John’s
Gospel is very different from the other three Gospels in the Bible. One of the
reasons why, is that there are no parables or stories told in John’s Gospel
and, instead of Jesus’ teaching being done through stories, in John’s Gospel
his teaching is done through conversations. In this way, John’s Gospel suggests
that God wants to enter into conversation with us. God wants to talk with us,
to be in dialogue with us, in part because that dialogue can be one which
transforms us; just as happened for the Samaritan woman in this story (John 4. 5 - 42).
This
conversation takes place by Jacob’s well. Jacob had a vision of a ladder
between earth and heaven with angels ascending and descending on the ladder. In
conversation with Nathanael (John 1. 51), Jesus has already described himself
as the ladder, the connection between earth and heaven and that is what we see
happening in practice in the conversation Jesus has with this Samaritan woman.
In
this conversation Jesus continually connects every aspect of division between
him and the woman and within her own life. For this woman, he brings heaven and
earth together. What divisions do I mean? Firstly, there was division between
Jews and Samaritans. A history of division going back to the split between the
northern and southern kingdoms of Israel and involving the Samaritans building
a rival Temple to that in Jerusalem and the Jews tearing down the Samaritan Temple.
With that kind of history we can understand why Jews would not use the same
cups and bowls as Samaritans.
Then
there were divisions of gender. “The rabbis taught that a man should not talk
to a woman in the street. Some even refused to acknowledge their wives in
public, while certain Pharisees sported bruises from bumping into things when
their eyes were shut to avoid looking at a woman!” (R. Burridge, ‘John’, BRF
1998).
Finally,
there were divisions of purity. The woman has come to the well during the
hottest part of the day, which can only be to avoid others, implying that she
was immoral. Later we find out that she has had five husbands, when Jews at
that time only permitted marriage to three husbands, and the man with whom she
is now living is not her husband.
So
this conversation is “a real meeting of opposites – of Jew with Samaritan, a
man with a woman, a rabbi with a sinner, the one ‘from above’ confronting the
lowest of the low. It sums up all the bitterness of human separation by race,
creed, class, sex, profession, status yet Jesus, alone, without even his
disciples to protect him, asks her for a drink … this is what it means for him
to be the ladder at Jacob’s well, bridging not only the gulf between God and
the world, but also all the barriers human beings put between themselves. It
was for this reason that God sent his Son into the world, and for this reason
there is hope for us all, from modern Samaria on the West Bank to our daily
petty differences.”
“As
the conversation unfolds … Jesus gently leads her through levels of
misunderstanding from the earthly and literal to the heavenly and spiritual.”
Jesus begins with the actual situation (being beside a well), an everyday
action (drawing water), and with what the woman can give to him (a drink of
water). From the everyday, the earthly, the ordinary, he makes connections with
the heavenly, the spiritual, by offering life-giving water that will never run
out. He is not saying that the two are separate, distinct and different.
Instead, he is acting as the connection between the two, bringing them together
so that what is heavenly can be seen in what is earthly and vice versa.
There
is a contrast throughout this conversation between the old and the new. Jesus
is saying that if you drink from Jacob’s well, in other words, if you drink of
Jacob’s religion, you will be satisfied temporarily but will thirst again. But
whoever drinks of the water Jesus gives will not thirst for all eternity.
Jesus’ words, “they will not thirst” literally mean ‘into the new age.’ Jesus
brings a new age into the world, in him heaven/eternity are breaking through
time and entering into our present moment now. In Jesus heaven and eternity are
here now and begin in our lives now as we receive his love, forgiveness, and
acceptance into our lives now. “The water which Jesus offers to give is the raw
material of himself. It is his human body and mind and spirit; but it is alive
with the Spirit of God. What flows out of him for this Samaritan woman, if she
has faith, and asks for it, will be water alive with Spirit, and this will
activate a similar spring of water and Spirit within herself.” (Verney, ‘Waterinto Wine’, Fount, 1985)
Once
she has become captivated by Jesus’ offer, then there is a moment of personal
challenge. In speaking about her personal relationships, Jesus “confronts her
with herself so that her impurities can be cleaned out and the living waters
flow freely.” (Burridge) But we need to understand with love and acceptance
with which this challenge comes. Stephen Verney describes it in this way:
“Jesus says to her, “You have answered
beautifully ‘I have no husband’. For you have had five husbands, and the man
you have now is not your husband. In this you have spoken truthfully.” Some
years ago I was reading these words with a woman whose marriage had broken up, and
she said, “Look! Jesus is complimenting the Samaritan woman.” I had never seen
it until that moment. Jesus says to her “You have answered beautifully … you
have spoken truthfully.” Your sexual life is chaotic and you have one man after
another – that is the reality of how you are in the flesh. But because you have
brought this out into the light and recognised it, the reality of god can now
enter into the reality of you. , the reality of god can now enter into the
reality of you. Our flesh can come alive with Spirit. You are just the very
person who is able to receive the living water. The self-righteous cannot
receive it, because they do not know that they need it.”
The
question the woman then asks about the place to worship God may have been a
distraction, a sign that this conversation was getting too close to home for
the woman, or it may have been a sincere question about where she should go
with her sinful life in order to find God. Jesus says that the place is not
important. God’s heavenly future is breaking into our earthly realm now and
those who know this, worship in his Spirit and in truth. Jesus then reveals
himself as God, the one who connects heaven and earth, the living water, when
he uses the Old Testament name of God – I AM who I AM – in saying I AM he, who
is talking with you.
The
woman has changed through talking with God. “She came to the well in the
hottest, quietest part of the day to avoid people – but now she goes to find
them and tell them what has happened to her. Now the fact that Jesus knows all
she has done is not something to be avoided with a theological hot potato –but
the hottest news to be shared – ‘can this really be the Christ?’
The
fields are white for harvest Jesus then says to his disciples and this is
proved by the many in Sychar who came to believe in Jesus. The fields around us
are also white for harvest and people will hear and respond if we are able to
learn from the way in which Jesus connects faith with everyday life. He sits
with ordinary people, listens and talks with them. He starts with ordinary
life, with the things that others have to give and then reveals how the
spiritual and heavenly can be seen in the everyday. He is not afraid of
challenge, but his challenges come couched in encouragement, understanding and
acceptance instead of condemnation. The challenge is to move on, to grow beyond
the point that we have reached. This challenge is profoundly life affirming.
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The Byrds - I Am A Pilgrim.
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