John 4:7-26 – Part 1

I have been thinking about this inaugural blog post for a while now, pondering what I should talk about, and whether I should talk at all. The Spirit led me to this passage, which always seems to pop up for me in times of stress. I hope that this passage is able to offer you the same comfort that it does for me. This week, we will be studying the first half of John 4:7-26. I encourage you to open your Bible to that passage and read it before continuing. For an even deeper study, open your copy of Take Every Passage to Prayer, Vol.2 – The Gospels by Charles Wagner to page 113.

Our story begins with Jesus traveling to Galilee, motivated by the news that John the Baptist had been arrested. Around noon, Jesus makes his way into Sychar, a town in Samaria, to stop for food and water. The disciples go into town to buy lunch, while Jesus heads to Jacob’s well (Gen. 33:18-20, 48:21-22). Although Genesis does not recount Jacob actually digging this well, it does talk about this exact plot of land being gifted to Jacob. It does not seem that this meeting place has any significance, outside of its insignificance foiled against the importance of Jesus’ conversation. 

Wagner points out that, along with the insignificance of the meeting place, ancient-near-eastern culture would have highly discouraged Jesus, a Jew, from talking to the Samaritan woman for a few reasons.

1. She was a Samaritan. The violence and hatred between Jews and Samaritans goes back in time to the Israelite kingdom split. Samaria was the capital of the Northern Kingdom, while Judah remained the capital of the Southern Kingdom. During the Assyrian invasion of both kingdoms, only the Southern Kingdom put energy into rebuilding the temple. The Southern Kingdom felt cheated, the Northern Kingdom felt innocent, and hundreds of years of strife and division between the Samaritans and the Jews erupted. The culture told Jesus he must not talk to the woman due to their ethnic differences.
2. She was a woman. Girls and women were property according to their closest living male relatives. A girl would be defined by her relationship to her father, until she marries and is defined by her husband, and then by her husband’s brothers or father in the event her husband dies (known as levirate marriage). Furthermore, talking to a woman that you were not related to would be a sign of disrespect to the man who “owned” her. The culture told Jesus he must not talk to the woman due to their status differences.
3. She was sinful. Verses 16-18 tell us that upon meeting the woman, Jesus already knew about the sins that the woman had committed. She was divorced and cohabitating with a man who was not her husband. Similar to how the Pharisees and Sadducees treated tax collectors, those considered morally superior would take great strides to avoid being seen with those considered morally deficient. They didn’t believe that sin was physically contagious, but rather that their image would be stained by their proximity to sin. The culture told Jesus he must not talk to the woman due to their moral differences.

Knowing all of these things, Jesus still talks to her and offers her some of the ‘living water,’ which is a metaphor for salvation. Although this story is only found in John, Luke’s gospel does a wonderful job at highlighting Jesus’ role as a social justice warrior. Regardless of what side of the political aisle you fall on, or whether the phrase ‘social justice warrior’ has a positive or negative connotation, I implore you to glean two insights from Jesus’ example in this story.

First, He didn’t let the culture determine their relationship. Jesus was not afraid of getting “canceled.” The world told Jesus that he crossed racial, gender, and ethical lines, but that did not stop him from showing love to the Samaritan woman. As Christians, we are called to set our eyes on a standard that sometimes conflicts with popular culture. Jesus saw the woman as the Father’s creation, not as a product of her sins. In more modern terms, Jesus would show love to both the Jew and the Palestinian, the Russian and the Ukrainian, the Proud Boy and the BLM supporter, the Democrat and the Republican, the Christian and the Atheist, the Sinner and the Saint. As uncomfortable as that statement might make us, and I will be the first to admit that going against the culture is uncomfortable, this radical type of love is not bound by earthly regulations, only by God’s will. Jesus didn’t show love on the basis of one’s worthiness, but on the basis of their identity as a child of God.

Second, He didn’t let the woman’s differences determine their relationship. Jesus’ ministry was, is, and forever will be, fundamentally inclusive. So often we live an unintentionally homogenous life, and I find that surrounding myself with diversity is the best way to experience the beauty of God’s creation. We must identify others through their relationship to Christ. Jesus displayed that factors such as race, religion, location, gender, and age are arbitrary! Although we should not ignore those differences (which is a topic for another blog), the product of Christ-like, unrestrained love in a community is natural diversity and inclusion.

Join me in praying for ways that we can show radical love like Jesus.

“O God, You created all people in your image. We thank you for the astonishing variety of races and cultures in this world. Enrich our lives by ever-widening circles of friendship, and show us your presence in those who differ most from us, until our knowledge of your love is made perfect in our love for all Your children; through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.”

From the Lutheran Book of Worship: Minister’s Desk Edition; “A Prayer for Diversity”