No Trespassing?

Scripture Reading — John 4:7-10

“You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?”
— John 4:9

Most of us like to have a place to call home. We prefer to be in familiar territory and with people who are like us.

Jesus was different. That’s why in John 4 we see him chatting with a foreign woman at an unfamiliar well at the least comfortable time of the day. Jesus seems to have loved skipping across social and territorial boundaries that other people had marked with “No Trespassing” signs. (Note: As a Gentile whose ancestors lived a long way away from both Judea and Samaria, I’m personally thankful for that.)

Have you ever felt like an outsider— perhaps even with people in familiar surroundings, or maybe even among your own friends and family? If so, how did that affect you? Whom do you know who might be feeling like an outsider among God’s people today? What might God be saying to you about caring for them?

In our reading today, we may sense that the Samaritan woman wasn’t exactly thrilled to meet a Jew at the local well and to have him ask her for a drink of water. (Was Jesus trespassing on her territory?) Yet Jesus replied with some words about God and said that he could give her “living water.” I’m glad Jesus didn’t just stay in familiar territory. He knew he was on earth for a reason—and every conversation he had was shaped by that awareness.

What relationships in your life could God use in order to reach someone?

Lord, help me to notice people I might overlook. Give me courage to approach them with care and to point them to you. For your sake, Amen.

Written by: Ron Vanderwell