Giving Witness

Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you want?” or, “Why are you speaking with her?” ²⁸Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, ²⁹“Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?” John 4:27-29

The encounter between the woman at the well and Jesus illustrates the transformational power that meeting Jesus had on people. The woman has a long exchange with Jesus that concludes with Jesus revealing to her that he is the Messiah she has been waiting for (4:26). Once she realizes the impact of this truth, she immediately leaves to share the good news with her community. She was so excited to tell everyone about Jesus that she even forgot to bring her water bucket with her! Her response to Jesus stands in marked contrast to those who demanded a sign from Jesus in order to believe. She was open to being changed by God and then mobilized into action. This is the Holy Spirit at work. If we truly understand the good news of salvation, given through Christ, why wouldn't we run off to share it?


As powerful as her response to Jesus was, it is even more remarkable the impact her proclamation had on those she shared the good news with.

Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I have ever done.” ⁴⁰So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. ⁴¹And many more believed because of his word. ⁴²They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world.” John 4:39-42

The woman at the well shared her story with her community and they believed her! This woman, who had been married five times and had been shunned by her community was now the town evangelist. She shared about the power of her encounter with Jesus and what it meant to her. The people were so moved by her testimony they invited Jesus to stay with them to learn more. This led to even more believing that Jesus was the Savior of the world. All of this took place among the Samaritans who were historic enemies of the Jewish people, demonstrating God's desire for salvation for all people.


God desires all people to be reconciled to God and redeemed through Christ's death and resurrection. Salvation is not limited to a select few or for those the world deems acceptable. No, God's salvation is for all people no matter where they were born or what they have done. The woman at the well believed God's love was for her and she shared this good news with all she knew. How will you respond?


Prayer: Lord, let me receive your love and grace fully, so that I may rejoice and give thanks. Help me to share the good news of all you have done for me, and trust that through the work of Spirit, lives can be transformed. In Jesus' name, AMEN.

The Woman at the Well

Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” ¹⁷The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; ¹⁸for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!” ¹⁹The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. ²⁰Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” ²¹Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. ²²You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. ²³But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. ²⁴God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” ²⁵The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” ²⁶Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.” John 4:16-26

Jesus met the unnamed Samaritan woman at the well during the middle of the day (John 4:6). This detail is significant because the normal custom for those getting water was to go to the well either in early morning or evening. When Jesus meets her at the well they were most likely the only people there. She goes to the well by herself because she had been shunned by her community. We are not told the circumstances of her previous relationships, but having five husbands and living with one who is not her husband would have been quite scandalous at the time. She goes to the well when no one else would be there to avoid further shaming and judgment.

When the woman meets Jesus she does not lie about her story or pretend to be something she wasn't. Instead she has an open conversation with Jesus and sees what God is doing through Jesus. She also confesses her hope that the Messiah will come and bring liberation not only to the Jewish people, but to Samaritans as well. In other words, this ostracized and shunned woman knows she has a place in God's kingdom. She has not allowed what others have said about her to change her belief that the Messiah would come for her too. She reminds us that our worth depends upon what God says about us and no one else.

Jesus' encounter with the woman at the well is remarkable in many regards. She displays great spiritual insight, perseverance and belief that through God all things are possible. She believes the Messiah will come for her and her people; that God's plan of salvation is for all people. For this faith, Jesus reveals to her his true identity. He reveals that he is the Messiah she has been waiting for. While so many others have either misunderstood who Jesus was or rejected him altogether, Jesus reveals the fullness of God's promise to the woman at the well. No one is excluded from God's love, no matter what their life has been like. God sees our heart and knows us fully and for those ready to receive it, Jesus speaks transformational truth to our hearts.

Prayer: Lord, help me to remember that no matter what we have done we are loved by you. Help me to see in others the child of God you created and extend the same love and grace you show me to others, in Jesus' name, AMEN.

