The Woman at the Well (Revised)
The following is an excerpt from John 4:15-26 in the NLV Bible (New Liberalized Version).
15 The woman said to Jesus, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thristy and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”
17 “I have no husband,” she replied.
Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband.
18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What have just said is quite true.”
19 The woman, angered by the fact that Jesus had the audacity to pry into her private life, decided to be the better person and respond in love saying, “Sir, who are you to judge me and my actions. If you think that what I have done is wrong, then you should see what other members of the synagogue are doing, which is far worse. And is it not you who has been stirring up problems in the community lately? Perhaps you should remove the plank from your own eye first.”
20 Jesus responded, saying, “But it is written that thou shalt not commit adultery”.
21 The woman attempted to further de-escalate the issue. “Master,” she said, “that verse is open to interpretation. It is obvious that neither you nor anyone else truly understands the relationship that I have with this man. We have a connection that transcends comprehension. We are spiritually connected.”
22 The woman continued, “And besides, what gives you the right to use the Bible as your own personal whipping tool? Should you not love me unconditionally?”
23 As Jesus sat dumbfounded, the woman continued. “And what about grace? I will admit that what I am doing is wrong, but I am a sinner just as everyone else is and God sees all sin in the same way. I feel in my heart that God will continue to use me in spite of this misunderstanding.
24 Instead of slandering me and spewing venom, perhaps you and the church of God should try practicing things like love and tolerance.”
25 After pondering these things, Jesus replied, “Dear woman, surely your sin has opened your eyes. Through your disobedience, God has obviously revealed to you things that are hidden and mysterious to others regarding Scripture and the church. Now go, and sin some more.”
26 And the woman left pleased that she could have her cake and eat it too.
In Le Renard Subtils opinion, the NLV’s take on judgment and accountability is a crock
(This was originally posted on October 10, 2002 by Le Renard Subtil
I think Christians find it hard to seem judgmental because they feel that they have to defend their actions and words. I’m among them, so there’s no mud slinging here.
We need to remember that we are not the ones who came up with such ideas as purity and holiness, God is. He set the standard by which we must follow, if we want to consider ourselves followers of the Lord.
That is funny…not because it is funny, per se, but because it strikes too close to what is the “truth” of today. How true it is that society has made what is bad seem good and what is good seem bad.
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