Last week I wrote about how hard it is to know with certainty anything about the nature of God. For those that believe in something beyond our apprehension of daily experiences, does that mean there is nothing we can do to bring about the kingdom of God? Today's gospel reading addressed this question for me. The revealing parallels and differences in the stories of Nicodemus and the Woman of Samaria are quite obvious in these current gospel readings.
Water is a central image in both "Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit" and "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life."
There are parallels in the way these stories are told. In both these stories Jesus answers questions that come from the practical experience we have in life with another level of answer. Nicodemus never seems to overcome his literal understanding of Jesus' words, Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night with theological questions, seeking him out to ask a question about his identity.
The woman arrives at Jacob’s well at noon, the brightest hour of the day, and she is startled when Jesus speaks to her. She came for a practical purpose: to draw water, not to question Jesus about anything spiritual. Although she asks questions that assume Jesus is still talking about her physical experience with water, they are involved in a productive exchange in their dialogue.
The exchange starts when Jesus asks for a favor. Her perplexed response "How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?" is explained by the parenthetical (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) There certainly is some problem with mixed levels again (perceived cultural division levels her), however it is hard to imagine that anyone who was thirsty would not have asked water at the well. It is also hard to imagine if Jesus' refreshment were the only point of this favor that their exchange would have proceeded the way that it does.
For years I have assumed the woman and Nicodemus are somewhat dense in not picking up on the meaning of Jesus' words. Now I see that is both condescending and not necessarily true. For Jesus and the woman both - to communicate higher truth this may be the best, if not the only, level to continue on. The profound change in the woman at the end of the story argues for this interpretation.
After Jesus' responds "The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life." The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water." and Jesus replies "Go, call your husband, and come back."
Jesus' words are extraordinary and unexpected. What does the woman's marital status have to do with the offer of living water? Perhaps Jesus is bringing up the idea of a union as a step in what is necessary for the transformation of the water from the well to living water. Then Jesus' observation of her 5 husbands (suggesting in her past she has operated from her five senses) and having no husband (she is ready to move on) now actually responds to her question. With the union of the two levels of daily experience and a higher level comes the transformation of water.In the end of last week's gospel Nicodemus appears to be left on the fence and in the dark. He is not ready to accept or understand Jesus’ revelation. Nicodemus remains at the literal level of the dialogue with Jesus, confused about how a grown man can reenter his mother’s womb and be born again.
The woman proceeds from a literal level, identifying Jesus as he appears, as a Jew to a deeper understanding of his identity, calling him a “prophet”, opening herself to the possibility that he is “greater than our ancestor Jacob”, and finally hearing Jesus’ self-revelation, “I am he” - the one, as the woman says, who will “proclaim all things to us”. She rushes to share her belief that Jesus is the Christ with others. In this week's gospel - based on the word of Jesus, the Samaritans come to believe that Jesus is the “Savior of the world”.
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