The Woman at the Well

 

The Woman at the Well

Second lesson

Please, if you have not looked at the outline for “Jesus and Women,” do so before using the following.

Review what was presented earlier: series of lessons focusing on women (note Christian History)

• Women were almost equal in law but not socially, culturally (note Wisdom of Sirach, Mishnah from around 200 AD – compilation of oral traditions)

• Often, in John, encounters were used by Jesus to educate his disciples about women

• John pairs stories/parables of men and women

• In John, Jesus retells familiar parables but recast with women protagonists

Intro: Many different ways to look at/ study/ understand story of Woman at Well

• Salvation given to even those seen as enemies or unclean

• Salvation is for both genders

• Focus on concepts of “living water”, “bread of life”, where to worship and such

• Focus on the “I Am” statements (unique)

• Paired with the story of Nicodemus

  • Night vs Day

  • Scholar compared to someone less educated

  • Someone who wavered compared to a believer

• In keeping with theme, we will focus on woman and her interaction with Christ

• A quick look at the supplemental summary (presented at the end of the main outline)

  • Mishnah

  • Daniel T Niles

  • Ephrem the Syrian

• Point out the three challenges: B:I,c “gender” - B:II,c “political” - B:V “religious”

• Begin going over outline

Woman At The Well (John 4:1-42)

(Two important firsts and much more)

1. Cultural, historical and theological background (John 4:1-6 a reminder, setting stage)

   1. Cultural: We tend to only see through our own culture – and miss how important

      1. treatment of women (quote from Mishnah – collection of oral traditions)

      2. Nature of Jacob's well

         1. near city of Sy'char with 5 foot doughnut-shaped capstone

         2. buckets then as now are made of leather, crossed sticks at top and collapsible

         3. women worked together to help each other in morning/evening to avoid heat

         4. at noon, only social outcasts or women seeking contact with strangers

   2. Historical

      1. Battles and revenge of Jews and Samaritans

         1. Greeks had used Samaria as their base of control of Jewish territory

         2. 128 B.C. Jews destroyed the Samaritan Temple on top of Mount Gerizim

         3. Samaritan response: defiled Temple of Jerusalem on eve of Passover

         4. Jews saw Samaritans and decedents of Gentile tribes brought in to take over their land when they were in captivity.

      2. Historical importance of Samaria (Augustus Caesar, Herod the Great) + prominence of the Temple to Caesar at the top of the mountain (visible from Caesarea)

   3. Theological

      1. The term “Gift of God.” at that time meant something else

      2. .. for Samaritans is is the Torah of Moses

      3. for Jews it was the Law and the Prophets

      4. Even today, for Muslim it is the Qur'an – hence the punishment of death for defiling

      5. God was encountered in a specific place: the Temple of Jerusalem for the Jews, the temple in Samaria for the Samaritans (on the mountain top)

2. Ten specifics to consider which make this encounter important for not only Jesus' earthly mission but for women throughout all time

   1. John 4: 7-9 – reveals Jesus' deliberate encounter as a thirsty stranger

      1. Intentional Self-emptying – allowed disciples to leave him without bucket

      2. Reasons why Jesus should not have spoken: cultural taboo and despised enemy

      3. Woman's response was both cultural and gender challenge: inflected language

      4. Not only did Jesus speak to her, but asked to drink from her “defiled” bucket!

      5. Four things Jesus did:

         1. broke social taboos: did not back away from well, spoke to woman

         2. ignored hostility, danger and 500 years of bias/discrimination

         3. reveals an approach to effective ministry by becoming a person in need (emptying)

            • needs water and has no bucket (putting woman in position of strength)

            • see Mark 6:7-13 for first “mission trip” - they took nothing with them

            • Jesus' birth – a dependent baby

            • Jesus' first encounter with Peter in Luke 5:1-3

            • Supplement quote from Daniel T. Niles

         4. Jesus elevates and amazes woman – much more than we can ever realize! The woman was not only recognized by Jesus but also brought equal to man

   2. John 4:10-13 – The Gift of God is not a thing or place but the person of Jesus

      1. for her, the “Covenant”in Isaiah 42:6 was the Torah of Moses not Jesus

      2. Jesus' word reflect Jeremiah 2:13 about “Living Water” - reusing to refer to himself

      3. Attempted redirection (political challenge)

         1. implied “our father Jacobs well given to us [Samaritan] not you [Jew]” thus invoking the centuries-old feud expecting a declaration that she [Samaritan] had no legitimate claim to well since she came from Gentile stock – Jesus as a Jew

         2. Did not make the connection between Jesus, the “Living Water” and Jeremiah ref.

   3. John 4:13-15 – The Drink that Satisfies for all time Jesus as a Rabbi

      1. Just as Jesus declined the initial gender challenge, he declined the political challenge

      2. Jesus continues with a two part statement about the “Living Water” He is offering:

         1. permanently conquers thirst and

         2. a spring for others overflowing to “eternal life”

      3. She only hears the first part and is very interested in this magical drink

         1. ease psychic pain, free her from fear of dying and lift her depression

         2. perhaps solve social issues, corruption and unsafe streets?

      4. She is doing her “religious shopping” for what she wants – she is not interested in becoming a “spring”. Much like today's consumers shopping for a church?

