Where Am I? - March 1, 2009
Sermon Notes for John 4:1-14, 28-30
Key Verse: John 4:14 "But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”
I always enjoy this story of Jesus’ encounter with the “Woman at the Well” because it throws you so many curves, you finally have to sit back and take it in (because you’re never going to figure it out). You’ll find this story only in the gospel of John, although you get a faith echo in Luke 9:51-55. In that ditty, the disciples ask Jesus’ permission for them to call fire down from heaven to destroy a Samaritan village that refuses to welcome them (Jesus turns and rebukes them and leads them instead to another village).
Fire from heaven? Clearly there is some tension between Jews and Samaritans in Jesus’ time.
So the fact that this story from John 4 takes place by the well outside of a town in Samaria called Sychar sets up a tension before the first words are exchanged. And the fact that Jesus’ conversation partner is a woman only makes it worse (custom mandated that they speak to each other outside—they could not have been together alone in a dwelling without violating clear gender boundaries). You can tell from her response to his plea for water (it is noon in the desert and Jesus is thirsty) that the tension is thick between them. Look again at her response in verse 9: “I am a nobody—how can you ask me for anything?”
So often with stories on our scriptures, knowing this back story or context opens up a whole world of interpretive possibilities for us to appreciate and explore. John, of course, gives us some assistance with his intimate parenthetical asides, like the one in verse 9. Note especially here that it says that Jews are the ones who reject the Samaritans, and not the other way around.
And something else that may not be so obvious to those of us who are far removed from the time of this story. It is just before noon. No one goes to the well at noon, the hottest part of the day. Only an outcast would do so, and Jesus (and the woman) clearly know this harsh fact. What is she doing there? And what (for that matter) is Jesus doing there? John tells us in verse 8 that his disciples have gone into town to get some food (which he refuses to eat later on in verse 32).
Jesus has no time to eat. There is a harvest of need to attend to (this in verses 32-38). And what is the will of him who sent Jesus? What is the completion of his work? According to this story, at least, it involves the gift of life-giving water. Which begs the question, what exactly is Jesus thirsty for at the outset of this story? And what does the woman come to carry back to her home in the village? Neither of them draws water from the well, and the woman leaves her jar behind when she rushes back to the village as a result of her encounter with Jesus (verse 28).
Okay. Let’s deal with the five husbands bit. The story seems to turn on a dime when Jesus brings up the subject of the woman’s husband—first as a question (a bit of a non sequitur, at that), and then as a kind of magic trick involving some personal information Jesus couldn’t have known except by divine ability (the woman immediately identifies him as a prophet). However he does it, they get off the subject almost immediately, and she asks him the kind of question that only a prophet could answer: are we close to God, or are we nobodies like you Jews label us?
What happens next doesn’t need a whole lot of interpretation. Jesus tells her that she is somebody—that she is closer to God than she knows—and that no amount of rejection by this world can take away her place in God’s heart. No water jar can hold that kind of living water, and she rushes back to a village formerly full of people who had rejected her to tell everyone to come and see! Jesus makes all things new, and fills us to overflowing.
Questions for Reflection
- When do you draw the water from the town well? Did you know you can meet Jesus especially when no one else is around?
- The woman’s response says something about what happens when we have an authentic encounter with Jesus. How has your encounter with Jesus resulted in changes in your life and in your relationships with other people?
- We say that God knows everything about us. But this might not be a bad thing, if the woman’s response tells us anything. What about your life would knowing that God knows help release you from hiding to helping others?
- How did the Holy Spirit speak to you in worship today?
