What Made Jesus Mad?نموونە

The revelation of the Samaritan woman having been divorced five times and currently living with a guy who is not her husband makes it sound like Jesus is calling out her lifestyle situation. At first blush it seems like an old-school hellfire preaching approach to sharing the good news. 

My daughter Lauren had a professor in college who grew up in the developing world. As he taught from this passage he asked, “Why do American pastors always assume this woman was immoral? She was a woman who lived in a culture where she couldn’t take care of herself. She had to live with a man in some way. Having five husbands and living with a guy does not mean she was immoral.” 

We desperately need recognition of the lens we look through, which may not take into account other people’s realities. This is so important for followers of Jesus as we interact with people, especially with those from Samaria or whatever you want to call the other side of your tracks, or those from backgrounds and cultures we don’t fully understand. 

For Jesus, they were people like this Samaritan woman; for me, they would be anyone other than a white male who grew up in Oklahoma forty years ago. We will never break down the barriers that exist between the Father and his children until we get past our own perspectives. 

Where is God challenging you today to look at your own limited perspectives on others? How does this story help you understand Jesus’ indignance with prejudice and unfair perspectives?