THE SAMARITAN WOMAN
The Samaritan woman is no different than any other woman of her time, nor is she different than any individual of our time, which includes you and me.
What do I mean by that? Because in other ways she is different, being of Jewish bloodline, living in Samaria, a divorcee or widow, etc.
However, when it comes to her spiritual journey in life, we will see that we can possibly identify with her in several ways.
Like us, she has gone through life experiencing the ups and downs (5 husbands should confirm that) of daily living and has had to deal with the fallout of those events in the best way she could. The BIG questions of life have not escaped her no more than they have escaped us.
What's it all about?
Let's attempt to answer that question by identifying the five husbands in her life. Not the physical husbands she had, but the spiritual husbands that she embraced in her spiritual journey. Because when we are dealing with the BIG questions of life, these very questions tend to awaken that spiritual aspect of our being that seems to want to be filled.
In this story, Jesus entreats her to join His conversation by offering “living water”. In the beginning, she thinks that Jesus is talking about water like Jacob’s well that will satiate her physical needs but soon finds out that it is a water that is meant to fill the empty well of her soul.
Husband #1
Then said the woman of Samaria unto him, how is it that thou, being a Jew, ask drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
Formalism:
In this statement of hers we can see that formality in her life was something she espoused.
But formality could not define for her the Big Questions of life. Is there a God? What are we here for? What does the future hold?
And like I said, are we any different from her? Did we at some time use formalism as an answer to these questions? Maybe or maybe not, but certainly we have our own husbands we espouse in order to assuage those nagging questions. (See more below)
Nevertheless, Jesus is saying that those husbands are useless, powerless to appease our spirit. They are a water of life that will be tasteless, dry and without gratification.
Husband #2
The woman said unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?
Realism:
You don't even have a bucket to draw water. Can't be more real than that.
Spiritual Realism/Pragmatism You're asking me to trust in God when I was molested at a young age, when I lost my son in that car accident or from a nonsense war, or when that tornado came through and we lost everything we had?
Realism does not provide the answers to life’s questions, let alone life’s tribulations. It is a bad husband to cling to. Spiritual realism is when we finally stop blaming God for all the evil of this world.
Husband #3
Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?
Tradition:
It has been done this way for centuries so it must be right. (Can also be comforting)
Spiritual Tradition:
People have the tendency to cling to what they have seen and heard through the years as if that is the Gospel truth. But we know that is not the case. Traditions of men can’t satisfy our spiritual longing. It is God’s Word that is true and everything should be measured by its standards.
The woman said unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.
Notice that Jesus did not answer her objection. He perceived that she still did not understand the nature of the water He was offering. He silently let her continue and disclose the other husbands that she espoused over the years.
Husband #4
Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
Religion/Religiosity
This is the kind of spiritual endeavour that Jesus said was DEAD. There is no life in religion. Religion finds its root in pride. We choose to be spiritual OUR way instead of God's way. Everything we do is there to replace what God would have us do. It becomes ineffective and dry.
Husband #5
The woman said unto him, I know that Messiah cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.
The Second Coming
The Second Coming speaks of the future. It is the Spiritual exercise of postponing what should be done today. Many people take the questions of life and place them on the back burner to be revisited later. This foolish practice lies in the thought that we control our time and therefore we will at some time be able to revisit this questions and answer them.
The 6th husband was the one she was shacked up with.
He required no commitment. Spiritually this is what people do when all the other ideologies, philosophies and religions fail to fulfill or plug the hole in our hearts. Tired, disillusioned we tend to drop everything and cling on to nothing. We live and let live!
The 7th husband is the true husband or Bridegroom..
The groom that is calling His bride. He is waiting at the well ready to fill all who recognize Him and will follow Him.
Did the Samaritan woman recognize Him?
Yes! We see this in that when she departed she left her waterpot at the well. The waterpot being a symbol of her life as a vessel that needed filling daily with a water that could not satisfy. But when she believed Jesus, she was filled with the waters of life and therefore had no need of the pot itself. We can see her sharing to good news of the Messiah as soon as she returns to town.
