John 4:1-6: in context

As Jesus travels from Judea to Galilee, he passes through Samaria and comes to a town called Sychar, near Jacob's well. And the account gives a small but telling detail: Jesus, being tired from his journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon. The Son of God, the eternal Word through whom all things were made, sat down by a well, weary from walking, tired and needing to rest. In this small detail we glimpse the full humanity of Jesus, who grew tired, thirsty, and weary as we do.

The detail that Jesus was tired from his journey is easy to pass over, but it opens a window onto a profound truth: the full humanity of the Son of God. Jesus was not only divine but fully human, and his humanity was real, not a pretense. He grew tired from walking, as we do; he sat down weary by the well; he knew thirst, hunger, weariness, the frailties of the human body. The eternal Son, in becoming human, took on our full humanity, including its weakness and weariness. He did not merely appear human; he was human, tired by a journey like any of us. This is both a wonder and a comfort. It is a wonder: that the Son of God, through whom all things were made, would take on our humanity so fully as to grow tired from walking, to sit weary by a well, to share our human frailty. The incarnation is not a partial or pretended humanity but a real one; he became fully like us, sharing our weakness. And it is a comfort: because Jesus shared our humanity fully, he understands our weakness and weariness from within, not from a distance. We do not have a high priest, Hebrews says, who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who was in every respect tempted as we are. Because he was tired as we are, he understands our tiredness; because he knew our frailty, he sympathizes with it. Our Lord is not distant from our weakness but has shared it. This assures us that we come to a Savior who understands us. When we are weary, worn out, frail, we do not come to a God who is distant from such weakness, unable to understand it; we come to the Christ who was tired from his journey, who knew our frailty from within, who shares and understands our weakness. He had to be made like his brothers in all things, Hebrews says, so that he might be a merciful high priest. His full humanity means he understands and sympathizes with ours. This calls us to bring our weakness and weariness to the Christ who shared them and understands. Jesus, tired from his journey, sat by the well, sharing fully in our human frailty; and because he knew our weakness from within, he understands and sympathizes with ours. Let us bring our tiredness, our frailty, our weakness to the Savior who was tired as we are, who took on our full humanity, and who understands our weakness not from a distance but from within, a merciful high priest who has shared our frailty and sympathizes with it.

When I am weary, worn out, and frail, do I imagine God is distant from such weakness and unable to understand it, or can the small detail that Jesus, tired from his journey, sat down by the well assure me that the Son of God took on our full humanity, sharing our frailty and weariness, so that he understands my weakness from within rather than from a distance, moving me to bring my tiredness and frailty to the Savior who was tired as I am and sympathizes with my weakness as a merciful high priest?