"Give me some water to drink"
John 4: 5 - 42
Our obsession for clean filtered water is a multi-million
dollar business today. We see shelves of
bottled water in grocery stores, we hear of water filters that eliminate nasty
particles and dirt from your drinking water, as we feel that for whatever
reason the water from the tap, despite what we are told, is simply not clean
enough to drink. The marketing of bottled water for general use at home has
made quite a market. We must not forget how many in other parts of the world
are burdened with questionable water to drink and bather. Yet, our readings
this Sunday remind us there is a deeper thirst we are really all looking to
satisfy.
In the first reading from Exodus, despite the complaining of
the people, Moses strikes the rock as God told him and clean, fresh water
appeared to satisfy the thirst of an ungrateful people. Yet, in that case, like the Gospel, simple
water became a moment of renewed faith in God’s care for them.
Further, on this third Sunday of Lent, we hear of water both
from a well, hardly unfiltered yet much cleaner and safe than water from the
Dead Sea for example and of a kind of strange “living water” that Jesus offers.
On a cultural level this is a shocking and complex story rich with both
theological and historical elements.
Simply put, though,
Jesus a Jew and a man, engages in conversation, in public, with a
Samaritan woman who comes from a sect of Judaism that considers Jews in
Jerusalem to be heretics and mortal enemies. There would be no reason, and
quite risky, for Jesus in his position to ask this woman for anything and
better for him to simply remain silent, maybe turn his back, or to walk away.
So, it’s clear his intent is more than mere pleasantries.
Also, she comes alone in the heat of mid-day. That would have been unheard of since women
would travel in groups, in the cool of the early morning or the evening, to
engage in conversation and to draw drinking water for their day. So, there must have been some reason why she
was shunned from the group of other local women and forced to travel alone to
this well in the hot sunshine. This remains one of the most dramatic scenes in
the Gospels.
Despite all of that, Jesus strikes up a simple conversation
with her as he requests a drink of water. As the conversation goes deeper, we
hear both theological and historical references that are interesting but not so
much the heart of this passage.
In this dramatic scene, we hear words of hope from the mouth of
Jesus to this woman: "Everyone who
drinks this water will be thirsty again; but whoever 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." Since water is essential for life, Jesus offers to the woman a
call to look deeper beyond the literal use of water to the sign of the new life
he offers to her.
Jesus finally asks her, "Go
call your husband and come back." The woman answered and said to him,
"I do not have a husband."
Jesus answered her, “You are right in
saying, 'I do not have a husband.' For you have had five husbands, and the one
you have now is not your husband.” So shunned among the other women of the
area due to what may have appeared a promiscuous lifestyle, Jesus does not
belabor that issue nor do anything that would call her to public shame. Rather, in their dialogue, Jesus holds up a
mirror of her life to the woman. He
reveals what he knows and shows it to her. That powerful and compassionate move
on our Lord’s part is a door to deeper understanding and conversion.
God offers us “water” that will never end – union with him
through forgiveness and eternal life.
It’s clear, however the woman doesn’t understand the deeper symbolism of
Jesus’ words fully but she does perceive that this man she speaks with is unlike
any other man she had ever encountered.
Jesus offers something that touches her on a level where our common
human thirst for God is satisfied. The woman reflects: "I know that the
Messiah is coming, the one called the Christ; when he comes, he will tell us
everything." Jesus said to her, "I am he, the one speaking with
you." Wouldn’t you have loved to see the expression on her face as he
spoke those words? - Confusion? Joy?
Wonder? Relief? Maybe all of the above. The process of conversion unfolds gradually
as God reveals himself to us.
In that true “come to Jesus” moment, the woman found her need
satisfied in Christ; his living water, the presence of the Holy Spirit, would
become a “spring of water welling up to eternal life.” She then becomes a
disciple on mission to others and brings them to see and understand.
Was the woman at the well a kind of Samaritan apostle as she
invited others, as Andrew did with his brother Simon, to meet the Lord? It seems such in this beautiful story. Come
and see who I discovered.
At this time in Lent, along with our Elect preparing for
baptism, confirmation, and the Holy Eucharist, we are invited to see the change
in this woman. She is us and despite the
complicated historical and theological discussion between Jesus and her at the
well, what really does matter for all of us is a personal encounter with
Christ. In Jesus, God’s love is revealed and this woman is now invited to seek
the water that will satisfy her thirst. To find that in Christ, we meet the
source of Spirit and Truth implanted in us in the waters of baptism and
nurtured as cooperate with the grace of God in our Christian and sacramental
journey.
In our Catholic life, our Sacraments are not just empty rituals
or meaningless words. The rituals are
rather simple yet in that simplicity, such as the Anointing of the Sick,
Reconciliation even Baptism or the
Marriage Rite itself, we find the living presence of Jesus and through them we
experience an encounter with him most especially in the Eucharist where he
becomes food for us.
The unnamed woman came to draw simple water from a well as she
had done for a long time. She never
imagined that this Jewish man who reached out in respect for her dignity would
forever change her life and that same moment is meant for all of us.
There is one final question, though. Did she ever give Jesus that drink of water or did he satisfy her thirst instead? How about your thirst?
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