The Samaritan woman is no different than any other woman of her time, nor is she different than any individual of our time, which includes you and me.
What do I mean by that? Because in other ways she is different, being of Jewish bloodline, living in Samaria, a divorcee or widow, etc.
However, when it comes to her spiritual journey in life, we will see that we can possibly identify with her in several ways.
Like us, she has gone through life experiencing the ups and downs (5 husbands should confirm that) of daily living and has had to deal with the fallout of those events in the best way she could. The BIG questions of life have not escaped her no more than they have escaped us.
What's it all about?
Let's attempt to answer that question by identifying the five husbands in her life. Not the physical husbands she had, but the spiritual husbands that she embraced in her spiritual journey. Because when we are dealing with the BIG questions of life, these very questions tend to awaken that spiritual aspect of our being that seems to want to be filled.
In this story, Jesus entreats her to join His conversation by offering “living water”. In the beginning, she thinks that Jesus is talking about water like Jacob’s well that will satiate her physical needs but soon finds out that it is a water that is meant to fill the empty well of her soul.
Husband #1
Then said the woman of Samaria unto him, how is it that thou, being a Jew, ask drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.
Formalism:
In this statement of hers we can see that formality in her life was something she espoused.
But formality could not define for her the Big Questions of life. Is there a God? What are we here for? What does the future hold?
And like I said, are we any different from her? Did we at some time use formalism as an answer to these questions? Maybe or maybe not, but certainly we have our own husbands we espouse in order to assuage those nagging questions. (See more below)
Nevertheless, Jesus is saying that those husbands are useless, powerless to appease our spirit. They are a water of life that will be tasteless, dry and without gratification.
Husband #2
The woman said unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?
Realism:
You don't even have a bucket to draw water. Can't be more real than that.
Spiritual Realism/Pragmatism You're asking me to trust in God when I was molested at a young age, when I lost my son in that car accident or from a nonsense war, or when that tornado came through and we lost everything we had?
Realism does not provide the answers to life’s questions, let alone life’s tribulations. It is a bad husband to cling to. Spiritual realism is when we finally stop blaming God for all the evil of this world.
Husband #3
Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?
Tradition:
It has been done this way for centuries so it must be right. (Can also be comforting)
Spiritual Tradition:
People have the tendency to cling to what they have seen and heard through the years as if that is the Gospel truth. But we know that is not the case. Traditions of men can’t satisfy our spiritual longing. It is God’s Word that is true and everything should be measured by its standards.
The woman said unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw.
Notice that Jesus did not answer her objection. He perceived that she still did not understand the nature of the water He was offering. He silently let her continue and disclose the other husbands that she espoused over the years.
Husband #4
Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.
Religion/Religiosity
This is the kind of spiritual endeavour that Jesus said was DEAD. There is no life in religion. Religion finds its root in pride. We choose to be spiritual OUR way instead of God's way. Everything we do is there to replace what God would have us do. It becomes ineffective and dry.
Husband #5
The woman said unto him, I know that Messiah cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.
The Second Coming
The Second Coming speaks of the future. It is the Spiritual exercise of postponing what should be done today. Many people take the questions of life and place them on the back burner to be revisited later. This foolish practice lies in the thought that we control our time and therefore we will at some time be able to revisit this questions and answer them.
The 6th husband was the one she was shacked up with.
He required no commitment. Spiritually this is what people do when all the other ideologies, philosophies and religions fail to fulfill or plug the hole in our hearts. Tired, disillusioned we tend to drop everything and cling on to nothing. We live and let live!
The 7th husband is the true husband or Bridegroom..
The groom that is calling His bride. He is waiting at the well ready to fill all who recognize Him and will follow Him.
Did the Samaritan woman recognize Him?
Yes! We see this in that when she departed she left her waterpot at the well. The waterpot being a symbol of her life as a vessel that needed filling daily with a water that could not satisfy. But when she believed Jesus, she was filled with the waters of life and therefore had no need of the pot itself. We can see her sharing to good news of the Messiah as soon as she returns to town.
