The Well

"Jesus came to a town of Samara called Sychar . . . Jacob's well was there. Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down there at the well. It was about noon.
A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, 'Give me a drink.' His disciples had gone into the town to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, 'How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?' - For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans. - Jesus answered and said to her, 'If you knew the gift of God and who is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water.' The woman said to Him, 'Sir you do not even have a bucket and the cistern is deep; where then can you get this living water?'
Jesus answered and said to her, 'Everyone who drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.' "-[John 4: 5-42.]


In Biblical times, the well was a gathering place. People drew life-giving water, they shared news, they socialized, they met friends and strangers alike.


What is striking about this story is that Jesus- a Jewish rabbi or teacher- directly addressed a woman, who was also a Samaritan. Jewish people actually believed that any contact with a Samaritan would contaminate them. But also,  a male in those times would never approach or address a woman in public.

The woman of Samaria addressed this directly with Jesus, saying, "How can YOU, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?"

By addressing the Samaritan woman directly, and by even accepting a drink of water from her cup, Jesus purposely ignored the social conventions of separation.

There is more. Jesus continued His conversation, asking the woman, "Go, call your husband." The woman replied, "I have no husband." To which Jesus replied, "You are right when you say that you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you are with now is not your husband."  This Samaritan woman was not considered "respectable" by society. Yes, she might have been shunned by society, but Jesus confronted her directly.

It occurs to me that, in our modern times, we have also fallen into the desert of separation from each other. It would be all too easy to mock the "Olden Days" of the Biblical era, when a man and a woman could not address each other in public; or when a person of one religion or class could never mix with someone who is different.

But even today, Muslims and Jews do not mix, women and men do not mix, Republicans and Democrats do not mix, upper class people refuse contact with lower classes, blacks and whites do not speak to each other. Mother Teresa said, "If you judge someone, you have no time to love them."  Mother Teresa also said to love your neighbor; then, sadly she asked, 'Do you even know your neighbor?'

Sin also separates us from God. Isaiah 59: 2 says, "But your iniquities  have made a separation between you and your God."

Despite our race, our gender, our social class, or even our Sins, Jesus addresses us directly. He KNOWS us. We cannot and must not hide our face from Him. He knows our strengths, our weaknesses, our Sins. And yet He offers us His Love and forgiveness.

I have spent many years feeling broken and humiliated from childhood abuse. I have always put up a good front. I never wanted to burden anyone with my traumas or my brokenness. I have "fetched water" with a brave face on - run loads of wash, worked for a boss, raised a child, swept my front porch, weeded my garden, volunteered at my church, cooked dinner, paid bills, etc. - all the while pretending that everything was perfect with me. No would could see my wounds if I did not reveal any cracks.

But, the hardest I have ever cried in the last several years was when I read Psalm 139: "O Lord, You have searched me and You know me, You know when I sit and when I rise; You perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down  . . . Before a word is on my tongue, You know it completely, O Lord. . . For You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. . . "

This same sort of feeling of "unmasking" comes over me when I enter my church. Do we not, all along, desire simply to be seen for who we really are?

It can be frightening to become "unmasked". But it can be a life-changing relief, as well. Suddenly, we don't have to put on a false front any longer. We can bask in that awesome feeling of being loved, despite - or maybe, because - of all our faults and our foibles.

The endless fetching of earthly water, says Jesus, will quench our thirst for a day. But the water which Jesus gives will become a spring of water leading to eternal life.

The Love of Jesus will heal us and lead us to deep springs of peace and strength. Our encounters with Him will enable us to ask, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.' -[Psalm 139: 23-24].

[Related Postings: "The Woman at the Well", 3/20/17; "The Living Water", 3/23/14;.]

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