The people in the desert long for water and almost kill Moses. The Samaritan woman longs for water from a well. Both really don’t know exactly what water they are looking for. Readings for Today. (The readings are from Year A.)
There’s water and then there’s water
Today we hear the readings from Year A. We only hear these readings every three years, but also every year if we celebrate catechumens. Both the first reading and the gospel are focused on water.
But not just that. Both readings deal with people who long for cool water. So desperate for water are the people in the first readings that Moses fears he might be killed unless he provides it. The Samaritan woman is intrigued with the promise of Jesus to give living water that is so powerful one will never be thirsty again.
So there is the quest for water and the lifegiving fulfillment given by God. For Moses, the people are desperate. Their questions are harsh.
Why did you ever make us leave Egypt? Why did you bring us out in the desert? Did you have some sick desire that we and our livestock would die in the desert? What is the matter with you?
The people had quickly forgotten the great deeds of the Lord, accomplished through Moses. And when they forget, they long to go back to Egypt. But they were slaves in Egypt. They seem to have forgotten that in Egypt they cried out to God for deliverance.
This happens at places called Massah and Meribah. The Hebrew names help us to understand. Massah means “the place of the test.” Meribah means “the place of strife and of quarreling.”
Are we like the Israelites who grumble against Moses? Do we seek quick solutions to problems even though these solutions would only make things worse? Do we ask, “Is the Lord in our midst or not?”
Moses has the intimate relationship with God and once again manifests the holiness of God. He listens to God, does what God wants him to do, and the people have life.
The gospel presents us a story we might not fully appreciate. We hear the word “Samaritan” but might not understand it.
When we think of a Samaritan, we probably are drawn to the story of the Good Samaritan. The man who treated the robber with compassion.
But for the Jews of Jesus’ day there was deep animosity, coming from the seventeenth chapter of the second book of Kings. This chapter recounts the conquest of the northern kingdom of Israel and their subsequent exile.
The people of the northern kingdom often gave into to being like everyone else, and worshipped false gods, the gods of the non-Jewish people around them.
The people in the southern kingdom of Israel viewed the capture of the northern kingdom and their exile as God’s punishment upon them for their sins.
When the people are allowed to return to their home, they do not return alone. When people were captured, it was not uncommon for the victor to displace them so that they would not give in to rebellion.
This is why the people in the northern kingdom were exiled. On their return home, and the arrival of non-Jewish people living elsewhere resulted in a mixed race of people.
So the Jewish people of the south, who were not displaced, looked down upon the Israelites of the north, viewing them as lesser people. This only grew worse up to the time of Jesus.
So now consider the scene at the well. Jesus arrives because he was forced to flee Jerusalem. He sends the disciples to buy provisions, something they likely did not like doing, having to depend on the Samaritan merchants.
But the interaction of Jesus with the Samaritan woman is worth our special attention. That Jesus would speak to a Samaritan at all, and a woman to boot was strange indeed. The Samaritan woman points out, “How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” —For Jews use nothing in common with Samaritans.—
But Jesus who asks for a drink. But his question is also an invitation. “If you knew the gift of God, and who is saying to you ‘give me a drink’, you would have asked him and he would give you living water.”
The Samaritan woman points out the obvious. Jesus does not seem practical. He has no bucket. The cistern is deep. Just how is Jesus then, supposed to give this water to the woman?
Jesus is longing for the faith of the Samaritan woman. He will not give ordinary water, quenching thirst for a time, but living water that quenches forever.
The focus on water, teaches us something quite important about baptism. Whether they realize it or not, all humans have a deep longing to find God. The difficulties of life can cause us to seek what we think is living water, but is in fact water that quenches for a time.
The quest we have for God, for Jesus, can only be filled byJesus. The people who grumbled against Moses would settle for slavery if they could just have a little water. But God wants so much more for them!
So it is with us. God wants so much for us too. We have people today who seek living water. At the beginning of the process, when they were accepted, we as a community promised we would seek to support them.
So how are you doing this? How can we be like the Samaritan woman and share our experience of Jesus with an entire village? Are we committed to sharing the living water we have found with all we meet?
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