Do you judge a book by its cover?

Homily for 3^rd Sunday of Lent

12^th March 2023

Do you judge a book by its cover? Or go on first impressions? And if what you see initially is something you don’t like, where have those thoughts come from? On what principles or rules have you used to make these judgements? These can be tough to answer especially if the situation is a life and death one, and there is the potential for some kind of danger. However, what if the situation is a bit more ordinary and you still find yourself making such judgements?

It’s a hot day. The sun beats down. Most people have found the shade for a while, perhaps for a siesta. A woman makes her way to a well a mile and a half outside the town, to collect some water. She carries a pitcher, a heavy bucket, and a long rope, well over a hundred feet long, so the bucket can reach down to the water.

From her perspective there is no one there, so she is relieved. Then as she gets closer, there on the other side of the well sits a man. At first, she’s a bit panicked. In this day and age, men and women don’t gather together, not unaccompanied. She is hesitant, but it is hot, and she needs the water. It’s a long walk to the town in the heat to go back empty-handed. Plucking up courage she pushes on. She ties the bucket to the rope and throws the bucket down the well. There is a splash. The man turns round.

“Give me a drink.”

The young woman is startled.

“What? You are a Jew, and you ask me, a Samaritan, for a drink?”

At this moment, not only is there a man and a woman at the same well but he is Jewish and she is a Samaritan. Each is from a different group that normally does not associate with each other. So, we have several conflicts in play.

Yet, the conversation between this particular Jewish man and Samaritan woman is the longest recorded dialogue between Jesus and another person in the New Testament. Jesus had simply asked for some water but in the conversation, he is offering the Samaritan woman living water that once taken, a person would never thirst again.

We discover, that the Samaritan woman is not married but has had five previous husbands. The man she lives with she is not married to and she would have been considered an adulterer. In another, story Jesus is teaching in the temple, when a crowd interrupt him, to bring him a woman accused of adultery they claim should be stoned according to Mosaic Law. Jesus begins to write on the ground and when the men persisted as a way to test Jesus, he said to them,

“If there is one of you who has not sinned, let him be the first to throw a stone at her”.

One by one they walk away. Jesus is not prepared to condemn her either but simply tells the adulterous woman not to sin anymore.

Likewise, the Samaritan woman, is truthful with him, when she tells him the current man is not her husband. As Jesus had revealed her inner secrets, the Samaritan woman recognised him to be a prophet but is confused because Jews and Samaritans worship in different places. Jesus tells her: “True worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth”. She responds that the Messiah, Christ will reveal everything. Jesus says, “I am he.”

Realising Jesus has revealed everything about her, she eagerly races off to bring others to him and share in what she has learnt. She is confident that her story will convince others and many Samaritans come to Jesus to see and hear their saviour for themselves.

Jesus did not condemn either of the two women but simply gave them a chance to repent and be forgiven. In both situations, Jesus has shown true love to these women and forgiven them. Whereas, both women felt that the systems they lived under would rather seen than dead for the perceived wrong done. At every opportunity, in both the Old and New Testament, God seeks for us to return to him, and through love is prepared to forgive us our sins. So much so that His only begotten Son came into this world as a Man to die on the Cross, taking on all our sins, so we can be forgiven. Yet, once we have realised what our sin is, we must turn away from it. At times, we will fall, but if our desire is to be with Jesus he will be forgiving, as long as we are truthful.

It is only when we deliberately turn away and continue to do what we know is wrong, that we are the ones who reject what Jesus offers through his love. Especially, when we think we know best and judge others against our standards. Is this what Jesus wants?

He welcomed the Samaritan woman and would not condemn the adulterous woman, giving them both a chance to repent and be forgiven, by being truthful to themselves and through God’s love were given the opportunity to change, bringing them closer to Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Amen.

 

 

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