John 4.10-17 NIV courtesy of www.biblegateway.com
10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”
13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”
17 “I have no husband,” she replied.
part II
"If you knew the gift of God..." How are we to read this? Is Jesus questioning her religious standing (implying that Samaritans were ignorant of God's real gifts)? In the Western world, this is easily heard as some kind of challenge, but what kind?
'living water' Living water is water that is flowing, not still. Living water is healthier (though not necessarily healthy) that water that is stagnant. But of course, Jesus isn't speaking in concrete terms; he has something else in mind.
Not the woman, she goes for the most obvious. Jesus has no bucket, how can he get this living water. She calls him on his boast. And goes on to say, don't boast to me, this well belonged to Jacob who gave it to us. It's been here a long time!
Jesus goes to the spiritual again, speaking of a well of water that will quench all thirst. This is a good example of how the reader knows what is happening while the characters don't. The reader has a different frame of reference, a different reality than the characters in the story.
Thirst is often associated with a desire for God, a searching after righteousness. Water is clearly critical for continued life from day to day. Jesus introduces the concept of life beyond this life.
Water had to be fetched every day. Anything that eased that work would be wonderful. So the woman boldly asks for some of his magical water.
Then Jesus asks about her husband. This truly complicates the story. Is Jesus trying to take this conversation to the next level by involving a man? Is Jesus trying to put this woman in her place? Is Jesus calling her bluff?
part III John 4.16-26
16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”
17 “I have no husband,” she replied.
Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”
19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”
Five husbands plus a sixth man with ambiguous standing. What are we to do with this? There are several explanations to how this woman got into this situation. Many have concluded that she was 'morally loose' or a prostitute. Some commentators note that divorce wasn't allowed in Samaritan belief so she might simply have been 'put out' by her husband with no place to go and so took up with another man. The sixth man could be polygamous and she might be without the bond of marriage.
The fact that she is at the well at noon - when there is no one else there - points to her ambiguous standing within the community. Women gathered water at day break and in the evening - not during the heat of the day. So either she was avoiding the other women, or they had made life difficult and had pushed out of their fellowship.
My question is: why this detail? How does this fact give depth to the story? What is John trying to tell us about God/Jesus by adding this?
If we go back to the contrasts between Nicodemus and the woman we will then note that Nicodemus is a man of standing within the community (a leader) and this woman (whatever her story) is not. It was assumed that Jesus would receive Nicodemus; it was unexpected that Jesus had any contact with this woman.
I am proud of this woman: she says, 'You got it right!' (I can see you are a prophet) and then launches into what she considers the more important part ofthe conversation: theology. Where are we to worship rightly? Mt. Gerazim? Jerusalem? Who's right?
Jesus replies, 'Where won't matter, it is how that is important. Worship with spirit and truth/' That truth will recognize Jesus as the Messiah - who is in the process of 'explaining everything.'
Now we have moved this conversation from a cup of water, to her living situation, to the truly important stuff: the Messiah. This woman doesn't get bogged down but pushes ahead to the important stuff. She's pretty impressive.
Tomorrow: How does this all end up? Does the woman come out of the darkness (what kind of darkness surrounds her?) and into the light of Jesus?
No comments:
Post a Comment