Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
The text this morning is from the Gospel of John, the fourth chapter:
So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink… 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.” …Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 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 now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet… I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
Thus far the text.
Dear friends in Christ,
What in the world is Jesus up to here? He’s breaking every rule, breaking every taboo, breaking everything He possibly can think of by talking to this woman. Not only is she a stinking Samaritan, she’s a woman. This was a no-no back in Jesus’ time.
We may have a hard time wrapping our heads around this, but men and women were fairly well separated in the Jewish culture, so much so that if Jesus was seen talking to this woman, He would’ve caused a scandal. People would whisper, people would gossip, people would judge, but then again, Jesus was no stranger to that kind of thing. Neither was this woman.
For you see, this woman was used to being judged. She was used to being gossiped about. She was used to being the subject of hushed whispers as she would walk by. That didn’t mean that she liked it, but it happened all the same. After all, she was gathering her water for the day at the sixth hour, noon, the hottest part of the day. They didn’t have tap water back then; you had to go to a community well to draw out your water. You went early in the morning or near sundown so that it wasn’t so hot and tiring. You would visit with others, share your stories, share some laughter, and then you’d head home before it got too warm and your water would splash out or evaporate.
So, this woman, getting water at the noon hour is either crazy, or she’s scandalous. And she proves by her words, and by Jesus’ prophesying, that it’s the latter. She’s a scandalous woman. So, why is she out at noon then? Why is she there alone, with no other women? Of course, she would she be incredibly thirsty by the time she got there, of course she would be tired, but fainting under the heat of the hot sun was better for her than wilting under the blazing stares of the other women at the well.
This woman was a sinner. She was a serial monogamist; that means she slept with many men, six, in fact, as Jesus says. Well, I suppose that makes her some type of polygamist, not a monogamist, for the Scriptures tell us that a marital union, the marriage bed, is reserved for one man and one woman, together for life, with no exceptions. This woman obviously hasn’t done that. It’s clear in this passage, she’s living in unrepentant sin.
And her community judged her for it. Her community shunned her for it. If she were living in today’s age, there might even be a few choice words, a few slurs, that people might sling at her. Women would gossip about her, fearing always that maybe their husbands would be next in her bed. Men would flee her, for being caught near her would be as scandalous to their wives as if they actually did something. Children may mock her as she passed, just as they did the prophet Elisha for being bald (though there would be no bears to come out and take God’s vengeance for one of His prophets). Never mock a bald man, you don’t know what may happen.
But this woman, she was not, by any stretch of the imagination, a prophetess, a holy woman, someone living according to the Word of God. She was a sinner, and was very good at sinning.
To our eyes, this woman is easy to judge. She’s worse than I am. At least I repent before God. At least I’m not that bad. Look how bad she is. She doesn’t even seem sorry for it. It’s easy to think all that, but she’s not worse than you are.
It’s easy for us to remember the words of Paul in 1 Corinthians: “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” It’s easy for us to judge others by those words and standards, but it’s harder for us to remember the words that follow after it: “And such were some of you.”
We forget that we are as great of sinners as this woman, if not greater. In fact, if you cannot confess with Paul, that you are the chief of sinners, then I seriously fear you may not be understanding the seriousness of your sin. For indeed, your sin has separated you from the love of God, for instead you love your sin. You love your flesh. You love your pleasure.
It’s easy for us to judge this woman because we are blinded by our own sin. It’s easy to judge this woman because her sins are so well-known. Your sins, for the most part, are private, hidden. No one has written them down in the Scriptures, like this woman was. No one sees them, no one hears them, no one is your mind. Except for God. For nothing is hidden from God. He has seen all, He has heard all, He has perceived all that you think and feel and do. And you have been as wanting for righteousness as this woman.
Perhaps, even, we extend this judgment towards those in our own congregation. Perhaps we sit in judgment over those among us even here today. At least I’m not as bad as Richard, or Susan, or Thomas, whoever. We sit in judgment because we don’t understand how bad we are.
