Jesus as Bridegroom 3rd Sunday in Lent Year A
Exodus 17:3-7; Romans 5:1-2, 5-8; John 4:5-42
Today’s Gospel passage describes Jesus meeting a Samaritan woman drawing water from a well at noon, “the sixth hour”. The Old Testament contains several passages that provide interpretive context for today’s Gospel passage. These Old Testament passages describe a woman meeting a man while drawing water from a well. In each case, a man meets a woman at a well; she is asked to marry; she agrees, and they are married.
More specifically, at the request of Abraham, Abraham’s servant found Rebekah at a well, asked her brother, Laban, and her father, Bethuel, to give her in marriage to Abraham’s son, Isaac; Rebekah is given and marries Isaac. (Genesis 24). Another example involves Jacob. Jacob meets Rachel at a well; Jacob asks Laban, Rachel’s father, to marry Rachel, and, eventually, Jacob marries Rachel. (Genesis 29). One other example involves Moses. Moses meets Zipporah at a well and, with the consent of Zipporah’s father, marries her (Exodus 2).
As Brant Pitre puts it, if you are reading a Scripture passage in which a man goes to a well to meet a woman, the outcome of the meeting will likely be a marriage. In other words, if there is a man, a well, and a woman in a Scripture passage, a wedding will likely follow.[1]
When we turn to the gospel passage, we will encounter Jesus, a Samaritan woman, and a well. By going to a well and meeting a woman at the well, Jesus appears to be acting in a way that leads to a marriage, but in Jesus’ case, the marriage he sought was not a physical marriage but a spiritual one.
Interestingly, the woman Jesus related to at the well was a known public sinner. This is indicated by the woman going alone at noon to collect well water. According to Pitre, women and children were usually assigned to collect water early in the morning or in the evening.[2] A reason that the Samaritan woman goes alone at the hottest time to draw water from a well could be that she is an outcast, and, consequently, this is the only time she can collect water. Her sin seems to be having married five husbands consecutively, and the man she is living with currently, Jesus says, “is not your husband.”
The woman with her sinful past is precisely the woman Jesus chooses to meet at a well and offer the gift of eternal life. Jesus promises her, “the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” Interestingly, Pitre comments that, prior to being married, Jewish women needed to wash in living waters, such as water from a spring, rather than stagnant waters.[3]
To spiritually marry Jesus, though, means that the woman needs to leave her five husbands behind, needs to leave her false Gods behind, by choosing to marry Jesus, by choosing true love over false love.
Jesus offers us living waters, waters that will quench our thirst. To drink these living waters, and remain in relationship with Jesus, though, requires that we choose the true love Jesus offers us while saying no to the false loves that we often pursue and which always disappoint us. Lord Jesus, grant us the grace, grant us the strength to say yes to you, and your truthful ways that will quench our spiritual thirst. May God Bless You All – Father Peter
[1] Brant Pitre, “3rd Sunday in Lent (Year A),” catholicproductions.com.
[2] Brant Pitre, “3rd Sunday in Lent (Year A),” catholicproductions.com.
[3] Brant Pitre, “3rd Sunday in Lent (Year A),” catholicproductions.com.
Catholic Evangelization 