The text is John 4:5-42, but go back
and take a look at verse 1-4. Jesus & John the Baptist have been getting
noticed for baptisms although John the Gospel Writer - who is NOT John the Baptist - makes a point of saying that it was Jesus’
disciples, not Jesus himself, who was baptizing.
"Jesus had to - was required to -
go through Samaria." Well, no he didn't. Take a look at a map. He had to
go out of his way to go to Samaria.
So something more than geography is going on here.
Why does he have to go to Samaria? John
3:16 & 17. "God so loved THE WORLD..." Samaria is "the
world." the land outside of home.
So there is a thread that connects
Nicodemus and this woman.
- He is a man. She is a woman.
- He comes by night. She meets Jesus at high noon.
- He is a Jew, she is a gentile - a "not one of our kind."
- He is a part of the power structure - he has a seat at the table. She has none of these things.
When you read the bit about "you
have had five husbands..." don't assume things are not in the story. There
are many reasons why she could have this relationship history. Was she married
and widowed or abandoned? Neither was uncommon then or now. The most
likely reason she would have been divorced would have been if she were unable
to have children. If so, she had no one. The man she is with now might have been
the one that stuck with her.
Either way this is a woman with a
story. She is on her own. And Jesus restores her to community. She is the first
one to hear Jesus say "I am" - to claim for himself the sacred
name of God. She is the first to proclaim Jesus to her neighbors. The Samaritans
go, see and hear for themselves and are the first to proclaim that Jesus "is
the savior of the world," another reference to John 3:16.
Some questions...
Where do you go to get your cup filled?
Where can you tell others about your
relationship with Jesus?
How has your story been changed by
Jesus?
Your turn...
Steve
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