He Trusts Her
Blog Series #6: How Jesus Treats Women, Part 4c He Answers Her Questions in John 4:1-42
This is the final post in my series on Jesus’ encounter with a Samaritan Woman at the Well — I think … I continue to learn so many good things about this woman! Anyway, if you haven’t already, please find the first two parts of this series at ‘The First Evangelist: A Christmas Story’ (which includes Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan Woman at the Well found in John 4:1-42 NIV) and ‘He Told Me Everything I Ever Did’.
A bit of background on the Samaritan and Jewish communities: About 700 years before Jesus’ birth, neighboring Assyria conquered the ten tribes of Israel in the north, leaving the two tribes of Judea intact to the south (the map below omits Jerusalem and Bethlehem which are further to the south of Jericho in Judea). Assyria sent colonists to inhabit the conquered lands of Israel north of Judea while carrying most of the Israelites into exile in Assyria. The few Israelite Jews that remained in the city of Samaria, the former capital of Israel, intermarried with the Assyrian colonists. There was a similar ethnic blending in Assyria during the Jewish exile there. Generations later, when Assyrians with Jewish heritage filtered back to their homeland, many who returned were of blended ethnicities and were returning to the new Assyrian province of Samaria, so named after the former capital city of Israel. This new area lay between the northern Israelite province of Galilee and the southern nation of Judea. These Assyrian-Jews in Samaria became known as ‘Samaritans.’ They had adopted a set of beliefs similar to that of Judaism but slightly different due to generations of inter-culturalization with Assyrian beliefs. As a result, the traditional Jews of Galilee and Judea despised the ‘cross-breeds’ who inhabited the Assyrian province of Samaria and formed a land division between them. You can find out more by conducting internet researches such as ‘the blended ethnicity of Samaritans’ and ‘the Assyrian siege of Samaria.’
Last week I concluded my post with:
“I’ve saved this story for the last in my ‘How Jesus Treats Women’ series because if there were EVER a perfect set-up for God or His Son to speak about aborting fetuses,
THIS would be the moment!
and …
* crickets *
There is nothing said on the topic.”
It is astonishing that we find nothing said in the New Testament about this topic on which ALL of U.S. politics seem to live or die today.
Hmmmm …
In John’s gospel we find Jesus seeking out a conversation with this despised woman, display that He knows everything that she has ever done and … rather than condemn her for anything she has done, trust her with HIS secret instead. He reveals to her that He is the one true Messiah for whom all of Israel and Judea have been waiting for centuries!
At this point, Jesus has twelve male disciples living closely with Him. He has proclaimed to them that He is the Messiah, yet on this day He chooses HER as the one to whom He will reveal His identity and then trusts her to go and share His secret with everyone in her village. Its almost like Jesus is saying to his disciples:
“This is what evangelism looks like. Yes, she is sleeping with a man she is not married to. She is highly motivated to abort fetuses so her man will continue providing the resources necessary for her survival and … oh yeah … while you were getting lunch, I commissioned HER to be my evangelist today”
right before the disciples’ eyes.
*Whew!*
I have to stop and breathe for a minute.
Never in the 30+ years that I was listening to conservative evangelical sermons in the U.S. have I EVER heard a white male preacher conduct a ‘plain reading’ of this story out of a translation derived from original manuscripts as I just did for you here. Conservative evangelicals in North America only restrict women to a ‘plain reading of Scripture’ when it benefits them i.e: when it is conducive to maintaining their stranglehold on political power within the church. I have found in recent years that reading these words plainly with only one’s life experience as commentary, this story is empowering for unmarried women everywhere, especially for those who have likely aborted a fetus in their lifetime. A plain reading of this story is obviously a direct threat to the patriarchal power strongholds in our modern evangelical communities; strongholds based on myths such as: male headship keeps a marriage together, women have to be silent in church, and… abortion is murder. Modern Bible scholars such as Beth Allison Barr and Marg Mowczko are discovering that none of these myths is backed up by the original transcripts of the Bible.
NONE of them.
That is why you don’t hear this story of the Woman at the Well explained as plainly as I have shared it with you today. That version is suppressed to protect the patriarchal power structures evangelicals have created. Male pastors fixate on how ‘sinful’ this woman must have been and omit the high esteem Jesus obviously had for her. We can see that modern pulpit commentary offered by white males on her ‘sinful nature’ is nothing more than self-serving conjecture. Jesus KNOWS everything that this woman has ever done, and He does not condemn her for any sin whatsoever. A plain reading of THIS story flies directly in the face of any excuse that a conservative evangelical uses to silence women and maintain his hold on political power; excuses such as women can not be educated, they are adulteresses or ‘baby murderers.’ Sadly, a modern slur that is used by ‘christian’ men against women who threaten their hold on political power today is ‘Jezebel.’
Jesus swiped that rug right out from under the religious leaders of His day — those who were grasping for political power under the guise of being ‘religious.’ The miracle of the Bible is that God uses the words of Jesus’ disciple John in this story to do the exact same thing for us today. Jesus continues to swipe the rug right out from under our evangelical politicians even as I type.
I am left utterly speechless
and …
grateful.
Extra Nuggets of Wisdom That I’ve Discovered Along the Way:
Nugget #1:
It took me two months to complete this blog series. I had one blog fully composed that I was planning to post in February, then I scrapped it and hit that metaphorical writer’s wall. The rebound left me lying face-down on the metaphorical pavement, struggling with writer’s block, when I heard it: a podcast interviewee shared his insights regarding this very woman about whom I was trying SO hard to write! During his interview with Skye Jethani at the Holy Post, author Derwin Gray said:
“… and then He [Jesus] talked to a woman — of all things!
And you know what’s cool about that story, Skye?
Is … what is the Church supposed to be: a Jew and a Gentile in one body.
What is a Samaritan: a Jew and a Gentile in one body.
What is the Church called: the Bride of Christ.
What was she [the Samaritan woman at a well]: a female.
And what did SHE do: she went on mission.
What is the Church supposed to be: a multi-ethnic family that’s the Bride of Christ joining Jesus on mission because the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.”
— minute marker 1:05 -1:07 discussing Derwin’s latest book: “Lit Up With Love” February 26, 2025
Derwin Gray draws a picture of the Samaritan Woman at the Well as a living, breathing image of Jesus’ vision for the Church and what it would look like here on earth after His ascension. I agree with Derwin Gray. I think Jesus sought out that encounter with a Samaritan woman so that He could create a vivid illustration for His disciples in that moment. After that encounter, He could refer back to HER often and say to His guys: ‘this … THIS is who I want you to BE in the world after I leave you …’
John was one disciple who caught the vision Jesus was casting that day.
Nugget #2:
This week, Palestinian/Israeli peace activist Ben Norquist closed out his interview with Preston Sprinkle at the Theology in the Raw podcast by saying:
“Ask: Who are your Samaritan women? And let’s go find them!”
[March 6, 2025]
I would ad to Norquist’s statement: When you encounter an unmarried woman living in the margins of your community, know that she has likely aborted a fetus or two in her lifetime. You can try doing what Jesus did:
Gently initiate a conversation with her void of any judgement about her blended ethnicity, material poverty, or past choices.
If she feels safe talking to you, respect her by LISTENING to her story and especially any questions she has.
Show her further respect by ANSWERING her questions with genuine humility and simple honesty.
Then …
TRUST her.
Trust her to go and tell her people about the surprising encounter she just had with YOU.
Absolutely beautiful. Thank you for persevering and writing this.