Third Lent Sunday, Year C
Theme: Encounter At The Well
Liturgically, the Lenten Season is a time of spiritual purification for the elect before their baptism. It is also a time for the baptized to reactivate the graces of baptism and to purify their faith in Jesus Christ their Redeemer. The scriptures in Year A are chosen so well that I can’t help but meditate more on them. The encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well is a vivid illustration of how the Good Shepherd goes all the way out to bring back His lost sheep. At the same time, it demonstrates how much Jesus thirsts for our repentance. Today, allow me to meditate one year ahead.
The ”encounter at the well” is a genre in its own right and occupies a respectable place in Biblical literature: Hagar (Genesis 16), Rebekah (Genesis 24), Rachel (Genesis 29), Zipporah (Exodus 2) and Saul (1 Samuel 9) together with the Samaritan woman play a prominent part in these dramas. In a broad sense, these encounters changed the status of all the women concerned and their life-situations were improved. The case of Saul is more complicated and deserves a fuller meditation of its own. Anyhow, in theological jargon, they were delivered or redeemed.
In the first example, Hagar, an Egyptian maidservant, became pregnant by Abraham and she began not to respect Sarai her mistress. Sarai mistreated her and Hagar ran away from Sarai. An angel appeared to Hagar at a spring, the well of Beer-lahai-roi (Genesis 16:7, 14) and persuaded her to return to give birth to Ishmael. Of course family tensions remained but through this incidence, Hagar helped Abraham become the father of the Arabians. In effect, Abraham becomes the father of monotheistic peoples. The stories of Rebekah, Rachel and Zipporah were ones of betrothal and marriage. Subsequently, these women helped their husbands in building a deeper relationship with God to finish God’s intended missions for them. The last story is about Saul who was seeking the lost donkey of his father’s and the young women at the well pointed him the way to meet Samuel who subsequently anointed Saul the first king of Israel! Thus in the Bible, encounters at the well are life-enhancing occasions! Without exception, the Samaritan woman’s encounter with Jesus at the well redeemed her and changed her life for the better!
John was not present in this encounter because together with all other disciples, he had gone into the town to buy food (John 4:3). Subsequently he must have learnt of the incidence from Jesus together with the other disciples but only John found this incidence as well as the Cana’s banquet significant, mediated and wrote them down. We should be grateful to this ”beloved disciple of the Lord” (13:23, 19:26, 20:2, 21:7, 21:20). He left behind important incidences so that we may ”believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through this belief we may have life in His name.” (20:31) It would be ungrateful for us not to mediate on them!
Let’s return to the scene: it was about noon and Jesus was tired from his journey, sitting down at the well which was built by Rachel’s husband. A Samaritan woman came to draw water and Jesus asked her for a drink (4:6-7).
First of all, the Son of God must have known everything and the whole encounter must have been perfectly orchestrated. Yet, it doesn’t deny the humanity of the Son of God. He was tired and thirsty. This encounter was not a show. Jesus’ exhaustion and thirst were genuine. Otherwise, His death on the cross would also have been a phantom. This would be an unacceptable heresy! Rather, the Son of God is truly divine and human. But His humanity is perfectly mingled with His divinity. Jesus thirsted for something more noble. This is echoed later in the same story when the disciples returned, Jesus says, ”My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to finish His work.” (4:34) Therefore, not only was Jesus thirsty physiologically but He also thirsted for the redemption of this Samaritan woman who represents all the lost sheep of the Good Shepherd.
The timing was significant The Samaritan woman was avoiding the people when she came to draw water because she was probably a public sinner, a scandal of the town. To a certain extent, she was redeemable because she felt shameful for her deeds. An appropriate dose of shame is healthy because it is a driving force for our repentance. If the woman had been hardened and ”shamelessly” came to draw water during peak hour without fear of gossips and peer-pressure, probably it would have been more difficult to persuade her to repent!
Brethren! we’re truly offspring of Adam who after knowing his own sin, hid away from God (Genesis 3:8). But nothing is impossible for God (Luke 1:37) who must have ways beyond our understanding to redeem this woman and all sinners whom she represents.
The Samaritan woman’s response was obviously defensive and was a sharp one. ”How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” (John 4:9) She brought up sexual as well as racial discriminations to defend herself as well as to complain. She flexed her muscle to show her despise towards a Jew. In ancient time, a woman was supposed to be submissive to men, obeying orders without question. Not now between Jesus and the Samaritan woman. In this way, her response was defensive. On a higher level between God and His people, it was a complaint. God, aren’t you supposed to be with us all the time? See how I have been suffering, being humiliated as a victim of institutionalized sins today?
Brethren! This Samaritan woman helps us see our futile defences before God. We are naked before God in whose sight, ”There is neither Jew nor Greek ... not male or female” (Galatians 3:18). We were created in the image of God but we are living in different societies which impose different roles upon us. Some roles enhance our abilities to manifest the images of God while others which we take up, hinder us from living up to God’s intention. Worse still, some of us become part of the institution to tarnish God’s images in other people and ourselves. God knows that our fragile humanity is unable to save ourselves. Out of love, God takes the initiative to free us from the bondage of sins by sending His only begotten Son to die on the cross to repay all our debts. The Son of God obeys the Father’s will to carry out this impossible mission to bear upon Himself all abuses we inflict on others through structural sins! Lord, have mercy!
The woman’s attitude started changing. She put down her hostility and started addressing this Jewish stranger ”Sir” (John 4:11, 15) Later on, when Jesus showed knowledge of her marital situation, suddenly the Samaritan woman found nowhere to hide her secrets. She felt naked in front of a Great Mysterious Other! Of course, it took time for her to acknowledge that Jesus is God. So she started acknowledging Jesus as a prophet instead (4:19). It was more than an admiration of the prophetic charisma of Jesus but a confession of her own sins, the repentance required by God. She had successfully engaged on her way towards redemption!
Brethren! It is always refreshing to meditate on the encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman. Pray that we may put down our defences in this season of Lent. God have mercy on our nakedness and frailty. He shall forgive.
God bless!
2020 Reflection
Picture Credit: jewelryshoppingguide.com
No comments:
Post a Comment