Today’s Author: Steve Sveom

 John 4:1-42

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

Jesus and the Samaritan woman had a conversation that began with the mundane and concluded with a deep faith statement and revelation. From “give me a drink” to “I am” was a progression from a request to meet a physical need to a statement about the very nature of Jesus as the revelation of God.

The conversation had two levels as the woman moved from surprise that Jesus would even speak to her to a faithful response, witnessing to others: “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?”

There are differences of opinion about their conversation as Jesus told her to call her husband and she responds that she has no husband. Then Jesus states that she has had five husbands and “the one you have now is not your husband.” Some scholars believe that this is a statement of fact, reflecting Jesus’ knowledge of her – that she was a widow or divorcee.  Others think it is a deeper symbolic statement about religious practices: one of the disagreements between Jews and Samaritans was the Assyrian influence on the Samaritans which included faith in 5 gods. If this is the meaning it reflects, Jesus’ knowledge is that her Samaritan faith has included 5 gods since the word for husband would have been Baal. In either case, the key statement of Jesus is “I am.” The Samaritans did not anticipate a Messiah from the house of David, but a prophet like Moses. “I am” brings us back to the revelation of God to Moses in the burning bush.

My mother, before a stroke left her unable to speak, was a masterful conversationalist, able to speak about the mundane while knowing the only way to go deeper was to earn the right by learning about the “trivial.”  We see the progression in this reading from a simple encounter to deep faith in the Messiah.Prayer: Help us to find value in our interactions, O God.  Those that seem basic and simple and those that go deep.  Let us see your presence in those we are with today.  Amen.

Mid-week devotions are authored by members of our community.  If you are interested in creating a trio of reflections to be shared on an upcoming Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, contact Pastor Peter.