"High Noon"

Lent 3 

(John 4:5-26) 

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

So today is for all of you classic Western movie fans!   It's high noon, except the leading role is not Gary Cooper, but a Samaritan woman at the well,

First stop: Jacob’s well in the village of Sychar. It’s high noon, the sixth hour. Jesus is hot, tired, and thirsty. The disciples went ahead to the town and get some food and so the only one there with Jesus is this Samaritan woman. And a conversation ensues.  The showdown is on.

“Give me a drink,” he tells her, seems a little rude, doesn’t it? And so begins a round of verbal chess, as by His Word Jesus leads this woman out of darkness and into His marvelous light. 

Now keep in mind: She had three strikes against her.

1.  First, and most obviously, she was a woman, and according to the rules of Jesus’ day, men didn’t talk to women in public.  (Don't blame me for that one!, just saying how it was :-)

2.  Second, she was a Samaritan, and according to the rules of Jesus’ day, Jews had no dealings with Samaritans.

3.  And third, she was a five-time marriage loser and now living with number six, and according to the rules of Jesus’ day, no one would really want to have anything to do with her.

Except Jesus.  And that is kind of the point, and we’ll come back to that.  But here’s a quick recap of the conversation: 

Jesus: “Give me a drink.”

Woman: “You talking to me? You’re a Jew, I’m a Samaritan. You’re not supposed to talk to me.”

Jesus: “If you knew who I was, you’d be asking me and I would give you living water.”

Woman: “Dude, you don’t even have a bucket! Who do you think you are, anyway? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us this well, you know.”

Jesus: “Yeah, but everyone who drinks this well water will get thirsty again. But the water I give becomes a spring of water that wells up to eternal life.”

Woman: “Well hey then, give me some of that water. Then I won’t have to lug this bucket every day.” 

Jesus: “Go, call your husband.”

Woman: “Uh, um, I don’t have one of those.”

Jesus: “That’s true. Actually, by last count, you’ve run through five, six if you count the guy you are shacking up with now.”

Woman: “Whoa! How the heck do you know that? Are you some kind of a prophet? Hey, if you’re so smart, tell me something. Our fathers worship here on Gerazim, but you Jews insist on worshipping only at Jerusalem. So which is it?”

Jesus: “Well, you Samaritans worship what you don’t know. Salvation comes from the Jews. But that’s all past. God is spirit, and the Father is seeking those who worship in spirit and truth.”

Woman: “Yeah, whatever. Look, all I know is that the Messiah is coming, and when he does, he’ll sort all of this out.”

Jesus: “That’s me. I am the Messiah. And I’m speaking to you.”

Now wouldn’t you have loved a picture of her face when Jesus said that to her? This was a true mic drop moment. (Well, they didn’t have mics, so perhaps a bucket drop moment). And leave it to God to do it this way! Of all the people in Samaria Jesus could have revealed Himself to, He chose this woman with a shady past and a rather uncertain present. Notice, too, that He hides Himself from the religious elite in Jerusalem and instead reveals Himself to, I dare say, a “deplorable” Samaritan woman at a well.

And you have to love the little verbal game that’s going on here. This woman is proud of her heritage, maybe a bit defensively so. This wasn’t just any well, this was Jacob’s well. He drank from it himself. And the neighboring field was given to Joseph by Jacob. Yes, the Samaritans had some serious OT historic sites. 

She worshipped on Mt. Gerazim, just as her version of the Bible said. She knew the Jews insisted on worshipping at Jerusalem, and that perhaps bothered her a bit, since she knew that there was only one God and He couldn’t be worshipped on two mountains. It must have come like a slap in the face when Jesus told her she didn’t know what she was talking about, that she was worshipping what she didn’t know, and that salvation came from the Jews not the Samaritans. She could have stormed off. But she didn’t. And the truth set her free. When she did leave, she left her water bucket behind and ran to tell everyone in the city about her little conversation with Jesus.

It would be terribly easy to get distracted by all the subtle details of this story and go down some rabbit trails that lead nowhere: Jewish/Samaritan relations; the role of men and women in society: Marriage and divorce; the proper place and way to worship. It’s all terribly interesting…but

John’s focal point here is water: from Jesus’ baptism in the water of the Jordan… to His changing water into wine at a wedding at Cana… to talk of being born of water and Spirit to Nicodemus… to Jacob’s well and His “give me a drink” to this sassy Samaritan woman.

And the contrast here is between Jacob’s water and Jesus’ water, well water and living water. Water that doesn’t quench your thirst and water that quenches it forever. Water you work for and water that works for you.

On the one hand, Jacob’s water is well water. Law water. You work for it. You sweat for it. You earn it. You wake up every day, put your empty water jug on top of your head, go for a long hike, hook your jug to the rope and lower it down into the deep well then draw it up and put the full jug of water back on top of your head and walk it home so your family can cook and clean.

It’s hard work. Thirsty work. By the time you get home, you want a drink of water, and by the next day, you have to do it all over again. Kind of makes you appreciate tap water more, doesn’t it?

There is no end to the work or the thirst. And so it is with the Law. It is all work and it never ends. It promises life but never delivers it. It quenches thirst for a while, but there is always more.

You, like this woman, need living water too; water that flows to you freely. That’s Grace water. Not the water of Jacob and Moses, but of Jesus.  Yes, the Law came through Moses; but grace and truth come through Jesus. He gives a water that quenches the eternal thirst for righteousness. It’s not a water you work for, but a water that flows to you, a gracious water welling up in you to a spring of eternal life.

Jesus needs no bucket because Jesus is the Source, the Wellspring. From His wounded side flows the stream of living water that quenches your thirst for righteousness. It isn’t water you work for, but water that flows from His side to the font of your Baptism.

Yes, you too were born as outcasts, and at first Jesus comes with the Law and initially He seems harsh and demanding. It seems as though all He wants is for you to serve Him, to do His bidding and run to meet His every demand. Help that man in the ditch. Sell all your possessions. Give me something to drink. He holds up the mirror of the Law and it reflects back nothing but your brokenness.

But Jesus doesn’t come to shame you or condemn you. He’s not here to rub your nose in your past or give you marching orders in your present. No. He has come to cover you with His righteousness and make you holy with His holiness.  

And so, after holding up that mirror of the Law to your eyes, He puts it down and says, “Now look at me. Don’t look to Moses and His commandments to see who you are. Look to me. Don’t look in the mirror of the Law, look into the mirror of my gaze, and see reflected back to you who you really are in Me.

Moses calls you a sinner, and that’s true. That’s what you are. But I call you a saint. Because I’ve taken on all your sin, I’ve died for you, I’ve bled for you, I’ve baptized you in the living water of my death and life. The old you is drowned, the new you is born in the living water. I, the Christ, am speaking to you in font and sermon and Supper, telling you who you are. And when I speak, it is so.”

Dear loved ones: This is what, and only what, defines you. Here your thirst is quenched.  You are baptized. You’re a child of God. You are washed, sanctified, and justified in the Name of Jesus and the Spirit of God.  That’s what the living water that Jesus brings has done, and does, for you.

And her response? “So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people,  ‘Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” And many believed in Him because of her testimony. And so she went from questioning him, to confessing Him!

"The woman said to him, “(Well), I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.”

And when Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”  And she believed Him.

Thanks be to God!

In the name of Jesus. Amen.