Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Monday, February 3, 2014 Read John 4:7-26 The story as John tells it reflects accurately the animosity between Samaritans and Jews. The Samaritan woman is surprised that Jesus has anything to do with her. Jesus should have rejected her but he does not. In fact, Jesus asks her for a drink of water – a request that would have been unheard of on the part of a faithful Jewish man for two reasons. First, she was a Samaritan and that alone should have prevented Jesus from receiving a drink from her hand. And secondly, she was a woman. Faithful Jewish men would have nothing to do with a woman to whom they were not married or related. So Jesus breaks the rules. And the Samaritan woman knows it. But that is not the only thing going on in this story. As we have noticed before, Jesus and the person with whom he is conversing often talk past one another. Jesus means one thing by what he says but the person hears another. In that way this story is a lot like the story of the encounter between Jesus and Nicodemus. In fact it is likely that these two stories have been placed near each other by John to play one story off on the other. In both stories Jesus is speaking on one level and the hearer is hearing on another. John skillfully uses the technique of misunderstanding to make his point. Here, after being rebuffed in a way by the Samaritan woman for asking her for a drink, Jesus says, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘give me a drink,’ you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” Once again John is using the technique of using a word with a double meaning. The word with a double meaning is the word, “Living water.” Living water can mean fresh, flowing water; or it can mean eternal life as Jesus will later explain. At first the woman misunderstands thinking Jesus is talking about ordinary water. But, contrary to Nicodemus who cannot get past his misunderstanding, this woman hangs in there with Jesus. When Jesus tells her the water he offers is “water that springs up onto eternal life” she is not put off thinking Jesus is offering the impossible (Nicodemus cannot get past the foolish concept that person is “born again/from above” by entering into his mother’s womb a second time) and she asks Jesus to give her this water. She is not fully aware of what is going on but she is open to what Jesus has to offer. Instead of simply giving her what she asks Jesus changes the subject. He asks her to go and bring her husband. This puts the woman in a bind. Is she to tell Jesus the truth or simply go and get the man with whom she is currently living with even though they are not married? We should remember that the relationship of marriage between a man and woman was very different at that time than it is today. The woman was actually the property of the man – her husband. Apparently the man with whom this woman was living was not even willing to “own” her – he was simply using her. We often jump to the conclusion that this is a “loose” woman, a sinful woman. But that need not be the case. Perhaps she has been a widow five times. Likely she has been abandoned and mistreated by those who previously “owned” her. Frankly we really don’t know much about this woman so it is wrong for us to condemn her. Likely she needs and deserves our empathy and compassion. The woman decides to be truthful with Jesus. She briefly tells her story and opens herself to whatever judgment Jesus might decide to make. Jesus does not condemn her. His response is one of compassion. Jesus already knew all about her. The Jesus portrayed by John is one who knows far more than is humanly possible. We have noticed before that if there is a challenge in John’s portrait of Jesus it is to understand his humanity. The Jesus who marches through John’s gospel is far more than merely human and this story is one that emphasizes that. If we did not have John’s gospel and only had to rely on the story that Mark, Matthew, and Luke tell us, we would likely conclude that the humanity of Jesus was the dominant view of those who knew him prior to the resurrection. Actually that is most likely how Jesus was experienced – as a human being anointed by God’s Spirit but as human as his contemporaries. John’s gospel modifies our view. And, after the resurrection, the people of God recognized that Jesus was indeed the Son of God. It’s okay for us to struggle with trying to understand this. It helps us to realize that God is far bigger than our minds can comprehend. As we move back to the story, we discover that Jesus’ response to this woman moves her one step closer to fully knowing Jesus. She now claims that Jesus must be a prophet. The process of coming to belief is at work. Now it is the woman’s turn to change the subject. She asks about worship and about the glaring difference between Samaritans and Jews. Jesus is a Jew and her response seems to indicate that perhaps she is open to worshiping in the Jewish way. Jesus presses the conversation to a higher level. Neither Samaritans nor Jews fully comprehend that God is worshiped in Spirit and not connected to a location. At this point it is important for readers of John’s gospel to remember the story of the cleansing of the Temple that has preceded this story. In that story Jesus has replaced the Temple. The Temple is no longer of much importance. Jesus is the Temple. John’s story holds together. It might be too much to say that John moved the story of the cleansing of the Temple forward to enable him to tell this story about the woman and that worship will now be connected with the Spirit and find its location in Jesus, but the flow of the story works. Once again the woman changes the subject. She brings up the concept of the Messiah. Both Samaritans and Jews had come to hope for a coming Messiah. Perhaps already this woman is wondering whether the man Jesus that she has encountered might be that promised Messiah. Jesus leaves no doubt. He tells her plainly that he is the Messiah. And the way in which Jesus says this is powerful. Jesus says, “I am.” The “he” that is inserted into our English translations is put there for convenience of reading. And now we are fully into the claim that Jesus is God. You may recall that in the story of the burning bush God told Moses that his name is “I am.” That “I am” and the “I am” that Jesus claims to be are exactly the same word! The “I am” of the OT has arrived in this “I am” who is Jesus. The Word became flesh! John will tell us that upon hearing this, the woman left her bucket behind – she no longer needs “water” – and she becomes an evangelist in her home town. There remains still a measure of uncertainly in her proclamation, “This man who told me everything I have ever done, can’t be the Messiah, can he?” But the very question demands a positive response. Yes, this one is the Messiah! And as the story ends it is clear that the woman and many Samaritans have come to believe in Jesus! We’ll look at that more fully in the next couple of days.