The
reading we heard today, the story of the Woman at the Well, contains the
longest conversation between Jesus and another character recorded in the Bible.
It is extraordinary that this conversation occurs with a woman, a tired
Samaritan woman, drawing water at the well, a well traditionally known to be
Jacob’s well, in the heat of the middle of the day. And it is quite the
contrast to the story of Nicodemus from last week.
Nicodemus is a named male religious leader who was
traveling to Jerusalem during the Passover Festival. He sought Jesus out but
would only meet with him at night. Nicodemus didn’t understand what Jesus was
telling him, and that was where the conversation ended.
The woman in today’s story is an unnamed Samaritan,
making her a religious outsider on two counts, whom Jesus found at the well at
the brightest part of the day. While she didn’t understand at first, this woman
was willing to have continued dialogue with Jesus in order to learn more about
what he was saying. The ending of her story was much different than Nicodemus.
Before we get to much further into this story
though, I want to back up the reading a bit to examine verses 3-4: “he left
Judea and started back to Galilee. But he had to go through Samaria.” The
interesting fact here is that while Samaria is indeed between Judea and Galilee,
travelling Jews would have never gone through Samaria, despite that being the
shortest route. They would have gone west to the Jordan and travelled along the
river, purposefully avoiding Samaritan people.
Saying that “he had to go through Samaria” was not
technically true, there were other, more desirable routes, but theologically Jesus
needed to go through Samaria to show that God loved the whole world, a need rooted
in Jesus’ words to Nicodemus in our gospel lesson last week, “for God so loved
the world that he gave his only Son”. The whole world includes the Samaritans. And
this was just the beginning of the radical inclusion of today’s Gospel story.
Going back to our woman at the well, most
traditional commentary on the story of this remarkable encounter focuses on the
woman’s five husbands, and the one she has now who is not her husband. Five
husbands and not married to her current partner. She must be an adulterer. She
is at the well alone at noon, according to this line of thinking, because she
is shunned by the other women, who come together to the well in the cool of the
morning. In this interpretation, Jesus exposes her lie, but he shows his
compassion, saving the soul of an outsider, a marginalized woman, a sinner.
But there is no mention of sin or forgiveness
anywhere in this text. These various marriages, and her current situation,
would have been completely out of her control and of no fault of her own. These
things don’t make the woman a sinner. But it may make her lonely, possibly
feeling like she no longer belongs anywhere, or to any sort of community.
No where in their conversation does Jesus shame
this woman for what’s happened in her life. Jesus does, however, listen. He
provides the woman a sense of belonging by giving her a sense of being heard,
listened to, and understood. By allowing her to tell her truth, Jesus is
deepening his relationship with this unnamed woman.
Especially in comparison to Nicodemus, the woman at
the well shows openness and wonder. The woman feels heard and seen, so she reveals
her truth to him. And, in turn, Jesus reveals to her his true identity with the
first of John’s “I am” statements. Jesus doesn’t say he is a prophet. He says that
he is the Messiah but he is also more than that. Jesus is the “I AM”, he is God
in our midst, the Word become flesh. The same “I AM” revealed to Moses in the
burning bush is revealed to this unnamed Samaritan woman.
Because the woman is willing to listen to him, Jesus
feels heard and seen, so he reveals his truth to her. This mutuality and reciprocity
– sharing of truths, hearing each other, seeing each other – creates an
invitation into believing and into relationship. In her truth-telling, there is
an engagement in conversation – which I said last week was a key characteristic
of belonging – which made Jesus feel comfortable to give his truth, to reveal his
true identity.
By revealing this truth, Jesus shows an unnamed
woman unconditional belonging – the kind of love that is only trustworthy when
a person knows everything about you and then calls you their own.
And what was this woman’s response? To drop her
bucket, run back to her town, and tell them to “come and see”. Her response was
beyond belief, an exclamation of “wow! I belong to God, to a community of
faith!” Despite not understanding at first, this woman was willing to remain in
conversation with Jesus, taking her time to build her faith and then to become
a disciple.
Ultimately, it’s not about getting the right answer.
Faith isn’t about getting things right in order to belong. Faith is about “I AM”
here for you. And that kind of belonging is beyond belief.
Amen.
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