Clean Water for All God’s Children
Context:
This story is remarkable in many ways. It would have been surprising to Jesus’ disciples
that Jesus spoke to a
Samaritan
(Jews and Samaritans had longstanding enmity between
them), and the more so because she was a
woman
! Women were not to be spoken to in
public by anyone other than their husbands. And this woman was clearly a woman of ill
repute! Her appearance at the well in the hottest part of the day implies that she is not
welcome in the early morning when the other women would have gathered there. She is
an outcast. Finally, we are surprised that Jesus would ask her for a drink. First, this
indicates that Jesus feels all of the discomforts of any human being. But more than that,
it is surprising because sharing a drink of water is an act of some intimacy, not befitting a
proper Jew of that time! Jesus breaks all the rules!
There is the obvious point to this story, which is that Jesus is here revealing himself not
only to the Jews, but to the whole world (as symbolized by this sinful woman) as the
source of life-giving power. It is from this story that
Living Waters for the World
takes
its motto: “Jesus Christ is Living Water for our Bodies and our Souls”.
But there is another, more subtle point that you should try to expose. Jesus is
thirsty
, and
he asks for a drink of water! Too often, we focus on the water that Jesus gives to the
woman, and forget that Jesus asks this woman to give
him
a drink of real, actual H
2
O!
When we read this scripture in the light of Matthew 25:35,45 (“...I was thirsty, and you
gave me something to drink... truly I tell you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least
of these, you did it to me.”), we understand that Jesus is asking
us
to give a
drink of water to
him
, and by extrapolation, he is asking us to bring clean
water to ‘the least of these’, who are, in fact, the body of Christ. This is a
powerful image!
The backdrop of the courtyard can be used with this story. You may wish
to create a ‘well’, and use a rope, bucket or water jug, and cup as you tell
the story. Before you begin the story, ask the children if they are thirsty.
Wouldn’t a nice drink of water taste good right now? (A little
psychological suggestion to help them identify with Jesus’ thirst!)
Story:
It was hot. The sun was shining and there was no shade. When the people in the town
needed water, they walked to the well just outside the town. All the women went to get
water in the morning when it was cool. All the women, except one. The people in the
town didn’t like her very much. So she went to the well at noon, when no one else wanted
to go because it was so hot.
The jug was heavy even without any water in it. It would be more difficult to carry when
it was filled with water. She sighed as she set the jug down beside the well. She was sad
and lonely. As she looked up, she saw a man sitting near the well. He wasn’t a Samaritan
like her. She didn’t know who he was. “Excuse me,” he said, “could you please draw me
a drink of water. I’m thirsty and I don’t have a cup.”
Day 5: Bible Story
The Woman at the Well (John 4)
Idea:
You may want to
have a narrator, a
man, and a woman
tell this story.