The Woman at the Well

The Gospel of John is my favorite Gospel, if not my favorite work of the entire New Testament.  It is a very well written Gospel and it is much different than the other three, Matthew, Mark and Luke.  In the Gospel of John the victory is the Cross and not so much the Resurrection. John uses a lot of imagery, allegory and metaphors to describe a story or character, especially Jesus, i.e. He is the gate, the Shepherd, the light, etc.  He also will show us levels of faith, those who don’t get it, those who are in the-in-between, and finally those who understand and are faithful.

Today’s Gospel with the woman at the well is someone who is in the-in-between, a person who has some faith but is still thinking in an earthly way.  People with no faith are always viewed as being in the dark or of the night, for instance, Judas leaves the last Supper early because he does not have faith, and when he leaves he leaves into the night.  When the Pharisees, Sadducees or Scribes test Jesus they are often referred to as being in the dark, stubborn, or of little faith.  When Nicodemus comes to Jesus he comes in the night because he does not believe yet, but as he continues his conversation he begins to leave the darkness entering twilight and eventually entering the light when he comes to believe.  Our Blessed Mother when mentioned in chapter two is an example of full faith as she shares a beautiful conversation with Jesus and those present at the Wedding Feast of Cana.  The Samaritan woman at the well is a person who is in the-in-between of faith.

The conversation Jesus had with her is quite amazing indeed.  First of all a Jew is never supposed to talk to a Samaritan, and she was also a woman, which would have been enough for Him not to talk to her.  But Jesus could think outside of the box, thank God and He continued His conversation with her.  Anyway, the conversation is not simply a conversation with her, but with all of us.  Jesus is the Savior, the one who can give life giving water; we are the woman who has lived in continual sin.

For a moment let us return to the conversation she had with Jesus.  Jesus asks for a drink of water.  She replies that He should not be talking to her.  Jesus continues and they go into the whole conversation about rightful worship and Jesus concludes that “God is Spirit” not a human being or a place or a thing, like a mountain for instance.  Jesus takes it a little higher by letting her know He can give her life giving water, Jesus is speaking spiritually and this can only be understood if someone has full faith.  She responds in an earthly way and in a way of partial faith, “Sir, you do not even have a bucket how will you draw the water from the well?”  Jesus is not talking about the water in the well.  He remains patient with her.  If you recall Nicodemus made this same mistake when Jesus said, “You must be born again.”  Nicodemus asks, “How can a person enter his mother’s womb a second time?”  He was thinking earthly and not spiritually, that being born again means baptism not entering your mother’s womb.

The Samaritan woman goes further, “give me this water so I don’t have to keep coming back to fill my bucket.”  She still doesn’t get it fully, but she is getting closer.  Jesus then goes into how many husbands she has had and the man she is with now is not her husband, so adultery after adultery and now fornication and yet Jesus does not give up on this woman, He doesn’t give up on us even when we keep going back to the earthly, the twilight, and the darkness.

Finally she understands and calls Him a great prophet and eventually the Messiah.  She ran back into town and evangelized bringing others to Jesus.  What are the points of the story for us?  I think the first is that Jesus does not give up on us.  When He spoke to that woman He was speaking to me, He was speaking to you.  How often like the woman at the well do we continue in the same sins and yet God loves us and calls us to repentance.  Sometimes we respond like the woman in earthly ways, in ways that are mixed with darkness and night, not understanding, because we get caught up into the darkness and actually like it, it is comfortable and pleasurable, my own bliss.  For the Samaritan woman it was having five husbands and living with a man who was not her husband, what is it for us.  Are we willing to let it go, the sin that binds us and keeps us searching for water in a well that only satisfies for a moment when we have access to the Lord of glory Who will offer us life giving water that never dries up or runs out?  AMEN.  FJ