Another hot afternoon for my stroll. I well remember what this was like when I took this walk in the early morning hours in the company of the other women of Sychar.
But this type of heat is easier to bear than the type of heat that radiates from those same women these days. They think I am unclean. They don’t tell me how they view themselves, but they treat me as if I am something less than they are.
I was really in a spot. By the time my first relationship failed I was marked as an outcast. After that my options were few. I thought I found as good a man as would speak to me, but I have a poor record on that. So my current relationship seems to be the best option. If I am not married, I cannot be divorced. Yet with each of them I depended on them for my very food and shelter. Men are so selfish. They wield their power like a weapon to assure that they get their way. And they compete with each other to convince others that they are far bigger than they really are.
The religious leaders are the worst. They control large groups of people for their own benefit, all the while pretending to be pure and selfless. Hm, pure and selfless. Now I would like to meet a man like that. Oh, don’t hold your breath woman. There has never been one.
Oh, oh! There is a man at the well. Why would he be there, and at this time of day? This could get ugly. I am tempted to wait at a distance, but he is just sitting there – no sign that he intends to leave anytime soon. He looks like a Jew. Those Jews think they are better than we Samaritans, even though we are all descendants of Abraham, and our father Jacob, who dug here for the deep waters that sustain us still. They say that they are ‘the chosen’ people. Chosen for what I could not say. Chosen to judge the rest of humankind perhaps. Chosen to absorb God’s blessings, maybe. Then again, this may be the possible outcome that I suppose. At least he will not speak to me, even if he gives me ‘that look’. I might feel his judgement, but in blessed silence.
Just a few more steps. He turns to look at me. I will keep my eyes to myself, and finish my chore as quickly and quietly as possible. No one else is around. Looks like everyone else is wiser than this man, sitting in the sunshine, and the heat.
“Will you give me a drink?”
What did he say? Was he speaking to me? Was he asking me to serve him?
“You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?”
That should cut short this conversation. If there was any doubt, it’s all on the table now.
“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.”
Who is this man that he would speak to me? I can’t decide if I should be appreciative or offended. Of course, he spoke to tell me that I asked the wrong question. But he actually said that he would give me something. Can he do that? And what is ‘living water’? I have never heard of such a thing.
“Sir, you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”
That sounded a little nastier than I had intended. I was just trying to state the obvious.
“Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
He offers water that will end all thirst! Oh, how I long to stop these daily midday trips to the well. But how could that be possible?
“Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
He seems to be pondering that…
“Go, call your husband and come back.”
If only he knew how complicated his request is.
“I have no husband.”
Why would he offer me living water and then send me away?
“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.”
Oops he knows much more than I thought. And he confirms my truthfulness, well sort of. Time for a topic change – the age-old question that divides our people:
“Sir, I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
That conundrum should redirect the heat of this discussion away from me.
“Woman, believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
“I know”, said I,“that Messiah is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
That should defuse his comment. After all, what type of man can possibly understand these things.
“I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”
What an amazing thing to say! I think I might just believe it. I have never met anyone like this before. He truly knows all about me, and we are still talking.
What now? Here come several more men. Obviously, things are going to change quickly now. They seem surprised that we are talking, but none of them is challenging or accusing… yet.
I should not stay here. Time for me to get on my way. Perhaps I will return with my ‘husband’ so that we can both receive some of this living water.
Who is that man? Could he possibly be the Messiah? And could Jews and Samaritans worship, together, in spirit and in truth? Now MY truth is a little hard to take? Does his idea of truth extend to ALL truth, or just select truth? Maybe that was too harsh. He seemed to know MY truth, but I did not feel that he was condemning me. What do I do now? I am nearly back to the village. I am used to sneaking in, avoiding others, quietly going about my business, but this is an unusual day. This is SO amazing! I have to tell somebody.
Ohh! I left my water jug back there… I’ll get it later.
Who should I tell first? Our leaders will not be happy to see me, but they must know.
“There is a man at the well who says that he is the Messiah. He told me everything that I ever did. Will you go talk to him?”
Well, that caused a stir. Off they go. They are all talking at the same time. I am not at all sure what they are thinking. I hope they will treat him well. Others who have claimed to be the Messiah have not fared well.
Where will I find my friends who are less than welcomed by our people? Oh, here they are…
“There is a man at the well who says he is the Messiah! Surely he is a prophet, for he told me things about myself that very few have ever heard. Go and meet him.”
“Let’s go find out who this man is” one said as the others followed her toward the well.
Who else should I tell? Should I speak even to the people who are difficult to talk to? Who seek to judge and belittle me? Could I hide this from anyone? They need to know too.
“Hey everybody, listen up! Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?”
“What do you mean he told you everything”? they ask. “Why do you think he is the Messiah?”
“I cannot explain it all. I just know what I saw and heard. I just spoke to him at the well.”
“Let’s go meet this man!” some said.
I have never seen these people move so quickly. And such a large crowd. Practically the whole town is headed to the well. I should go back to see what is happening too. He told me to bring back my ‘husband’. I wonder if bringing a large group from town will suffice.
Ah, I see he is still there at the well. It looks like that group of men that came before I left already know him. They are standing with him. Many of the people have arrived and they are now talking to him. I am going to hang back a bit and give them some space (and give me some space too).
I wish I could hear what they are saying, but the crowd is so large that I can’t hear those who are talking with that man.
Some are walking away from the well. I wonder what happened. They are hurrying back towards town. I think I can get close enough to find out what is going on.
“What happened?”
I cannot believe the smiles on their faces. They heard me and they are actually coming to talk to me. When did that last happen?
“The people are so impressed by what he is saying that they invited him to stay with us for a while so we can learn more, and he accepted. We are going to prepare a place for him and for his disciples.”
This is wonderful! We can all get to know him better. It looks like he will have quite a bit of help to take care of him. Now let’s see what he can do. I hope he is bringing his living water.
That reminds me, I never gave him that drink he asked for!
(C) 2018 Chuck Curtiss
To read other similar stories in this series see The Witness List.
Based on John 4:1-42
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. http://www.zondervan.com.
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Percipient Witnesses 