The Woman at the Well

This was an experiment of sorts–I haven’t usually preached in this exegetical style of combining a scripture passage and commentary. I’m not sure how it was received–most people are too polite to say anything directly to you. The passage is John 4:4ff, using The Message paraphrase. For background and history, see the Wikipedia entry for Samaritan.

4-Jesus was on his way to Galilee. He had to pass through Samaria. He came into Sychar, a Samaritan village that bordered the field Jacob had given his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was still there. Jesus, worn out by the trip, sat down at the well. It was noon.
Noontime in a Samaritan village—it was hot and dusty and the town was probably quiet, as people were inside during the middle of the day.

7-8A woman, a Samaritan, came to draw water. Jesus said, “Would you give me a drink of water?” (His disciples had gone to the village to buy food for lunch.)

All quiet except for this lone woman coming to draw water from the well—this was very odd—you don’t go to the well in the middle of the heat of the day to get water—you get the days’ water in the cool of the morning, before the sun has had a chance to heat things up. Water is heavy, the ceramic water jugs as heavy and it’s hard work hauling up the water from a deep well—Why was this woman at the well now? As the story unfolds we shall see that she may have had her reasons for being there at noontime.
9The Samaritan woman, taken aback, asked, “How come you, a Jew, are asking me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” (Jews in those days wouldn’t be caught dead talking to Samaritans.)

10Jesus answered, “If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink, and I would give you fresh, living water.”
The woman said, “Sir, you don’t even have a bucket to draw with, and this well is deep. So how are you going to get this ‘living water’? Are you a better man than our ancestor Jacob, who dug this well and drank from it, he and his sons and livestock, and passed it down to us?”
Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again and again. Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst—not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life.” The woman said, “Sir, give me this water so I won’t ever get thirsty, won’t ever have to come back to this well again!”
Water is life itself—we come from the water, we’re made of water and Jesus is offering life itself—a new life of freedom from the burdens of sin and guilt and emptiness. This is just the message that this woman needed to hear at this moment in her life, because she was burdened by much more than the heavy water jug.

16He said, “Go call your husband and then come back.” “I have no husband,” she said. “That’s nicely put: ‘I have no husband.’ You’ve had five husbands, and the man you’re living with now isn’t even your husband. You spoke the truth there, sure enough.”

Ouch! That’s got to sting—here’s a possible reason that the woman is at the well in the middle of the day—five husbands—she’s the Elizabeth Taylor of Samaria—remember that this is a family-centered culture—as it is today—marriage was the bedrock of the community and here, this woman has been married five times—now we don’t know the reasons why so many—she could have been exceptionally unlucky and have been widowed—and she’s living with a man now. It is quite possible that she felt shame because of this and she was tired of the stares and disapproving looks from the other women who came to the well—so she comes now, alone. Notice what is not said—Jesus doesn’t judge her or call her to repent—by revealing the hidden details of her life, Jesus is breaking down the barriers of culture and gender that stood between them and a true relationship. Suddenly this woman has an epiphany of sorts about Jesus…

19-20″Oh, so you’re a prophet! Well, tell me this: Our ancestors worshiped God at this mountain, but you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place for worship, right?”

Now that she has a sense that Jesus is something more than a rather bold Jewish male who asks her for water—Her curiosity is peaked—she wants to know more—what kind of prophet is Jesus? She immediately launches into the most loaded topic possible—the source of all the bad blood between Jews and Samaritans is captured by her hardball question on the proper place of worship. It’s kind of like a partisan (of any camp) asking one of the presidential candidates a pointed question on the war—She wants to know where Jesus stands on what she considers to be the most central issue and she will respond to Jesus based on his answer—so she thinks…

21-23″Believe me, woman, the time is coming when you Samaritans will worship the Father neither here at this mountain nor there in Jerusalem. You worship guessing in the dark; we Jews worship in the clear light of day. God’s way of salvation is made available through the Jews. But the time is coming—it has, in fact, come—when what you’re called will not matter and where you go to worship will not matter. “It’s who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That’s the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration.”

