First week of Lent - March 8, 2006

Lent 3 February 24, 2008 John 4:5-26 Who did Jesus die for – the judgmenta= l?

St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church, Bullhead City

Dr. Earl J. Pierce

Grace, mercy and peace - - -

We continue with our question, = who did Jesus die for? This morning we ask, was it the judgmental? Our word of = the Lord for today is the story of the woman at the well. And as we watch this video, we need to ask ourselves, who are the judgmental?”<= /span>

Would you agree that this is a pretty good dramatization of the story? Does the young lady in the video capture your thoughts about what the woman at the well was like? It’s= a pretty powerful video, I agree, but, is that really what it was like?<= /o:p>

We need to exercise some care when it comes to this story. Often as we read the stories in the Bible, we tend to read them with all of our 21^st century ideas, values, perceptions, and prejudices, and not hear them as th= ey were first heard 2000 years ago. We need to be careful that our view of thi= ngs does not cloud our judgment as we look at this woman. If it does, we may en= d up as guilty as we may think she is?

There are a few things about this story that we need to examine in detail. The fi= rst is there beginning at verse 16 – “go call your husband, I have = no husband, she replies. You are right in saying you have no husband, for you = have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband.”

What conclusion do you immediately jump to regarding this woman? Just look at the headlines glaring out at you from the Star or the National Enquirer, and wh= at can you immediately say about this woman? How quickly our minds shift to Elizabeth Taylor or some other Hollywood celebrity and we think the woman is just like them. Ah, ha, five husbands – five divorces, right? But, do= es the Bible say that? Or is that just us passing our judgment on this woman. Listen to this quote from one sermon: “She’s been married five times, and there’s no hint that she’s been widowed even once: that’s a tough run by 21st-century American standards, and it must be nearly the record for the ancient Middle East.” See how easy it is to judge? While there is no hint that she’s been widowed, at the same ti= me, there is absolutely no hint that she has ever been divorced.

Can we honestly say that she has been divorced and she was the cause of it in e= ach and every case? I don’t think so. Given the low position of women in = much of the middle east still today it would seem much more likely that she could have been abandoned 5 times than her leaving 5 husbands. It could have some combination of death, abandonment, and/or divorce. And how does that change= our view of her? Remember, in those societies then as now, there is still the practice of Levirate marriage, where a man marries the widow of his brother= .

&= nbsp; In Matthew, Jesus is questioned about this possibility:

²⁴⁼“Teacher,” they said, “Moses told us that if a man d= ies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and have children= for him. ²⁵Now there were seven brothers among us. = The first one married and died, and since he had no children, he left his wife = to his brother. ²⁶The same thing happened to the second and third brother, right on down to the seventh. ^27A=
279;Finally, the woman died. ²⁸Now then, at t= he resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her?”

Notice, Jesus doesn’t dis= miss this as an impossible example. Could the woman at the well be an example of this situation? Hum?

Well, pastor, you may be thinking, we’ll give you that one. But, she’s now living with a man, and you know what that means! Do I? Do you? Because = she is living with a man who is not her husband, does that necessarily mean that there is something illicit or immoral going on?

I think we need to consider more of the life and times of 1^st cent= ury Palestine before we make that jump. Let’s look again at the scene = 211; Jesus was sitting beside the well, it was about the 6^th hour = 211; noon by our clocks. Lunch time, a time of gathering at home, around food, around family, around friends. In some cases, the noon hour and the time af= terwards was the time for intimacy.

But, Jesus is alone at the well. And coming to him at the noon hour, at the time= to be with others, is the woman. Alone, by herself, without friends, without family. Perhaps she needed to be out of the house for one or more of the reasons I mentioned, we don’t know. All we do know is she was coming = to get water all by herself.

Now, think back on the video you just saw. The woman speaking doesn’t list= out all the problems in her life. She acknowledges that she is a sinner. She wa= nts to be wanted, wants to be known, wants to be loved. But, because of whatever hurts and fears she carries with her water jug to the well that day, she, t= oo, can be judgmental. – “How can you a Jew ask for a drink from me= , a woman of Samaria?” and then – “are you greater than our father Jacob?”

Challenging judgments, right? And Jesus gives her and us a challenging response – “whoever drinks of the water I give will never be thirsty again.̶= 1;

Jesus turns the debate from judgment to grace. From law to Gospel. From discussion about the proper place of worship to the proper motivation for worship, and, most importantly, the proper object of worship – Himself. “But = the hour is coming and is now here when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth.” It doesn’t matter what you have do= ne or not done. It doesn’t matter what you look like, how well dressed y= ou are, how dirty you may be. It doesn’t matter if you drive a new Merce= des, or a real beater. It doesn’t matter if you are a recovering drug user= or you have never tasted alcohol – true worshippers will worship the Fat= her in spirit and in truth.

The woman goes on – I know the Messiah is come. And Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.” He never said that to the Pharisees= . He only hinted at that to the disciples. He didn’t shout this out loud to the Sanhedrin. He tells this woman who started out judging Jesus, and who we often judge as well.

The story goes on beyond our reading for today. It is important that we continue the reading to see that full impact of this meeting with Jesus not only on = this woman but on her town as well:

28 = So the woman left her water jar and= went away into town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me = all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” 30 They went out of the town and were = coming to him.

39 Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.”

Many Samaritans believed in him because of the woman’s testimony. Now cons= ider this – if this woman were really as low as we usually judge her to be, would anyone in the town believe anything she had to say? If she were as si= nful as our judgment on her might be, would anyone in town trust her now? Would = they have come back from meeting Jesus and shared with her the joy they found as well?

40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of his word. 42 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 indeed t= he Savior of the world.”

Yes, Jesus died for the judgmental – for the woman at the well, for you, for me. Amen.=