A friend and I are doing a bible study in the fall, tentatively called TOUCHED. It will explore the lives of women who were “touched” by Jesus. As I was researching for this bible study, I found it interesting that the first woman Jesus encountered was the Samaritan women at the well.
This encounter was different because
1. Jesus purposefully sought out this woman (“He had to go to Samaria.)
2. This woman had three strikes against her. She was a woman, a divorcée, and a Samaritan. No respectable Jewish male would be caught speaking to a woman like this.
But Jesus did his Jesus thing. He spoke to her in a way that made her feel loved, accepted, valued. Then he commissioned her to go and evangelize her town. Because this woman was touched by Jesus, many Samaritans heard the gospel and were healed. This was revolutionary because Jews and Samaritans did not get along. Samaritans were avoided at all cost by the Jews.
But not only that, I wonder if it were because of this encounter, that women were empowered to go to Jesus? I wondered if word spread that this Rabbi actually speaks to women without being dismissive or condescending. Perhaps this story inspired the woman with the issue of blood to touch Jesus; perhaps it emboldened the Gentile woman whose daughter was demon-possessed to insist upon seeing Jesus; maybe it empowered Mary to shed her traditional role and sit at Jesus’ feet.
I hope her story inspires all of us, men and women alike, to have an encounter with Jesus. I hope this story speaks to anyone who has been told you are not good enough, you are not worthy, you are less than. Like this woman, Jesus wants to remind us we are loved, accepted, and valued in Him. He wants to commission us to walk in our gift and purposes. He wants our encounter with Him to inspire, emboldened, and empower others to seek him out and find healing.
Go to the Well of Life today and have an encounter.
“And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, “He told me all that I ever did.” Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.””
John 4:39, 42 NKJV