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10. The Woman of
Samaria.
Jesus returned from Jerusalem to his home in Galilee. He came to
Jerusalem only for the high feasts and for his death.
As he traveled through the land of Samaria, near the city of Shechar, he
sat down by a well that was famous from Jacob's time and was alone. His
disciples bought food in the city. Then a woman of understanding and
knowledge came out of the city to draw water from the well. Jesus wanted
to give her the opportunity to open her heart to him. He said, “Give me
a drink.” Because the well was deep, it was necessary to have a vessel
for drawing water, and the woman had brought one with her. The woman was
surprised that she asked Jesus for a favor, because there was no
fellowship between the Jews and Samaritans from ancient times. But Jesus
was not like that. He said to her, “If you knew who he is who is talking
to you, you would ask him to give you living water.” Just as water is
drunk to strengthen and refresh the bodily life, so Jesus offered her
strengthening and refreshment for the soul. The woman answered
eloquently, “Are you more than our father Jacob, who gave us this well,
and he drank from it, and his children and his cattle?” So she had heard
from her parents. It is nice to honor the memory of ancestors and for
parents to tell their children where they lived and what they did. The
native soil becomes sacred, so to speak.
Jesus went on to say to the woman: “Whoever drinks the water I give him
will never thirst, but it will become a well of water springing up to
eternal life.” The woman did not quite want to understand him. Jesus
said to her: “Call your husband here!” The woman said, “I have no
husband.” He replied: “You were right. You have had five husbands, and
the one you have now is not your husband.” This may mean that he is not
what a man should be to his wife, and that it is as good as if he were
not her husband. From this speech she recognized that Jesus was no
ordinary man. She said, “Lord, I see that you are a prophet.” Someone
else would have asked him a few selfish and cheeky questions. But she
had something more important on her mind; she said, “Our fathers
worshipped on this mountain, and you say that Jerusalem is the place to
worship God.” Jesus said: “The time is coming when you will not worship
God on this mountain or in Jerusalem, but the true worshippers will
worship the Father in spirit and in truth. For God is a Spirit, and
those who worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” This is
already a droplet of water that refreshes the soul and flows into
eternal life: “God is the Father of all people. He is everywhere. He can
be honored everywhere. Every prayer is pleasing to him if it comes from
the heart and is sincere.” The woman said: “When the Messiah comes, he
will teach us everything.” She did not know that it was the same one who
was talking to her. People often wait for God's grace when it is already
there. Jesus said, “It is I who am talking to you.”
Meanwhile, the disciples came and brought food. But Jesus' heart was so
glad of this opportunity to do something good for a soul that he did not
want to eat. “My food,” he said, ”is to do the will of him who sent me.”
Meanwhile the woman had hurried into the city and returned with many of
its inhabitants. When they saw and heard Jesus, many believed that he
was the Savior of the world. Indeed, they begged him to stay with them.
He who honestly seeks the truth will find it. Where truth is honestly
sought, religious hatred disappears. For true worshippers worship the
Father in spirit and in truth. Jesus stayed with them for two days.
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