Sixth Thursday in Lent: Lent 2014

Lenten Devotional
John 4-5

Today's reading is again full of great stories and miracles of Jesus reported by John.  Just like yesterday, I am not able to comment on them all in this setting.  I would want a day for each story to talk about them all, but the first story is where I would like to focus.

The Jews and the Samaritans were bitter enemies at the time of Jesus.  They disliked each other on purely religious grounds.  The Samaritans were mostly intermarried people from what was known in the Old Testament as the the Northern Kingdom or Israel after the time of David and Solomon had all the Jewish people united.  The Southern Kingdom was called Judah since this was the largest of the tribes that remained under the control of David's descendants.  The people of Israel were no longer allowed to come to Jerusalem for worship and they read the Old Testament in such a way that other places were available to worship God.  The people of Judah disagreed and the anger started and continued from their.  The Northern Kingdom was the first to fall into exile and the people who remained in the region were forced to intermarry non-Jews.  The hatred between relatives.

In chapter 4 when Jesus starts a conversation with a Samaritan women is to the point of heretical.  First, she was a Samaritan.  Second, she is a women.  Women we second class people at this time and not deserving of the education of a great teacher.  Everything was going wrong at this moment in the morale ideals of the day.  This is what makes this conversation so awesome.  Jesus is willing to sit and converse with the enemy (at least the perceived enemy).  

This is a great lesson for us.  If Jesus can sit with people who are not acceptable to the people he was sent to minister, who are we restricted from meeting?  No one is left out of the kingdom of God.  Everyone is invited and allowed to come.  As we read on in the story of today, this women was not just a Samaritan.  She had made poor choices with her relationships.  Jesus still offered the kingdom to her.  We can do the same.