Treating People on the Margins with Dignity
How should we treat individuals who have a different race, sex, ethnicity, religion, nationality, social class, or who have disregarded standard marital / sexual practices? How should we behave towards individuals found on the margins of “mainstream” society? The answer to these questions is found in Christ’s treatment of the Samarian woman at Jacob’s well. The story of the Samaritan woman at the well is found in the 4th chapter of John.
The story will be recited using the Bible in Basic English, because of its very clear language.
Bible in Basic English: John 4: 7-23
7. A woman of Samaria came to get water, and Jesus said to her, Give me some water.
8. For his disciples had gone to the town to get food.
9. The woman of Samaria said to him, Why do you, a Jew, make a request for water to me, a woman of Samaria? She said this because Jews have nothing to do with the people of Samaria.
10. In answer Jesus said, If you had knowledge of what God gives freely and who it is who says to you, Give me water, you would make your prayer to him, and he would give you living water. [See Jeremiah 2:13 below in which God is likened to “living waters].
11. The woman said to him, Sir, you have no vessel and the fountain is deep; from where will you get the living water?
12. Are you greater than our father Jacob who gave us the fountain and took the water of it himself, with his children and his cattle?
13. Jesus said to her, Everyone who takes this water will be in need of it again:
14. But whoever takes the water I give him will never be in need of drink again; for the water I give him will become in him a fountain of eternal life.
15. Sir, give me this water, so that I may not be in need again of drink and will not have to come all this way for it.
16. Jesus said to her, Go, get your husband and come back here with him.
17. In answer, the woman said, I have no husband. Jesus said to her, You have said rightly, I have no husband:
18. You have had five husbands, and the man you have now is not your husband: that was truly said.
19. The woman said to him, Sir, I see that you are a prophet.
20. Our fathers gave worship on this mountain, but you Jews say that the right place for worship is in Jerusalem.
21. Jesus said to her, Woman, take my word for this; the time is coming when you will not give worship to the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem.
22. You give worship, but without knowledge of what you are worshipping: we give worship to what we have knowledge of: for salvation comes from the Jews.
23. But the time is coming, and is even now here, when the true worshippers will give worship to the Father in the true way of the spirit, for these are the worshippers desired by the Father.
Keep in mind that Jews of the time were taught to stay away from Samaritans, who were thought to be an inferior people and unclean. Although they strongly believed much found in the books of Moses, Samaritans were non-Jews, and were a mix of cultures. They worshipped a mix of gods (see 2 Kings 17:24-40).
If the woman at the well did not have enough strikes against her by simply being Samaritan, then the balance was probably tipped because of her sexual problems. The Pharisees and the Sadducees would have expected Jesus to NOT go near the woman. Yet, Jesus interacted with her in a kind and gentile manner. Ultimately, the story of the Samaritan woman at the well is all about removing prejudice, removing sexual sin, and worshipping God in the proper spirit. Jesus was respectful to the woman at Jacob's well, and he changed her life.
God loves all individuals equally well. Therefore, we have no excuse in speaking derogatively about any class of people. Individuals deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. Latter-day Saints know all too well about the effects of being persecuted. We need NEVER be dispensers of it. Why? The maximal good is achieved by treating ALL individuals as our brothers and sisters. Our scriptures teach this, and our temples require it.
The verses of John above cannot be fully understood until one understands that Jewish beliefs about the Samaritans were an expression of racial and ethnic prejudice. These views are encapsulated in verse 9, which is restated from the King James Version:
John 4:9
9 Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
It is not just that the Jews would have “no dealings” with or were segregated from the Samaritians. The Greek phrase being used here (v. 9) for “no dealings” was “ou sugchraomai” (pronounced oo -- soong-khrah'-om-ahee; see Strong’s #G4798), which also had the meaning “not to use jointly.” When Jesus took a drink from the Samaritan woman, he would be drinking from the same container that she touched and out of which she drank. In other words, Jews did not share drinks with Samaritans. To deal or share with this woman was to be “contaminated.” Jesus saw through the nonsense in all of this cultural belief.
If the woman at the well were to follow Jesus, the Jewish people would recognize her as a Samaritan. Her dress, her habits, and her speech would be hard to hide. She would have to give up her lover. She would have to give up her old traditions and study new ways. We do not know much about this woman, but the gospel of John tells us that she became a believer (see John 4: 39-42).
Jesus seemed to recognize that there are many physical desires in life, but the only true satisfaction is through God. He was saying that true worship indeed may occur outside of Jerusalem. Place of worship does not matter as much as whether our hearts are clean and whether we worship in the proper spirit.
Individuals with sexual problems need to set aside their sexual concerns and try to find fulfillment in the “living waters.” The only strength comes from the knowledge that what one is doing is what God wants one to do. Even so, the challenge is very great. Yet, Jesus can lift the burden.
It is useful to know a little more about Jacob and what is meant by the term "Jacob's well." There is much that could be said, but the following seems essential:
Jacob (renamed Israel; see Genesis 32:28, 35:10) was the son of Isaac and the grandson of Abraham. In the Bible Jacob is often associated with a dreamed ladder, a stone-pillar, and two wells. Thus, we sometimes talk about "Jacob’s ladder", and Jacob’s pillar, but when we get to the “wells” we need to make a distinction.
