Telling someone that their lifestyle is an “ABOMINATION” or that they are “rejecting the image of God within themselves” seems to be the new way of saying “you are going to Hell” and it is pretty sad that a person actually thinks that they are following God when they say that. They are usually quoting the Old Testament and of course NONE of it applies to them. Kind of feels like the bully scenario, I have to make someone else feel bad about themselves in order to make myself feel better and it hurts both the person who hears it and the person who speaks it. There is a lot of background that would need to be covered about the Old Testament versus the New Testament, God’s perfect plan and more but there is information on all of that in other posts so lets just get to the main message, the Gospel, the Good News part.
The bottom line is this – we have ALL sinned and fallen short and He loves us anyway. If you want the full list of things that are an abomination to the Lord check out Proverbs 6:16 which lists out 7 things that basically covers every single one of us so lets just accept all of us are an “abomination” and look at how JESUS talks to and treats someone who is an “abomination” in John 4:4.
Because the story of the woman at the well is one of the most beautiful, loving, hopeful, heart of Jesus stories in the New Testament we should take the time to really think about it. It is interesting that it is one of the longest conversations that Jesus has with an individual and Jesus basically tells her that none of the religious groups have got it right about my Father. It starts with Jesus “needing” to go to Samaria. He went to Samaria and was waiting for the woman at Jacob’s well. Our Savior, the beloved Son of God, was waiting for her. He made a special trip just to talk to her. What she was thinking as she walked by herself in the deep heat of midday so she could avoid everyone else. Was she thinking about the heat, thinking about her list of things to do, thinking about how other people talked about and treated her? And then she sees someone at the well of her ancestors and when Jesus speaks to her she asks in wonder why He, a Jew, is speaking to her, a Samaritan.
Jesus made a special trip just to see her and then He speaks so carefully and lovingly to her, He compliments her on how she responds – even saying “you have spoken truthfully” as He tells her He knows everything about her, including who she is with right now, slowly opening her eyes to who He is. Jesus tells this woman living in adultery that He is the Messiah, not the religious leaders, not His disciples, a woman. A woman who has had five husbands and the person she is currently living with is not her husband, Jesus speaks kindly to this woman, a woman who is “an abomination” to everyone else. He offers her living water, tells her that God is Spirit and how we should worship Him and when she asks if He really is the Messiah who will tell her people all things, Jesus tell her “I Am He.” The woman is so filled to overflowing with the love that He has for her that she leaves her water jug and runs to let all of the people who have ostracized her or spoken behind her back that they must also “Come, see the One who knows all about me…”
This story starts with Jesus going out of His way to meet the Samaritan woman who was avoiding all the people in her village by going to get water during the hottest part of the day and after just a short encounter with Jesus she is running out to tell everyone about the Messiah at the well who knows everything about her and that they need to meet Him too.
Jesus meets her where she is at. Jesus doesn’t tell her you have to do this or you have to do that. Jesus wants her to know He loves her that He is the Messiah, the great I am. That He is what she needs.
Can you imagine this transformation from the inside out? This woman has been keeping her head down and avoiding other people, hiding away from others but after meeting Jesus she doesn’t care what people think of her because she now knows that she is loved, perfectly, and it does not matter what they think. But it is so much more than that, Jesus’ Perfect Love for her is so much greater that it spills over and she wants the others, even the ones who have her hurt in the past, to have the same precious gift of love, peace and joy that she has just received. The LIVING WATER she asks for and receives from Him is flowing through her to others. Can you imagine the joy of being so perfectly loved that it completely fills you and you become a new creation? It is not religion or rules or regulations or condemnation that changes us, it is Jesus, the beloved Son of God, our Savior, True Love, that changes us. God is Love and His Perfect Love casts out all fear. May you know AND believe that you are loved, that you have a Savior, His beloved Son, Christ Jesus and that this is the beginning, that through Him you also know your loving Father who will never leave you nor forsake you. Amen.
