The Samaritan Woman
Happy Mother’s day!
The life of St. Photini (the first evangelist).
Let’s look a little closer at her dialogue with Christ and how he brings her out of her life of delusion into one of purity and truth.
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First, to open the dialogue, he asks something of her. Now there is a sense in which it was something that he needed: he was weary from his journey and his body was thirsty. But we are made whole, we become complete in service of one another and of God (love God, love your neighbor – the two Great Commandments). Here, Jesus is giving her an opportunity to become more human. He is both God and man – so she had the opportunity to score a two-fer! [of course, we all have this opportunity every moment of our lives; “where were you when I was thirsty?” Because he was a Jew and she a Samaritan, he was also showing how part of his plan was to break down such artificial divisions and re-unite all humanity.
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How does she respond? She falls into more familiar habits of mind: she does not serve him, instead she challenges the propriety of his request. “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” A thirsty man is denied water because he is a Jew; a woman gives up an opportunity to serve because she is unwilling to open her mind.
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Next, Jesus ups the ante, saying; “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” This powerful offering operates on many levels. She refused to offer him a drink, but he says that if she asked, he would offer her something even greater than the water of this well. It is subtle, but notice how he is telling her how little regard he has for the socially constructed roles that would try to thwart his love. He saw someone who was spiritually thirsty. He has the drink that satisfies that thirst and is willing to give it to her. He is naturally fulfilling his own commandment!
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When the Samaritan woman responds, it seems that she has accepted the lowering of these barriers. She no longer challenges the propriety of their conversation. Instead, she goes straight to the more obvious problem: when she is thirsty, she goes to the well, uses her bucket, pulls up some water and drinks. Now here Jesus is, a man with no bucket saying that he could give her water. The whole things sounds a bit preposterous. She doesn’t think he has anything to offer her.
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So Jesus lets her know that he does have something that everyone thirsts for: the living water that will not only refresh continually, but will grant eternal life!
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Now she is interested. She wants some of this water. She is taking him up on his offer.
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He says something that seems to be a non-sequitur: he tells her to go get her husband. Why is he doing this? Do you have to be married to drink of this water? Jesus is the perfect evangelist – what is his purpose here? Christ is doing something that goes against our modern culture: he is calling for her repentance. One cannot enjoy this water – or its benefits – while living a life of sin. She was promiscuous, sleeping with men with whom she was not married. Such a thing is incompatible with spiritual satiety and everlasting bliss. Notice that Christ did not beat her up with the “Jesus Stick”. He didn’t threaten her with hellfire and damnation. But neither did he pretend her impure life was of no account – how would love allow such a thing? He is the one who made her, who loves her, and desires that she live life abundantly. So he gave her the facts and her consience led her to repentance. She could have rejected him. In today’s world, many do. Their consciences are so dulled by marketing, sensuality, and their own pride, that they see no need for repentance. And what of it? Why is repentance necessary?
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Image of the bucket that has been filled with stones. What happens when water is poured into such a thing?
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There is no room for water. This is the soul that is full of its own concerns.
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Image of a bucket that has been filled not just with stones, but with filth. This is the soul that has taken the fallen values of this world as its own.
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Not only is there no room, the soul has become polluted.
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Photini the Evangelist. She emptied her bucket and her soul became a spring that spread the living water to all who were thirsty and willing to drink. And if she had not? What would her soul have shared? Stones and putrescence.
The Lord is here today, offering us this Living Water. Have we emptied out our souls so that they can be filled? Pentecost is coming. Will we be ready?
