Second Monday in Lent

John 4:27-42 (NRSV)

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?’ Then the woman left her water-jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, ‘Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?’ They left the city and were on their way to him.

Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, ‘Rabbi, eat something.’ But he said to them, ‘I have food to eat that you do not know about.’ So the disciples said to one another, ‘Surely no one has brought him something to eat?’ Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. Do you not say, “Four months more, then comes the harvest”? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, “One sows and another reaps.” I sent you to reap that for which you did not labour. Others have laboured, and you have entered into their labour.’

Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me everything I have ever done.’ So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there for two days. And many more believed because of his word. They 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 Saviour of the world.’

"Come and see a man who has told me everything that I have ever done!" That could be good and bad. Obviously, for the Samaritan woman with a sordid life, this encounter was probably quite embarrassing. Nonetheless, she was so excited that Jesus might be the messiah, she ran back to town and told everyone about him.

We pick up the story from Saturday's reading and learn that regardless of what Jesus told her, she invited the whole town out to meet him. John uses the time the woman has gone to the city for the disciples to encounter Jesus and ask him if he has been able to eat something. We should remember that they are in Samaria, and Samaritans do not share things with Jews and vice versa. Jesus takes the opportunity to explain to his disciples about the place they are in and how there is ample opportunity to share the message that "the fields are ripe for harvesting."  

The passage tells us that many in that city believed in Jesus because of the woman's testimony. After that, the Samaritans, who don't share things in common with Jews, invited Jesus to stay with them. Many more came to believe by spending time with Jesus, and they proclaimed him, "savior of the world." 

I would be a little freaked out if a man came up to me and told me "all that I have ever done." Especially if I was trying to hide it in some way. We should realize that God knows it all, our good and our bad. During the season of Lent, it's our opportunity to admit the sin in our lives and turn to God for forgiveness. We are to go deep and go to God will ALL our demons, not just the ones that are evident to the world. Yes, even the hidden things that we are afraid of even admitting to God. It's ok; God forgives. God cannot save us unless we acknowledge that we need to be saved.

First Saturday in Lent

John 4:1-26 (NRSV)

Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard, “Jesus is making and baptizing more disciples than John” —although it was not Jesus himself but his disciples who baptized— he left Judea and started back to Galilee.

But he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon. A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The 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.) Jesus 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.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but 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.” The 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.” Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!” The woman said to him, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But 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. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.”

"Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep." The Samaritan woman and Jesus have a conversation at Jacob's well. Jesus is obviously out of his territory, in Sychar, a city in Samaria. Even though Jesus is not a Samaritan and the woman is not a Jew, Jesus crosses many social barriers to speak to the woman at the well. 

One social barrier is that there is such a difference between the Samaritans and Jews that they didn't even talk to one another, let alone share anything in common. Jews (inhabitants of Judah, which is the southern kingdom) thought Samaritans (part of the northern kingdom) were dogs, and the same thought was reciprocated by the Samaritans. Arguing over the proper place to worship was just the tip of the iceberg. Samaritans worshipped and made sacrifices on the mountain, and Jews worshipped and made sacrifices in the temple. The evangelist, John, saying that "Jews do not share things in common with the Samaritans" is an understatement. The Samaritans were half Jew and half gentile and came about after the northern kingdom was in captivity in 721 BCE. 

Another social barrier that Jesus crosses is sexual. Jesus is a man and is openly speaking to an unaccompanied woman in public. This is a little beyond a simple faux pa but goes directly in the face of cultural practice. By Jesus doing this, he puts himself in grave danger if anyone wanted to go after him for violating a social norm. I am struck by her curtness of "sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep!" reply to his request for water. But, understanding the dichotomy between them, her response makes sense.

Jesus did not commit a sin by crossing the social barriers. Jesus decides not to follow the prejudiced attitudes of his day regarding gender and ethnicity. And by doing so, the Samaritan woman and Jesus have an in-depth theological exchange. She learned the good news, and through her, the entire village came to believe. More on that part of the story Monday (John 4:27-42).

This is the most extensive conversation of this type in the Gospel, according to John. It is an important story that tells how Jesus is reaching others to reconcile them to God. It is essential to point out that he and the woman didn't quibble over the right way or wrong way to worship (something Christian brothers and sisters could learn), but he says that true worshippers will worship God in spirit and truth.

