An Instrument of Hope and Light

S.B. John 4: 5 – 42

This particular passage happens to contain the longest discourse that Jesus has with anybody in the entire New Testament. I find it interesting to take note of the fact that the longest recorded conversation Jesus has with anyone in the Bible is not with one of his disciples, a member of the Sanhedrin or a political leader, but with a Samaritan Woman… someone who seems to be written off as a outcast, certainly someone on the fringe of the societal structure of the day.
Let us focus on the scene that is unfolding before us in this text. It is an ordinary day. Jesus is tired from his journey, and he stops by a well at noon. This well is known as Jacob’s Well, and while Jesus is resting by the well, a Samaritan woman comes to the well to get water. Unlike the other women who get their water in the cool of the morning, this woman comes alone in the heat of the day.
In order to understand this account, we need to answer a couple of questions. What do we know about Samaritans? Over many years of Sunday School and hearing teachings on the subject of who the Samaritans were, we would naturally arrive at the conclusion that the Samaritans were vastly different from the Jews, and that there was a natural enmity between these two peoples… but what most people tend to gloss over is the fact that centuries before, the Jews and the Samaritans were part of the children of Israel, but at a crucial moment, the group that eventually became the Samaritans rejected God’s leading.
The next question is “What do we know about the role of women in the time of Jesus?” In that day and culture, the woman’s role was subservient to the man. The woman in that culture was seen as little more than the property of a man…
So, from the beginning of this account, the primary character in the story being a Samaritan and a woman casts a very deep shadow on the character of the Woman at the Well.
To take this story to the next level, we need to tackle the question of “Why does this woman chose the noon hour for coming to the well, instead of gathering with the other women who go there in the cool of the morning?”
Let’s pause for a moment and see just how someone can reach a wrong conclusion based upon partial information and facts not in evidence. Let’s take a closer look at the story…
Jesus approaches the woman at the well, and asks her for a drink. Her first response is to point out the differences between them “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?"
The conversation between Jesus and the Woman at the Well has a similar pattern to his conversation with Nicodemus in the previous chapter. They are at a well, and they are talking about water… that makes perfect sense… the water is a common denominator and serves as an ice-breaker.
The conversation starts off at a comfort zone, and then Jesus shifts the conversation to a deeper theological level.
Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."
The Samaritan Woman is a very intelligent person. She knows about the division between the Samaritans and the Jews, and she knows about the societal difference between men and women in that culture. She even knows about their ancestor, Jacob, who gave them that well, and she is not going to be taken in by this stranger at the well… He talks a great deal about water, but really now, where is his bucket?
Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
What happens next is amazing… Jesus has captured the woman’s curiosity. The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water."
He told her, "Go, call your husband and come back."
"I have no husband," she replied.
Jesus said to her, "You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true."
Now, here is where most people reach a faulty conclusion about this woman. Most people look at the way the evidence comes into play here, and reach the conclusion that this woman must have a less-than-stellar reputation. The fact that this woman has had five husbands, and the man she is living with is not her husband would, in today’s society, might well mark this woman as someone who has loose morals and is not to be trusted. There is a point of ancient Hebrew Culture that comes into play here. The fact that she has had five husbands points to the practice that if a woman married a man, and that man dies, she could marry that man’s brother… and so on. And the fact that she was living with a man who was not her husband was not that uncommon in Hebrew culture as well. If a woman was not financially surviving, she could give over her possessions to her nearest male relative, and he would take care of her. It was a matter of provision in that culture, rarely, if ever, having any sexual connotation. Yet in today’s culture, not knowing all of the facts surrounding that story and that culture, it would be an easy stretch to call that woman sexually promiscuous… and yet there is a very real possibility that we would be wrong in that assumption.
She is shocked at the intimate details of her life being known by this stranger, yet his words are not spoken in judgment and condemnation. His gift of salvation and eternal life transcends the actions of her past. The woman makes the connection between the words of this stranger and the anticipation of a coming Messiah. She abruptly leaves her water jar to go and tell others about this experience she has just had… The woman went back to the town and said to the people, "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?"
Jesus had a lengthy conversation with the woman at the well. Despite her history, her gender, and her Samaritan roots, Jesus took her seriously and taught her about living water and eternal life. Jesus gave her hope. Life did not have to be limited by her past, and by her reputation, but could be shaped by the Grace of God at work in her through Jesus Christ.
The message for today is simple… No matter who you are… no matter where you are in your journey of faith… Whatever trials you have gone through in your life… whatever pain, suffering and anguish you have gone through… Jesus bids you welcome… Jesus takes you seriously… Jesus loves you… and he calls you to live an authentic, balanced and centered life. Come, see a man who knows everything about you… who knows who you are, where you have come from, and where you are going… Come, See Jesus…. Are you thirsty? Come, drink the water that HE has to give… you will never thirst again, for out of you will flow rivers of living water.
Ask God to show you how you can be an instrument of Hope and Light.




Lord, make us instruments of your peace;
where there is hatred, let us sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

Lord Jesus,
grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
Amen.

I Bid You Peace,
Pastor Ken+