I can't help but wonder if that is what the Samaritan woman feels like when she encounters Jesus. The thing that initially touches her about the encounter is that Jesus acknowledges her. He asks her for a drink, even though she is a Samaritan. The Jews looked down on the Samaritans and she expected that Jesus, as a Jew, would do the same, but he did not, instead he started a conversation with her.
Throughout their conversation, Jesus shows that he knows her, and cares for her, and wants her to have the best that is available; life abundant and in relationship with God. Jesus does not judge her, but after making it clear that he knows her good and bad, he also makes it clear that he cares and points her towards truth. He acknowledges her, accepts her, and challenges her to be better. Could anyone ask for a better friend?
It can be hard for us to get our head around Jesus as that kind of friend if we have never met people who show us what that is like, and in truth, that kind of person can be rare. People often fit one or more of those, but it is the rare person who fills all three; partly because we don't let someone know us intimately enough. To earn trust takes time, and sometimes it is never fully earned by another. We have those secrets we withhold; we believe we know how the person will react, we feel their judgement before it is spoken.
I expect the Samaritan woman was waiting to hear Jesus' judgement after he outlined her situation in life,
16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”Yet Jesus did not react with judgement, he continued his conversation with her and revealed himself as Messiah to her. He offered her spiritual life!
17 “I have no husband,” she replied.
Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”
I have been blessed with a couple of people in my life that have been and continue to be this kind of friend to me (aside from Jesus and family members). One is my friend PC who has always loved me, maybe not all my choices, but definitely me and has always spoken truth to me; not to condemn me, but to grow me. The other is my boyfriend, Thomas. In spite of my past mistakes and bad choices and my grouchiness, he acknowledges the less than perfect areas of who I am and focuses on the beauty in me. He encourages me to be better and to reminds me when I am about to do something that I will later regret. He always has a hug for me, no matter what.
It is because of people like this in my life that I can better understand and be in relationship with Jesus and understand the encounter the Samaritan woman has with Jesus. She finds that she is valued, she is loved, and the encounter empowers her.
Do you have a person in your life that helps you understand what Jesus is offering you?