And yet, Jesus doesn’t sit in judgment of this woman, does He? He simply states the fact, the man this woman is with now is not her husband. It’s a sin. He calls it likes He sees it, but there’s not righteous indignation, there’s no gossip, there’s no judgment. In fact, later, Jesus even sends this woman into her own town of Sychar to tell others about Him and many come to faith because of her testimony. Jesus doesn’t sit there in judgment over her; He sends her out. And why? Because, as they’re talking, she is in the presence of the Messiah, the I AM.
In fact, the last words of today’s reading are badly translated in the English. For us, in English, it would be better translated as, “The One who is speaking to you? I AM.” I AM, the holy name of God Himself. The holy name of Yahweh, Jesus assumes this name, and she would have known immediately to whom it was she was speaking. She was speaking to God.
And how is it then, that this great sinner was able to be in the presence of the God from whom she had fallen so far? We could imagine a sinner in the hands of an angry God, and yet, this God, this Jesus is not angry, but compassionate. This Jesus is not wrathful, but loving and patient. How could this be?
Jesus is talking to a Samaritan, a woman, a scandalous woman at that, and He just gets away with it. But that’s what Jesus does. He talks to scandalous people all the time. He touches the lepers, He eats with tax collectors, He hangs out with prostitutes, the demon-possessed, He’s even been known to hang out with the crude fisherman and the Pharisee from time to time. Jesus hangs out with scandalous people. And such were some of you, all of you, all of us.
It is the same way that you are able to be here today and not fall down on your knees in fear and judgment as God towers over you. You are in the presence of God today, and you do so without fear. He is here, you are here, you are together. It is because the anger and wrath God has for sin He would pour out upon His Son, Jesus Christ. God has no more anger for you, dear sinner. God has no more wrath for you, dear Christian. The Lord has taken it upon His shoulders for you on the cross, just as He had promised.
Christ was displayed as crucified before the foundation of the world, and He has done this for you, even for this woman, even for the unrighteous, the sexually immoral, the idolaters, the adulterers, the people who practice homosexuality, the thieves, the greedy, the drunkards, the revilers, the swindlers, the sinners. For we were this way, too, and we are, even now. Yet, we have inherited the kingdom of heaven through the cross. We have been sanctified, made holy by Christ’s own work for us, even the work of Christ that is continued today through the hearing of His Word, the receiving of His sacraments, and the fulfillment of our vocations.
Our own work will not save us, of course. Our own avoidance of sin will not save us. Only the crucified and resurrected Lord Jesus Christ will save us, and He has. For just as this woman was, Jesus welcomes us into His presence. He calls our sin like He sees it, but He has no judgment for you for He would be judged in your place. And by His judgment upon Himself, we have peace with God, for we have been justified by faith.
And how is it then that we receive this justification, this salvation? By the very living water that Christ has promised to this woman. The living water that comes from the rock of our salvation being struck in the wilderness of the Middle East. From His riven side, this living water flows, just as Moses struck the rock and water flowed from it. This living water wells up in us, it comes from the deepest places of faith and it overflows the walls of the well and soaks everything around us. We would be loathe to miss the baptismal reference here, that by water, living water, water that comes from Jesus, water that brings to us the Spirit and truth, we are saved, for He has delivered to us faith to receive His good gifts.
For this water, for us and for this Samaritan sinning woman, this water never runs out. It feeds us for life, and we shall have it eternally. There is no judgment when you have this water, neither judgment against nor judgment coming from your own heart. You have been forgiven much, and thus we look past the sins of those among us and against us, for the Lord has forgiven even those sins. There is no wrath that can withstand this water. This water washes away sins, and washes them as far as a bottle thrown in at the top of the river washing out into the ocean. For Jesus, the giver of the good, living water, has washed you in His water and has borne all this sin of yours and of the world away, for the sake of sinners, for the sake of this woman, and for the sake of you, that you would be saved, even in your sin. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen.
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