THIRD SUNDAY  OF LENT

Her life was a mess.  She knew her problems were her own fault. She knew she had made a lot of bad decisions.  She didn’t try to blame anyone else for her behavior or attitude, not her parents, not her boyfriend, not her ex-husbands. She knew the blame game wouldn’t work.

She was tired of being excluded by those who whispered behind her back. She was worn out from being rejected by the so-called do-gooders. And maybe, just maybe, it was all this that made her realize that she had “hit the wall.” It was time to take a hard look at herself, to take a personal inventory and to admit that her behavior was destroying her.  She knew she needed to put God at the center of her life.

You and I know her.  We know her by her nickname “The Woman at the Well.”  The other women of the Samaritan village knew her by a different name,  “The Loser at the Well.”

These Samaritan women avoided her like a leper, and she avoided them like the plague.   They would come to the well in the cool of the morning or late afternoon to draw water and to socialize, or more accurately, to gossip.   This ostracized woman came to the well during the heat of the day, just to steer clear of them.

It happened that Jesus and his disciples had been walking all morning through the hot desert towards Jerusalem when they decided to take a shortcut straight through the center of her Samaritan town. 

Normally, Jewish people avoided Samaritan towns and went far out of their way to bypass them. Samaritans were considered unclean by Jewish law because they had intermarried with non-Jewish people.  Jews and Samaritans were bitter enemies. Recall the parable of the Good Samaritan, and how shocked the scribes and Pharisees were when Jesus praised a Samaritan as the hero of the story.

But Jesus and the disciples were hungry, tired and thirsty, so they went directly to the center of the town, to the well, to get some water to drink.  

In the time of Christ, the well was the heart of every village. 

The well was deep, but neither Jesus nor the disciples had a bucket.  They traveled light, no extra sandals, no spare tunic, no walking stick.  The disciples searched for rope or a bucket but found none, so they went off to the local market for food, leaving Jesus alone at the well.

Around noon, in the heat of the day, a woman arrived with her bucket.

Jesus probably thought to Himself, “This is a strange time for a local woman to come to the well,” but He said nothing. She began lowering her bucket into the well, and Jesus watched.  Perhaps, even licking His lips in anticipation of a cool drink.

Then Jesus broke every rule of “political correctness” of his time.  He spoke to the woman, a Samaritan woman, and He asked for her help.

“Give me a drink.” 

A Jewish man asking a Samaritan woman, a complete stranger, for help violated both Mosaic Law and the social custom.

The Samaritan woman knew the law.  She brushed her hair from her face and asked, “You are a Jew.  How can you ask me, a Samaritan and a woman, for a drink?”    

They ignored cultural barriers and religious stereotypes, and it changed her.

 But she was still baffled and confused.  

• She knew she was not exactly “Woman of the Year.” 
• Yet she was not bashful or afraid of this Jewish stranger.
• She sensed warmth and compassion in Him, even after Jesus revealed that she was living with a man.
• Jesus drew her to Himself, just as He draws all of us who recognize our sinfulness.  He did not condemn her or drive her away.

The Samaritan woman was beginning to realize she was speaking with more than a prophet. 

And what about you and me?

Do we really understand that in prayer, we are speaking with more than a prophet?

Do we comprehend who we worship?

Do we realize who we receive?

The woman was changed by the kindness of Jesus.  Filled with courage, she threw caution to the wind and ran back into town to evangelize the very people who had dismissed her for years.

There are a few details found only in John’s Gospel that we should not miss:

• Jesus initiated the conversation, just like He does with you and me.
• Jesus chose a sinner, someone considered unworthy, to proclaim that He was the Savior.
• She allowed herself to be changed and opened herself to the Spirit.
• She allowed herself to be present to the Lord.  We cannot do that with the TV blaring, music playing nonstop or constant texting and scrolling through social media.

She knew she was a sinful person.  She carried guilt and shame.  Contrary to popular opinion, that is not always a bad thing.  She was seeking understanding of her selfishness and poor decisions. Jesus helped her find the truth about herself, and in doing so, she found the truth about Him.  

I admire her enthusiasm.  She ran to tell others the truth she had found.  Some things in life are simply too important not to share.

Mercedes-Benz once aired a commercial showing one of its cars crashing into a concrete wall during a safety test.   A reporter asked the company’s engineer why Mercedes did not enforce its patent on the safety design.  The engineer replied, “Because in life, some things are just too important and must be shared.