John 4:7-12: a reflection

7A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. 9The Samaritan woman therefore said to him, “How is it that you, being a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 11The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. So where do you get that living water? 12Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his children and his livestock?”

When Jesus, tired from his journey, sits at a well in Samaria and asks a Samaritan woman for a drink, he crosses barriers that convention said should not be crossed. The woman herself is astonished: How is it that you, being a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman? For Jews had no dealings with Samaritans, and a respected teacher did not speak so with a woman alone. Yet Jesus crossed these barriers of ethnicity and convention to engage her, to reach her, to offer her the living water. He did not let the walls that divided keep him from her; he crossed them to bring her the gift of God.

Notice how Jesus crossed the barriers that divided to reach her. Convention said a Jew should have no dealings with a Samaritan, and that a respected man should not engage a woman alone; the barriers of ethnicity and custom stood between them. But Jesus crossed them. He spoke to her, engaged her, offered her living water, reaching across the walls that divided to bring her the gift of God. He did not let the barriers that others kept keep him from reaching this outsider; he crossed them for her sake. The one whom convention would have kept at a distance, Jesus reached, crossing the dividing walls to offer her what she needed. He reached across the barriers to bring her grace.

That is worth resting in, for Christ crosses the barriers that divide to reach us, whoever we are. We can feel kept at a distance from God by barriers, of our background, our history, our sense of being outsiders, unworthy, on the wrong side of some divide; but Christ crossed the barriers to reach the Samaritan woman, offering her living water. Christ reaches across the dividing walls to reach people, not letting them keep him from us. No barrier keeps Christ from reaching those he would bring near. When you feel kept from God by some barrier, remember that Christ crosses the walls that divide to reach us, as he reached the Samaritan woman. Rest in the truth that Christ crosses the barriers that divide to reach you, whoever you are and whatever seems to keep you at a distance, as he crossed ethnicity and convention to engage the Samaritan woman and offer her living water; for no barrier keeps Christ from reaching those he would bring near, and he crosses the walls that divide to reach us with the gift of God.

Lord Jesus, when you, tired from your journey, sit at a well in Samaria and ask a Samaritan woman for a drink, you cross barriers that convention said should not be crossed. The woman herself is astonished: how is it that you, being a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman? For Jews had no dealings with Samaritans, and a respected teacher did not speak so with a woman alone. Yet you crossed these barriers of ethnicity and convention to engage her, to reach her, to offer her the living water. Show me how you crossed the barriers that divided to reach her. Convention said a Jew should have no dealings with a Samaritan, and that a respected man should not engage a woman alone; the barriers stood between them. But you crossed them. You spoke to her, engaged her, offered her living water, reaching across the walls that divided to bring her the gift of God. You did not let the barriers that others kept keep you from reaching this outsider. The one whom convention would have kept at a distance, you reached. Let me rest in that, for you cross the barriers that divide to reach me, whoever I am. I can feel kept at a distance from you by barriers, of my background, my history, my sense of being an outsider, unworthy, on the wrong side of some divide; but you crossed the barriers to reach the Samaritan woman. No barrier keeps you from reaching those you would bring near. When I feel kept from you by some barrier, help me remember that you cross the walls that divide to reach us, Lord, as you reached the Samaritan woman and offered her living water.