Smoodock's Blog

A few weeks earlier Jesus had spoken of his body being the Temple of God (John 2:19-21), but he was misunderstood by the rulers of the Jews. The Temple was divided into courts that separated the priests from the rest of the Israelites, these other courts were still divided between men and women, and last of all there was a court for the gentiles, which was to the extreme limit of the Temple complex. No one was to go beyond the place provided for his status before God, as spelled out in the traditions of those ruling the Temple. Yet, in Christ, the living Temple of God, there are no barriers. The wall of separation between us is torn down (Ephesians 2:13-14). In him there is neither Jew nor Greek, male nor female, bond nor free (Galatians 3:28). He is our Temple, and we dwell in him, and in him there is no discrimination of any kind.

The story of Jesus, speaking with the woman at the Jacob’s well in Samaria (John 4:5-29), isn’t merely about a desperate woman; it is about the tenderness and compassion of God reaching out to someone in need. It is a story of how the love of God in each one of us needs to be expressed to the hurting and dying world around us. The Jews and Samaritans had no dealings with one another (John 4:9), which is a lot like how some of us, even we who have received Jesus, treat those in the world. Many of us, after we have become a Christian, break all our ties with those people who do not embrace our ways. Yet, Jesus has not called the world to come to church. However, what he has done is sent the church into the world to make disciples of them in his name. How can we do this, if we have no dealings with others? Jesus asked the woman a favor, which would have obligated him in some way to her, had she complied. Jesus didn’t adhere to the religious traditions of his day! The question is, should we? The whole world groans (Romans 8:22-23), awaiting the redemption of our bodies. The world groans in ignorance, not knowing what it needs. The compassion, Jesus expressed for this woman at the well, needs to dwell in us also and expressed not in the cloistered prayers, spoken in a church building, but in the fields that are already ripe for harvest (John 4:35).

The text says that Jesus was weary (John 4:6) and rested at the well at about noon. I remember a line from my favorite poem Don’t Quit – “If care is pressing you down a bit, rest if you must, but don’t you quit.” Jesus had just come from a ministry of baptizing more people than John, and probably had to flee from the same people, who had John thrown into prison (John 4:1-4). He had gone through Samaria, knowing his enemies would not follow him there, because, for them, the Samaritans were unclean. Life can get discouraging, and so can our service, which we devote to God. Yet, we are told to keep pressing on (Philippians 3:12) and not become weary in well doing (Galatians 6:9). Often, it is in the most discouraging and weary moments that a breakthrough will be made (Luke 18:1-7).

Not everyone is an evangelist or called to become one, but we do need to be ready with an answer for those who ask us about our faith (1Peter 3:15). We need to stir up our spirits and nurture a sense of compassion for this world, that is burdened with pain and loneliness, like this woman had been. She went through five husbands, and the man she lived with at this time was not her husband. What happened? We can only guess, but obviously she was lonely and in pain, feeling unloved and afraid of commitment. She came for water at noon, because she knew the other women would not be at the well in the heat of the day. They would have filled their vessels much earlier, when it was cooler. She avoided the stares of contempt and judgment, because it hurt.

Jesus didn’t approach her with the old clichés she had heard before—much like: “Do you know you are going to hell?” or “Are you saved?” No, Jesus was genuinely interested in this woman’s life. He didn’t preach to her; he dialogued with her. He spoke the words of life, but he also listened to her questions. He listened to her heart and the pain behind her words. Jesus was burdened for her, and he wanted to help by offering the love of God. He offered God’s love, purely and simply , fleshed out in his Person.

Oh, how I desire to be enabled to share the love of God, as Jesus did with this woman. To receive others without discrimination, and without judgment as to their status before God. What’s needed is to express the love of God to folks in the same manner God expresses his love toward us; this would, indeed, be a wonder—a true miracle!