Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“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.’”
NL Daily Devotion for Sunday, February 1, 2026
by Pr. Matthias Lorimor, Clergy Stuff
Main Idea: Christ sees past the rumors and circumstances beyond our control, to see who we can be.
For centuries, most commentators and readers have seen the anonymous woman at the well as one thing: a sinner living with a man who is not her husband. It’s true, she is now with a man who is not her husband (as Jesus observes) and she has been shunned by her community for it. Women would typically go to collect water in a group first thing in the morning, yet she goes alone in the scorching noon-day heat. Yet, while the traditional “sinner” label may be true, it is interesting to consider the alternate possibility that the woman may be the tragic victim of circumstances beyond her control.
According to the law, should a man die without having produced an heir, his brother should marry his widow to produce an heir and continue to family line (see Deut. 25:5-10 and Lk. 20:29-32). Yet, if the brother refused, he would be disgraced and the woman likely smeared by association with the scandal. It is at least possible then, that the woman is in her present predicament less because she is a sinner with loose morals and more because she is the misunderstood victim of a situation beyond her control. If this non-traditional interpretation has a kernel of truth to it, then perhaps the real miracle in this famous story is not Jesus’ ability to redeem a sinner, but Jesus’ ability to see us as we truly are, past the slander, gossip, and circumstances we were helpless to prevent. More important, is the miracle that Jesus seems far less interested in what others think of her than in what she can be; a witness through whom an entire village can find living water. In contrast to most later readers and commentators, when Christ saw the woman at the well he saw only one thing; a new disciple.
