We all thirst, for different things at different times, depending on our life circumstances. Sometimes our thirst is so great it is as though we are stuck wandering in a desert, in a dry and weary land with no relief in sight. And other times our cup is full, we are brimming with life and spirit, filled to overflowing. But consider for a moment—what are you thirsty for?
AN EXTRAORDINARY ENCOUNTER
Jesus encounters the woman at the well and brings her the gift of living water. Consider some of the extraordinary elements to this encounter. The woman is a Samaritan. It’s odd that Jesus, a Jew, would have chosen to travel through Samaritan territory, when there was such enmity between Jews and Samaritans. Strange too, that he would break religious, social, and political boundaries to engage this woman in such a lengthy and serious conversation. That she comes to the well at noon, in the heat of the day, suggests that for some reason she is not gathering to draw water with the other women in the community who would come in the cool of the day. So she appears to be an outsider. This passage has often been interpreted moralistically, with the suggestion that this woman is a prostitute – she’s had five husbands and now lives with a man who is not her husband. We really don’t know why she has had five husbands—it could be that she has had a very hard, sad life, losing husbands through death or divorce or some combination of such. She may presently be living in a male relative’s home, dependent on that male for her survival and well-being. Women in Jesus’ time were very dependent on the security of a male household, so as not to be reduced to begging or prostitution for survival. Note that nothing is said in this passage about the woman’s sin or about repentance.
