Jesus Speaks to Women: Breaking the Routine

7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” 8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. John 4: 7-8

Spotlight buzzes on. The Samaritan woman makes her entrance.  All eyes are on her.  What will she do?

I've always imagined her as a slender, downcast figure who often wishes she could be invisible.  That's why she waits until the noon hour to go draw her water ... to avoid the town gossips.  She doesn't want to run into anyone at all...she just wants to get her water and go.  She doesn't want any eyes on her.  She doesn't want to hear the murmuring tongues of her neighbors.  She doesn't want to feel the rejection.  She doesn't ask for anything.  She just wants water.  

I imagine the ritual of drawing water brings a certain comfort to her troubled heart.  The routine movements, the familiarity of the surroundings, the soft cadence of the jar going down the well, the strain in her muscles pulling it back up, reminding her she is still alive...she finds comfort in the repetitive steps, and her soul finds a moment of peace...

Not that day, though.

There is nothing familiar about that day.  

A man is there: "Ugh...sigh...such is my luck!"

Not just any man: a Jew...double gulp.

This Man's eyes pierce through her soul.  Then, He speaks to her, not the words she would've imagined...He asks for a drink...how intriguing...

Jesus said to her, "Give Me a drink."  

The way I picture the scene, I see the Samaritan woman frozen in place for a split second, her mind racing as fast as lightning: "what...???  Did this Jewish Man just asked me for a drink? Did that just happen? Wait...what?"

Of course she didn't know who He was.  All she knew was that He was a Jew and Jews don't have anything to do with Samaritans.  She was a woman, alone...He was a Jewish man, in Samaria...talking to her...the picture was just so wrong in her head.  Nothing about it was the way it was supposed to be.  "Who is this Man who is disrupting all conventions? Who is this Man who is disrupting my one moment of peace?  Who is this Man who dares speak to me? He obviously doesn't know who I am...if He knew, He wouldn't dare even be near my presence..."

She doesn't know that the weary Man who needed to rest by the well, who was thirsty and hungry, asking for a drink, waiting for His disciples to bring Him food is none other than the King of Glory who came down for you and me!  

Praised be the Precious Name of Jesus, Who being in His very nature God, is also a Man who knows the struggles of humanity and the suffering of the individual person.  May the Holy Spirit give us eyes to see and a mind to discern His amazing gift of love.  Amen!