Craving Living Water

This is a Bible lesson I shared at a  Women's Fellowship event at my church. 

This is a story that is familiar, and over the years, there has been a lot of teaching on this story that is highly critical of the woman. And many of the women of the bible. But modern scholars, have learned more about what every day life was like in Jesus' time and studies by those more open to the viewpoint of women and the other so called outsiders with whom Jesus interacted, has brought new insights.

Text...from CEB-Common English Bible. 

Jesus leaves Judea
Jesus in Samaria

Chapter 4

1 Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was making more disciples and baptizing more than John (2 although Jesus’ disciples were baptizing, not Jesus himself). 3 Therefore, he left Judea and went back to Galilee.

4 Jesus had to go through Samaria. 5 He came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, which was near the land Jacob had given to his son Joseph.6 Jacob’s well was there. Jesus was tired from his journey, so he sat down at the well. It was about noon.

7 A Samaritan woman came to the well to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me some water to drink.” 8 His disciples had gone into the city to buy him some food.

9 The Samaritan woman asked, “Why do you, a Jewish man, ask for something to drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (Jews and Samaritans didn’t associate with each other.)

10 Jesus responded, “If you recognized God’s gift and who is saying to you, ‘Give me some water to drink,’ you would be asking him and he would give you living water.”

11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you don’t have a bucket and the well is deep. Where would you get this living water? 12 You aren’t greater than our father Jacob, are you? He gave this well to us, and he drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.”

13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again,14 but whoever drinks from the water that I will give will never be thirsty again. The water that I give will become in those who drink it a spring of water that bubbles up into eternal life.”

15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will never be thirsty and will never need to come here to draw water!”

16 Jesus said to her, “Go, get your husband, and come back here.”

17 The woman replied, “I don’t have a husband.”

“You are right to say, ‘I don’t have a husband,’” Jesus answered.18 “You’ve had five husbands, and the man you are with now isn’t your husband. You’ve spoken the truth.”

19 The woman said, “Sir, I see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain, but you and your people say that it is necessary to worship in Jerusalem.”

21 Jesus said to her, “Believe me, woman, the time is coming when you and your people will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You and your people worship what you don’t know; we worship what we know because salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the time is coming—and is here!—when true worshippers will worship in spirit and truth. The Father looks for those who worship him this way.24 God is spirit, and it is necessary to worship God in spirit and truth.”

25 The woman said, “I know that the Messiah is coming, the one who is called the Christ. When he comes, he will teach everything to us.”

26 Jesus said to her, “I Am—the one who speaks with you.”

Going 'through” Samaria was unusual. There was long time feuding betw. Jews and Samaritans, going back centuries. Jews believed that Samaritans didn't properly follow the laws about ritual cleanliness or worship.

Also in this time in the Middle East, men and women who were not related did not speak to one another, or even make eye contact. So Jesus speaking to this woman broke a couple of long-standing, iron-clad traditions.

Scholars often point out the woman arguing with Jesus. I'm not reading it exactly that way, I think the conversation taken as a whole shows her to be bright and curious—wanting to learn! When she asked him, are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, that may be a challenge. But could it be that she genuinely wants to know how he can say this? What does he really mean? She also refers to “Our ancestor Jacob” which is a comment on what the Jews and Samaritans have in common! I find that fascinating... he and then she break the customs that keep them apart, but once their discussion begins, they can find a common connection.

Jesus' reply..

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.”

He has no restrictions on it. Everyone...Jew or Samaritan, who drinks here will thirst again, but if they drink my Living Water, they will never thirst. ..”

Everyone!

Her response, Give me this water! She may be speaking literally... water that sustains me so I don't have to carry water from the well! Or maybe she's understanding at this point the spiritual depths Jesus speaks of.

Either way, he tells her, get your husband and come back.

She answers I have no husband...again she's open and honest with him!

and he says, you've told the truth!' and says he knows she's had 5 husbands and she's not married to the man she's with now.

This is the point that has caused a lot of scholars to refer to this woman as basically a fallen woman. Modern scholarship however, says otherwise.

In these times, women could not initiate a divorce, unless there was flagrant adultery. And women were at a huge economic disadvantage if they were not married. She may have been in a situation called Levirite marriage, where if the oldest son in a family dies childless, the widow is obliged to marry the next brother to try to carry on the family inheritance. She could have been married into a family with a bad gene pool and/or accident prone behavior! (She apparently was not to blame, it seems He might have mentioned that!) There was also some acceptance of a couple living together in a committed relationship, if the woman had no dowry to bring to a marriage.

This part is also very likely more of a symbol to John's readers, about the nation of Samaria itself. They were, in the Jewish view, worshiping more than one god, and not in a covenant relationship with God. So the 5 husbands are the many gods, and the one who is not your husband is the broken covenant.

Maybe this is a woman with a long string of bad luck or a symbol of a nation that needs to come back to relationship with the One true God. Either way, she is a symbol of the loneliness and heartbreak that we all feel at one time or another!

Jesus reveals that he knows her well. And her response? “Sir I can see you are a prophet!” and she asks him a theology question! Here again I see her as bright and curious and wanting to learn! {if you want to change the subject, do you discuss theology? No, “it's how about this weather?” Or something else safe!”

This whole story is the longest single conversation that Jesus has with anyone in the gospels, and it's with someone who is on the surface, a complete outsider. Yet he perceives her craving for something different, a new way. She craved Living water!

Jesus' answer speaks to the difference between their 2 customs of worship, yet brings it around to 'all must worship in spirit and in truth”

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.”

Again, he puts no restrictions on it... aside from “True worship”. -the time is coming and has now come, refers to the prophecies that he himself is fulfilling.

25 The woman said, “I know that the Messiah is coming, the one who is called the Christ. When he comes, he will teach everything to us.”

26 Jesus said to her, “I Am—the one who speaks with you.”

This is the first time, in fact the only time until his 'trial' that Jesus says he is Messiah. He asks the disciples who do people say I am, and when others say something to that effect, he tells them not tell anyone else. (which they promptly ignore)

But he says it plainly to her... to this outsider!!

27 Just then, Jesus’ disciples arrived and were shocked that he was talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?” 28 The woman put down her water jar and went into the city. She said to the people, 29 “Come and see a man who has told me everything I’ve done! Could this man be the Christ?” 30 They left the city and were on their way to see Jesus.

….

39 Many Samaritans in that city believed in Jesus because of the woman’s word when she testified, “He told me everything I’ve ever done.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to Jesus, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41 Many more believed because of his word, 42 and they said to the woman, “We no longer believe because of what you said, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this one is truly the savior of the world.”

Again, the 'normal' customs of the day that divide people were broken. And because of this woman's -this woman who shouldn't have looked at or spoke to Jesus;-because of her curiosity and belief, many came to believe in Jesus..as Messiah.

God can use anyone and everyone.....to mend the divisions between us.

She left her water jar, just as Peter and his brother left their fishing nets, Matthew left his tax collection booth. She brought people -outside the Jewish traditions to faith in Jesus! The Salvation and love and grace of God through Jesus is indeed for everyone! Because we all crave connections and the Living water can bring us to a complete relationship with God and each other.

Let us pray:

God of All, thank you for your Word which enlightens us and brings us together with you and each other. Guide us to live in this knowledge, to stay in your word, indeed help us to crave YOUR living water! Guide us to focus on connection rather than division, & guide us to share Your love and carry that message into our community. We pray in the name of Jesus the Messiah, Amen.