In reflecting through this passage, what might be some questions we could use for this season of Lent? One that comes to mind is; "do we let the social norms keep us from engaging those who need a drink of water (or anything else for that matter)?" Another might be; "what are the barriers that exist in our lives that prevent us from having meaningful relationships and discussions with those that differ from us? In the recent political and racial turmoil, these might be good self-reflections this lent.

John 8:46-59 (NRSV)

Which of you convicts me of sin?  If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me?  Whoever is from God hears the words of God. The reason you do not hear them is that you are not from God."  The Jews answered him, "Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?"  Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon; but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me.  Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is one who seeks it and he is the judge.  Very truly, I tell you, whoever keeps my word will never see death."  The Jews said to him, "Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, and so did the prophets; yet you say, 'Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.'  Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets also died. Who do you claim to be?"  Jesus answered, "If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, he of whom you say, 'He is our God,' though you do not know him. But I know him; if I would say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him and I keep his word.  Your ancestor Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day; he saw it and was glad."  Then the Jews said to him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?"  Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am."  So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.

Again, we leave our weekly progression through Mark and we take a detour into the Gospel according to John.  Today we are faced with Jesus being confronted again by the “Jews” who wish to convict him of blasphemy.  The daily lectionary repeats the exact reading that we heard on February 11, 2012; give or take a verse.  The idea that gets my attention today is that they call Jesus a Samaritan, which is ironic because Samaritans do not believe in the resurrection (and Jesus rises from the dead).

The questions continue about the identity of Jesus, and about where his power and abilities come from.  They have now come to the conclusion that Jesus must have a demon.  Jesus tries to explain that his abilities and his glory comes only from God, and that God is the source of all and the judge of all.  Jesus tries to explain his connection to God by telling them that he was before Abraham.

The call that I hear today is “be a keeper of the Word.”  Jesus says that whoever keeps his word will never taste death.  Therefore, everlasting life is the reward of being a “keeper of the Word.”  How do we keep the Word of God, which we know to be Jesus the Christ?  We keep him in faith and practice.  We keep him in trust for others.  To be keepers of the word, we need to be a sharer of the word.  In order to do this, I suggest that we live as St. Francis suggested, “preach the Gospel at all times.  When necessary, use words!”

John 8:47-59 (NRSV)

Whoever is from God hears the words of God. The reason you do not hear them is that you are not from God."  The Jews answered him, "Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?"  Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon; but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me.  Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is one who seeks it and he is the judge.  Very truly, I tell you, whoever keeps my word will never see death."  The Jews said to him, "Now we know that you have a demon.  Abraham died, and so did the prophets; yet you say, 'Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.'  Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died?  The prophets also died.  Who do you claim to be?"  Jesus answered, "If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, he of whom you say, 'He is our God,' though you do not know him.  But I know him; if I would say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him and I keep his word.   Your ancestor Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day; he saw it and was glad."  Then the Jews said to him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?"   Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am."   So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.



“They picked up stones to throw at him.”  I think that Jesus has finally reached a point with the leaders that he had no other choice other than to hide and then duck out.  The continued dialogue upsets the Jews to the point of accusing Jesus of having a demon.  They also call him a Samaritan, which is understandable because the Samaritans thought they were the true keepers of the Abrahamic religion prior to the Babylonian exile.

In the past few days, the readings have been leading up to this scene. The Jews (notably the Pharisees and scribes – the leaders) who want to trap Jesus on one side, and Jesus preaching and teaching and offering a new way to everlasting life on the other. The leaders of the community have their authority put into question. 

Jesus thwarts the Jews with his claim to be from God.  They don’t believe him and continue to challenge him bringing up Abraham and the prophets.  Jesus infuriates them by telling them that he was before Abraham.  This leads to the threat of the stones.

The call today is to be firm in our faith; be not only hearers of the word but doers.  Jesus is the perfect teacher and does not base his claims on what he says but on what he does (healing, forgiving, teaching).  The word of Jesus is the word of God and gives life and power to those who believe.  Jesus shows us the way that leads to truth and holiness.  And he anoints us with his power to live the gospel with joy and to be his witnesses in the world.  Are we doers of God's word, or hearers only?