The Samaritan woman has just asked Jesus for the living water He's been talking about.
The woman later known in Christian tradition as Photina.
So I'm expecting Jesus to explain how she gets it.
Instead He says:
“Go, call your husband and come back.”
Erm.
Why?
Why does she need to bring her husband to get living water?
“I don't have a husband”
She confesses:
“I have no husband.”
And Jesus essentially responds:
Yes. I know.
Then He tells her something a stranger sitting beside a well shouldn't possibly know.
She's had five husbands. And the man she's currently with isn't her husband.
Suddenly this isn't a conversation with a random Jewish traveller anymore.
She doesn't run away
What I find interesting is her reaction.
Jesus has just demonstrated that He knows some extremely personal details about her life.
She doesn't leave.
She doesn't get angry.
She concludes:
“Sir, I can see that you are a prophet.”
And then she asks Him a theological question.
Basically: which church should I go to?
Samaritans worshipped on Mount Gerizim.
Jews worshipped in Jerusalem.
So if this man really is a prophet...settle the argument.
Who's right?
In modern Christian terms, it almost feels like:
Which denomination?
Catholic?
Orthodox?
Anglican?
Baptist?
Pentecostal?
Where am I actually supposed to worship God?
Jesus doesn't really pick a building
He does say that salvation comes from the Jews.
The history matters.
Israel matters.
The story God has been telling matters.
But then He says something much bigger is happening.
“The time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.”
The question is about to stop being:
Which place?
True worshippers will worship:
“in the Spirit and in truth.”
God isn't something you locate by finding the correct mountain.
And she's still thinking
She doesn't suddenly pretend she understands everything.
She says:
“I know that Messiah is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
Basically:
There are lots of things I don't understand.
But one day the Messiah will make sense of them.
And then Jesus finally says it.
“I, the one speaking to you — I am he.”
That's quite a revelation
Think about who Jesus is talking to.
Not Nicodemus.
Not a member of the Jewish ruling council.
Not one of His disciples.
Not somebody standing in the Temple.
A Samaritan woman beside a well.
Nicodemus came to Jesus at night and struggled to understand who He was.
This woman meets Him in broad daylight and Jesus tells her plainly:
I'm the Messiah.
Emily's reflection
I'm still thinking about her original request.
“Give me this water.”
Jesus responds by bringing her actual life into the conversation.
Maybe that's the answer.
Living water isn't something Jesus pours over a carefully edited version of ourselves.
He knows who's standing at the well.
He knows the relationships.
The mistakes.
The complications.
The things we'd probably rather not explain.
And He offers the water anyway.
Then she asks where she should worship God.
Jesus points her towards something deeper than geography.
Spirit.
Truth.
Maybe faith isn't primarily about finding the perfect religious address.
It's about encountering the person who was already sitting beside the well waiting for you.
Inner Chapel takeaway
The Samaritan woman asked Jesus for living water.
Jesus showed her that He already knew her.
Then she asked where to find God.
And Jesus revealed that God had already found her.
Still here.