Dear Friends:
Today we are treated to one of the more famous stories in the Gospels! John 4:5-42 is the story of the day Jesus meets the Samaritan woman at the well. Samaritans and Jews were enemies. When the Assyrians invaded and conquered Samaria they did something that rarely happens. Many Assyrians never went home. They stayed in Samaria and interbred with the Samaritan women. As far as the Jews were concerned, Samaria became tainted when this happened. No self-respecting Jew would allow himself to be caught even talking with someone like that! Pretty tough rules wouldn’t you say?
Jesus will have nothing to do with such pettiness. He meets a Samaritan woman at the well and asks for a drink of water. It is noon so no one comes to the well at that hour. It’s just too hot. This tells us that the woman has some history that will not allow her to come to the well with everyone else early in the morning or at dusk. If she did she would be ridiculed. Once again Jesus has nothing to do with such trivial practices. As the story develops we find Jesus discovering the sins the woman has committed over her lifetime.
The woman goes back to town and tells the townspeople what happened to her and how the man at the well knew “everything she had done.” She asks the town people “Could he possibly be the Christ?” Because of this interchange, Samaritans began to believe that Jesus was the Messiah. As they listened to Jesus and thought about what happened, they began to realize that he was indeed the one God promised to send. They begin to believe not because of what the woman said but because of what Jesus said to them.
God speaks to us in so many different ways and through so many different channels. It is imperative for us to listen carefully for his message. In our story today it comes through a sinful woman! How and when is Jesus speaking to you?
Peace and All Good!
Deacon Jim
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