In other words, Jewish men looked upon Samaritan women as dirty, vile, unclean, less than human. A recipe for abuse. The Apostle John simply summarizes the bleeding in this passage by saying, “(The) Jews have no dealings with Samaritans” (verse 9)…
The Bermuda Triangle, Bigfoot, Jack the Ripper, the Shroud of Turin, crop circles, the Egyptian Pyramids are mysteries. According to the standard dictionaries, a mystery must be beyond understanding. Not irrational (stupid), but supra-rational. Welcome to the world of Nicodemus in John 2:23-3:15…
The struggle for meaning can shatter you. Karen is strong, confident, and capable. She is successful. Women want to be her. Men want to marry her. Then she failed, very publicly. Her confidence collapsed. She became insecure, introspective, and incapable.
“Hell is being looked at,” said the famous existential philosopher Jean-Paul Sarte. I went to Gettysburg College, and you guessed it, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, for two reasons: to play football and to wrestle. A severe neck injury my first year ended both. The next year I transferred to the University of Massachusetts. Why? I did not want to be looked at, looked at as the kid who got injured, looked at as the ex-athlete. The experience of being looked at can be traumatic….
