How do you view people? What lens do you use when you look around at others? If you are walking down the road or through a store or across the foyer at church, how do you see the people around you? Not just “how” but also “what” do you see?
Our culture generally is so divided! Let me suggest a few things that people see…
Political agenda
Race
A particular sin (alcoholic, drug addict, adulterer, immoral, etc.)
Outer wear
Body manipulations (of all types, including tattoos)
Body size and shape
Economic status
Marital status
And many more…
As a Christian, what should you see?
Follow Jesus’ Path
Jesus saw people as people. Several stories tell the tale on how Jesus saw and treated people, but few capture it as well as the woman at the well in John 4. Here Jesus walks toward Galilee through Samaria. John explains how Jesus sits at Jacob’s well in Sychar while the disciples walked into town to gather food since it was lunchtime. A Samaritan woman walks up and Jesus asks her for water. Her response helps you understand her shock that Jesus spoke to her.
9 Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. (John 4:9)
The disciples’ response upon their return from town also demonstrates how shocked they were as well.
27 And at this point His disciples came, and they marveled that He talked with a woman; yet no one said, “What do You seek?” or, “Why are You talking with her?” (John 4:27)
What was the big deal?
Jesus looked past several factors related to this woman that shocked both the disciples and the woman herself. Let me reveal a few of those for you.
First, Jesus talked to a Samaritan.
The Samaritans lived north of Jerusalem and south of Galilee. Years before, shortly after King Solomon’s reign, the Assyrians conquered them and took many of them captive. The Assyrians left the worst of the worst behind in the area and sent many people down from Assyria to populate the area as well. Jews and Assyrians married each other. Therefore, Jews considered all of them half-breeds because they were multiracial.
Second, Jesus talked to a Samaritan woman.
In this day, men chose not to talk to women in public like this – especially a woman by herself at a well. The Jews saw this as inappropriate (although it was not) on many levels. They viewed it as inappropriate because she was a woman initially, but also because they were at a well. Men often went to wells to pick up a woman (in the spirit of other Old Testament stories where a woman was chosen at a well). Jokingly, a friend suggested we create a dating app called “The Well” for Christian men and women since this was a known common practice.
Third, Jesus talked to a sinner.
The Samaritan woman sported quite the past. She tells Jesus that she is single. Catch the exchange here between Jesus and her.
16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.”
17 The woman answered and said, “I have no husband.”
Jesus said to her, “You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’18 for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.” (John 4:16-18)
This woman came with sin baggage. Not only was she not a follower of God, she practiced an immoral lifestyle. She cohabited with a man outside marriage, and by Jesus’ testimony, this man was her sixth. The English translations here make it sound a bit better than what it actually was. As the original language puts it (here, Greek), possibly she never married any of them or just the first one or two. She lived an immoral lifestyle.
The story itself suggests immorality too. Normally women walked to the well in groups either early in the morning or late in the evening to escape the heat of the day. She, however, came to the well at noon by herself. This suggests that she was an outcast. Her lifestyle choices castigated her away from the rest of society. Again, she was an outcast.
Fourth, Jesus talked to a heretic.
The Jews and Samaritans believed different doctrine. The Samaritans rejected everything except the Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy). They inaccurately practiced their religion. The Jews, however, served God. Jesus makes a point of this in their discussion.
22 You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. (John 4:22)
Anything a Samaritan touched, the Jews looked upon that thing as unclean. Many suggest that Jesus would be unclean just talking with this Samaritan. Actually asking her for water from her water pot – unacceptable!
How does Jesus respond to her?
Jesus talks to her. He treats her as a normal person. Jesus looks past all the “things” about her that would culturally say to Him as a devout Jew that He needed to shun her. He looked at her as a person in the image of God, not by all the cultural standards of His day.
Jesus saw a woman who needed the Living Water that He could offer. She needed to follow Him.
Jesus introduced her to Living Water. He explained how she could, in modern terms, be saved. Jesus invited her to follow Him. He understood that she needed a relationship with Him.
In other words, Jesus saw a woman with real needs that were bigger than the color of her skin, her race, her past, her present, and her class. Jesus bucked every trend of His day when He sat down to talk with her.
What was the result? She and many people in her community followed Jesus.
How do you see and respond to people?
If you had been the one walking through Samaria that day, would she be a follower of Jesus today?
Would you have been distracted because of all the “things” or would you have pursued her with the Gospel? If this were your story, would we describe you more like the Jews and disciples or more like Jesus?
Jesus serves as your example and my example. When we look at people, we should see exactly JUST that – a person in the image of God who needs a relationship with the Son of God. Nothing more. Nothing less. As we look, we must not allow the distractions of the “things” to keep us from seeing what is truly real, really important, and really necessary.
May we be more like Jesus in this way! Be careful how you see people today. Be aware of your thoughts, motives, and judgments as you look around you today. Will anyone choose to be a follower of Jesus like this Samaritan woman because you refused to see in any other way than Jesus’ way?
KevinCarson.com | Wisdom for Life in Christ Together
