The central figure of the Gospel is the Samaritan Woman and through her we encounter God’s mercy. To appreciate this immensity of this encounter and the scale of the animosity between the Jews and Samaritans we survey a situation that is taking place right now some thousands of kilometres away. It seems that Starbucks is not doing too well in this country. I hear that McDonald’s is suffering too. Post 7th Oct 2023 and the Gaza invasion, the rancour between the Jews and the Palestinians has cut even deeper that here some thousands of kilometres away, the animosity is palpable economically. Translate that kind of animosity to the Jews and the Samaritans.
From this perspective, the conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman sounds contrived because it is not something which should have happened. He, an observant Jew, should not be seen speaking to a Samaritan, let alone a woman. It would have rendered Him unclean. Yet we are brought deep into the conversation between these two characters.
The woman was an outcast three times over. Firstly, a Samaritan. Secondly, a woman. Thirdly, a woman with many husbands. Jesus did not reject her based on any of these stipulations. Instead, He led her on a conversion journey. Firstly through a natural thirst for water. Secondly to seeing how He Himself will quench her deepest longings. Thirdly, He led her to recognise her sinfulness. Fourthly, she became a messenger of the good news to her other countryfolks.
Mercy is the name of God. Bismillah ir-Rahman, ir-Rahim. In the name of God the most gracious and the most merciful. In fact the word for womb is rahim in Malay and it shares the same etymology with another word Malaysians should know about. “Sumbangan asas rahmah”; rahmah being an Arabic word for compassion or care. God is merciful.
In the encounter with the Samaritan woman, Christ reaches out to her, without condemnation. And yet He did not leave her unjudged. We are uncomfortable with the idea of judging because it is associated with the idea of superiority and at the same time, making a judgement draws lines. We do not like those lines especially when they seem to infringe on our personal freedom. In judging, the Lord merely pointed out to her the reality or truth. He stated it only as a matter of fact and not as a condemnation. Due to His gentle coaxing, she admitted her state which was unacceptable even from the view of her people, the Samaritans themselves. This brings us to the Elect.
In their catechetical journey thus far, they are brought to the experience of water and to know the well from where they drink. The Samaritan woman drank not just from the well of ostracisation. She who had to carry water from the well in the hot noon-day sun was not welcomed by her other women-folk of the village. Not only was she isolated. In fact, she thought her thirst could be slaked by the husbands she had accumulated in her life. Here at the well, she had to face the probing questions of Jesus about her state of life, just as the Elect and in a way, we who have been baptised, are.
Where are our wells and what is the quality of the water that we are drinking? We are definitely not ostracised, at least, not in the moral or spiritual sense. We might be excluded academically, economically, racially or technologically. But in the matter of sin, except for a few heinous crimes, the sin of the Samaritan woman in having one husband too many, will not cause that much of a stir amongst us. Who are we to judge, right?
Perhaps we are too accustomed to accepting that any liquid will do the job of slaking one’s thirst. It does not matter what the source is except that we are quenched. Yet the woman at the well intuitively asked for the water to fulfil her so that she may not have to thirst again. At first what she asked for was basically a kind of water that would prevent her from coming back to the well. Never mind the cessation of ostracisation. Later as the conversation continued, she was led to the heart of her thirst, which is for the water of eternal life. At this point, Christ presented Himself as the source of eternal life.
Shamefully, I bought a lovely kettle the other day. I already have an electric hot-water pot. Shopee delivered it and as soon as I had it unpacked, I sort of thought to myself, why did I buy it? Our shopping experience is rather telling because it gives us a glimpse into how our rational faculty works.
Jesus presented Himself as the water of eternal life. But more than water, she was led to know Him personally. Her experience begs the question of how our faculty of knowledge can be honed.
In an economy driven by information, we think of knowledge as facts and the more facts we gather, the more we know. But to know is to basically to know the truth. Since Jesus spoke of Himself as the Way, the Truth and the Life, to know is to really to know Him personally, like the Samaritan woman got to. If the faculty of knowing is geared towards knowing Jesus, then we will never knowingly choose evil. It is only when we do not really “know” that we will choose what is evil. In other words, nobody in the right frame of mind, in terms of the faculty of knowing, will choose what is evil.
At the well, the Samaritan woman slowly came to a personal realisation of Jesus who presented Himself as the water that wells up to eternal life. Our Elect too must make the journey of knowledge. If the well symbolises a journey towards knowledge, then, knowledge cannot be measured by the accumulation of more facts or data. We are not wiser because of them. To know is to know truth, beauty and goodness. Since no one knowingly chooses evil, then those who commit evil can only be explained by an ignorance that mistakes evil for good.
People think that knowledge is neutral as if it is something to be acquired. But knowledge is not neutral because there are facts we should never know of. For example, someone’s personal diary can be so thrilling to read but once you know something you cannot “unknow” it and there are some secrets we should never know. The point is once you know you cannot unknow or ignore.
In summary, evil is mistaken as good for those who do not know or are ignorant. For the Samaritan woman, hers was a pilgrimage of mercy which gradually allowed her to recognise her sins. In her physical thirst, she came to more than a realisation of water as necessary for life. Christ mercy shown hergave her courage to move on. More than that, by knowing that Jesus as the source of life, in turn she led others to the proper well that gives life, Jesus Christ Himself.
