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In the fourth chapter of John there is the story of Jesus’ encounter with a Samaritan woman at the well.  The gospel doesn't record her name, simply “a woman of Samaria.” People like her were considered outcast and inferior by the Jews.  “They” all looked alike one might say.  Not a person in their own right, just one of “them.”   It is always so easy to ridicule and criticize the others if you strip them of being a person.  Have you ever noticed the enemy is always “they” and never an individual?  We put a mask on them and we don’t have to deal with them as a person of value, a child of God.

But Jesus didn't react that way when he encountered the woman.  He always saw a person whether a young child, a tax collector, a disabled person with a withered hand, a blind person, one with leprosy, or here a woman of Samaria.  He didn’t see an enemy who had been hated as a people for seven centuries; rather she was a child of God that needed to be led to forgiving herself and knowing she was of value.

     Jesus would not let her hide behind all the barriers that separated the woman from him.  Neither will he let us hide in our fears, our hurts, and our uncertainties from his healing love that will allow us to know we are forgiven and that we have value as a child of God.  He also will not let us treat others in any other way.   In all that that we see as “they”, Jesus challenges us to see a brother and sister, a child of God.   It is not easy to relate to those who are radically different, but for us who follow Christ there is no other choice.     

May God bless you and yours

WileySign03

 

February 20, 2008
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