You may have noticed that this message bears some similarity to last week’s message in the sense that they both are about two people who have met with Jesus in extraordinary circumstances. Last week, we reflected on a nighttime visitor to Jesus in the person of Nicodemus who is taught about eternal life. Today, we will focus on another encounter that happened seemingly by chance but is no less extraordinary.
This account, which is only recorded in the gospel of John, like the Nicodemus encounter, tells about Jesus passing through Samaria with his disciples and stopping by a well to rest because the journey was long and he was tired. A woman from the town comes along to fetch water at the well and Jesus asks her for some water. This encounter marks the start of a meaningful conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman. Jesus offers her “living water”—a spiritual gift that satisfies the soul and brings lasting fulfillment to all who receive it. The woman like Nicodemus misunderstands Jesus and thinks that he is talking about the physical water. Surely anyone who drinks that kind of water will get thirsty again. The woman must have thought that this man is a bit strange. Jesus as we know was not offering her physical water but the spiritual and truly life-giving water.
Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman broke significant social boundaries. At that time, men speaking to women in public-even their spouses- was taboo. Additionally, Jews and Samaritans were known enemies, making their interaction even more controversial. Their meeting defied both gender and cultural divides highlighting the extraordinary nature of this encounter. Then again, this is precisely what Jesus came for. His mission was to break down all divides so that all people could receive the life-transforming good news of his saving grace.
As today is International Women’s Day, it is particularly appropriate that our text for today features a woman and her meeting with Jesus. She is a woman with flaws, but a woman who is desirous of something new and different in her life. She wants water that will somehow prevent her from having to come back to the well repeatedly. Perhaps she wanted to avoid an uncomfortable stare or rebuke or conversation. We must note that the women of the town would travel together to fetch water, but here she is on her own. Her lifestyle suggests that she may have been avoiding the other women so she went to the well at a time when they would not be there. I believe that the Lord wants us to hear and reflect on these thoughts today and respond as needed as they speak to our hearts.
God’s love and grace go beyond the boundaries set by society or culture.
In this text everything suggested that Jesus and this woman should not have even met let alone have a conversation. He was a man and she was a woman. For them to have a conversation in the public view went against the social norms of the day. The action was extremely offensive, regardless of who started the conversation. Jesus again showed that God was not a respecter of human standards and principles especially where these would prevent someone from having the opportunity to gain new life in him. As we reflect on this, we should also consider what obstacles or barriers—whether intentional or unintentional, conscious or unconscious—we may be placing between others and God. Oftentimes we take part in the social barriers that prevent others from coming to know Jesus. It could be as simple as not wanting some type of people to attend our church or using denominational teachings or dogma as an excuse to treat others as less important than we are. Women for instance, have had a long history of being treated as less important to God than men in many denominations and religions. Many Christians harbor prejudices that hinder them from responding with openness and welcome to other people who are considered unacceptable by society or the church because of who they are and how they live their lives, or where they are from.
Uncomfortable conversations are often avoided, yet they can be life-changing.
The essence of this account is really to be found in the actual conversation between Jesus and the woman, regardless of the controversial context in which it took place. Jesus speaks to her first about the difference in their religious belief and practice which is never an easy subject especially between two groups of people who don’t get along. As we all know well, religious discussions can be highly explosive or at the least lead to bad feelings between people if it is not ventured into with great care and sensitivity. Wars have been fought because of differing religious beliefs and practices. Secondly, Jesus engages her in conversation about her romantic relationships. How inappropriate and even offensive it must have seemed to this woman. At first, telling her to call her husband could have been regarded as quite a harmless request but then getting deeper into her romantic affairs had to have taken this woman quite off guard. For most people, their romantic experiences are not up for discussion with strangers. Yet here is Jesus probing further into an area of her life she would rather not discuss. This was the very reason she had to come alone to the well in the first place, and this was the very reason she would have loved to have a source of water that would prevent her from coming to the well completely. Now he wants to discuss this uncomfortable topic. Many of us are in the same position as this woman. We all have things that we would prefer to be left alone. The last thing we want is for somebody to bring up in conversation that part of our lives that we would hope to remain out of the public glare. It may be a bad habit or a past that still haunts us even though we believe we are forgiven or a relationship that turned out badly whether professionally or personally. It may even be something in our life presently, like an addiction or even a false image of ourselves that we are projecting to the world. There are far more people than you would realise that are living false lives. They are not being true to themselves because they are too embarrassed about who they really are or are too fixated on presenting a socially acceptable image that they refuse to face their own demons. For some people it is far too risky to be true to oneself because it may result in the loss of status, family acceptance, position, employment or even their lives. In this text, we are learning that we cannot be anything but our true selves before Jesus who already knows all about us. What is important to Jesus is not what we have been or have done but what we can become. Jesus focuses on hearts open to change and the transformation possible when they are fully committed to him. Like the woman at the well, we cannot meet Jesus and receive his lifegiving water unless we admit our flaws and allow him to transform what needs to change in us. Whether we like it or not, all of us need to have those uncomfortable conversations with God if we have not yet done so. That alone is the way to redemption and salvation in him.
Thirdly, a transformed life must be a testimony to others of God’s love and mercy through his son Jesus the redeemer.
The best part of this encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman really comes at the end. The writer of the gospel truly saves the best for last. We read that the woman went and told the people in her town about this man she had met and what he told her about her life. Because of her testimony many believed in him. This is the epitome of the gospel. It is all about sharing the good news which is that Jesus came to save people from their sins. The woman’s heart was evidently transformed by this man in the right way this time not as the other men she has been with before and people could see the difference in her. Glory be to God. What a joy and privilege to see salvation up close and personal. The gospel has no effect unless it is shared as personal testimony not only in words but in action. This woman did two things. She went and she told others. If we genuinely value Jesus’s impact on us, sharing that mission becomes important. We must go with the good news of salvation as we have experienced it and tell it wherever we go, not just by words which is probably the easy part, but in our everyday living.
Let’s go from here friends all with a readiness to open ourselves to the Lord Jesus, to have those conversations that are unpleasant with him as we allow him to heal and restore us into a right relationship with him. Then we must go and tell whomever we meet and show them by our lives that Jesus is really first in our hearts and lives, the author and perfector of our faith. Amen.