon, when no one would see her; Nicodemus went to Jesus at night (John 3:2), when no one would see him. She was a half-breed, a reminder of everything that Israel had done wrong; he was a true Israelite, part of the faithful remnant. She was a heretic; he was "the teacher of Israel" (3:10). She was an immoral woman; he was a respected Pharisee, keeping the law down to the smallest detail.
And they both need Jesus. John wants us to know that the seemingly most righteous person you know and the most immoral person you know — and everyone in between — need the same gospel, the same savior. You may have to go against several cultural conventions to tell the immoral person about Jesus. You won't be any more popular when you tell the "righteous" person he needs Jesus. But this is the call of the gospel work.
Don't feel like it's all on you. Jesus says, "One sows and another reaps" (John 4:37). Sometimes you'll find someone who's ready to surrender to Jesus; you'll get to reap. Sometimes you're the first person who's ever mentioned it, and they're quite uninterested. Sow the gospel and let it do its work. Just be willing to reach out to those who need to hear it, no matter their standing in life. No matter who you offend.
Image via Pixabay
No comments:
Post a Comment