The following is a link to our reading today:
John 4:5-42
The story of the Samaritan woman at the well is currently one of my favorite stories from Scripture. It didn’t used to be. Somewhere in my life, I don’t remember where or when, I was taught that this is a story about forgiveness, a story about a woman’s shift from a life immorality to morality. This interpretation of this story didn’t capture my attention. But a few years ago I read a new interpretation of this story that I find much more compelling, and this story became for me a source of personal inspiration and wisdom.
First let’s talk about the Samaritans. The Samaritans and the Jewish people are both descendants of the tribes of Israel. After the death of King Solomon, the kingdom of Israel divided into two kingdoms, the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom. Jesus and his community are descendants of the Southern Kingdom of Israel. The Samaritans are descendants of the northern kingdom. Both groups in Jesus’ time claimed that they were the true Israel and both taught that it was wrong to have contact with the other. In other words, Jesus should not have been talking to a Samaritan.
First let’s talk about the Samaritans. The Samaritans and the Jewish people are both descendants of the tribes of Israel. After the death of King Solomon, the kingdom of Israel divided into two kingdoms, the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom. Jesus and his community are descendants of the Southern Kingdom of Israel. The Samaritans are descendants of the northern kingdom. Both groups in Jesus’ time claimed that they were the true Israel and both taught that it was wrong to have contact with the other. In other words, Jesus should not have been talking to a Samaritan.
Then there is the issue of women. Women of Jesus’ day had very few rights, especially unattached women. When a girl was born she was the property of her father or her oldest living male relative until she married, and then she was the property of her husband. Divorce was allowed, but only if the husband gave his permission. A woman was completely dependent on a man, whether that man was her husband or some other male relative. A woman without a man to protect her would have had very few ways in which to support herself and to survive.
We don’t know why the Samaritan woman at the well has had five husbands and why the person she is now living with is not her husband. When our modern ears hear the story we hear whispers of scandal—5 times divorced and now she is living with a man who she is not even married to? But the story really doesn’t give us enough information to make this assumption. There are many possible reasons why this woman was married five times and is now currently living with a man to whom she is not married. She may have been divorced, but not through her own fault. It was not unknown for a husband of that time to divorce his wife simply because she had not born him a child. She may have been widowed. Five times is a lot, but not unheard of, especially in a day and age when young girls were married to much older men.
We don’t know why the Samaritan woman at the well has had five husbands and why the person she is now living with is not her husband. When our modern ears hear the story we hear whispers of scandal—5 times divorced and now she is living with a man who she is not even married to? But the story really doesn’t give us enough information to make this assumption. There are many possible reasons why this woman was married five times and is now currently living with a man to whom she is not married. She may have been divorced, but not through her own fault. It was not unknown for a husband of that time to divorce his wife simply because she had not born him a child. She may have been widowed. Five times is a lot, but not unheard of, especially in a day and age when young girls were married to much older men.
But you may ask, what about the man she is now living with to whom she is not married? This could simply be a male who she is dependent on, but not necessarily intimate with. Or she could be in what is called a Levirate marriage. This type of marriage occurred when a childless woman was married to her deceased husband’s brother in order to produce an heir. Often this type of marriage was not technically consider a marriage and so in this case the woman would not be considered the brother’s wife, especially if he already had a wife.
In other words, we just don’t know why this woman was married five times and is now living with another man. What we do know is this. Jesus never refers to her actions as sinful. He never calls her to repent. He never offers her forgiveness. He certainly does this in other stories, but not in this one. So it is safe to say that whatever the woman’s situation, Jesus’ attention towards her is not about calling her out of a life of immorality to a life of morality. This is not a story about sin and forgiveness. But why does this even matter?
I think how you understand the woman and her situation matters, because it completely determines the meaning of this story. If you understand the story as being about sin and forgiveness you miss that what this story is about actually is being seen by God. It is actually a story about the struggles of life and knowing what it is to be seen by God in the midst of these struggles. It is a story of the transformation that happens when we know ourselves to be seen by God. It is a story of God’s love.
In other words, we just don’t know why this woman was married five times and is now living with another man. What we do know is this. Jesus never refers to her actions as sinful. He never calls her to repent. He never offers her forgiveness. He certainly does this in other stories, but not in this one. So it is safe to say that whatever the woman’s situation, Jesus’ attention towards her is not about calling her out of a life of immorality to a life of morality. This is not a story about sin and forgiveness. But why does this even matter?
I think how you understand the woman and her situation matters, because it completely determines the meaning of this story. If you understand the story as being about sin and forgiveness you miss that what this story is about actually is being seen by God. It is actually a story about the struggles of life and knowing what it is to be seen by God in the midst of these struggles. It is a story of the transformation that happens when we know ourselves to be seen by God. It is a story of God’s love.
