On our Lenten journey this year we have encountered an unfaltering relationship with God, a night time misunderstanding with Nicodemus, and now we are back into the heat and blinding light of the midday sun.
I recall flying from RAF Mount Pleasant, in the Falklands, in the height of winter – where four seasons can occur in one day : a bit like Glasgow. Twelve hours later, we eventually landed in Ascension Island, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. What difference in temperature and humidity. Where in one location we dashed between buildings, covering up bare skin; and in the next place we walked slowly, not daring to break into a sweat. From the dark of that early morning start, confused due to the break in our sleeping pattern, to the piercing light of the equatorial sun. Have you had such an experience?
Woman at the Well
In our passage today we are focussing upon John Chapter 4 – the woman at the well. Before we start it may be worth stepping back. Chapter 3 of this same Gospel focusses upon Nicodemus, that Pharisee, the Jewish leader within the Sanhedrin. A man who meets Jesus in the dark of the night in case anyone might see this encounter – this is a private one-to-one meeting. He fails to understand what Jesus has said, and leaves still clueless.
Where exactly are we?
The meeting with the woman is in Samaria, that area which Jews do not intentionally travel within, for fear of attack. Historically it has always been an area avoided, as Jews would typically return from Jerusalem (Judea) via the east bank of the Jordan river. But the author of John’s Gospel has Jesus meeting at Jacob’s Well, where both Jews and Samaritans find some understanding. A number of couples found love there : Jacob and Rachel, (Gen 29:18-30); Moses and Zipporah, (Gen 25); and Isaac and Rebekah, (Gen 24).
Perhaps the author wanted to demonstrate that when God so
loved the world (John 3:16) this meant more than friendly territories.
What do we need?
In the heat of the midday sun we may well need water, but why not draw that at twilight when walking with that burden may be so much easier?
Here, anyway, Jesus and the unnamed woman met. Just a mo’.
The safeguarding officer is on the phone: a man and woman, a rabbi and a woman,
a Jew and Samaritan are meeting alone!!
It isn’t the usual encounter. It’s different, it breaks boundaries; but possibly in such unscripted meetings, God’s grace mediates religious differences.
Her life
In that conversation, it is revealed that the woman has been married five times. Oh my goodness. We may well know why this has occurred, due to the husband dying on each occasion. We aren’t told why this happened, and nor is there any accusation of her wrongdoing. There is no condemnation of the woman. All too quickly we may point the finger at those apparently marginalised, when fault was never inferred.
Misogyny reversed?
Jesus describes something that the Samaritans can’t assimilate easily. But unlike Nicodemus, she mentally processes this, is willing to break down boundaries, to overcome what she was taught in her early life, to re-think concepts anew. Whereas Nicodemus didn’t understand being ‘born from above’, often translated as ‘born anew’ in English language Bibles; here, the woman the water she thought she needed has turned into a thirst for new life. We might jump to the conclusion that this new life starts after death : not with Jesus – heaven is on Earth, now. But for who?
Radical Inclusion
To those who think that God’s kin_dom is split into sheep and goats, they are actually both welcome. Whereas Jews couldn’t drink with Samaritans, Jesus is asking to drink with the help of the woman. She may have shame because of her numerous marriages. What might we initially think if we heard of someone who had numerous marriages?
The woman, far from being offended, runs off to her people. She tells others, and they are willing to listen. They find what they have been taught about Jews is challenged, but are willing to consider what might be.
Life giving water?
I have been stunned by the coverage of the Turkey/Syria earthquake where people have been removed from the rubble after 5 or more days. I thought that humans couldn’t survive without water for such a time. Perhaps the body went into a form of suspension in the shock; nevertheless, it is still remarkable. What Jesus offers is beyond even that. It is sustaining.
What is God?
We might ourselves struggle with this. I’d like to invite you to reconsider what you were taught when we were much younger. That image of the old man, resplendent with white beard, high up in the clouds, firing off dangerous lightning bolts towards those who don’t follow what we thought they had said. Could it be that our imagery of God may actually constrain our beliefs? A paper offers the ten best representations of God from films and TV programmes.
Jesus offers us an alternative perspective of God. One of ground breaking love, of inclusion, of actually loving us before we ever entered the scene, before we ever know of God. There’s no description of God needed.
Where discussion recently is about pronouns, maybe we are constraining God,
when in Scripture, God is gender-full.
Whether it is a life force, a power from within us, or you still wish to see God as that bearded old man, how God is very different. Jesus shows us, here in this scene, that God is one that meets us where we are, speaks across human boundaries, where love crosses divides and allows us to flourish – to be the person we were made to be. Perhaps that’s life giving? What do you think?
I am finding the dialogue interesting and I enjoyed it