Woman at the Well
Reflections on the Woman at the Well by: Gerry del Rosario
Who are you? A name-less, nondescript character straight out from the mucky fields of Samaria.
A place detested by the Jews for having an origin as half-baked as a bread made of "impure" wheat or flour. Your place of worship is not Jerusalem, your forefathers did not heed the mandate to marry their kind, and therefore you dont pass the grade. Neither Jew nor Gentile.
But, how and why can The Good Teacher stoop down at your level? - You are a WOMAN and you are a sordid hapless SINNER, buried down by your turpid morality. Having had multiple unsuccessful marriages and most likely
had liberal sexual ideations, it is not a stretch to assume that even you must have lost your self-respect? You are a "moral leper", a veritable outcast of the more "prude" society.
But wait! Your story did not end on that sorry, deplorable note. God in His grace and mercy, wiped your mess and revised it into a message of redemption and of hope.
Jesus straightened the fact and busted the raucous that in His foresight, will plague our modern society today, more than 2000 years ahead on the banner headlines of "Jerusalem Herald" that should have read - "RADICAL JESUS CHRIST!!! - DESTROYS RACISM AND GENDER INEQUALITY - spoke with and asked water from the ... (woman that can't be named)".. - the morning after that "casual" yet historical meeting at the well.
Hey! Mssss. Yes! You woman at the well! Listen! You heard The Man who spoke to you at the well and marveled "could you be Messiah?", confused on how on earth He knew too much about you? He revealed you to you - your deepest anxious thoughts, your darkest open secrets. Yet, He did not condemn you, unlike the cruel society around you, he unshackled you from the bondage of your own harsh and tattered past. But, you also heard His admonition to live in Truth and hold on to His message of Hope and Redemption.
Your HEARD Him clearly. Your soul was awaken. Hurriedly, you scampered away to town to share the "fresh air" that demystified the toxic fumes that had been chocking your spirit for so long.
Hey! You totally forgot your old earthen jar at the well. Wasn't that your sole purpose why you went to that well, to draw water using that plain looking jar? Alas! You got connected to the unlimitless source of the Living Water, which ends all human depravities.
What is the receptacle that you use to hold on to your earthly wishes, desires, ambitions, and plans? What is inside your earthly jar? Will that quench the deeper longing and thirst of our human soul? Are you willing to let them go, just like the unknown woman at the well, and leave "your jar" behind in exchange of the real source and the One that gives authentic meaning to our lives?
Just like the woman at the well, we can humbly appropriate God's mercy, grace, and love in our lives daily and we will thrist no more.