LENT III [A]: Ex 17:3-7; Rom 5:1-2, 5-8; Jn 4:5-42 

Jesus appears on the scene today, apparently thirsty, asking for a drink. Who could have guessed that a topic on water and thirst could lead to such profound theological depth in this exchange between the Samaritan woman and Jesus? Jesus thirsts one other time too, and that was one of the last words he utters from the cross. What God really thirsts is for us, for our liberation and our salvation.

In this story, though Jesus thirsts, ironically it is the Samaritan woman who was thirsty, a thirst that cannot be sated by her unending search for love, acceptance, spirituality, and faith. The mention of the depth of the well is a good starting point to speak of the gravity of the spiritual thirst of the Samaritan woman and that of every soul. Jesus knows better than she does what kind of thirst is in her heart.  She has looked for love in many places but has failed in her search. 

To know the background of their conversation we should know the history of Samaritans.

Samaria was in central Israel. The Samaritans were once believers, and they shared the same religious beliefs as the Jewish people. But during the Babylonian exile, many Jews were exiled to Babylon and those left behind in Israel were later known as the Samaritans who mostly intermarried with people of other faiths.

When Babylon was captured by Persia, the emperor Cyrus let the Jews go back and rebuild their city and temple. It was done under the leadership of Ezra and Nehemiah, but unfortunately, they were not going to let the Samaritans have any part of it. And, even though the Samaritans came down to ask if they could help to rebuild the temple, they said, “No, because you are no longer true, blue people of the covenant but you have turned to other gods and goddesses.” As a result, the Samaritans and the real Jews became enemies. They would not even go to each other's territory and be hospitably treated. One time Jesus and the disciples were passing through Samaria and they were not welcomed, and John and James asked Jesus to call down fire from high on them for treating them bad.

 

At this time Jesus did not go into the villages but sat outside the village of Sycar, near the well of Jacob while the disciples went to buy some food.

Now, here comes a lady to draw water at this high noon. Usually, women draw water in the morning hours before the sun goes up. They used to gather together at the well and fill their buckets and at the same time chat and exchange information. But why was this lady at the well now and that too alone? The reason is revealed in the conversation Jesus had with this woman. She was morally poor or a public sinner as she admitted that she had six or seven husbands. Please do not think that she was the cause of the failure of her marriage. In Judaism, as it is even now in Islam, women have no right to divorce. So, it could be likely that she was abandoned by these men for some reason.

when Jesus asked for a drink, she really gets angry and says, “How could you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan, to give you a drink? Don’t you understand we’re not even supposed to talk to each other?”

 And then Jesus says, “If you knew who was the one that asked for a drink of water, you would have asked him for water and he would give you living water, and that water would bubble up in your heart. Then she stops for a minute and says, “Give me that water, so I don’t have to come up here for water again.” Either she half believes what Jesus says or she was mocking Jesus.

 From Jesus’ conversations, she feels she’s being treated very special, with great care and with fondness and love in his voice. And so, she kind of enjoys talking to him. To get make her know the depth of her thirst, Jesus says to her, “Now you go and get your husband.” And that’s when she says, “I don’t have a husband.”

To which Jesus smiles and says, “You’ve had six husbands and the one you have now, indeed, is not your husband, yes, you speak the truth.

She knows now for almost certain that Jesus is a prophet because he told her story. Then she does not stay any longer but runs back to her village to tell them that the Messiah is here near the well. They come and request Jesus to stay with them overnight.  Astoundingly, he stays with the Samaritans for two days.  He eats with them, stays in their shelter, and talks with them. Finally, they tell the woman not because of her but now for themselves.

After Jesus’ resurrection, he commanded his disciples to go to Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth to preach the gospel. One of the early seven deacons, Philip, evangelized Samaria. He had only to reap what Jesus had already sown in his conversation with this Samaritan woman and his two days’ residence there.

By recording this lovely story in his gospel John is basically telling what the Messiah has come to do. He came to give us the living water that can really quench the thirst of human hearts.

God created man with the capacity to worship Him and the need to be in fellowship with Him. Science fiction writer, H. G. Wells, writes that every person has a “God-shaped vacuum in his heart - a void that only God can fill.” St Augustine puts it this way, “My soul is restless ‘till it rests in Thee.”

Lent is the time to examine whether we are at the Well of the living water or at the well that gives us polluted dirty water that makes us sick for the life. Am I taking some time to have a heart-to-heart conversation with Jesus like this woman at the well.