The Gospel text from the lectionary for last Sunday is John 4:5-42. Now that’s a long section to read and it has a lot of good stuff in it. This the well-known story of Jesus talking to the Samaritan woman at the well. There are two things that I want to highlight in this passage for you.
First, verses 28-30 and 39-42. The Samaritan woman believes that Jesus is the Messiah. She promptly heads back to town to tell everyone there. Then some townspeople go to the well to see Jesus for themselves, “because of the woman’s testimony.” Many of the people believed right away, while others needed to get confirmation for themselves. What stands out to me most is that many people listened to this woman, at a time when women were not valued, and they believed. This is a reminder for us that Jesus speaks to everyone, especially those who are often perceived as “less than” by their community. God uses everyone. Even the townspeople who needed to Jesus in person, still believed her enough to go to the well, which is incredible.
My second thought come from verses 7-15, particularly verse 14. Jesus says, “The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” Recently in one of my classes we discussed the idea that each of us is or has a cup that we use to pour into one another. But sometimes we become so exhausted that our cup is empty, and you can’t pour anything out of an empty cup. God offers us an unending spring of water to fill our cups with. And we can tap into that spring whenever we want and in a variety of ways. I would invite you this week to do something that fills you up in the midst of this uncertain time. Meditating, calling a loved one, knitting, or playing an instrument can do wonders for your mental health and may stave off some of the restlessness of being stuck indoors. Stay safe, everybody!
