Conversations in John: Woman at the Well
July 21, 2024 Ninth Sunday after Pentecost
Ladue Chapel Presbyterian Church
Psalm 42:1-8 John 4:1-30
“Conversations in John: Woman at the Well”
Melissa K. Smith
The woman at the well – this is one of the more famous and longest dialogues in the Gospel of John. It is a beautiful narrative that highlights who Jesus is while transforming a life – the woman comes to believe in Jesus and then turns to share him with her world.
Throughout our sermon series, “Conversations in John,” we have been able to see the layers of conversation and a common theme of confusion.
Jesus is talking on one level while his conversation partner is talking about something different. Same conversation, different tiers of understanding that lead to misunderstanding. In these dialogues, we see Jesus meet each person where they are – he meets them in their misunderstanding and explains who he is.
Our scripture reading today shows us another moment of Jesus meeting his conversation partner and navigating through misunderstanding. The woman at the well does not understand what Jesus means by “living water” and he tries a couple of ways to explain. What is beautiful about this narrative is that we can see the misunderstanding, the clarification, her conversion, and her immediate ministry.
There are many different approaches one could take with this passage. I thought we would go a creative route today – still standing firmly in scripture but looking at the passage from a first-person narrative. What if the woman told us her story, welcomed us into the day that changed her life, and showed us firsthand how confusing and profound her conversation with the Messiah was and is. We are going to look at this passage from the first-person narrative.
We are going to go through the conversation between her and Jesus again, but taking the time to sit in the misunderstanding, to listen to Jesus’ words, and to see this woman’s life change as she speaks with Jesus.
Let’s join the woman at the well…
I am the woman at the well.
I am thirsty.
I am exhausted.
I am mortified.
I feel forgotten.
My life isn’t what I imagined as a little girl. I had dreams of finding the love of my life, of being in good standing in society, and having a family that I can raise to know God.
But my dreams more often come true in the form of nightmares. History does not need to know why I have had five husbands and the man I am living with is not my husband. History does not know the why…but my peers and neighbors know my story. I am so tired of being known for my sins and not for my faith. I am so tired of being shunned and ignored.
It's hot today and I need to go to the well for water. It’s about noon – I think it’s safe to go out now. The other women won’t be there to give me sideways glances or talk behind my back. Noone goes to the well at noon…it’s too hot. But I know it will be empty and I can’t handle the judgment today.
As I set for the well, I recall the significance of Jacob’s Well. What an honor to draw water out from the place where Jacob purchased his land – to walk on the ground of our forefathers and patriarchs, to draw water from the place he, as tradition has it, dug himself. Even on the toughest day when I don’t want to face the ridicule of my neighbors…I know I can go to the well and find peace in the land of the forefathers. And I know I will be alone. No one goes to the well in the heat of the day.
“Give me a drink”
Lost in my thoughts and keeping my eyes down and out of the sun, I hardly noticed the man sitting on the edge of the well. And he spoke to me? What is going on here, doesn’t he know that men don’t just talk to women when they are alone? And his accent…he’s Jewish! What is he doing in Samaria? Doesn’t he know that Jews don’t speak to Samaritans? And he wants a drink? Where is his bucket?
No well has its own basket and rope – it is bring our own bucket here…he would have to drink from my cup…
“How is that you, a Jew, asks a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?”
“If you know the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”
How thirsty is this man? What is he talking about? Why would I be the one to ask him for water when I am the one between us who remembered my bucket? And of course I don’t know who he is…he’s a stranger, a Jewish man, someone I have never seen before…
“Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water?”
He must be so thirsty and maybe even imagining a flowing stream that is easily accessible… people experience mirages and can get silly in the heat of day… Does he know where he sits?
“Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and flocks drank from it?”
This well is more than sufficient and has been for generations.
I know Jews and Samaritans differ on some things theologically…but to not trust in the Patriarchs? Something just is not right. Who is he to say he has better water than Jacob’s well? He is not Jacob…he is not greater than Jacob or the Patriarchs.
“Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.”
I don’t know what he is talking about because this well is not connected to a living stream or a rushing water source…but I want in. I don’t want to have to come out here at noon.
