The woman in today’s reading was carrying a burden much greater than just a jug of water as she made her way to Jacob’s well. Her heart carried the weight of sin and shame, of poor life choices, and broken relationships. She was a Samaritan, racial cousins of the Jewish people, and people the Jews hated. “Good” Jews wouldn’t even associate with Samaritans for fear of becoming ritually unclean.
Not Jesus. When she got to the well, Jesus asked her for some water (he didn’t have anything to pull it out of the well himself). Her sin and shame didn’t drive Jesus away, nor did her ethnicity. Jesus knew the burden that she was carrying, and He engages her in conversation in order to set her free from the burden of her sin. He graciously changed her life when He revealed that He was the source of “living water” (v. 10, 13-14). He told her that there would come a day when all people could have a relationship with God that wasn’t tied to a geographic place now that God’s promised Messiah had arrived (v. 23-24). This good news changed her life, and it caused her to rush back to town to share with everyone the news about Jesus (v. 39-42). What a great response to a changed life.
Week 19, Day 98 -- No More Shame: John 4:1-42
The woman in today’s reading was carrying a burden much greater than just a jug of water as she made her way to Jacob’s well. Her heart carried the weight of sin and shame, of poor life choices, and broken relationships. She was a Samaritan, racial cousins of the Jewish people, and people the Jews hated. “Good” Jews wouldn’t even associate with Samaritans for fear of becoming ritually unclean.
Not Jesus. When she got to the well, Jesus asked her for some water (he didn’t have anything to pull it out of the well himself). Her sin and shame didn’t drive Jesus away, nor did her ethnicity. Jesus knew the burden that she was carrying, and He engages her in conversation in order to set her free from the burden of her sin. He graciously changed her life when He revealed that He was the source of “living water” (v. 10, 13-14). He told her that there would come a day when all people could have a relationship with God that wasn’t tied to a geographic place now that God’s promised Messiah had arrived (v. 23-24). This good news changed her life, and it caused her to rush back to town to share with everyone the news about Jesus (v. 39-42). What a great response to a changed life.