At first, she seems to get what she expected—a Jew putting down the Samaritans, and going on about Jews being closer to the truth—Then a shocker—The time has come, Jesus says, when what you’re called will not matter and where you worship will not matter—it’s who you are and the way you live—not ethnicity or gender or language—no more “us” and “them” –This is most certainly unexpected—it’s radical, it’s dangerous—no special privileges based on blood or social class or wealth? Just being who you are is what God requires– The best and most faithful worship is a dynamic, relational and interactive communication—out of our mouths come words and songs of praise, and more—God asks for our open hearts—our true selves—holding nothing back of who we really and truly are warts and all—only then can we say that we’re truly worshipping God. And then we are called to listen to what God is saying to us in return. God speaks to us through word and sacrament, through the prophets and through the Gospel accounts of Jesus—The people of Israel knew that God spoke to them, but according to the psalm (95), they hardened their hearts—in other words, they chose not to hear what God was saying to them—for that, the people of Israel were consigned to wander in the desert for 40 years.

25The woman said, “I don’t know about that. I do know that the Messiah is coming. When he arrives, we’ll get the whole story.” “I am he,” said Jesus. “You don’t have to wait any longer or look any further.”
Just then his disciples came back. They were shocked. They couldn’t believe he was talking with that kind of a woman. No one said what they were all thinking, but their faces showed it.

The disciples are shocked that Jesus, a Jewish male teacher is speaking in public to a hated and despised Samaritan woman—Jesus didn’t just push the envelop on social customs, he tore the envelope to shreds and stomped on the pieces!

28-30The woman took the hint and left. In her confusion she left her water pot. Back in the village she told the people, “Come see a man who knew all about the things I did, who knows me inside and out. Do you think this could be the Messiah?” And they went out to see for themselves.

The woman has been transformed from an outsider, an enemy of the Jews, to an evangelist! Because of her witness, her entire community will be transformed.

31In the meantime, the disciples pressed him, “Rabbi, eat. Aren’t you going to eat?”
He told them, “I have food to eat you know nothing about.” The disciples were puzzled. “Who could have brought him food?” Jesus said, “The food that keeps me going is that I do the will of the One who sent me, finishing the work he started. As you look around right now, wouldn’t you say that in about four months it will be time to harvest? Well, I’m telling you to open your eyes and take a good look at what’s right in front of you. These Samaritan fields are ripe. It’s harvest time!
“The Harvester isn’t waiting. He’s taking his pay, gathering in this grain that’s ripe for eternal life. Now the Sower is arm in arm with the Harvester, triumphant. That’s the truth of the saying, ‘This one sows, that one harvests.’ I sent you to harvest a field you never worked. Without lifting a finger, you have walked in on a field worked long and hard by others.”
Many of the Samaritans from that village committed themselves to him because of the woman’s witness: “He knew all about the things I did. He knows me inside and out!” They asked him to stay on, so Jesus stayed two days. A lot more people entrusted their lives to him when they heard what he had to say. They said to the woman, “We’re no longer taking this on your say-so. We’ve heard it for ourselves and know it for sure. He’s the Savior of the world!”

From enemy to disciple. From bitterness to joy. Wouldn’t that be wonderful—if we could meet others who are outsiders, meet them, not as stereotypes, as “those people” but meet them where they are and then invite them, as Jesus did, to taste the living water?
The Church is or can be a community that proclaims the whole truth of abundant life in Christ. We are here to proclaim that wholeness in resurrection—a hope in new life. This wholeness is not just for ourselves—in truth, we will not be fully whole and healthy ourselves unless we become instruments of wholeness for others in the community—and as with the Samaritan woman—the blessings of God are not reserved for a particular people or race or class. The fields are ripe—Let’s continue to think about how we might be called to engage others in conversation on these deep questions of life and community and truth. The truth of life in Christ can bring about that which is our highest aspiration—freedom from sin and guilt, fellowship with one another and the joy of fulfilling the commandment of our Lord to be about the business of making disciples and participating with God in the healing of the world.
Jesus does not allow the Law or customs or fear to get in the way of grace and true relationship. By healing and by removing the barriers that kept outsiders from access to God, Jesus declares that the Kingdom of God will be full of people we might consider to be unworthy—people just like ourselves—and that is the good news for us—with Jesus, the lepers and sinners, the sick and the well, the foreigners and strangers, the living and the dead are welcomed into the Kingdom of God. Do I need to say it? If this is how Jesus treats others, then we know that this is our calling as well—welcome all who desire wholeness and healing, welcome the outsiders, welcome the young and the old, the living and those who feel dead on the inside—maybe that describes you or someone you know and love—invite them here, and know that you are welcome here—all are welcome to give thanks and accept the living water and the bread of life that comes through faith. Amen .

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