take the hard road

How easy it is to label and assume we know what others are experiencing. How might you take the hard road today, and ask what others are experiencing?

John 4:25-26

The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” Jesus said to her, “I am he, the one who is speaking to you.”

I have a relative who has had children from three different men and her reputation, in 2024, is not good.

Our culture has shamed her, labeled her, and has not even asked how she got into that place to begin with. So I can only imagine the kind of shaming this Samaritan woman had been subjected to.

The first time I read this passage, I thought Jesus was shaming her too, reminding her of her past to display his power.

But then I noticed that this is the first person in scripture to whom Jesus reveals his identity as the Messiah. And she was the first person to preach about his messiahood.

Somehow, he is telling her: “I know what the world has told you and how it has labeled you, but I will give you a great role in history.” He lifted the one who had been put down.

How easy it is to label and assume we know what others are experiencing.

How might you take the hard road today, and ask what others are experiencing?  

—Claudia Aguilar Rubalcava