Living Water

A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” ⁸(His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) ⁹The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) ¹⁰Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” ¹¹The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? ¹²Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” ¹³Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” ¹⁵The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.” John 4:7-15

As this text suggests, Samaritans and Jews did not have good relations with one another in Jesus' day. They were of different cultures and religious beliefs and had many wars between them. Jesus was traveling through Samaria to return to Galilee and stopped for water. An interaction between and Jew and a Samaritan would be remarkable enough, but Jesus interacting with a Samaritan woman transgressed cultural norms on two fronts. Yet, this pattern of moving beyond cultural boundaries was central to Jesus' ministry. His ministry is not confined to the children of Israel, and as such he powerfully reminds us that he came for all people and not a select few.

Jesus tells the woman to that if he knew who asked him for a drink, she would ask him for living water. This is the water the fully and completely quenches our thirst. Water can satisfy our thirst for a moment, but we will always need more. Living water quenches the thirst of our soul through the saving grace of Baptism. Living water hydrates our spirit and sustains within us a well spring of God's loving presence. The Samaritan woman may not yet understand who Jesus is or what he is all about, but she is believes Jesus can provide living water for her spirit and asks Jesus to provide it.

Jesus came to give living water for thirsty and weary souls. He came so our lives could be liberated by God's saving love and transformed by God's presence. If Jesus is offering living water, I say: "fill 'er up!"

Prayer: Lord, help me to seek the Living Water you so lovingly supply. Help me to be filled with the presence of Christ and share God's love with a world thirsty for God, in Jesus' name, AMEN. 



Blasphemy or Truth?

So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” ²⁵Jesus answered, “I have told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name testify to me; ²⁶but you do not believe, because you do not belong to my sheep. ²⁷My sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow me. ²⁸I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand. ²⁹What my Father has given me is greater than all else, and no one can snatch it out of the Father’s hand. ³⁰The Father and I are one.” ³¹The Jews took up stones again to stone him. ³²Jesus replied, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these are you going to stone me?” ³³The Jews answered, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you, but for blasphemy, because you, though only a human being, are making yourself God.” John 10:24-33

A central tenet of the Jewish faith is the belief that God is transcendent and holy. God is so powerful that no human being could stand face-to-face with God and live. When God chooses to communicate to humans it is always through an intermediary. In the Old Testament, we see God communicate through a burning bush, clouds of fire, angels, prophets but never directly. God is totally holy and inaccessible. For this reason, many in the Jewish faith will not use God's proper name (YHWH) in speech or writing, but instead use LORD or Elohim as placeholders for God's name. This is why there was such a strong reaction to Jesus' words about himself: "the Father and I are one." On its face, this statement is blasphemy, but it is also true.


I do not blame the religious leaders of Jesus' day for being skeptical about someone claiming to be the messiah or one with God. We should all take these types of claims with a grain of salt, and there were many who falsely claimed to be the messiah. That being said, if the theological foundation of any religion claims to know what God can and cannot do this is the real blasphemy. God is God and we are not. God can do anything God pleases and there are no restrictions. So while it is true, prior to Jesus, God interacted with humanity through intermediaries this does not mean God cannot communicate directly or in person. The closed and narrow-mindedness of the Jewish leaders kept them from seeing God was doing a new thing in Jesus. God was entering into the world in the flesh. God was showing the world love, mercy and grace. Jesus demonstrates this through a series of "signs" and ultimately on the cross. Jesus does not blaspheme God, rather he speaks a truth that had not previously been revealed.


The truth is God continues to work in our world and in our lives. This can be recognized if we have eyes of faith, but is often overlooked or disregarded. Jesus' challenge to the Jewish people of his time is the same challenge for us: remaining open to what God is doing. We must look for God's work in our lives and be ready for God to do something new. God is not distant from our lives. In Christ, we understand God to be "Immanuel" or "God with us." God is with us and showing us the truth. If we remain open and faithful, God's truth will transform our lives.


Prayer: Lord, help me to remain open to the ways you are working in my life. Help me to see with eyes of faith and be prepared to see something new from you, in Jesus' name, AMEN.