This nameless woman has everything working against her. She is a Samaritan, unmarried woman. She has most likely had a tragic life that has left her dependent on others. Jesus sees her struggles. He sees her dependency. He knows that her life has been one disappointment after another. He does not label her. He does not call her bad. He does not walk past her as if she does not exist, as so many others have probably done to her. Instead he recognizes her. He “sees” her. She exists for him. She has worth and value to him. This woman is not used to this treatment. It grabs her attention. Her encounter with Jesus changes her view of herself and of the world. She sees for the first time that in the eyes of God she is important, she is loved, and nothing else matters. Through her compassionate and loving encounter with the human Jesus she understands that she too is a beloved child of God and she leaves her chores and goes out to share this love with the world. She is loved by Jesus, and then she takes this love and becomes the hands and feet of Christ to others and passes this love on. She is seen and then she is able to see.
For me this is the essence of being a Christian, being seen and then seeing. It isn’t about converting others or having the correct beliefs and theology. It is about knowing that we are each a special and beloved child of God, coming to understand that every other human being is also a special and beloved child of God, and then going out into the world and seeing others with the same eyes that God sees us. It is about going out into the world and spreading this love beyond ourselves.
It is a wonderful vision isn’t it? Then why is it so hard to actually live into this vision? Why is it so hard to see ourselves as a beloved child of God, and why is it so hard to understand that every other human being is also a beloved child of God, and therefore entitled to be seen by us as God sees them?
For me this is the essence of being a Christian, being seen and then seeing. It isn’t about converting others or having the correct beliefs and theology. It is about knowing that we are each a special and beloved child of God, coming to understand that every other human being is also a special and beloved child of God, and then going out into the world and seeing others with the same eyes that God sees us. It is about going out into the world and spreading this love beyond ourselves.
It is a wonderful vision isn’t it? Then why is it so hard to actually live into this vision? Why is it so hard to see ourselves as a beloved child of God, and why is it so hard to understand that every other human being is also a beloved child of God, and therefore entitled to be seen by us as God sees them?
Well, to answer the first question, it is difficult to see ourselves as God’s beloved, because we have often received messages throughout our lives that we are not God’s beloved. We have received messages from people that we or some part of us is bad. Or perhaps the disappointments and suffering of our lives have caused us to question ourselves and our worth. I am here to tell you right now, you are special, you are important, you are a beloved child of God. Nothing you have done and nothing that has happened to you can ever change that reality.
As to the second question, well this one is even more challenging. There are certainly people for whom it is easy for us to see as God’s beloved—our family, our friends, those people who are like us. But what about those people in this world who make us feel uncomfortable? People who hold different opinions than us or who have different values than we have, people who look or act different than we do. We tend to want to divide the world into good and bad people, but very rarely can anyone be put completely into one camp or another—all of us are made up of a complex mix of good and bad. This story challenges us to think about the people we have difficulty “seeing” as God’s beloved. What people or group of people is it difficult for you to accept as being loved by God? The Samaritan woman was not seen as being loved by God by many people, but that didn’t mean that she wasn’t. As followers of Christ we are called to see all human beings with the eyes of Christ. And when we truly “see” those that the world does not “see” we pass on the love of God.
Do you know that you are “seen” by God? For you are. Do you understand that those you have trouble “seeing” are “seen by God? For they are. Allow yourself to be seen by God, allow yourself to be loved by God, and then go into that world and see those that the world does not see. Love those that the world does not love.
As to the second question, well this one is even more challenging. There are certainly people for whom it is easy for us to see as God’s beloved—our family, our friends, those people who are like us. But what about those people in this world who make us feel uncomfortable? People who hold different opinions than us or who have different values than we have, people who look or act different than we do. We tend to want to divide the world into good and bad people, but very rarely can anyone be put completely into one camp or another—all of us are made up of a complex mix of good and bad. This story challenges us to think about the people we have difficulty “seeing” as God’s beloved. What people or group of people is it difficult for you to accept as being loved by God? The Samaritan woman was not seen as being loved by God by many people, but that didn’t mean that she wasn’t. As followers of Christ we are called to see all human beings with the eyes of Christ. And when we truly “see” those that the world does not “see” we pass on the love of God.
Do you know that you are “seen” by God? For you are. Do you understand that those you have trouble “seeing” are “seen by God? For they are. Allow yourself to be seen by God, allow yourself to be loved by God, and then go into that world and see those that the world does not see. Love those that the world does not love.