Jesus empowers

We are at the well with the Samaritan woman (John 4:1-42). We all know the scene: Jesus is thirsty and asks for a drink. 

The King of the universe crosses cultural, race, religious and sex boundaries in one sentence. He asks for, not demands, a drink. He has the power to draw water Himself. He could command and direct her to draw water for Him. Yet here we see Jesus using the power and authority He has to empower the woman, open up a discussion, and see transformation take place. How well (pun intended) do we use power?

The reality of abuse 

Picture another scene. You are in church on a Sunday morning. You look around you and see the usual faces. Now think of four women you know in your church, whether very well or only to speak to on a Sunday. Now choose one of them to be abused. It’s a gut-wrenchingly awful thought, isn’t it? It makes you want to scream ‘No! No No NO!’ The sad reality is that one in four women in the UK will suffer abuse in her lifetime. This figure increases to one in three women globally. 

At the heart of abuse is the abuse of power and the use of control. It is inherently self-centred. At its worst it is soul-destroying and ends life. In the UK two women a week still die due to domestic violence, in El Salvador it’s one woman per day, in Russia it’s one woman per hour. These are devastating statistics that take away the very life Jesus came to restore and empower.

How can we respond?

When we look at the responses to violence against women in society, the church has been largely silent on the issue. It’s starting to change. Some churches are doing some great work in this area. At Restored we aim to equip and resource the church to identify signs of abuse and respond appropriately when abuse is identified within the church. Restored has produced a pack for churches alongside theological reflections in our Christians Ending Violence Against Women resource. We want every church to become a violence-aware church and be a safe space for survivors of violence. 

Jesus would also be one of Restored’s First Man Standing, our campaign to engage men in ending violence against women. We ask men to respect all women everywhere, challenge other men by speaking out on violence against women, join in the cause and make a personal pledge to end violence against women. 

Restoring the broken-hearted

So if the Samaritan woman came into our church today having had five husbands and the man she was living with was not her husband, what would we do? Would we think about the hurt, the pain or the broken heart that she likely has? Would we think of her trust being broken and damaged over and over again? Would we think that there may be more to her story behind the five failed relationships? Would we be prepared to take the long journey of ‘restoring the broken-hearted’ that God calls us to? (Isaiah 61:1).