24 Days to Reflect on God's Heart for RedemptionSample

The Samaritan woman at the well: Redeemed as a bridge to her community

Jesus has just left Judea in southern Palestine, where he had gained many followers. He decided to leave this area and travel north, back to Galilee. The normal navigational route for any self-respecting Jew was the trans-Jordan route to the north, to avoid the region of Samaria.

Cultural hostilities between Jews and Samaritans can be traced back to 931 BC through the New Testament period, as recorded in John 4. Samaritans emerged as a distinct ethnic group as described in 2 Kings 17.

When John records that Jesus “had to go through Samaria,” he was making an astonishing statement. No Jew in his right mind would travel through Samaria. This was a countercultural statement in the day of Jesus. Yet he was driven by a sense of mission, passion, and vision to go through Samaria.

Over the course of the conversation with the woman at the well, Jesus responds to her agenda regarding culture, history, and religion. She brought the pain of her past into the conversation. As they continue speaking, she first knows Jesus as a man, then as a Jewish man, then as a prophet, and finally as Messiah. Once she realized Jesus was not just a Jewish man or prophet, but the Messiah (the Christ), she sped back to the town of Sychar, leaving her water jar in place. She went back to town to tell everyone she knew to “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?”

John records that many of the Samaritans from that town believed in Jesus because of what the Samaritan woman said about the man that “told me everything I ever did,” but many more became believers after they heard Jesus for themselves.

The Samaritan woman’s life was redeemed from a series of failed marriages, adultery, social stigmatism, cultural conflict, and the negative impact of this kind of lifestyle. One encounter with Jesus, who didn’t condemn her but showed her the way to a better life, transformed her into a witness that led many from her town to faith in Christ.

Jesus, the Redeemer, was able to take a life torn by the consequences of sin and transform her relationships and circle of influence into a magnet that led others to faith. He took what was intended for harm and turned it into good.

The redemptive work of Jesus cuts across all social strata, cultural differences, gender differences, and geography.

Reflection questions:

• What might be the redemptive potential of your life?
• How does God want to use you for his work in redemptive history?
• What surprises you most about the redemptive experience of the Samaritan woman?