|
by
Doug Ward |
One particularly dramatic episode in the Gospel narratives is Jesus' encounter
with a woman at Jacob's well in the Samaritan village of Sychar. The well, a
site significant for both Jews and Samaritans, was located near a plot of land
that the patriarch Jacob had given to his son Joseph (Jn 4:5; Ge 48:22).
As
readers we wonder how their conversation will go, given the tensions that
existed between Jews and Samaritans in the first century. The woman quickly
raised that subject when Jesus asked for water. Would Jesus, a Jew, be willing
to accept a drink from a Samaritan water jar (vv
7-9)?
As
readers we also know that when a man meets a woman at a well, a marriage may
ensue (Ge 24, 29; Ex 2). Jesus is presented in the previous chapter as a
bridegroom (Jn 3:29), but in a spiritual sense. He brought up the topic of
water to reveal himself as the source of "living water" that will
satisfy humanity's thirst for God and lead to eternal life (vv
10-14). This living water is the Holy Spirit (Jn 7:37-39).
The
prophets often use such "living water" imagery (Isa 12:3; 44:3;
55:1-3; Jer 2:13; Eze 47:9; Zec
14:8). Since the Samaritans only accepted the five books of Moses as Holy
Scripture, the woman was likely unfamiliar with these references. She may have
been familiar with Numbers 24:7 ("water shall flow from his buckets ...
"), a passage in the Torah often seen as Messianic. At any rate, she desired
the water that Jesus offered (Jn 4:15).
Jesus
then went a step further by telling the woman details about herself that a
stranger would not know (vv 16-18; cf. Jn 1:47-49).
Perceiving that he was a prophet, the woman asked about the major point of
contention between Jews and Samaritans: Was God's designated place of worship
at Jerusalem, as Jews believed; or was it at Mount Gerizim, as Samaritans
claimed (vv 19-20)?
Jesus
explained that it was the Jews who had received God's genuine revelation (see
Ps 76:1-2). However, going forward, true worship would not depend on location.
Instead, it would be guided by the Holy Spirit and follow Jesus as "the
way, and the truth, and the life" (vv 21-24; Jn
14:6).
The
woman recognized messianic implications in what Jesus was saying. She expressed
her faith in the coming of the Messiah to convey true teaching, based on
Deuteronomy 18:15-18. Jesus then answered that he was the one for whom she had
been waiting (vv 25-26).
Excited,
the Samaritan woman rushed to tell the people of Sychar that she had met the
Messiah, leading many to seek out Jesus for themselves (vv
28-30; 39-42). She may not have given Jesus a drink of water, but her
evangelism served to satisfy his real hunger and thirst (vv
31-38). She planted seeds that subsequently bore fruit when the apostles
carried the Gospel to Samaria (Ac 1:8; 8:4-25). A few centuries later there
would be a church near Sychar, and the well would be used to fill a baptismal
pool.
|
A
Model Disciple |
A contrast is evident in the third and fourth chapters of John's
Gospel. In John 3 Jesus is approached by Nicodemus, a Jewish leader and
respected teacher (3:1); while in John 4 Jesus talks with one of the
Samaritans, a group despised by many Jews (8:48). Nicodemus comes secretly at
night (3:2), while Jesus talks with the Samaritan woman at noon (4:6), a
significant detail given John's frequent use of the symbolism of light and
darkness (1:5; 3:19; 8:12; 12:35, 46). The woman asks Jesus good questions and
embraces his message, while Nicodemus is slower to receive that message. The
woman is even the first in John's Gospel to refer to Jesus as Kyrios
(4:11, 15, 19), the Greek word usually rendered as "Lord" and used to
translate the divine name (1:23).
John
sends the message that spiritual receptivity is not determined by social
status. Nicodemus is held in much higher regard by Jews than is the Samaritan
woman, but John presents her as a model disciple.
It
is possible, though, to overstate the woman's lowly status. Interpreters have
often inferred from the Samaritan woman's marital history (4:16-18) that she
was a sinful prostitute and a societal outcast.1
This characterization is questionable for both biblical and historical reasons.
In
John 4 the woman's neighbors were quick to listen to her testimony about Jesus,
implying that she enjoyed credibility in her community and was no outcast.
Moreover, in a society where life expectancies were short and women could not
initiate divorces, the woman's five marriages could have been more a
consequence of unfortunate circumstances than of sinfulness. It is possible
that her sixth relationship was a long-term one but involved a man with whom a
legal contractual marriage could not be obtained-e.g., a man of illegitimate
birth, a slave, or a Roman soldier.2 Note that
she was not told to "sin no more" as were some others in John's
Gospel (5:14; 8:11).
In
the biblical "woman at the well" motif, the woman finds a husband.
This is true in a spiritual sense for the Samaritan women, who becomes a
disciple of Jesus the bridegroom. Christians have often seen the six men in her
life in symbolic terms, representing stages in her journey to a seventh man,
the Messiah.3 In one
version, the six men represent the five books of Moses and the teachings of the
Samaritans. In another, they represent the five senses and human reason. In a
third version, in which the woman symbolically acts out the history of the
Samaritans, the six men represent five gods of the peoples settled in Samaria
by the Assyrians (2 Ki 17:29-33), along with the God of Israel.
Like
the woman at the well, we may have had complicated spiritual journeys. Whatever
the details of those journeys, Jesus offers us the same living water that was
accepted by the Samaritan woman (Jn 7:37-38). Following her example in
embracing the Messiah and sharing the good news, we look forward, as the bride
of Messiah, to the marriage of the Lamb (2 Co 11:2; Rev 19:7).
1See Caryn A. Reeder, The
Samaritan Woman's Story, InterVarsity Press, 2022, Chapters 2-4.
2Ibid, Chapter 6.
3Ibid,
Chapter 7.
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