15 March 2020
It’s strange, this interchange between the Samaritan woman and Jesus.
In the first place, it should never have happened.
Samaritans and Jews don’t have polite conversation.
In the second place, Rabbi’s and Samaritan women don’t have theological debates.
This woman should have known her place, should have backed off.
She doesn’t though.
And, in one of the odder moves, taunts Jesus.
Who does he think he is to know so much–greater than Jacob?
If you’ve a literate ear, it sounds like some other taunting directed at Jesus.
Who does he think he is? Why doesn’t he save himself? –by the guards
Both this woman and the guards at the cross are skeptical of Jesus.
How many of us have ever thought a dusty transient had something to teach us?
How many of us have watched someone facing the death penalty and thought,
“That’s someone I’d like to get to know?”
I don’t know the difference between the woman at the well and the guards at the cross.
I don’t know what made one believe in him, and the others spit at him.
I do know the judgements we make can change our lives and the lives of those around us.