Today I offered this reflection in our church service (Bloomingdale Mennonite Church):
Last Sunday Barb showed us how the way that we see something may not be the only way to see it.
The most widely held view of the unnamed woman Jesus met at Jacob’s well in John 4, is that she was ostracized (she came alone, at noonday to the well), that she was a prostitute at worst or “loose” woman at best (having married 5 times and now living without the sanctity of marriage). And somehow these characteristics makes it easier for us to skip through the story, quickly getting to the part where she “repents” and so does everybody else.
Really? Of what does she repent?
Thanks be to God, this is not the only way to see this woman.
There can be question about the time of day. Ancient texts read, “It was the sixth hour,” but starting from what time? Some interpretation put the time at 6:00 pm instead of noon. Perhaps this is why Jesus was so tired that he wanted to sit and rest while the disciples went for food.
And we are given no clue why this woman came to the well alone. Perhaps she was unable to get away earlier in the day. Perhaps she had need of more water, so went out a second time in the day. And, something I could never figure out – if she was ostracized by the townfolk, how is it that when she came back with the story of having met the Messiah they so readily followed her back to meet him? Do we so readily believe the people we look down on?
As for having been married 5 times, while some suggest that is absurd, so she must be a loose woman, others have given possible reasons why/how this might have happened. Most interesting to me is that after throwing out this fact without a word of condemnation neither Jesus nor the woman revisit the question of marriage, men or sexuality. I read nothing after this exchange that suggests this woman repented of sexual sin. Indeed, the conversation now takes on a very intellectual/theological tone.
This woman is courageous – not just for walking to the well alone and engaging in conversation with a foreign man, she asks questions. Questions about religion. The kind of thing that burns within you when you don’t know where to find an answer.
Jesus answers. Jesus engages this Samaritan woman against all cultural norms. He sees beyond the obvious. He gets to the depth of her heart and answers her longing — how can I worship God rightly?
Listen how Eugene Peterson, in The Message, interprets Jesus’ answer: “…Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That’s the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration.” (Emphasis mine.)
Both the woman and Jesus had one of those incredible, intimate conversations that leave you amazed and your spirit filled. The woman returns to town, leaving her water jug behind, to share what she has just learned with all her household, her family, her neighbours. And Jesus tells his disciples that he has no need for food right now for he has been filled.
Why does this character resonate with me? I want to have her kind of courage, that kind of curiosity, the chutzpah to ask the questions, the openness to hear and understand the answers, and the willingness to share what I’ve learned.
For further reading:
https://rscj.org/reflection-samaritan-woman-well
http://www.garypaterson.ca/2014/03/17/lenten-study-3-the-samaritan-woman-at-the-well/
http://www.antiochian.org/node/17560
http://www.crivoice.org/WT-samaritan.html
http://www.womeninthebible.net/2.8.Samaritan_woman.htm