Read: John 4:5-42

And at this point the disciples come to him and were astonished that he was conversing with a woman… (Excerpt translated by David Bentley Hart)

I once heard a bishop describe the collective of young men that Jesus called around him as disciples as “the duh zone.” It rings true. In the four Gospels, these disciples are typically uncomprehending, surprised and discombobulated by what Jesus does and says. You might picture Homer Simpson hitting his forehead as he utters “D’OH!”

This story of the Samaritan woman illustrates the “duh zone” in which they operated, shocked as they were by finding Jesus talking with a woman, and not only a woman, but someone outside the circle of the Jewish community! Why would Jesus be talking with her? Well, maybe because she was a human being created in God’s image, who Jesus recognized as a sister in creation? Maybe that? (cue GIF of Homer Simpson).

I can attest to an early life formed in Christian culture that looks more and more in the rearview mirror as the “duh zone.” I’ve had a lot to unlearn, chiefly the idea that some people were inside and some people were outside of the circle of God’s love.

So, the more we perceive the immeasurably wide circle of God’s love in Jesus, the less apt we are to shame people. The more apt we are to perceive that Jesus is always having a real conversation with people through the Spirit. Everyone we meet. Including those of us in the “duh zone”.

Holy One, in Christ you showed such patience with your friends when they didn’t “get it.” I know that I’m slow to “get it” too. I know I’m standing in the need of your love. Thank you that your circle of love has no limits and help me to live in that truth. Amen.
-Fr. Jonathan Weldon