A well-known Christian leader once commented that he would feel utterly betrayed by God if the Lord were to reveal any of the man’s sins at the judgment seat of Christ. He insisted that since God removed his sins “as far as the east is from the west,”1 they should never come up - either in this life or in the next. And for his sins to be revealed in front of everyone would simply be so embarrassing, he’s not sure he could forgive even the Lord for doing such a thing.
     In contrast, today we’re going to look at the attitude of the woman at the well after her apparent willingness to acknowledge that she was wrong. The power of guilt and shame that once held her captive was released, and a new power revealed itself: the ability to point others to Christ.
     In Jesus’ day, the Jews walked around Samaria on their way to and from Jerusalem - even though it added a full day to their journey. The Samaritans were the descendants of Jews left in the homeland during the exile, and their foreign spouses. They were considered by many of the Jews to be “unclean.” To distinguish themselves from their Jewish cousins, the Samaritans set up a temple in Samaria, and considered only the Pentateuch as canonical. In addition to these bothersome characteristics, the Samaritans were also a constant reminder of the pre-exilic Jews’ failure to honor, serve and obey God - which resulted in them being expelled from the land.
     In the midst of this acrimonious tension, Jesus walks right into Samaria, delegates some grocery shopping to the disciples and asks a Samaritan woman for a drink of water. Scandalous!

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