The Samaritan Woman and Jesus
I looked up on Google "Most marriages by famous people," and this is what it came up with: Zsa Zsa Gabor, a Hungarian-American actress, had nine marriages to nine different men; actress Elizabeth Taylor married eight times; and US TV Host Larry King married eight times. Some names you might recognise: Jennifer Lopez, married four times, Baby Cele, married four times, and Lebo M, married four times and engaged multiple times.
Hollywood and famous South African couples are filled with people married and divorced multiple times, and most often they do not want to talk about their multiple marriages as they feel shame, and people often make fun of them.
Women usually get the bulk of shame and insults directed at them when a marriage fails, and they are looked at sideways when they marry and divorce multiple times.
Shame associated with multiple marriages and divorce is not new, as we see a Samaritan woman who had multiple husbands, in fact, 5 husbands in total, and the man she was currently with was not even her husband. Jesus had an encounter with this woman, and look at the good news that he had for someone who was looked down upon in her society.
Jesus needed water, as it was very hot, and he was in a region where water was scarce. He asked the woman to give her a cup of water. By the well, this was her response in verse 9: “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman? ” she asked him. Jews do not associate with or share vessels with Samaritans. Jews do not associate with Samaritans. '
Two things are happening to her that are strange. First, this woman is going to fetch water in the middle of the day, which for city dwellers might seem normal, but for someone who grew up in a rural area
countryside, this is not the norm, as the middle of the day is the hottest time of the day, and this place is in a semi-arid area where it's very hot.
Water was gathered either in the morning or evening, when it would be cooler, and it was also a social time for women who would use this time to chat and catch up, so her coming at noon seemed a bit fishy. But we see why, as it becomes clear she was trying to keep a low profile due to her shame and reputation.
She was living with a man who was not her husband, as she had been married a couple of times. This would make her isolated, as no one would want to hang out with a woman who was associated with shame, hence why she is fetching water in the hottest time of the day.
Secondly, Jesus talks to a Samaritan woman. Jesus breaks some barriers here, as in this culture, men rarely talked to women in public. She is not just any woman but a Samaritan woman, as we are clearly told that Jews did not associate with Samaritans.
Verse 10 says 'Jesus answered her, 'If you knew the gift of God, and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would ask him, and he would give you living water.”
Jesus recognizes that this woman has her own need, and the living water which Jesus holds out to the woman was a particularly vivid image in a water-scarce country like Palestine. Living water is a metaphor, and this woman misunderstands its meaning. Jesus wants her to look at the spiritual significance of what this water means. This is water that eliminates thirst and leads to eternal life.
Jesus is talking about a new life that is available through the Spirit of God (4:14). Water has become a symbol of this new reality since the beginning of the book, and later will be defined as the Holy Spirit. Christ himself is the source of precious living water, which can transform even this woman in her shame and isolation.
Worship in “spirit and truth” in verse 23 is the key phrase that controls what Jesus means and is no doubt tied to Jesus’ affirmation .that
“God is spirit”. He is referring to the character of God that cannot be contained in one geographical place. Do not limit God to your church; outside your church, God is not present. or to a man of God, a prophet, or an apostle. God is way too big to limit him like .that
What lesson can we learn from the interaction between Jesus and the Samaritan woman?
If you feel shame because of your past, like the Samaritan woman, and have done things you are not proud of, and you are isolated and feel guilty, Christ is here for you, like he was here for the Samaritan woman. He wants to give you the living water and eternal life. All you need to do is give your life to him.
When Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman, he crossed many boundaries to reach her. As Christians today, it is a challenge to us to cross religious, cultural, and even racial boundaries to reach people with the gospel. John 4 challenges us to take a risk, to examine the margins of our world and cross them.
The Samaritan woman was introduced to the God who “seeks,” a term that describes the two sides of God. He is a God who demands a certain kind of worshiper and a certain kind of worship, and will not stand for anything below his standards. He is God, we are not; this must be the foundation of our relationship with God.
True worship is Christ-centered and cross-centered, since the cross creates the appropriate worshippers—a new race of worshippers that are neither Jew nor Samaritan. True worship is ultimately Trinitarian in that it is directed to the Father, mediated through the Son, and empowered and directed by the Holy Spirit.
