John 4:1-30
You can visit Jacob’s Well today. It is in the West Bank city of Nablus in the basement of St Photini Greek Orthodox Church. Its caretaker is 81 year-old Father Archimandrite Ioustinos who lives on-site. I was there recently, and was deeply moved when I stepped off the bus on the busy street into the peaceful garden surrounding the church, and when I drank water drawn from the well and felt it pour through my fingers.
The story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well is rich with lessons on love, truth and acceptance. The most profound lesson is one of inclusion—any other Jew would have walked around Samaria, not through it, and would certainly have never spoken with a Samaritan woman, especially one as marginalized as this particular woman. Yet Jesus does both. The woman herself is surprised at Jesus’ presence and that he would speak to her–she even replies to him with a bit of attitude, as if he should know better. Jesus clearly doesn’t care about her many husbands or their religious differences. He comes to her the way he comes to each of us, without judgment and with the message that the living water is available to each of us exactly as we are.
The story also shows the relief and comfort that comes with being fully seen. Not only does Jesus see the woman for who she is, there is mutuality in this interaction. When she experiences Jesus knowing the truth about her and loving her anyway, she is also able to fully see Jesus as well. This is the first time Jesus overtly names himself as the messiah–in foreign lands, in a scandalous conversation with an outcast. There is never a question of worthiness for God’s love.
But there is another story of Jabob’s well, one most do not know. This site is holy in Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Samaritan teachings, and unfortunately has not escaped the violence that is common in this region. The metal door at the garden’s entrance is riddled with bullet holes. Father Archimandrite Ioustinos has been the victim of violent beatings multiple times.
How can a holy site in multiple faith traditions both symbolize acceptance through the story of the Samaritan woman and also be a place that shows the exact opposite? Is it that we can see the lesson, but we are challenged to live it? Over and over again, Jesus went with love and compassion into the lives of the outcast, unclean, and marginalized. With Jesus, the ultimate compassion-driven Changemaker, at the center of our faith, we are called to do the same. But do we?
PRAYER: Loving God, in this time of reflection and waiting, help me to not only see the lessons of Jesus, but to live them. Give me the compassion to be able to give others the gift of being fully seen and loved for who they are, and may this blessing of human connection lead to a world of inclusion and peace.
PROMPT: What instances or relationships make it challenging for me to live and love like Jesus? Is there something in this story that can help me in those situations?