The Woman at the Well
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| John 4:5-42 This Sunday's Gospel is a long one! Here are 4 thoughts: |
1. Jesus speaks to a Samaritan woman. By talking alone to a woman, especially one who is not a Jew, Jesus is breaking the social norms of his day.
Jesus is not interested in continuing divisions but is concerned with uniting people together. Jesus wants us to set aside the walls that we build that separate us from others that trick us into thinking that we are not connected.
2. The Samaritan woman is at the well because she is physically thirsty and wants water. When Jesus offers her a "living water" she can’t see past her own physical needs. She thinks Jesus has some magic water that will keep her hydrated forever. The same thing happens to the disciples when they tell Jesus to eat something and he says that he "has food to eat which you do not know". They simply thought Jesus was hiding some snacks. In both circumstances Jesus is trying to help the woman and his disciples see past the needs and concerns of this world. He is trying to help them see eternity in their vision, to see their relationship with God and to draw strength from it.
We too live our lives mostly concerned with our physical wants and needs. Sometimes we even use our prayer as a way to try to manipulate our world to give us more of what we want. We are called to spend time daily remembering that we are made in the eternal image and likeness of God and that our actions on earth have eternal consequences; this can be an empowering and sometimes sobering realization!
3. Jesus reveals to the Samaritan woman that he knows the secret of her having five husbands. This shows the woman that Jesus knows her intimately, and that God must be present in Jesus.
God knows us intimately. This truth opens us up to the ability for God to work even in the deepest and darkest parts of our lives, to bring love, peace and healing even there, the places that we don’t want to be seen. The more we are open to his presence the more healing and love He can bring.
4. Jesus’ Jewish tradition believed that God was to be worshiped at the Temple in Jerusalem while the Samaritan woman believed that God was present in a special way in the mountain she lived by. Jesus overturns both ideas by saying that the true worshipers will worship the father in Spirit and in truth.
God’s presence is not confined to a particular place but is within each of us. We are called to carry God’s Spirit within us to others in the world. God’s presence in our lives was not given to us to make us feel special but that we may pass it on. “God has no body now but yours” -Theresa of Avila
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