Sun 26 Sep 2004
The 4th chapter of the Gospel of John (Jesus and the woman of Sychar) is not an unfamiliar one to me. But I could have read it and studied it a million years and still not found the treasure I saw in it this morning, thanks to the commentary of Ronnie Stevens.
Two things.
First, what a thorough demonstration Jesus gave to people of his perspective on people. At one point earlier he has an interview with Nichodemus, the most politically and spiritually connected person of his culture. Nichodemus couldn’t have been born into a better position, and he couldn’t have achieved higher social standing, but still Jesus said he would need another birth of an entirely different nature before he could experience true life.
Then, Jesus interviews someone at the other end of the social spectrum – an outcast of Sycharian female society, who were collectively at the bottom of the social situation relative to the Sycharian men, who were collectively disdained by the Jews. Remember, too, the Jews, as a whole and throughout history, have been rejected by the world. Yet Jesus validated her by giving her the clearest statement of his identity than he gave anyone else!
Secondly, who could have made this up? Who would have made this up? Ronnie did a better job at listing all the ways this little history defied any logic of the day.
You should listen to him. Here’s a link to an MP3 file of his talk.(37:00 min. 4 MB)
