Jesus and the Samaritan Woman
The apocryphal book Sirach spoke about an adulterous woman:
First, she has disobeyed the law of the Most High;
secondly, she has wronged her husband.
Thirdly, in her wanton adultery
she has borne children by another man.
Such a woman will be dragged before the assembly,
and her punishment will extend to her children;
Her children will not take root;
her branches will not bring forth fruit.
She will leave an accursed memory;
her disgrace will never be blotted out. (Sirach 23:23-26, NAB)
This is a fair poetic summary of the curses God places on a person who has a sexual relationship outside of marriage (adultery or fornication). Jesus has just uncovered that sin in this woman, in an effort to lead her to repentance and the forgiveness we all need, but see how rapidly she changes the subject!
19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
Accused, she switches the conversation to the details of worship. A sinner cannot stand to be confronted by his sin. The argument about whether worship could take place on Mount Gerizim (they were on its slopes) or only in Jerusalem was an old argument. The Samaritans built an altar of Mount Gerizim in the days of Malachi, which infuriated the Jews, and when the Jews destroyed it, they infuriated the Samaritans. The woman’s inclination is to use hostile language (“you Jews”) when the subject comes up, although she had been relatively courteous up to this point.
21 Jesus declared, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.”
Jesus doesn’t sidestep the question. Instead, he shoots an arrow dead center of the problem. When he says “you will worship…” he uses a plural (i.e., you Samaritans). He is not just talking about the conversion of this woman, but of the Samaritans, and perhaps we could extend his words to all who are outside of the nation of Israel. Jesus offers the gospel of forgiveness to the whole world, not just to a select few.
The true worship of God has always begun in the heart. Moses could talk about Zion as “the mountain of your inheritance” (Exodus 15:17) as he looked ahead to God’s plan for Israel, and Jeremiah could proclaim the ark of the covenant within the tabernacle as “a glorious throne, exalted from the beginning” (Jeremiah 17:12), but true worship begins in the heart, and that is the place we must be most concerned about. When Jeremiah says “Those who turn away from you will be put to shame” (Jeremiah 17:13a) he isn’t talking about turning away from the temple. He’s talking about rejecting God. And that is the sin that condemns, “because they have forsaken the Lord, the spring of living water” (Jeremiah 17:13b).
22 “You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.”
The Samaritans had some things in common with the Sadducees. Both groups only accepted the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Old Testament); neither group knew what to expect from the Messiah. Jesus countered attacks from the Sadducees by correcting their understanding of passages in the Pentateuch (Matthew 22:29-32, etc.). However, with this Samaritan woman, Jesus began to point her to the way of forgiveness by saying, “salvation is from the Jews.” He did not only mean that the Messiah would come from the nation of Israel; he was leading her toward recognizing himself as that Messiah.
23 “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” (NIV)
“Truth” in John’s gospel always point back to Jesus. Jesus is “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). Grace and truth came “through Jesus” (John 1:17). Those who live “by the truth” come into the light (John 3:21). Now, we see that “in truth” is also the way God wants us to worship him. Worship is not dependent on the place, but on the heart.
She has almost no arguments left; no defenses to set up, no barriers to hide behind. The only possible way to evade any more tough questions from this stranger is to try and hide behind what she thinks is the final rock of her defense.
We’ll see what she says tomorrow…
Something extra:
Psalm 20:4
4 May he give you the desire of your heart
and make all your plans succeed.
Psalm 20 continues with the language of blessing. After centering our attention on the forgiveness of sins (through acceptable sacrifice) in verse 3, we are now shown that our heart’s desire can be ours, too—when it conforms with the will of God. In heaven, everything in our hearts and everything on our minds will fell into perfect step with God’s will.
In his excellent Commentary on Psalms 1-72, Dr. John Brug of our own Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary points out that Psalm 20 is a prayer of the people for their leaders. “We should pray for the welfare and success of faithful rulers in the state and in the church. They are the shield which God gives to his people against evil men and false teachers. If God blesses those who fight for justice and truth and safety and success, his people will be able to live in peace and safety and will be able to preach the gospel freely.” (p. 267).
Lord God, bless us with your gospel.
Bless our hearts, and change our hearts to follow you and only you.
Cause the plans we make to be in step with your will
and not with our vain desires.
Love us, Lord, and lovingly draw us to love you.
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. His wife, Kathryn, attended Chapel from 1987-1990 while studying Secondary Education (Theater and Math) at UW-Madison. Kathryn’s father, John Meyer, was also the first man to serve as a Vicar at Chapel.
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