I am tired of being looked down on each time I leave the house and go out for water.
If I could be home and alone maybe my sins would be forgotten by others and I can live in peace…maybe I could breathe and be okay with myself, too. I need this new water. I don’t want to have to come to this well. I don’t want to be thirsty anymore.
“Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”
“Go, call your husband, and come back.”
…excuse me? Now you want to talk with my husband present? We have already broken the gender divide…now I have to tell him that I have no husband to bring. Will that jeopardize my ability to receive this water?
“I have no husband.” There. I told him. Please, sir, just give me this water that will quench my thirst forever so my sin is no longer on display and so I don’t have to experience being ostracized daily. Tell me where the water is, and I can get it myself.
“You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!”
My skin prickles as a chill cascades down my spine: he knows. How does this stranger know? How can he see my messy personal life? He doesn’t know me…how does he know this? How does he name my reality so blatantly? I mean, it isn’t hard to guess that something in my life has led me to come to the well at noon. But the accuracy? There’s no way…and I don’t want to talk about it. And I shouldn’t have to – it’s time to change the subject and point the conversation back to him and his people.
“Sir, I see you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is Jerusalem.” Sometimes pointing out our differences is easier than owning to our own sin. I wonder if he will take the bait, if he will talk about the ways Jews and Samaritans are different…
“Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and truth.”
Why is he not focusing on our differences? What is he talking about? This mountain nor Jerusalem are the ultimate place of worship? How is the worship of God not confined to the mountain? I do know the hour is coming… I know that the Messiah is coming one day. That was promised in the scriptures, and it is when he is here that all this will be made clear.
“I know that Messiah is coming…when he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.”
“I am he, the one who is speaking to you.”
I am…this man is the great I AM? The one who came to Moses, the one who has promised to send his Messiah? This is the Messiah? This man? The stranger? Sitting on the well…asking for water and offering me water…he is here…revealing himself to me? A nobody? A woman whose name is not even recorded in history?
Could this be the Messiah? The Christ? The anointed one? He does see me and know me – and I am just a nobody, a sinner, a social outcast who has to come to the well at noon. Could this be the one who has been promised? The one who will proclaim all this? I believe…I think I believe…Yes, I believe…this is the one. This is the Messiah.
Questions and answers are swirling around my mind faster than I can articulate. Things are becoming clear and my thirst is slowly melting away…this is the Messiah…I have to go and tell others. This is him... they won’t want to hear from me – I wonder if they even remember the sound of my voice – I avoid my town, they avoid me…but I have to share this living water. They have to know the Messiah is here!
As my life seems to be changing in an instant – as the waters of life are cleansing my messy narrative – the Messiah and I get interrupted.
His friends come to find him – and they don’t seem too pleased that he has been talking to me. I honestly couldn’t be bothered by their discomfort because of the confidence and determination I have to share with anyone and everyone that the Messiah is here. He is here.
While the Messiah’s friends are trying to make sense of this unlikely seen, I run. I run so fast that I forget my bucket – I don’t need that water anyway. I don’t run away from them, but rather, I run toward a new beginning – leaving my bucket behind was an accident. I have tasted and seen that the Lord is good – I have experienced his steadfast love.
I am no public speaker, and I don’t know if they will believe my words…but if I invite them to the well, maybe they will come and see the Messiah and can taste the living water too. I must invite. I must…what is it called? Preach? I must preach. I must proclaim this good news.
“Come and see a man who has told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?”
“I am the woman at the well” – aren’t we all? Grasping for satisfaction in anything rather than drinking the living water? Aren’t we all the woman at the well – adapting our lives around our sin rather than letting the waters of life cleanse us?
Brothers and sisters – this conversation is made to be listened to. It’s for us. Through this conversation we witness a woman coming to faith in Jesus Christ and we witness her sharing the Gospel. Does she fully understand what she is sharing? I don’t think so – she questions in her last quote, “He cannot be the Messiah, can he?” This double negative can help show wonder and awe with a hint of confusion. But still she preached.
She foreshadows Mary at the tomb who was told by our Resurrected Lord to “Go to my brothers and say to them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” The woman at the well is just like us – which means that we have a call to share the living water and to proclaim the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.