   4. John 4:16-17 – becoming a Spring for Others

      1. Jesus issues three commands: go, call and bring

      2. Jesus is telling a woman to witness to a man – in her culture!

      3. The woman is entertaining a new understanding of herself

      4. Her response: withhold information, skirt the issue and be evassive:

   5. John 4:17-20 – she tried escaping/avoiding consequences, then through religious challenge

      1. Jesus shifts His role to that of a prophet

      2. Sin exposed, the woman again tries to redirect to a religious challenge of where to worship, in Jerusalem or in Samaritan Temple on Mt. Gerizim – Jesus does not scold her

   6. John 4:21-25 – De-Zionizing” of traditions

      1. In response to the question of where to worship, Jesus redefines the nature of worship

      2. Jesus again elevates the woman by treating her as a serious theologian and shares with her the most important teaching on worship in the New Testament!

      3. Note the following for the entire passage:

         1. Christology: Jesus is the gift of God (Living Water), the Messiah, the Savior

         2. Gentiles: A “half-breed Samaritan” woman are welcomed as believers

         3. The Temple: both temples are obsolete

         4. The Law: Jesus does not condemn the woman for her sins, demanding stoning

   7. John 4:26 – The first “I Am”, and it is given to a woman Jesus is the Messiah

   8. John 4:27-30 – The woman becomes the first woman preacher of the Gospel

      1. Disciples discover Jesus talking with a Samaritan woman – two strikes against Him?

      2. Traditional idiom response of, “What do you want”, is not given by them. Why?

      3. Suddenly surrounded by hostile Jews, the woman departs, but also has a mission

      4. She not only has the “Living Water”, she is on her way to be a “spring” to others of the water that quenches the thirst of the spirit – forever.

      5. She acts as a witness (woman!) to the people (mostly men) of her village

         1. catches their attention with the revelation/acknowledgment of her sins

         2. She does not declare Jesus as Christ but challenges the others (men) to go see and decide for themselves.

      6. Is her leaving the water jug behind significant?

   9. John 4:21-38 – “Invisible Food” to have with the “Living Water” see Amos 9:13-14

   10. John 4:39-42 – The discovery of the true “Savior of the World”

3. The next will be on Matthew 15:21-28 when we will study another encounter with a woman and recognize how Jesus used the incident as a teaching platform to further reshape his disciples views about women

Suppliment

Mishnah:

“… and talk not much with womankind. They said this of a man's own wife: how much more of his fellow's wife! Hence, the Sages said: He that talks much with womankind brings evil upon himself and neglects the study of the Law and at the last will inherit Gehenna (kings of Judah sacrificed their children by fire. Thus, deemed to be cursed. In rabbinic literature it is the destination of the wicked)”

Daniel T. Niles, Sri Lankan theologian

“He was a true servant because He was at the mercy of those whom He came to serve.... This weakness of Jesus, we His disciples must share. To serve from a position of power is not true service but beneficence.”

“The only way to build love between two people or two groups of people is to be so related to each other as to stand in need of each other. The Christian community must serve. It must also be in a position where it needs to be served.”

Ephrem the Syrian

“At the beginning of the conversation, he [Jesus] did not make himself known to her, but first she caught sight of a thirsty man, then a Jew, then a Rabbi, afterwards a prophet, last of all the Messiah. She tried to get the better of the thirsty man, she showed dislike of the Jew, she heckled the Rabbi, she was swept off her feet by the prophet, and she adored the Christ”

_____________________________________

The “I Am” in John. I am the: bread of life, light of the world, door, good shepherd, resurrection and the life, true and living way, vine

Summary of the Woman at the Well

- Christology: Jesus appears as a thirsty man, rabbi, prophet, Messiah, the “I AM” and the “Savior of the world”

- Women: The new movement, centered on Jesus, elevates the position of all women, Jesus talks directly to the Samaritan woman and chooses her as an appropriate audience for profound expositions of the nature of God and nature of true worship. She becomes an evangelist to her own community and foreshadows the women who witness to the men regarding the resurrection.

- Incarnation and mission: Jesus “empties himself” to the extent that he needs the help of an immoral foreign woman. In requesting her assistance he models incarnational mission for all his followers.

- Revelation: As in the case of the Suffering Servant of Isaiah, the focus of revelation is a person, not a book

- The gender barrier: The social “separation wall” between men and women is destroyed.

- Worship and the temple: True worship, “in spirit and in truth,” needs no particular geography, Neither Jerusalem nor Mt. Gerizim are relevant to it. Jesus “de-Zionizes” the tradition and declares the temple in Jerusalem to be obsolete.

- Theology: The nature of God as Spirit is revealed to the community through this woman.

- A focus of mission: Jesus accepts, cares for, takes seriously, challenges, recruits and inspires a simple Samaritan woman with a life-changing message centered in himself. A rich harvest results from this unique “sowing.”

- The community around Jesus: A Samaritan woman and her community are sought out and welcomed by Jesus. In the process ancient racial, theological and historical barriers are breached. His message and His community are for all.

- The “Water of Life”: Those who accept this water are called to share it with others.

- Religion and escape from God: The woman tries to use “religion” as a means of escape from Jesus' pressing concern about her self-destructive lifestyle.

- Prophet and priest: The voice of the prophet is incomplete without the complementary priestly ministry of true worship. (prophet reveals sins, priest offers absolution)

- Salvation: God's acts in history to save “through the Jews” are a scandal of particularity that proves to be a blessing for the Samaritan woman.

- Christian self-understanding: Four important aspects of Christian self-understanding appear in this story. These are:

• the confession of Jesus as the “Savior of the World”

• the obsolescence of the temple

• the incorporation of non-Jews into the people of God

• the deabsolutizing of the law

- Food and drink: Two kinds of drink (one passing and the other permanently sustaining) and two types of food (physical sustenance and spiritual fulfillment) are prominently featured in the story.