Matins Devotion: March 20, 2025

Genesis 24:1–31

We don’t like to think about it too much for obvious reasons, but the marriages of the patriarchs are uncomfortably incestuous. Abraham marries his half-sister. Jacob marries two women who are his first cousins. And, as we learn in Genesis 24, when Abraham’s servant finds a wife for Isaac at the well, the woman he finds is Isaac’s first cousin once-removed, the granddaughter of Abraham’s brother. Granted, in the days of the patriarchs, there are about 10 faithful people on the planet, so your options for a spouse were limited. But nevertheless, the point is that, at this point in human history, the family of God is limited to a very select, specific group of people. 

But in John 4, we see another man standing beside a well, meeting another woman, this time someone who is not at all his kin. This woman is a Samaritan, a foreigner, an enemy and an outsider. Just as Abraham’s servant asked Rebekah for a drink, so Jesus asks this of the Samaritan woman. But as the conversation goes along, he reveals that he is the one who will give her water, living water, the waters of salvation. Once again, marriage is at the heart of this interaction. Speaking to a woman who has defiled herself with unfaithful marriages, Christ invites her into the waters of salvation, invites her to join the church, to become part of the bride of Christ, the bride that the Bridegroom will give up everything to possess. Here, in all of this, is the promise that all nations are now invited into the arms of God.

And that promise is for you. So wherever your people come from, wherever your ancestors called home, in the waters of your baptism, your Lord meets you at the well and welcomes you into the promised land, the household of eternal life. No matter how corrupt your past, no matter how much unfaithfulness is still caked onto your flesh, here in these living waters, Jesus has and will wash you clean and satisfy your thirst forever. Come to the waters. Come greet your Savior. Come and rest before his throne.