Ladue Chapel Presbyterian Church
Psalm 42:1-8 John 4:1-30
“Conversations in John: Woman at the Well”
Melissa K. Smith
The woman at the well – this is one of the more famous and longest dialogues in the Gospel of John. It is a beautiful narrative that highlights who Jesus is while transforming a life – the woman comes to believe in Jesus and then turns to share him with her world.
Throughout our sermon series, “Conversations in John,” we have been able to see the layers of conversation and a common theme of confusion.
Jesus is talking on one level while his conversation partner is talking about something different. Same conversation, different tiers of understanding that lead to misunderstanding. In these dialogues, we see Jesus meet each person where they are – he meets them in their misunderstanding and explains who he is.
Our scripture reading today shows us another moment of Jesus meeting his conversation partner and navigating through misunderstanding. The woman at the well does not understand what Jesus means by “living water” and he tries a couple of ways to explain. What is beautiful about this narrative is that we can see the misunderstanding, the clarification, her conversion, and her immediate ministry.
There are many different approaches one could take with this passage. I thought we would go a creative route today – still standing firmly in scripture but looking at the passage from a first-person narrative. What if the woman told us her story, welcomed us into the day that changed her life, and showed us firsthand how confusing and profound her conversation with the Messiah was and is. We are going to look at this passage from the first-person narrative.
We are going to go through the conversation between her and Jesus again, but taking the time to sit in the misunderstanding, to listen to Jesus’ words, and to see this woman’s life change as she speaks with Jesus.
Let’s join the woman at the well…
I am the woman at the well.
I am thirsty.
I am exhausted.
I am mortified.
I feel forgotten.
My life isn’t what I imagined as a little girl. I had dreams of finding the love of my life, of being in good standing in society, and having a family that I can raise to know God.
But my dreams more often come true in the form of nightmares. History does not need to know why I have had five husbands and the man I am living with is not my husband. History does not know the why…but my peers and neighbors know my story. I am so tired of being known for my sins and not for my faith. I am so tired of being shunned and ignored.
It's hot today and I need to go to the well for water. It’s about noon – I think it’s safe to go out now. The other women won’t be there to give me sideways glances or talk behind my back. Noone goes to the well at noon…it’s too hot. But I know it will be empty and I can’t handle the judgment today.
As I set for the well, I recall the significance of Jacob’s Well. What an honor to draw water out from the place where Jacob purchased his land – to walk on the ground of our forefathers and patriarchs, to draw water from the place he, as tradition has it, dug himself. Even on the toughest day when I don’t want to face the ridicule of my neighbors…I know I can go to the well and find peace in the land of the forefathers. And I know I will be alone. No one goes to the well in the heat of the day.
“Give me a drink”
Lost in my thoughts and keeping my eyes down and out of the sun, I hardly noticed the man sitting on the edge of the well. And he spoke to me? What is going on here, doesn’t he know that men don’t just talk to women when they are alone? And his accent…he’s Jewish! What is he doing in Samaria? Doesn’t he know that Jews don’t speak to Samaritans? And he wants a drink? Where is his bucket?
No well has its own basket and rope – it is bring our own bucket here…he would have to drink from my cup…
“How is that you, a Jew, asks a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?”
“If you know the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”
How thirsty is this man? What is he talking about? Why would I be the one to ask him for water when I am the one between us who remembered my bucket? And of course I don’t know who he is…he’s a stranger, a Jewish man, someone I have never seen before…
“Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water?”
He must be so thirsty and maybe even imagining a flowing stream that is easily accessible… people experience mirages and can get silly in the heat of day… Does he know where he sits?
“Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and flocks drank from it?”
This well is more than sufficient and has been for generations.
I know Jews and Samaritans differ on some things theologically…but to not trust in the Patriarchs? Something just is not right. Who is he to say he has better water than Jacob’s well? He is not Jacob…he is not greater than Jacob or the Patriarchs.
“Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.”
I don’t know what he is talking about because this well is not connected to a living stream or a rushing water source…but I want in. I don’t want to have to come out here at noon.
I am tired of being looked down on each time I leave the house and go out for water.
