At that moment his disciples returned,
and were amazed that he was talking with a woman,
but still no one said, “What are you looking for?”
or “Why are you talking with her?”
The woman left her water jar
and went into the town and said to the people,
“Come see a man who told me everything I have done.
Could he possibly be the Christ?”
They went out of the town and came to him.

So, the apostles get back, and Jesus is talking to the woman, and they're really surprised. He is breaking social norms here after all. Although, it amazes me sometimes how amazed everyone is when Jesus does things that break social norms, considering how often He breaks them. Healing on the Sabbath, eating with tax collectors, stopping people from stoning a woman, telling parables such as the Good Samaritan. He does all these things, and His disciples are still "amazed" that He would talk to a woman. Why? Why do they not see the man before their very eyes? Often, we think, "It's so hard for me to know or recognize Christ, but if I could see Him, touch Him, hear Him, then I would know Him." His disciples saw Jesus. They touched Jesus. They heard Jesus. But they are still constantly amazed by Him. They think they know Him, but they still are blind to who He truly is. God's ways are far above our ways, and they are unfathomable. Even when God is present before us, as a human, as a friend, He still acts in ways that are mysterious to us.

They do not understand, but they also do not question Him. The disciples trust that Jesus has a reason to speak with the woman, although they do not know what it is, and they wonder, but they do not interfere.

The woman goes into town and tells everyone that Jesus has told her everything she has done. He has seen the truth about her and has told it to her. Remember her profession of faith - the Messiah will come and will tell us everything. Jesus tells her He is the Christ, and His words are backed up by the fact that He told her everything she had done. The second reading yesterday spoke about shining a light on things that are hidden in the darkness, exposing them to bring them into the light and cleanse them. He has brought her sins into the light, but she is not ashamed because of it. Rather, she rejoices that they have been exposed, that light has been brought into the darkness of her soul, that her soul may now live in the light. She does not proclaim Him as the Christ directly, but asks if He could be. She has been brought into the light and the truth, and now she speaks truthfully to everyone, not just Jesus. She is still unsure, although she suspects He is the Christ, and so she asks for everyone's confirmation. She also gives them the chance to investigate for themselves, to come to their own conclusions, to encounter Him personally as she has.

They went out of the town and came to Him. This woman is on the margins of society, an adulteress. If she went around town claiming to have met Christ, why would anyone listen to her? Because in the same breath with which she announced His presence, she confessed her sins. With joy. The light shining into her soul is now visible for everyone to see. Her sins have been exposed to the light and she is running through the town proclaiming it. He knows my sins. He told me everything I have done. If I saw this woman running through the streets, I'd run out to meet Jesus, too.

I'm praying for you!

:)