They Marveled…

The “Woman at the Well” was an unbelievable story to people in the days of Jesus. It freaked out His disciples. In fact, they marveled that He would talk to this woman (but no one questioned Him about it). It was wrong on numerous levels. She is a Samaritan and the Jews hated Samaritans. “The Good Samaritan” is an oxymoron—the only “good” Samaritan would have been a dead Samaritan according to the conventional wisdom of the day. The Samaritans were Jews who fell away from following the true God and worshipped false gods when the Assyrians conquered and intermarried with several of their tribes (in 722 BC). Jews often refused to travel through Samaria (north of Jerusalem). Jesus was crossing another taboo when He spoke to a woman. To have a public conversation with a woman would have been improper then. Furthermore, she was a woman with a sexual history. That is why she was drawing water in the heat of the day—NOBODY would want to be seen with her. She was despised. Her reputation was loathsome. Jesus spoke to the “wrong” people. He ate and drank with them, too. He didn’t kiss up to the proper folks. He boldly took risks. He believed that every person had sacred worth and was worthy of being loved, accepted and forgiven. He never compromised His message. He said certain things were right and certain things were wrong. While Jesus used judgment, He didn’t condemn people. He told them the truth and invited them to follow Him, regardless of their past. He invited them to be freed from sin.

- Pastor Tom Harrison