Third Sunday of Lent – Year A Scrutinies
I got a T-shirt as a gift for my 50th birthday! It said, “I Make 50 Look Good.” The T- shirt inspired another thought in me: “Jesus makes sinners look good.” Is that not what Paul means when he says in today’s second reading, “But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
The story of the Samaritan woman is one of the most fascinating stories in all of scripture. From the time I first read it as a child and until today, the Samaritan woman comes across as a very likable person. At the end of the story, she comes out looking good. In reality, her five husbands, her sixth live-in, her brash mannerism, and her callous bravado, should make her look dubious. However, that is not how history remembers her. She comes out looking good. This is true of many characters in the Jesus story - Zacchaeus the unjust tax-collector, the woman who washed Jesus feet with her tears, the adulterous woman, Peter who betrayed Jesus, and even the centurial who crucified him. In the end they all come out look good! Sinners, when they encounter Jesus, come out looking good.
Here are my three points for today:
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As I read the story of the Samaritan woman, I kept finding myself in her story. The more I identified with her humanity, her search for meaning, her willingness to realize that she may be wrong, the more I realize the amazing goodness of God. Jesus’ interaction with the Samaritan woman could have been very different. He could have questioned her life-decisions, told her she was dammed, judged her actions and condemned her judgements. Instead, he tells her, “If only you knew who was talking to you….” Instead of condemning her, he offers her “living water.” He gently coaxes her out of her unfulfilled life. It is not that Jesus condones her life-style. Rather, he offers her mercy that brings transformation. There is a big difference between the two, is there not? Jesus is the face of the Father’s mercy. It is the mercy of God that makes the Samaritan woman come out looking good. Today, as I identify with the Samaritan woman I want to fall at the feet of Jesus and simply lay there in awe God’s mercy. Perhaps we can all drink of the over-flowing mercy of God - the living water.
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The story of the Samaritan woman is not a story that we can read, put it down, and go about our normal life. The story compels us to look at our own stories. The story of the Samaritan woman is not just her story. The Samaritan woman is you. The Samaritan woman is me. Each of us has our story. Our stories can be told from various perspectives. It can be told from the perspective of our profession, our relationships, our major life events, our successes and our failures. If the Samaritan woman’s story is recorded in the gospel, it is because her story is told from the Jesus perspective. It is Jesus who makes her come out looking good. I have a very practical suggestion for this week. Perhaps we can all write our own stories. Let us write it from the perspective of our story converging with that of Christ. History may remember us for many things, but most of all, may we be remembered because of our encounter with Christ. After all, it is Jesus who makes us come out looking good.
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Just imagine that Jesus and the Samaritan woman had never met! What if the seventh man she met at the well was not Jesus? For that matter, imagine that you and I had never come across Jesus. The end of the Samaritan woman’s story is very significant. She is out in the streets again, but for a different reason. This time she was not on a search. This time she was on a mission. However,it is how she accomplishes her mission that teaches us a lesson. She goes to an entire village. She does not condemn, she does not judge, and she does not question. She merely introduces them to Jesus. This is exactly what Jesus had done with her. In our country, Jesus is no stranger. However, often people have been introduced to the wrong Jesus - the one who judges, condemns and make us feel miserable about ourselves. That is not the Jesus of the Samaritan woman. We need to be out there in the streets introducing the genuine Jesus - Jesus, the face of the Father’s mercy. If Jesus did not judge and condemn, we have no right to do it either. Instead, let us introduce people to Jesus’ mercy. He can make people come out looking good.
The Jesus who was at the well with the Samaritan woman is with us here now. In fact, this altar is the well. Let us drink deeply of his mercy. After all, he makes us come out looking good.
Fr. Satish Joseph