Inherited Faith

Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; ³²and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” ³³They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, ‘You will be made free’?” John 8:31-33

I have been Lutheran my whole life. Within two months of being born, my parents had me baptized. They brought my brother and I to church every Sunday, where my mother was the bell choir director and accompanist on piano. Both sets of grandparents and other relatives attended the same church, and our extended family is filled with the faithful. I am deeply grateful for being raised in the church and learning about God's grace and love from an early age. I inherited a faith tradition and have become a pastor in the same tradition. That being said, this faith was not my own until I was an adult. I inherited a faith tradition but did not choose it. I was raised Lutheran, but religious custom and family tradition is not, on its own, faith. This we cannot inherit but must receive, as a gift from God. My faith became the center point of my life, not because I was raised in the church, but because I personally and powerfully have experienced God's love in my life. I have experienced the truth and the truth has set me free.


This truth and faith is what Jesus came to proclaim and live. He tells the crowd to continue "in my word" and you will know the truth. This was an unwelcome message to those who inherited their Jewish faith. They were told they were God's chosen people by birthright. That as descendants of Abraham they had been given God's full blessing. Jesus challenges them to move beyond faith as custom, tradition, and inheritance and move toward faith as truth, love, and obedience to God. The tension between Jesus' proclamations and Jewish tradition come to a boiling point because Jesus challenged the fundamental assumptions of faith as inheritance. Rather than accept the truth and change, they would prefer to believe a lie. No matter how hard Jesus tries, or how patient he is, some will never accept the truth.


Jesus is the "way the truth and the life" (cf. John 14:6) and whoever follows him will have eternal life. Faith, unlike an inheritance, is not given to a special few, or disseminated by birthright, or a matter of education or good works. Faith is a gift from God, activated by the Spirit and received by those open to it. It is a gift intended for all people and not just some people. Faith is a matter of trusting God and being set free from all that binds us.


Prayer: Lord, help me to know the truth and be set free. Allow your Spirit to work within me so I might grow in faith, love, and obedience to your will, in Jesus' name, AMEN.

Fear of the Unknown

About the middle of the festival Jesus went up into the temple and began to teach. ¹⁵The Jews were astonished at it, saying, “How does this man have such learning, when he has never been taught?” ¹⁶Then Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine but his who sent me. ¹⁷Anyone who resolves to do the will of God will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own. ¹⁸Those who speak on their own seek their own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and there is nothing false in him. John 7:14-18

The Jewish people had been promised a messiah who would deliver them from their oppressors and restore the kingdom of David. There were signs to look for that were given by the prophets, but many who had previously claimed to be the messiah turned out not to be. So, in some respects, we can understand why the religious leaders were skeptical of Jesus. They questioned his authority because they do not recognize where it came from. They did not understand how Jesus could heal the man and where he received his knowledge from. They had become so convinced about their understanding of God they could not see God's truth standing in front of them. Because they did not understand they feel threatened, which is a natural human response.


Human beings like to be in control. We would rather go through life as routine drudgery than put ourselves in the position of having no control. Yet, control is an illusion and idolatry. A health scare, job loss, stock market plunge, violence, or even extreme weather are reminders that we are not in control. This is why we seek to buffer ourselves with various products and devices to guard against the unknown because we are truly anxious. The truth is we are not in control and we do not understand. Life is mysterious and baffling and there is very little we can do about it. The flip side of this truth is God is in control and God wants the very best for us. Our desire to control and our anxiety over our lack of control, is all connected to our lack of trust in God. The only way to combat anxiety is to surrender our need for control, to give our trust to God. This may not help us understand but will relieve our need to. This is liberating and transformational. It is also a life-long process which requires divine intervention.


Prayer: Lord, help me to place my trust in you. Help me, in the midst of things I do not understand, to believe you are with me. Help me to confess my anxiety and surrender it to you, in Jesus' name, AMEN.