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Bible Study, Prayer, and Homily Resources
by Fr. Tommy Lane
We have been reading the Gospel of Matthew up to now this year. Today, and for the next two Sundays, we read the Gospel of John. Today we heard about Jesus meeting the woman at the well in Samaria (John 4). Next Sunday we will hear about Jesus curing the blind man (John 9) and two weeks from now we will hear about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead (John 11). These three characters in the Gospel of John—the woman offered living water by Jesus at the well, the blind man healed, and Lazarus raised up—remind us of what happens to us in baptism. We receive the living water of the Holy Spirit like the woman, we receive the light of Jesus like the blind man, and raising Lazarus reminds us we are promised eternal life by Jesus. We read these Gospels in Lent because hundreds of thousands around the world are preparing to be baptized during the Easter Vigil.
The woman came to the well to draw water at midday. This was unusual because women normally went to the well in the morning before the heat of the day and they went together as a group. It seems this woman was excluded by the other women of the town. Why might that be? Maybe she was excluded by the other women or excluded herself because, as Jesus said to her, she already had five husbands and the one she is with now is not her husband. Whatever the reason, Jesus was full of forgiveness and love for her. That is the way Jesus treats us also—with forgiveness and love.
Jesus had to get the woman to open her heart to him. That was not easy since she was a Samaritan and prejudiced against Jesus because he was a Jew. During the conversation, she progressed from calling him a “Jew,” to calling him “Sir,” to calling him “a prophet,” and finally wondering if he might be “the Messiah.” Just like we can peel off the layers of an onion to get to the center, or peel off the petals of a rose to get to the middle, Jesus had to peel off her layers of resistance and bias to allow her accept his offer of living water. What about us? Does Jesus have to peel off layers of resistance or bias in us? Receiving the living water, the Holy Spirit at baptism, was the beginning. The Lord wants us to allow him more and more into our lives. In the last book of the Bible, Revelation, Jesus says,
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and
opens the door, I will enter his house and dine with him, and he
with me. (Rev 3:20)
Perhaps you have seen the carving of Jesus knocking on a wooden door, on a street between Passau cathedral and the river. Jesus offered the woman living water, but he also thirsted for her faith. He thirsts for our faith also.
© Fr. Tommy Lane 2020
This homily was delivered near Regensburg while on a research sabbatical.
More Homilies for the Third Sunday Year A
God has a plan that we find our identity in Christ 2011
Putting the picture of Jesus back together again during Lent 2008
Drink the Living Water of Jesus and you will never again thirst
stories about conversion