The Jews hated the Samaritans as religious and
ethnic half-breeds. They had mixed the
ethnic heritage and the religion of Israel with that of other peoples. No self-respecting Jew would have anything to
do with a Samaritan, much less ask one for a drink of water. But Jesus Christ does,
and a Samaritan woman comes to recognize Him as the Messiah, to believe in Him,
and lead many other Samaritans to faith.
She ultimately becomes Saint Photini, an evangelist and martyr.
All
the more remarkable is the fact that she was not only a Samaritan, but she was
a she, a woman. Jewish men didn’t strike
up conversations with women in public.
Women didn’t have much status in that time and place, and certainly
weren’t expected to have deep theological conversations with rabbis. But this rabbi, this Messiah, didn’t operate
according to social convention. He saw
in her one made in the image and likeness of God who, like everyone of us, is
called to a life of holiness.
And
she also seemed an unlikely candidate for holiness in light of her history with
men. She had been married five times and
was now living with a man outside of marriage.
Yes, her life was a scandal. Some
have suggested that she went to the well at noon, an unusual time to do so, in
order to avoid encountering the other women of her village due to her bad reputation. The Lord knew about her lifestyle, but He did
not condemn, judge, or ignore her as a result.
Perhaps because she appreciated His respect and genuine concern, she
acknowledged to Him the truth about her life and their conversation continued. Quite possibly, she had never encountered a
man who treated her in this way before as a beloved child of God.
And very soon, she told the men of her village
that Jesus Christ is the Messiah. Can
you imagine how surprised the men of her village probably were to hear this
woman speaking to them of God? They
surely weren’t used to thinking of her as an especially religious person. Think of how brave Photini was, how radically
her life was changed, how she became a new person in her encounter with Jesus
Christ.
We will make a
mistake this Pascha if we think that the good news of Christ’s resurrection is
only for people who live what we consider to be admirable lives, those who measure
up to our standards. We will be wrong if
we try to exclude any group of people or particular people from the possibility
of embracing the new life brought into the world by the empty tomb—even if we
disagree may with them on important religious and moral issues and do not
condone their behavior. Jesus Christ
Himself brought the blessing of His kingdom to a Samaritan woman with an
immoral lifestyle; her life was changed by His mercy; and who knows how many
came to share in His eternal life through her witness and ministry.
We learn from
the story of St. Photini that we must not write off anyone as a hopeless
case. We must not isolate ourselves from
those whose lives seem especially broken and off course—or even obviously
immoral and godless. If we respond with hatred, judgment, or stony
silence to those we deem unworthy, we turn away from Christ’s ministry of
bringing new life to the whole world—and to sinners like you and me. No, our
Savior never condoned sin of any kind and neither should we; but He came not to
condemn, but to save. He came to bring
sinners to repentance, to heal the sick, to give sight to the blind. He died and rose again for the salvation of
all created in His image and likeness, of the entire world. He has made great saints of murderers,
adulterers, and evildoers of every kind who have called on His mercy and
changed their ways.
So when we have
the opportunity to show compassion or friendship or encouragement to someone
who has made bad choices in life, and who may even seem very far from a
faithful Christian life, we should do so.
Whenever anyone who bears the image of God is treated as less than
human, we should reach out and show them the love of Christ. When we have the chance to draw into our
church community someone whose life has been noticeably less than perfect, we
should not hesitate. Yes, we should
treat them as our Lord treated the Samaritan woman who became a great
saint. To do anything less is to place
our own limits on the power of the Risen Lord to bring salvation to the world—and
it is to refuse to follow in the way of the One who conquered death.
St. Photini is
also a powerful example for each of us as we struggle with our own sins,
passions, bad habits, and weaknesses. Sometimes
the burden of our sinfulness is great and we are tempted to despair of ever
finding peace and healing in our lives.
The standards of Christ are so high and we are so low. We can become obsessed with our unworthiness;
and if we aren’t careful, this way of thinking can lead us away from the Church,
for the guilt and frustration of spiritual failure are hard to bear, and we
would rather not think about it.
St. Photini was no
stranger to such failures, but she learned to keep her eyes on the prize of the
new life in Christ. Perhaps her experiences had taught her about
humility; she knew she was a sinner and must have been thrilled finally to be
on a path that would take her in a different direction. We don’t know the details, but she surely faced
struggles, temptations, and reminders of the mess she had made of her
life. Some of those probably occurred in
her own thoughts. And some people
probably continued to view her in a judgmental light, for there are always
those who appoint themselves as self-righteous judges of their neighbors and
like to look down on them.
Despite these
obstacles, the Samaritan woman with a checkered past became a glorious saint,
an evangelist and ultimately a martyr.
If she could pass over from sin to righteousness, from death to life, in
Christ Jesus, then we can, too. The
great blessing of Pascha comes to us all, and we have countless opportunities
in our families, our marriages, our parish, our friendships, our workplace, our
use of time, money, and energy, in all our thoughts, words, and deeds, to participate more fully in the Lord’s
victory over sin and death.
No matter what we have done in the past, no
matter our present weaknesses and challenges, no matter what anyone thinks or
says about us, we must remember that the Son of God has conquered death in order to bring us into the eternal
life of the Holy Trinity, to make us partakers of the divine nature. Like the
Samaritan woman, we must acknowledge our corruption and turn to Christ with
faith, love, and hope for a new life, and then continue on the journey of
discipleship, even when we stumble or are tempted to give up.
And just as we
ask for the Lord’s mercy on our sins, we must extend the same mercy to others. The Savior spoke the truth with love and
respect for the Samaritan woman, but he did not condemn or judge her. And He has surely not appointed any of us to
judge others.
St. Photini did
not earn the new life given her by Christ and Pascha is not a reward given to
us for our good behavior. We must stop
thinking in terms of who deserves what from God. During this season of Pascha, we know that
life eternal has sprung from an empty tomb purely as the result of our Lord’s
love and mercy. The good news of Pascha
extends to the Samaritan woman, to the evildoers of our day, and even to
us. So let us embrace our Risen Lord and
become participants in His life. He
raised up Photini and brought her from darkness into light; and He will do the
same for us when we respond with faith and repentance: that is the gloriously good news of this
season of resurrection. Thanks be to
God.
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