Jesus and the "Wrong" Kind of Woman

Stolen phone selfies

It was another fun Friday morning!! 

One of my favorite things about Friday mornings is greeting kids as they show up, and hanging out while we eat doughnuts. A huge part of what we want to do in WyldLife is get to know kids, and show them that we are interested in them as people, for no reason other than just because they matter. As we do this, we show them that they are valuable in and of themselves. We show them that God thinks they matter, and we get to earn the right to be a positive influence in their lives... hopefully we get to help them meet Jesus, but we are there with and for them no matter what.

Its crazy what a conversation around a doughnut can lead to.

After eating doughnuts and hanging out we played a game from summer camp this last summer. Kids paired off, one was designated a tree and the other a bird. As the music played they walked around in counter-rotating circles and when the music stopped the "bird" had to find the "tree" and jump on its back. It was fun and some of the kids really connected with their inner bird-ness. Unfortunately I did not have an opportunity to get any pictures, so you will just have to ask your kid to show you what that looked like!!

After the game we got into the story of Jesus hanging out at with a "promiscuous" woman.

Jesus often spent time with the wrong kind of people. One might think that Jesus would have spent most of his time with religious experts, or people much like we would find in churches today, but he didn't. Jesus was constantly shocking the religious experts with who he hung out with. This is one of those times.

Jesus and his disciples were traveling and had to go through Samaria. Jesus and his disciples were Jews, and Jews HATED Samaritans. As they were walking through Samaria, Jesus got tired and took a rest next to a well. The disciples went on ahead to get food, leaving Jesus alone. As Jesus was resting, a Samaritan woman came up to the well to draw water. The fact that this woman was coming at this time suggests that she was a social outcast. Most women would come together to get water, but this woman came at time when no one else was around. We find out why later in the story.

As this woman came close, Jesus asked her to give him a drink. Seems simple enough, Jesus is thirsty, and this lady could give him some water... but that Jesus asked a Samaritan woman for water is incredibly scandalous. Jews hated Samaritans so much that if a Samaritan touched a Jew's dish, the dish would be destroyed. The reasons for this were deep, and religion was a huge factor. So that Jesus, God, was talking to someone with differing religious beliefs is a very big deal.

The woman was shocked that Jesus asked her for water. She replied, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" Jesus caught her totally off guard. As they talk Jesus began to explain that if she knew who he was (God) she would have asked him for living water. This is a reference to eternal, true, real, and everlasting life, but she didn't get that and asked for "living water" so that she wouldn't have to keep coming to the well to get water. 

So Jesus asked her to go home, get her husband, and then come back. The woman told Jesus she didn't have a husband, and Jesus let her know that he knows her better than she thinks. This woman had been married 5 times before and was currently living with a man she was not married to. This woman was not the kind of woman people would expect Jesus to be talking to, but she was exactly the kind of woman Jesus came to talk to. 

Jesus constantly looked for the kind of people the religious system of that time marginalized. Jesus didn't wait for people to get their act together before he came to them. Jesus came to be with the "wrong" kind of people. 

This woman was so rejected that she had to come get water at a time when no one else from the town would see her. She had to live a life full of shame, but not with Jesus. Jesus made sure that she knew he knew her, and he came to offer her living water. Jesus didn't point a finger at her, he didn't tell her he knew what she was up to and could give her living water as soon as she cleaned her life up. No. He first gave offered to rescue her, and then let her know he knew everything about her. Its so easy to get this flipped around. Its so easy to think we need to clean ourselves up before we can come to Jesus... but Jesus comes to us in the midst of our mess.

Just like with this woman, Jesus isn't waiting for us to get things "right." Jesus meets us where we are, as we are, and he loves us in that place. 

For a middle school kid, the truth that they can be fully know and fully loved, as they are, is life changing and powerful. They live in a world of labels. A world where they are what they are know as and for. Their experience, more often than not, tells them that if people really knew them, they wouldn't be loved, or have many friends. To understand that Jesus sees them, knows EVERYTHING about them, and STILL LOVES them like crazy can completely change the trajectory of a kids life. It can set them free and bring a truth centered confidence that displays itself in care for others, and acceptance of themselves. 

It is equally powerful for us adults. To know that Jesus isn't keeping score, isn't using guilt and shame as motivation, and isn't holding our past mistakes against us can open us up to a life of freedom. Just like Jesus met this woman, this woman that Jesus had no business talking to, he meets us. He meets us where we are, good and bad, clean and unclean, in the midst of whatever is going on in our lives, and he brings the gift of living water.