Samaritan at the Well: The First Evangelist (take 2)

Faith of Our Mothers 5

This was accidentally sent out of order a few weeks ago. Apologies again. I have updating it and sending it again.

The second ideal disciple we meet in the Gospel of John is the Samaritan who Jesus meets at a well in chapter 4. The first was his mother (in chapter 2). In between we meet a male disciple who is not ideal – he struggles to emerge from the darkness into the full light of Christ, but he gets there in the end and is respected and commended for that. Nicodemus is in the unenviable position of being sandwiched between two great shining lights of discipleship, and finds himself on the wrong side of every contrast that might be drawn between him and either of them - as do we all, if we are honest.

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Rather than darkness, the Samaritan meets Jesus in the full light of day. Rather than confusion there is agile movement toward deep theological and spiritual dialogue.

Jesus defies social norms by engaging her in a deep theological discussion when they are alone. Male religious leaders of his time (and our own) often did not feel morally safe alone with women. Just think about the Billy Graeme Rule. Jesus knows that is nonsense.

She is definitely not there to seduce him. She is an intelligent, capable, trustworthy person, and also an appropriate representative of her people, who Jesus seeks to woo through her into worship of God in spirit and truth.

She becomes the first evangelist to her people, bringing her entire village out to meet Jesus; and because of her witness they all reach the same conclusion as she does – that Jesus is the saviour, not just of the Samaritans, not just of the Jews, but of the whole world.

Jesus has a dig at his male disciples because they go into to the village and all they bring back is burgers and chips, whereas this woman brings back a whole village full of new disciples.

And if it is starting to sound like I am giving men a hard time, I will ask you to notice how often through all the Gospels it is the outsider, the marginalised person, the one you would least expect, who shows the greatest faith. The Gospels are not saying that women are fundamentally better at discipleship than men. What they are saying is that the people who benefit least from the status quo will be quickest to welcome a new thing that God is doing.

Compared with the male disciples this woman is living with intersectional disadvantage – not just a woman but a Samaritan woman; not just a Samaritan woman but a Samaritan woman who has been widowed or divorced five times.

Her readiness to engage with Jesus in the search for truth, her belief in him, and her readiness to declare her faith to her community and bring them to Jesus, set her apart as one of the primary examples of ideal discipleship in the Gospels.

Let’s pray:

Lord of light and life,
Give us water, we pray, to drench our parched souls,
To soften our weary hearts,
And to cleanse and sharpen our minds,
Causing new life to spring up within and around us,
Making us theologians and evangelists
For our people;
Revealing you as Messiah and Saviour
In all we do and say,
Until all the thirsty people of world 
Drink freely of the water of life 
And worship you in Spirit and in Truth. Amen

Here is a sermon I have preached on this passage:

With Love from Rev Margaret

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