The story of the Woman at the Well is, for me, one of the
most moving in Scripture. Addressing failure, rejection, prejudice, racism,
sexism and judgemental attitudes it reaffirms my value as a human being no
matter how others may see me.
It goes like this. One day Jesus was travelling through
Samaria when He met a woman at a well. He struck up a conversation with her
that led to her becoming a believer. Somewhere in the middle of all that we
find out that she had been married five times and was now living in what we
would call a defacto relationship. Okay, at a first reading there seems little
remarkable in that. It is only as we understand the cultural background that
can fully appreciate it.
Jesus and His disciples were journeying from Judea to
Galilee when they came to the Samaritan village of Sychar. While they were
taking the shortest route it was not the one normally taken by Jews, for there
was nothing they hated more than Samaritans. Any intercourse between the two
groups would normally be limited to trade.
It was around mid-day when they arrived and Jesus, being
tired, rested at the local well while His disciples went in search of food. While
He was resting the woman came to draw water. This in itself was unusual, as the
women would normally draw water in the cool of the morning or evening, which
may well tell us something about the woman’s standing in the community.
Jesus initiated the conversation by asking for a drink.
While this may seem reasonable to us the woman’s response shows it was unusual.
‘You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan – how can you ask me for a drink?’ The
story reveals that Jews would not eat off the same dishes as Samaritans. It
was, however, a request that would not be denied in the culture of the day.
As the discourse between them progresses Jesus hits her with
the truth – she has had five husbands and she is not married to the man she is
now living with. After further dialogue Jesus makes a startling admission to
the woman – that He is, in fact, the promised Messiah. He had not until this
moment made that admission to anyone else, and it is perhaps not claimed again
so blatantly until the final days of His ministry.
At this point His disciples return. They are surprised to
find Him talking to the woman, for this was not the done thing. Jewish men
simply did not talk to women outside their family circle in public. Some rabbis
taught it was even improper for a man to speak to his wife in public. And certainly,
no self-respecting teacher – and Jesus was seen as a teacher – would do so.
Jesus ignored divisive social norms. The main difference
between Jews and Samaritans was religious. Both accepted the writings of Moses
but they differed on the interpretation. Jesus crossed the barriers of race,
religion and gender – things that continue to divide people today – to show
that in His view they mean nothing. Each one of us has inestimable value in His
eyes.
But what of the woman. Five marriages and now ‘living in
sin’. That she was at the well in the middle of the day is a strong indicator
that she was shunned by her neighbours. Perhaps here she could escape those
looks, the hushed comments, the innuendoes. Aloneness may have been her only refuge.
Some commentaries and preachers continue to portray her as an immoral woman,
but this may say more about them than her.
We are told nothing of the circumstances of her life other
than her marital status. Why had she been married five times? In those times
people generally did not live anywhere near as long as we do. Some, if not all,
of her husbands may have died. Perhaps it is unlikely statistically, but then
some people do cruise through life without enduring too much pain while others
cop much more than their fair share. It was a man’s world and if a man wanted a
‘better model’ it was not too much trouble to dump the current one. In this
world a woman’s social standing and security was dependent upon a man to look
after her – a father, husband or son. Without one of these she was well and
truly on her own.
Then there was the view that those who suffered were under
the curse of God. They were simply getting what they deserved because they were
obviously immoral. Judgemental attitudes are nothing new.
As I reflect on this story I wonder at the woman’s mental
state – her self-talk, her sense of worth, or lack thereof. Divorce, if that
were involved, is often associated with feelings of rejection and failure, no
doubt more so when it is initiated by the other party as it almost invariably
would have been in her culture. The death of a husband would have been hard
enough, but if more than one husband died the feelings associated with the
event would have been magnified. And if she saw her current situation as
evidence of God’s judgement on her life her self-esteem would have been almost
non-existent. Five marriages, why would you bother again? But she needed a man,
any man, for some semblance of social security and perhaps she had reached that
stage where she was no longer an attractive marriageable option, at least for
any self-respecting man.
It is this picture of the woman that I find so appealing –
more so than the fact the Jesus reached out across the artificial barriers of
race, religion, culture and gender. A woman who had experienced judgement,
rejection and who no doubt lived with feelings of failure and worthlessness. But
a woman who in the eyes of Jesus was of inestimable value. It is a story that
helps me live with my own failures, condemnation – which is normally
self-condemnation – and feelings of inadequacy. It is one that affirms not only
my value, but the value of all humanity.
The story is told in John 4.
