This Sunday we have a very long Gospel (John 4:5-42). It’s long but it is a beautiful story, worth every word! It’s a story of a rather mismatched pair of people, mismatched because their meeting and conversation should not have ever happened.
It was a meeting between a rabbi and a woman. It happened in broad daylight. Rabbis and women never meet on the street in broad daylight. It was unheard of. It would be embarrassing and downgrading to the learned man. He only had time for men, and men were the only ones who were supposed to be taught about the Torah. Women belonged in the kitchen. Enough said. It was just the way it was in those days.
Jesus was the one blazing new trails. He was the one constantly challenging—not breaking, but bending—every rule, regulation, and law that related to one’s relationship with God. The Pharisaical way was to follow every law to the exact letter, and one of those laws was to not have anything to do with women, especially during the day. In those days, there were 613 different laws that pertained to how to perfectly live your life. In his three-year ministry, Jesus probably challenged them all.
In the eyes of God, there is no prejudice. This idea lives itself out in Jesus. First, the person he speaks to is a woman. Strike one. They had no right or privilege to be in contact with another man during the day: they had their duties to take care of and that was that. She was a Samaritan. (According to John 4:9: “Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.”) Strike two. She was a woman of questionable character. Jesus knew her past, and it was a shady one. She had many husbands, and to make matters worse, the one she was living with at the moment wasn’t her husband. Strike three. In the game of life, according to the rules, you’re out!
Jesus would have been respected and everything would have been understood if he had ignored her completely. The way things were back in those days, she would probably been just as fine with his disregard for her as well.
The Lord shows her the greatest compliment, not so much because he talked with her, or, that he even acknowledged her. His greatest respect he showed her was to ask for her help.
The Bible says Jesus was thirsty. He asked her if she could help him get a drink of water from the well there in the little town of Sychar where they met. God came down this day, in this sleepy little place, he came down into the life of an apparent no body, and gave her hope and compassion. He gave her hope by lowering himself (according to the laws of the day) to her level of living and asked for her assistance. What better compliment could one pay another than this?
That is how God works. He sees past skin color, religion, and traditions (even those of his own people). He ignores the man-made rulings that create separation between people. He only looks at his children—all of his children on this earth—with pure love, kindness, and respect. By asking for her help, he shows great trust in her and her abilities. We could do better at this ourselves.
The woman at the well asks lots of questions that day. Wouldn’t you if Jesus came to “your well,” to your house? I know I would! And doesn’t he come to you in the most unheard of times in your lives? Personally I never know when he might make himself known to me! That’s the way our season of Lent can be. Open your heart to his surprising visits. According to John 4, there’s nothing that can stop him from coming to you! He lovingly and respectfully ignores the rules we have made that only divide us.
This Lent, watch—pay attention—to the things that divide us. What changes can we make in our lives to change these things that separate?
What would Jesus do…but more importantly, what would you do?
Think about this. With Jesus’ help, you will make the right decisioons
Remember that God loves you and so do we!
Pastor Jim