If I could be home and alone maybe my sins would be forgotten by others and I can live in peace…maybe I could breathe and be okay with myself, too. I need this new water. I don’t want to have to come to this well. I don’t want to be thirsty anymore.
“Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”
“Go, call your husband, and come back.”
…excuse me? Now you want to talk with my husband present? We have already broken the gender divide…now I have to tell him that I have no husband to bring. Will that jeopardize my ability to receive this water?
“I have no husband.” There. I told him. Please, sir, just give me this water that will quench my thirst forever so my sin is no longer on display and so I don’t have to experience being ostracized daily. Tell me where the water is, and I can get it myself.
“You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!”
My skin prickles as a chill cascades down my spine: he knows. How does this stranger know? How can he see my messy personal life? He doesn’t know me…how does he know this? How does he name my reality so blatantly? I mean, it isn’t hard to guess that something in my life has led me to come to the well at noon. But the accuracy? There’s no way…and I don’t want to talk about it. And I shouldn’t have to – it’s time to change the subject and point the conversation back to him and his people.
“Sir, I see you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is Jerusalem.” Sometimes pointing out our differences is easier than owning to our own sin. I wonder if he will take the bait, if he will talk about the ways Jews and Samaritans are different…
“Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and truth.”
Why is he not focusing on our differences? What is he talking about? This mountain nor Jerusalem are the ultimate place of worship? How is the worship of God not confined to the mountain? I do know the hour is coming… I know that the Messiah is coming one day. That was promised in the scriptures, and it is when he is here that all this will be made clear.
“I know that Messiah is coming…when he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.”
“I am he, the one who is speaking to you.”
I am…this man is the great I AM? The one who came to Moses, the one who has promised to send his Messiah? This is the Messiah? This man? The stranger? Sitting on the well…asking for water and offering me water…he is here…revealing himself to me? A nobody? A woman whose name is not even recorded in history?
Could this be the Messiah? The Christ? The anointed one? He does see me and know me – and I am just a nobody, a sinner, a social outcast who has to come to the well at noon. Could this be the one who has been promised? The one who will proclaim all this? I believe…I think I believe…Yes, I believe…this is the one. This is the Messiah.
Questions and answers are swirling around my mind faster than I can articulate. Things are becoming clear and my thirst is slowly melting away…this is the Messiah…I have to go and tell others. This is him... they won’t want to hear from me – I wonder if they even remember the sound of my voice – I avoid my town, they avoid me…but I have to share this living water. They have to know the Messiah is here!
As my life seems to be changing in an instant – as the waters of life are cleansing my messy narrative – the Messiah and I get interrupted.
His friends come to find him – and they don’t seem too pleased that he has been talking to me. I honestly couldn’t be bothered by their discomfort because of the confidence and determination I have to share with anyone and everyone that the Messiah is here. He is here.
While the Messiah’s friends are trying to make sense of this unlikely seen, I run. I run so fast that I forget my bucket – I don’t need that water anyway. I don’t run away from them, but rather, I run toward a new beginning – leaving my bucket behind was an accident. I have tasted and seen that the Lord is good – I have experienced his steadfast love.
I am no public speaker, and I don’t know if they will believe my words…but if I invite them to the well, maybe they will come and see the Messiah and can taste the living water too. I must invite. I must…what is it called? Preach? I must preach. I must proclaim this good news.
“Come and see a man who has told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?”
“I am the woman at the well” – aren’t we all? Grasping for satisfaction in anything rather than drinking the living water? Aren’t we all the woman at the well – adapting our lives around our sin rather than letting the waters of life cleanse us?
Brothers and sisters – this conversation is made to be listened to. It’s for us. Through this conversation we witness a woman coming to faith in Jesus Christ and we witness her sharing the Gospel. Does she fully understand what she is sharing? I don’t think so – she questions in her last quote, “He cannot be the Messiah, can he?” This double negative can help show wonder and awe with a hint of confusion. But still she preached.
She foreshadows Mary at the tomb who was told by our Resurrected Lord to “Go to my brothers and say to them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” The woman at the well is just like us – which means that we have a call to share the living water and to proclaim the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.
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