I didn’t have a joke today. So no joke in the beginning, but our message is barriers.
In our reading of the word today, it talks about Jesus and the Samaritan woman. Now, in the first chapter of chapter four, we read that Jesus had to go to Samaria to get to a particular village, verses three and four. He left Judah and went away again to Galilee, and he had to pass through Samaria.
Whoa, wait a minute. That’s interesting, because previous to Jesus, if you were a Jew, you wouldn’t walk into Samaria because Samaritans and Jewish people hated each other. If you were Jewish, you would have walked around Samaria to get to whatever village you had to get to.
So, what did Jesus do? Just because other people walked around Samaria, it didn’t mean he had to walk around Samaria, now, did it? He walked right into Samaria.
Why? Well, first of all, because he was tired. That was the human element of him. And that petty stuff, it didn’t concern Jesus. Verse five: So he came to a city of Samaria called Sikar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
He was tired and he sat down by the well. Well, to actually stop and sit in a place you’re Jewish in Samaria, that’s unheard of. Jesus is in enemy territory. According to the tradition of that day, a woman of Samaria came to draw water from the well. Jesus asks her for a drink, and she is mystified that a Jew would ask her for a drink, much less be sitting here in enemy territory.
Therefore, the Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, being a Jew, asked me for a drink, since I am a Samaritan woman, for Jews have no dealings with Samaritans?”
Are there barriers here, as this woman is suggesting? There are, but not what you would think.
What’s the difference between the woman and Jesus? As we read farther on down, it turns out she’s living in adultery, and he is a high priest. So, there’s a moral barrier right there.
She’s a woman. He’s a man. So, now you have a social barrier. She’s a Samaritan. He’s Jewish. You have a racial barrier. She’s Samaritan. He’s Jewish. You’ve got a religious barrier.
We’re looking at four barriers here. When these two people meet: moral, social, racial, and religious. Wow, that’s a lot in one sitting, right, when you meet somebody?
But don’t we sometimes encounter those barriers when we meet people? We can meet someone and there’s a moral barrier or social barrier. But I think the most common barriers that we are affected by in today’s world are racial barriers and religious barriers. We can meet someone and there’s a moral barrier or a social barrier. But I think that’s okay. But the racial barriers and the religious barriers are plaguing our world.
So, how did Jesus break down those barriers? Instead of being negative, he focused on what they had in common. And what did they have in common at that well? Water. H2O. They talked about the water. And then he tells her about the living water.
Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is who says to you, give me a drink, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”
She’s looking at him. She said, “Sir, you have nothing to draw with. The well is deep. Where do you get that living water?” She wasn’t getting it, was she?
Jesus doesn’t just blow this woman off because they are different and there are many barriers between them. He puts that aside and finds common ground so that he can witness to her, even though there are many barriers between them. He shows this woman the true gospel and then, if we read further on, she accepts the Messiah into her heart.
Then he tells her in John 4:26, Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.” Meaning, I am the Messiah.
To us, I think it’s hard for us to get a grip on what it means to be completely holy and have no barriers.
That was probably the most unusual thing about Jesus, that he was completely holy. He was without sin. He had no barriers whatsoever.
Think about all the stories of Jesus. Broken people felt safe around him. Children ran towards him, not away from him. Sinners sat at the table with him without pretending that they had it all together. And how many times do we pretend we’ve got it all together?
Outcasts approach him. This shame stayed close to hear his voice. But the high priests, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and most of the religious leaders, you know, the ones that were obsessed with appearances and titles and being seen as righteous. They were the ones that were the most uncomfortable around Jesus. They didn’t know what to do about Jesus because his holiness never looked like that before, or holiness how they perceived it, which was totally wrong.
We know that back in Jesus’ time, they were used to religion pointing fingers before it opened arms. They were used to leaders that loved platforms more than people. They were used to systems where the broken had to clean themselves up before being welcomed in. They wouldn’t let a bum with dirty clothes in the temple. You got to be kidding. But then Jesus shows up and upsets their apple cart.
Leopards were afraid to approach him. Weren’t afraid to approach him. Blind beggars screamed his name. Even the Samaritan woman caught in adultery stays long enough to hear his mercy. These people were not afraid to come into his life. Why? Because real holiness doesn’t just expose sin, it exposes love.
Somehow, Jesus could look directly at brokenness without flinching and not crush someone lower. He didn’t in any way, shape, or form excuse sin. He transformed people, but he did it in a way that didn’t wound them, and he took in broken people that wanted to come closer instead of running away. They saw him and they wanted to grasp him.
Jesus’ ability to look past all the barriers raises a hard question for all of us. Who feels safe around us?
What does the idea of holiness look like? Does Christian witness intimidate people? Are wounded people afraid to get near without feeling condemned? Anyone who poses these qualities may have learned religion better than they learned Jesus.
In our witness, we should strive to make people feel safe with us and be approachable. The holiest man to ever walk this earth was also the safest place for broken people to land. A perfect person and everybody felt drawn to him.
Maybe this world doesn’t need more religious performances. Instead, it needs more people so full of the heart of Jesus that grace and truth spill out constantly.
We will encounter barriers with people along the way in our life. Just like I told the girls, let us be like Jesus and find the common ground. Break down the barriers. Show them that we can be compassionate like Jesus.
Now, when I showed you the oil and the water, girls, and I said, “You’ve got a border there,” sometimes you need to break down that border and show that person who we really are and what we can do for them.
And likewise, when we are dealing with difficult times and feeling lost or frustrated or confused and the barriers keep getting in our way, we just need to turn to Jesus, the holy one, and know he is the safe place. Amen.
