Fr. Baker told us to spend this week unpacking today's Gospel reading, so here goes, part 1 of many:

Jesus came to a town of Samaria called Sychar,
near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.Jacob’s well was there.
Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down there at the well.
It was about noon.
A woman of Samaria came to draw water.
Jesus said to her,
“Give me a drink.”
His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.

Right off the bat in this passage, we have our attention called to the connection between Old and New Testament. This is a continuation of the story of God's covenant with His people. We also know this passage is set in Samaria, so we are dealing with people God chose as His own but who have wandered from the flock. When I see Samaria at the beginning of this passage, I think lost sheep. 

Also, early on in this passage, we are reminded of Jesus' humanity. Jesus is tired from His journey, so He sits down at the well. 

Fr. Baker pointed out that the time (noon) is significant, because that's not the time most women would be drawing water. The Samaritan woman that comes to draw water, then, is an outcast, and she is drawing water at noon to avoid everyone else. 

Then Jesus says, "Give me a drink," which seems strange for a couple of reasons:

1. He could draw the water Himself. He is sitting at the wall. 

2. A Jewish man speaking to a Samaritan woman? This quite literally never happened. 

But, as Fr. Baker pointed out, Jesus is not talking about physical thirst. He's talking about His thirst for her faith. He longs to draw this Samaritan woman to Himself. There seems to be a parallel here between this instance of Jesus asking for a drink and the moment on the cross when He cries out, "I thirst." In both instances, Jesus might be (and probably is) experiencing physical thirst. Here, He is resting at noon after a journey, and on the cross, He has been tortured. They are both incredibly clear instances of His humanity, and in His humanity, Christ experienced physical thirst. But in both cases, there is a deeper thirst. God thirsts for faith, for the love and trust of His children, for their acceptance of Him. Christ thirsts for His Church, His Bride. 

Finally, we see that His disciples had gone into the town to buy food. This is important because it means that this interaction between Christ and the Samaritan woman is private, personal. Many other times, Christ heals and teaches while His disciples watch, but this time, Christ approaches this woman alone. He asks her for "a drink," for her faith. Christ approaches each of us as members of the Church but also approaches each one of us as individuals. It is in this private moment that Christ is able to truly reveal Himself to the Samaritan woman, to call her to conversion, and to offer Himself to her. 

I'm praying for you!

:)