John 4:7-42

It had been a hard day. The older man who wrote a gospel that would later be called John sat at his writing table. Head in his hand, he thought about the problems of his faith community, members of his ecclesia. Followers of the Way they struggled to be, living what they thought were the teachings of Jesus.

But they had different opinions, different understandings about what those teachings were and what they meant. It seemed that each group was guided by the religion or the culture they came from.

They took what they had learned as children and blended it with what they were being taught were the teachings of Jesus. What they needed was a guidebook, a manual, a document that spelled out what Jesus meant. And “John,” following the leading of the Holy Spirit, had done just that, writing something that would instruct those in his faith community, something that would bring them together.

Today he struggled with which section to share with them tomorrow. How could he address their differences in a way they would understand? Which story to tell? That was his problem as he read through his almost complete gospel.

He skipped around the manuscript as one story after another presented itself. Turning water into wine? That was certainly a sign of his powers, but not the message he was seeking. Healing a man born blind? Certainly everyone in his faith community was blind at some time. Their blindness kept them in the dark, when Jesus came to bring light to all. Good message, but not what he wanted this time.

Raising Lazarus? Again, a powerful story, proof that Jesus was truly the Son of God. But still …

The Samaritan woman? Ah, yes. Back to the early part of his manuscript.

Samaritan, an outsider. One despised by his people. The disciples would be horrified that Jesus was speaking to this one, this woman! Ah, second point. A woman. Taboo. Men did not speak to unrelated women, and this one was not only unrelated, she belonged to THAT group of people. Double indiscretion!

He visualized faces in his church, men who would be horror struck that Jesus would talk with such a person. Surely the Master knew better!

John read on, even though he knew the story. Not only did Jesus speak to the woman, the Samaritan woman, but he asked for something. Here was Jesus, a man, asking the woman for a drink. The one they called the Lord, the Son of God, the one who spoke with God, who represented God, and he asked this woman, this unchosen, unworthy woman, for a drink.

John could see those men shivering in disgust. That was exactly what he wanted. Because if Jesus could and did make a request of a woman, and if his followers were to follow in his footsteps, then maybe women were not to be put down and scorned.

He moved on through the story. Jesus offered her “living water,” and she responded that he had no means of drawing water from their deep well. She began to argue with him. “Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob?”

And he followed with “Anyone who drinks from this well will be thirsty again, but anyone who drinks of my living water will never thirst again.”

The writer/reader chuckled. “Not only does he talk to her, but he argues with her. He lets her argue with him! As though she had the right to do so! As though she were an equal! Imagine! A woman arguing with a man!”

He envisioned those specific men beginning to turn red in the face. If a woman can argue with a man, could she also be a leader in the church? Perhaps the next few sentences would calm them somewhat. Or not.

In those next sentences, Jesus would tell the woman to call her husband. Yes, they would relax. Good. Jesus was going to do things properly after all. He would speak to the man of the house to put her back in her place.

Except, she had no husband, no man to put her back in her place. Surely Jesus would then turn away, realizing he was speaking to a woman living with a man out of wedlock. John could imagine the sneers on their faces.

Only Jesus and the woman began a different argument, not about water, but about worship. What made the woman think she knew anything about worshipping God? And to complicate matters, Jesus told her that where one worshipped was not important. Worshipping should be done in the Spirit, not in a Temple or on a mountain.

John put his finger on that place in his papyrus. The smile fell from his face. Followers of Jesus should understand that men and women were equal in the sight of God. He should not have to remind them.

Back to the manuscript, the disciples returned from town. They were astonished, not angry, but they said nothing. The story did not say why, but it was obvious to John that they knew better. They knew that Jesus did not follow the cultural norms. After all, many of his followers were women, and he did not treat them differently.

In the meantime, according to the story, the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. There she told everyone she met about Jesus, that he might be the Messiah. Like Andrew had done earlier, when he went looking for his brother Simon Peter and told him he had found the Messiah. Like Philip who went and found his friend Nathaniel, telling him about the one the prophets foretold.

In other words, thought John, like the male disciples had done. She witnessed to the townspeople. And they came and believed.

The next day, as people gathered to hear John read from his gospel, the reaction was as he had expected. Only he had not anticipated how the women might respond. Their first emotion seemed to be confusion. As long as any of them could remember, they had been taught to stay in their place, to remember that they had no opinion on anything. Was John actually saying that Jesus spoke to a woman, regardless of her origin?

The bewilderment continued as he shared how the woman actually argued with Jesus. No woman in her right mind would do that!

As John brought the disciples back from the city, relief covered his listeners’ faces. The women anticipated, as did the men, that everything would return to normal. The disciples would ask Jesus what he was doing, and he would apologize.

Only he did not. John went off script just long enough to explain about the women who not only followed Jesus, but who supported him financially. Jesus healed both men and women; he treated them equally. The women began to smile when he compared the Samaritan woman to Andrew and Philip.

As John finished the story with the people thanking the woman, telling her that they now believed, he wondered what the conversations would be that evening. Would the men still be angry? Would the women find the courage to defend themselves based on this Samaritan woman’s story? Only time would tell.

For consideration:

General Questions

1) How does this story follow its Scripture?

2) How does this story expand its Scripture for you?

3) What is the message of this story?

4) How does the message apply to us today?

Specific Questions

5) What does our culture tell us we should believe?

6) How does our culture influence how we read the Bible?

7) If you were preaching today, what story would convey what you want others to understand?

8) What is a feminist? Would John today be considered a feminist?