He watched her come up the road from the village. Jesus knew her though he had never seen her before. In her story was the story of so many who have done what they can to get through this life, a life where morality takes a second to doing whatever it takes to get through. She would have preferred a better story, just as they all do. But given what she could make of it, it was what it was. Judge her as you will. She was used to it. That process had made her defensive but also developed a brilliance which in another time would have made her a powerful force with which to reckon.

The Trouble with Jesus is his conversations sometimes take you deeper than you want to go.

Jesus, be kind to her. For in the way you treat her is how we might understand you. Then again, people, men in particular, have taken from the Bible rules and attitudes which make the life of women unfair. They’re told to pretty much put up and shut up. Is your kingdom of heaven like that?

A Command Prompt

Jesus offered her what she needed. “Give me a drink.” For too long she had been the one who was robbed, robbed of her virtue, her dignity, her value as a human being. All had been taken from her. His words were expressed as an imperative, the tone and import all too familiar to her. Even so, his request belied the command. His asking was as one who wanted a gift, something of need and value but freely imparted. He offered her choice in what she would give.

Her gift would be of utmost value to him. It would require going deep, as into a well, deep inside herself for that which would refresh and strengthen him. She had to be guided though into that place. She started from what she’d always known but right now her only recourse was to challenge his words. She reminded him of their differing heritages, dragging up hate based on centuries of historical, religious, and ethnic conflict. Why was he, a good Jew, talking with her, a Samaritan and a woman, no less? She used it as a protective barrier to keep him from getting close enough to manipulate her.

Behind it though was his request. Jesus was asking something of her and allowing her the choice to refuse, a power she rarely, if ever, had. Of course, she would use it to deflect the conversation on one hand and to keep him engaged with her at the same time.

Discourse 101

Jesus doesn’t bite. He asks again for what he wants, but he turns it around. “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who I am, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.” His request isn’t for himself, but for him to give to her.

She delves into the details, the practicality of life, ropes, buckets, and depth of the well, when obviously he has no supplies to draw water. Then again, where are you going to get better water than what had been there for ages, all the way back to their common ancestor, Jacob? Had this man been in the noon heat too long?

He explains his offering: this well water can’t satisfy thirst for long, but the water I give removes thirst, as a perpetual spring inside a person, giving eternal life.

Oh, thank you, my deliverer. She’ll take what they all want, something to make their lives easier. “Give me that water! I wouldn’t have to come here to haul water.” I won’t have this daily strain of labor upon me. I won’t have to face those who look down upon me and mock me.

Risked Condemnation

She’s revealed a little too much. Jesus picks up on it. “Go get your husband.” Quickly and honestly, she replies, “I don’t have a husband.” Ok, let’s get this out and on the table. She’s had five husbands, and the man she lives with now is not her husband. She realizes this conversation is going deeper than the well in front of them, and she’s not sure she wants to take this plunge. 

Handle him as you’ve handled men before. Give him something that doesn’t contradict his point but makes him feel good about himself. He’s been fairly nice to her so far, so don’t mess it up. “Sir, you must be a prophet.” A prophet knows things about God and apparently about her. Stick with the God part. She picks up on the proper place of worship, Jerusalem for the Jews, or on this mountain, Gerizim, for the Samaritans? They each have their reasons grounded in God’s revelations to their ancestors. What do you say, dear prophet?

Again, it doesn’t fly with Jesus. God is not confined to places. “God is spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” To her, his answer is not an answer, so she falls back on the big hope for all of them, the Messiah who will explain everything. She’s close enough now for him to tell her. “I am the Messiah.”

Interestingly, right at that moment, Jesus’ disciples showed up surprised to find him talking with a woman out in the open and a Samaritan at that. They are concerned that Jesus hadn’t eaten for a while. He had asked the woman, “Give me a drink.” Now he was satiated with nothing. “My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work.” He could only be fed, energized in body and soul, when the people listen and believe. 

A life changed by a short conversation is the life that tells the world. Truth he had given to her, a truth that demonstrated she had choices in life, a choice of who she was in the sight of God above all that had happened to her or had been said of her. That Truth revealed not only her real self but also who God was, understanding, accepting, and wanting a fuller, better, dignified life for her.

The Grace in Truth

Villagers, people who had judged her before, see a difference. They are amazed at what she says she encountered but believe only when they meet Jesus for themselves. “Now we believe because we have heard him ourselves, not just because of what you told us. He is indeed the Savior of the world.”

“Please give me a drink,” he asks. But living water he offers. The day will come when Jesus will drink from another cup, a cup not of water but of blood, the only cup that would satisfy the world’s needs. That is his Truth.

John 4:5-42

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