Ex 17:3-7; Ps 94(95):1-2, 6-9; Rom 5:1-2, 5-8; Jn 4:5-42
THEME: ONLY GOD CAN QUENCH OUR THIRST
The first set of complaints by the people of Israel immediately God liberated them from slavery was about water and food. In Ex 15:22-25, they complained about ‘what to drink’ (15:24) and God made a bitter water drinkable for the people. Then in Ex 16, the people complained of hunger, and the Lord rained Manna from heaven (16:4). Then in Ex 17, which is our reading of today, they complained about what to drink to the extent that they preferred remaining under slavery where at least they had water and food, to freedom in the desert with no food nor water. When Moses directed the people’s complaint to the Lord, the Lord directed him to strike the rock upon which He (God) will stand, with his staff. The same staff that made water to stop flowing so that the people would pass through a dry land, was to be used to strike a rock for water to flow for the people to drink. But an interesting question here is: why could God not just make water flow from the rock? Why did he need Moses to first pass before the people, go and then strike the rock? When the people complained about food, God rained bread from heaven (Ex 16), the people complained of hunger, and the Lord rained Manna from heaven (16:4). Then in Ex 17, which is our reading of today, they complained about what to drink to the extent that they preferred remaining under slavery where at least they had water and food, to freedom in the desert with no food nor water.
When Moses directed the people’s complaint to the Lord, the Lord directed him to strike the rock upon which He (God) will stand, with his staff. The same staff that made water to stop flowing so that the people would pass through a dry land, was to be used to strike a rock for water to flow for the people to drink. But an interesting question here is: why could God not just make water flow from the rock? Why did he need Moses to first pass before the people, go and then strike the rock? When the people complained about food, God rained bread from heaven (Ex 16), so why not just command water to fall? Some things are given freely to us by God. But most at times, God demands our use of the things he has given us. Sometimes, God’s grace sees us through. Some other times, God needs active cooperation of the talents he has given us with his Grace.
The word (tsur) meaning ‘Rock’ is used in different biblical passages to refer to God (cf Deut 32:18; 1 Sam 2:2; 2 Sam 22:3; 2 Sam 22:32, 47; Isa 17:10; 26:4; 44:8; Ps 18:3, 31; 19:14; 28:1; 62:2, 6; 71:3; 78:35; 92:15; 94:22, 95:1; 144:1 etc). God is the Rock that provides the water that can quench our thirst. But, just like Moses, we need to strike this Rock, not with any other thing but with the staff (the gifts especially the gift of faith) which God has given us.
In the gospel reading of today, just as the people said to Moses: “Give us water to drink” in the first reading (Ex 17:2), so did Jesus say to the Samaritan woman, “Give me to drink”. Jesus is shown as one who is tired, and his request for water, shows him as one who is thirsty. But the development of the episode helps to reveal also the thirst of this Samaritan woman for an authentic life and love. In the tradition of both Jews and Samaritans, it is not proper for a woman to come to the well alone. And when women come in their groups, it has to be earlier or later in the day when the heat of the sun must have gone down. But for the woman to have come alone and at this time of the day, means that she was avoiding being seen by people.
This spiritual aridity of the woman is well exposed in Jesus’s conversation with her about her husband. The woman admitted that she has no husband. She already had five husbands and the one she was living with was not her husband. This may be taken literary, but it makes more meaning when interpreted allegorically. Josephus writes that the Samaritans consisted of five nations or peoples. And these five nations meant five gods because each of the nations brought their own gods into Samaria. So, when Jesus tells the woman that she has had five husbands before, he is telling her that she had sought for security and satisfaction in five false gods brought by her people, and even in another foreign god.
Yet, none of them could fill the great thirst of her soul. Jesus saw her, and realized what a great thirst she was having for God. He brings her to realize that, even without condemning her. Speaking with the woman, Jesus made her to feel the love and the fulfilment, so much so that she immediately suspected Jesus to be the Christ. Our soul is made by God in such a way that whenever it encounters God whom it truly thirsts for, it feels it immediately. The woman who came alone at an odd hour in order not to be seen by others because of the shame that surrounded her life, now ran home to get her fellow countrymen to come and have the same encounter she had.
Having seen Jesus, the people of the town confirmed the words of the woman and believed in him. But after Jesus spent two days with them, the foundation on which they had initially based their believing in him changed. They believed, no longer because of what the woman told them, but because of their own experience of Jesus. Their faith grew from what they heard another person said about Jesus, to what they themselves have heard from him after staying with him. The woman had earlier identified Jesus as the prophet, and wondered if he was the Christ. But the people moved from seeing Jesus as the prophet who can reveal someone’s actions, to seeing Jesus as the Savior of the world.
LESSONS:
1. There is no other person who can satisfy our thirst but Christ. He is the Rock that yields living water for our thirst. He knows our history and our yearning. He thirsts for us. He thirsts for our souls. He wants to restore our joy and pride. But just like the water did not flow from the Rock until Moses struck it with the staff (Ex 17:6), and the Samaritan woman would not have had the living water unless she had asked for it (Jn 4:10), we cannot have access to this living water unless we ask for it and work for it.
2. The joy that follows an encounter with Christ is always irresistible. A sincere meeting with Christ opens in one, a spring of joy and fulfilment that makes one to desire to bring this joy to others and make them come to the Fountain, Christ. The Samaritan woman, after encountering Christ, desired nothing than bringing her people to meet Christ. Our sincere meeting with Christ should make us to take the good news of joy to the world and lead them to Christ so that they too may be filled by Christ,
3. The testimony of the woman brought her country people to encounter Christ. But after this encounter, the foundation of their faith in him changed from the testimony of the woman to their own personal testimonies. The books, homilies, readings, other people’s miracle stories, yes…even the Holy Scripture, bring us to have this encounter with Christ Our Rock. But unless we invite Jesus to spend days with us, in order to have this personal experience that will change our lives, our faith in him will remain at “as they said…as it is written…as I heard etc”. Christ always wants us to relate with him based on our personal experience of him. This is why after the disciples have quoted everything, they have heard about who Christ is, Christ himself asked them: You, yourselves, who do you think I am?” (Matt 16:15; Mk 8:29)
May we, just like the Samaritan woman, always ask Christ: “Lord, give us this water that we may never have to seek for satisfactions elsewhere”, because NOTHING CAN EVER SATISFY A SOUL WHOM YOU DO NOT SATISFY.
Wishing You and Your Loved Ones a Wonderful Sunday
Fr. Chukwuezugo Nnamah