Friday, October 23 –
We
come to the end of the work-week (for most), and our continuing reading in
John’s Gospel. Today our reading is from
John 4:1 – 42. Please come back after
you’ve finished reading the passage, and thanks.
Jesus’ ministry involved all sorts of people.
In the last chapter, it was a learned scholar, a Pharisee named
Nicodemus – who was a “somebody” in Jerusalem.
In this passage today, Jesus has a conversation with a woman, a
Samaritan, and a person without a name, a nobody from Sychar – a no-place
village. He talked to Nicodemus about
being “born from above”, and to the woman without a name, about living
water. Nicodemus was a strict Jew who
obeyed the law, worshipped God in the Temple, and followed the rules. The Samaritan woman was married five times
and was currently living with a man who was not her husband. Nicodemus struggled to understand what Jesus
was talking about. The woman at the well
also struggled to understand the implications of “living water”. We aren’t told of what Nicodemus did with the
things Jesus talked with about (we do get hints later), but with the woman from
Sychar, there was an immediate response –
…
“Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to
draw water” (4:15).
She
may not have understood what Jesus was fully saying, but she wanted what he was
offering her. This famous story of the
“Woman at the Well”, appears only in John’s Gospel. Jesus had taken his disciples to Jerusalem
and was returning to Galilee – which means go North. There are at least two ways to journey from
Jerusalem to Galilee. One is along the
Jordan river valley. It’s fairly flat
and almost straight north from Jerusalem. The other route is more
circuitous. Head north-west out of
Jerusalem, over some mountains, down into some valleys, then about halfway,
turn north-east and cross some plains, valleys, and more hills. Jesus took his disciples the “this way”.
“he
left Judea and departed again for Galilee. And he had to pass through
Samaria. So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field
that Jacob had given to his son Joseph” (4:3-5).
We
don’t know how long the early disciples had been with Jesus, but it was not
more than a few months, at best. They
must have wondered why Jesus wanted them to go north-west into Samaritan
country. I’ve always been struck by
John’s words – “he had to pass through Samaria”. Are we missing a conversation between Jesus
and his disciples when they left Jerusalem?
Perhaps Jesus said, “let’s return to Galilee, come, let’s go this
way”. “Rabbi, why are we going this way,
it will take us through those hated Samaritan’s lands!” and Jesus calmly answers, “We have to
go this way”.
The
conversation with the woman at the well was simple… She has a bucket, Jesus is
thirsty, there’s a Well where he sits as his disciples go into town to buy
lunch. The woman is a Samaritan, and
Jews didn’t talk to Samaritans. “A woman from Samaria came to draw water.
Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink” (4:7). The Samaritan woman said to
him, ‘How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?’”
(For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans)” ( 4:9).
My
brother Ed made some important notes about this: “There are a few Middle Eastern
cultural norms that are seen in this account. Jews did not walk through Samaria
(a small region between Judea and Galilee); because Samaritans were
half-breeds, social outcasts, despised by devout Jews. Second, Jewish men
usually did not initiate women in conversations, especially one-on-one with no
other people around. And, no respectable woman would respond. But this Jew was
no ordinary man, and this woman was no respectable one. Thirdly, women did not go to the well to get
water alone or at midday (the 6th hour is our Noon). They would
travel with other women either in the morning or evening when it was cooler.
Jesus breached social customs in order to bring the words of life to this woman and the Samaritans a key part about
this story is an important value in Middle East culture – honor and shame.”
Jesus
“knows” … and what he knows is both who she is, and what she needs.
“Jesus
answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to
you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you
living water’” (4:10).
The
gift of God, who Jesus is, is living water – that is somewhat cryptic. It is a statement in the form of a metaphor,
and she responds with a bit of sarcasm – “The woman said to him, “Sir, you have
nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that
(so-called) living water? (4:11, my parenthesis). She is conversing on the surface, but Jesus
is taking her deeper into what he knows.
“Jesus
said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but
whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.
The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up
to eternal life” (4:13-14).
The
need for water is basic, and we all need it; but Jesus is speaking of a greater
need. The “water he gives will lead
to eternal life” – It’s faith in Jesus.
When Jesus asks her to get her husband (4:16), she is probably feeling a
bit uneasy and she gives him a less than truthful response. Jesus’ knowledge of her must have surprised
her – “you’re right…you have had five husbands, and the one you are living
with is not your husband” (4:17).
Don’t think of this as a “gotcha” moment, but rather as a “Rhema”
moment. “Rhema” means a “now word”,
which Jesus receives as revelation. The
woman, once again, tries to deflect the awkwardness of the moment by trying to
get into a religious question concerning where Samaritans worship, and where
Jews worship. Her problem – which is the
problem of many who struggle to believe in Jesus – her religion emphasizes
location and preferences, not a person.
Jesus
reminds us of what the true nature of worship is all about. It isn’t centered on a building, or a worship
style, but rather, “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true
worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is
seeking such people to worship him” (4:23). Worshiping for any other reason
than to come to God to declare His praise and listen to his word is never
Spirit or truth. The woman makes one
last attempt at deflecting when she declares she’s waiting for the Messiah to
clear it all up.
“Jesus
said to her, “I who speak to you am he” (4:26). Jesus
used the designation of God - “I am”.
God met Moses in the wilderness and declared to him “I am, I am”
(Exodus 3:14). My brother makes the
observation: “Jesus is saying to her, he is the One in the burning bush who
appeared to Moses. In fact, this is the first of seven different times in
John’s gospel where Jesus says, “I AM” equating himself to God. The Hebrew word
is YWHW. Notice, Hebrew language does not use vowels. The name Yahweh comes
from the I AM. It is not a name per se but a description. God is saying I am
the ever-existing One. So, Jesus equates himself to God as the self-existing
one.”
At
this point the disciples returned from town, confused by what they see
(4:27). The woman leaves, returning to
town to tell the villagers that she has met this man that just might be the
Messiah, and the town follows her out to meet Jesus (4:28-30). In a fashion that is so much like Jesus, he
turns this into a teachable moment. The
disciples urge him to eat the food they had purchased (4:31), but Jesus turns
this around, saying:
“’I
have food to eat that you do not know about.’ So the disciples said to
one another, ‘“Has anyone brought him something to eat?’” (4:32-33).
See if
you can picture this in your mind. They
want Jesus to eat, and he says, I have food to eat beyond the physical you
brought, and then watching the town’s people with the woman walking out towards
them, Jesus speaks:
“Jesus
said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish
his work. Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the
harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are
white for harvest” (4:34-35).
They
came with food, but Jesus said “my food is to do the will of him who sent
me” …and then he adds, “you think four months, then comes the harvest’?
Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for
harvest”. The fields are turning from green to a pale brown, the barley is
ripe. Out of the village comes these
Samaritans in their native white headbands and dresses, who have come to meet
the Messiah. Jesus wants his disciples
to see these Samaritans as people ready for the Gospel.
This
must have left an indelible impression on John.
Years later he recalls that these Samaritans asked Jesus to stay and
teach them some more (4:39-40), and John remembers – “many more believed
because of his word… we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world” (4:41-42).
We
have to be moved by the awareness that this woman began an evangelistic work in
her village, and many came to faith in Jesus.
It was not based on her knowledge or lack thereof. It was not based on her worthy lifestyle, for
she had a shattered reputation. It was
not based on her eloquence, or ability to articulate theology. It was merely a matter of a personal
encounter with Jesus. People can argue with
your theology, your church’s beliefs, your religious ideas – they can never
take away your personal experiences.
Peace
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