OLD TESTAMENT: Ezekiel 33
POETRY: Psalm 129
NEW TESTAMENT: John 4:1-42
In today’s John 4 reading, one of our main characters is a woman from Samaria. When I hear the term Samaria, two phrases jump into my mind. The “Good Samaritan” and the “Samaritan Woman”. Those who label Sunday school lessons or chapter headings don’t seem to toss in the adjective “good” for this one. Just woman. She’s not a man. She’s not a Jew. She’s not married. And she’s out fetching water at the old Jacob’s well (which was in Samaria at that time in history) when she runs across a weary Jesus.
We don’t know the exact reasons Jesus chose to travel through Samaria on his way from Judea to Galilee since he could have easily avoided the area the way “Samaritan-avoiding-Jews” were often known to do. We just know he did travel right through it, and when he asked a woman for a drink at the well, he was recognized as a Jew who would not be expected to interact with her socially. There seems to be some differing opinions among historians and commentators regarding the time of day for this drink, but that detail is not what matters. Whether on Roman time (around 6pm) or Jewish time (noon), we know that Jesus was intentionally interacting with a Samarian woman with a bit of a reputation in a public area, and we are given an account of that meaningful conversation. His words are what sparked the things she learned, what she said of him in the moment, and what she told Samaria about after he was gone. Not what time the old sun dial said when she was at the well.
Jesus allowed himself to be served by this woman, and in turn, by telling her about living water, by showing her he was willing to minister to her even with awareness of the past and present sins in her life, and by revealing himself as the Messiah to her, “many more believed (verse 41).”
This woman (I wish I knew her name just because I’m tired of typing woman, but that detail doesn’t matter either I guess, and Jesus himself calls her “woman”!) uses a number of terms for Jesus which evidence who he is and seem to increase a bit in honor:
Verse 11: Sir
Verse 19: Prophet
Verse 25: Messiah, Christ
And in verse 32 we see that the people she told about him call him “the Savior of the world.”
Jesus acknowledges being the Messiah, the one prophesied about for generations. When he answers in John 4:26 he said “I am he.” In Greek, the words “ego eimi”. The same words the blind man uses of himself a few chapters later in John 9. Jesus essentially said, “Yup, I’m that guy.” Not I am…..anything else. Not I AM YHWH. Not the Creator. Not …I am a coequal part of this mysterious triune deity thing. He said “I am he” referencing being: the Messiah. If Jesus speaks, I think his words deserve our critical attention in a world, even a Christian world, that is often careless with them.
The Samaritan woman knew he was the Messiah and proclaimed him to be who he was. In addition to the personal level of interaction and forgiveness we see in this story giving a beautiful taste of the personal aspect of salvation, our Messiah also referenced the gospel he came to teach, “. . .fruit for eternal life (v. 36)” . . .our inheritance in the coming kingdom of God! The hope for an imperfect Samaritan woman remains my hope as an imperfect American woman.
-Jennifer Hall
Reflection Questions:
- Consider if there are any people or groups of people you could treat more like Jesus treated the Samaritan woman even if it goes against norms in your social group.
- How can you better draw from Jesus’ living water in your life when you find yourself spiritually and emotionally “thirsty”?
- Is there anything you need to share with God or others about what Jesus has done in your life the same way the Samaritan woman did?
Seek Grow Love 