Devotionals

John 4:7-15, 25 - 26

            Travelling through Samaria, Jesus encounters a woman at Jacob's well and asks her for a drink.  The woman is shocked that Jesus would seek a drink from her.  Jews considered Samaritans to be racially impure and theologically heretical.  Strong societal taboos demanded little interaction between the two.

            Plus, it was socially and morally unacceptable for a man to initiate public conversation with a woman he did not know.  Women were inferior beings, possessions of their fathers or husbands.

            Then we discover the moral laxity of the woman when Jesus instructs her to go get her husband, and the woman admits she has no husband and Jesus says, "You answer truthfully, for you have had five husbands and the one you have now is not your husband."

            So, it is to this impure, theologically heretical, morally inferior Samaritan woman to whom Jesus offers "living water," the gift of his salvation.  And, she not only accepts it, but through her testimony an entire village comes to believe in Jesus.

            This morning, as I begin a new week, do my actions, the way I interact with other people elicit a belief that all are worthy of God's grace, that Christ can work in the lives of people who are very different from me?

            Is my Christianity breaking down barriers between people, between God and people?  Or does my faith seek to categorize and label others as worthy and unworthy?

            When I look at how Jesus interacted, offered himself, to those most rejected by society, does my faith lead me to do the same?

Ludwig Weaver

John 4:9

The Samaritan woman said to him, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?"