We all know the story of the Samaritan woman at the
well and how Jesus changed her life and how she became the Lord’s disciple who
turned her hometown into Jesus-followers.
We read this story in John 4.
In John 3 Jesus encountered a male Jewish religious
leader, Nicodemus, who struggled to comprehend who Jesus was and what he taught.
But in John 4 the narrator contrasted the important and
respected Nicodemus with his complete opposite, the unloved woman at the well, and
because she is at the other end of the prestige continuum, she recognized not only
who Jesus is but also that he offered her dignity.
Jesus invited her not to be defined by her
circumstances and offered her an identity that lifted her above the extreme
tragedies of her life. And she accepted,
playing a unique role in Jesus' ministry as she was the first character in
John's gospel to seek out others to tell them about Jesus.
When tragedy strikes, or when we find that we are
different from others in whatever way, or that things happened to us that
influenced our self image and our emotional security, we may know that the
transforming power of the love of Jesus Christ has the capacity to give us a
new identity and a new sense of self worth!
Jesus promised her a new existence that rose above the
judgmentalism of others and the chauvinism and pride of others. The love of Jesus for us help us to rise
above what others think of us, what tradition, culture and social opinions make
us out to be - and turn us into joyful
and powerful witnesses of Jesus Christ!
Jesus promised her a life where going to the well to
collect water for someone else’s household does not define her anymore –
where chauvinism and racism and culture and xenophobia
did not define her anymore,
but he gave her a life where the life changing living
waters that Jesus gives, defined her.
Thank
you Jesus for the transforming
power of your love and for giving us the capacity to live a new identity as
your followers
No comments:
Post a Comment