Last week’s Gospel and today’s, juxtapose two characters who are unique to the Gospel of John. Nicodemus comes to Jesus by night and lasts for nine verses in his conversation with Jesus. The story we have just heard is the longest discourse in the Gospel of John. It is also, arguably, the story that tells us the most about who Jesus is. The contrast between Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman is striking, given that they appear one after the other in the Gospel of John.  Nicodemus is a Pharisee, an insider, a leader of the Jews. He is a man, he has a name, but he comes to Jesus by night. The person we are introduced to today is a Samaritan, a religious, social and political outsider. She is a woman and we are not told her name. She meets Jesus in full daylight. 

Jesus is sitting by Jacob’s well, tired and resting. He is alone because the disciples have gone to purchase food. It is almost as if he is waiting for someone…. waiting for the woman… waiting for us, already knowing what she/we need, waiting for her/us to approach. 

A Samaritan woman comes to draw water in the full noon heat. This in itself is unusual, but this woman is not accepted socially, and she comes at a time when she doesn’t expect anyone else to be around. 

Arguably there are many cultural reasons for Jesus not to engage with her: she is a Samaritan woman, and the Samaritans don’t interact with the Jews. Apparently, too, she has a shady past. What social conventions does Jesus disregard to talk with her? What lines is he stepping across in order to speak about what really matters. But as we know, Jesus was never limited by social conventions! He doesn’t dismiss the rules that bring order to the life of the community, but they don’t stop him from addressing the real and visible needs of the person in front of him. 

Notice that Jesus asks her for a drink of water, thus opening up the conversation.  She asks him why he, a Jew would ask a Samaritan and a woman for a drink. 

Jesus wastes no time in moving the conversation to a deeper level, just as he did with Nicodemus, and he replies that if she knew who she was speaking to, she would ask him for living water. He lets her know that he is quite aware of her past, her circumstances, not to condemn her, but to reassure her that none of it is an obstacle; the fullness of life is there for her to choose, to accept, to live. 

Jesus sweeps all the obstacles aside and he does that for us too.  Someone spoke with me this week about prayer, and expressed their belief of not being “very good at it… not doing it ‘properly’!”  This person also stated that some of the choices they had made in their life were an obstacle to prayer. I reassured them that prayer is essentially a conversation with God: we tell God what is on our mind, God listens, and yes, God responds, not in the way that a human being sitting in front of us might respond, but through events, through other people, through circumstances, and often in the quiet place within our own heart and soul. This is the powerful way that the Spirit of Jesus engages with us. Furthermore, there is nothing we have done in our lives that can keep us from God if we are open and honest, and willing to receive the living water that God is offering. 

Here I quote from the book Insane for the light by Rev. Ronald Rolheiser: 

God is scandalously understanding and compassionate, especially towards the weak and sinners. God is willing to sit down with sinners without first asking them to clean up their lives. Moreover, God asks us to be compassionate in the same way with both sinners and saints and to love them equally. God does not have preferential love for the virtuous. 

Like Nicodemus, the woman’s reply at first is literal: “Sir, you have no bucket and the well is deep, where do you get this living water? But as Jesus explains it to her, she too wastes no time in responding and says, “Give me this living water”. 

I love the way the story ends: she sets off immediately to tell others about Jesus and what she has experienced, saying “He knows everything about me!” She is so excited that in her hurry, she forgets to take her water jug! The telling of the story ends at this point in the Gospel of John but the story of the woman has moved into a new and vibrant chapter. 

As we celebrate this third Sunday in Lent, I invite you to reflect on your own relationship with Jesus: do you set aside time for prayer? How do you pray? Do you have a preferred place? And most importantly, is there anything in your life that you consider to be an obstacle in your relationship with Jesus? If there is, tell him about it. He is waiting by Jacob’s well to offer you living water. Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

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