The First Well: In Genesis 28:2 Isaac called his son Jacob and commanded him to look for a wife in Padan-aram (or Haran – shown as location #8 in LDS Bible map #9), which is in northwest Mesopotamia, part of the Euphrates River valley. As instructed, Jacob headed for the city of Haran, where he stayed with his mother's brother, Laban (Genesis 29:13-14). It was near Haran at a well where Jacob met Rachel, the daughter of Laban. She was attempting to water her sheep at this well (Genesis 29: 9-10). The story is long and complicated, but eventually Jacob married Rachel. Clearly, this well was important to Jacob, but it was not known as "Jacob's well."
The Second Well: We learn in Joshua 24:32 that Jacob purchased land at or near Shechem. Shechem in New Testament times was a Samarian city known as Sychar (see: location C-4 on LDS Bible map #4). At some early point in history, a well was dug at this location and was named “Jacob’s well.” It is possible that Jacob dug this well, but scholars think this is unlikely. When Jesus met the woman at Jacob's well, he had just arrived in Sychar from a long journey begun in Jerusalem. Undoubtedly, he was thirsty. In his conversation with the woman, the well was described as given by Jacob. It was a place where Jacob, his family, and his flocks drank. Please note that this second well, is at a completely different location than the first well where Jacob met Rachel. Thus, one should NOT confuse the two wells associated with Jacob. This second well goes by the name: Jacob's well.
It is useful to place the story of the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well into the context of local roadways and the travels of Jesus. Why are roadways important?
Jesus was headed north to Galilee (John 4:43) from Jerusalem upon completion of Passover (John 2:13). The standard road to travel from Jerusalem to Galilee would be by way of Jericho to the east, and then continuing by following a northern route near the Jordan River for almost the rest of the trip. (For a map of roadways: see here). While no roads of the time were easy, this particular road avoided some mountains and kept the traveler near water for drinking. It also went around Samaria, a location Jews would rather avoid. Jesus must have used this road many times (see e.g., Mark 10:46 – 11:1).
Another relatively flat route was to the west of Jerusalem on the coast. But, Jesus did not spend much time on the coast, the exceptions were his brief visits to the coastal cities of Tyre and Sidon in the north (Matthew 15:21-22; Mark 7:24-25) late in his ministry. Coastal roads did not play much of a role in the ministry of Jesus.
Finished with Passover, Jesus on this particular trip from Jerusalem to Galilee decided to take an alternative route straight through the middle of Samaria by way of Sychar (John 4:4-5). (See map here). This road was full of hills and mountains, and one had to go longer distances to reach water. Jesus was not always permitted to go through Samaria (see Luke 9:52-55), and thus Jesus seemed to have had a goal in mind in using this difficult middle route. Perhaps he knew he would meet up with the woman at the well. She was NOT an insignificant person, despite the prejudgments of the Jewish culture upon her.
[A map of the hills and mountains can be found here. For a really good sense of geographic proportion, see the top panel of Map #14 in the LDS Bible, entitled "Holy Land Elevations in Bible Times: South to North Orientation."]
When Jesus was speaking to the Samaritan woman, he must have had the following verse in mind:
New Century Version: Jeremiah 2:13
13 "My people have done two evils: They have turned away from me, the spring of living water. And they have dug their own wells, which are broken wells that cannot hold water.
When we repent we must recommit ourselves to the love of God, the spring of living water. Second, we must stop putting ourselves into impaired wells – that is, we must stop the sinful behaviors. It is only Jesus that fully quenches the spiritual thirst.
To conclude: The following promise applies just as much to the Samaritan woman as to anyone else:
New Century Version: Romans 11:25-27
25 I want you to understand this secret, brothers and sisters, so you will understand that you do not know everything: Part of Israel has been made stubborn, but that will change when many who are not Jews have come to God.26 And that is how all Israel will be saved. It is written in the Scriptures:"The Savior will come from Jerusalem; he will take away all evil from the family of Jacob. 27 And I will make this agreement with those people when I take away their sins." — Isaiah 59:20–21; 27:9
The woman at the well was a non-Jew who came to God.
Note the significance of this prophecy. The Savior will come from Jerusalem, yet the Savior was born in Bethlehem.
Readers of the Book of Mormon should find some significance in that geographic relationship (Alma 7:10).
Scripture taken from the New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
1949/1964 Bible in Basic English -- Public Domain.
The Bible In Basic English was printed in 1965 by Cambridge Press in England.
Copyright 2008 S.Faux (Email: foxgoku54 [at] gmail [d0t] c0m; URL: http://mormoninsights.blogspot.com). Readers may distribute this post for noncommercial purposes provided such distributing is of the entire post, including author's copyright and contact information. All other rights reserved.
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2 comments:
This is a beautiful post. I find great comfort in reading of the Savior's love and acceptance for each and every individual, particularly as demonstrated in His compassion for women.
We can add the mentally ill to the list of those on the fringes of society. I have felt Jesus' great love for me as I have struggled with bipolar disorder and for that I am extremely grateful. So many, through no fault of their own, feel cut off from that love when they are in the throes of mental disease. I cannot imagine a greater torment.
I am grateful that you shared this account of Our Saviors infinite love and reminded others to follow His example. You certainly helped this reader start off the Sabbath day with increased peace and hope.
Thank you.
Dallan:
Getting reactions such as yours is extremely satisfying.
Thanks so much. I need your encouragement.
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