Rev Dr Janet Wootton reflects on how the Samaritan woman learned from Jesus and went on to teach others in a study of John 4.4-42
Begin this Bible study by taking a piece of blank paper and drawing a large circle in the middle of it. Jesus and the Samaritan woman are inside the circle. Outside is the rest of the world from which Jesus and the woman have temporarily withdrawn.
Write in the circle some of the things discussed by Jesus and the woman. Then draw some arrows from outside, which puncture the circle. These are the influences from outside. What are they? Finally, draw some arrows starting inside the circle and going out into the world. How did the conversation between Jesus and the woman influence others, and who are they?
Example
The conversation between Jesus and the unnamed woman is a beautiful example of teaching and learning. The woman is intelligent and keen to learn. Jesus follows her train of thought and always leads her further. For both of them, the encounter is completely unexpected, and against all the rules.
Some of the arrows that pierce the circle from outside are poisonous with outrage. The woman is astonished to be addressed by a Jew. The disciples are horrified to find Jesus talking to a woman. There are hints, in the fact that the woman is living an unconventional lifestyle and in the fact that she draws her water alone in the heat of the day, that her community regards her as an outcast.
But Jesus and the woman also have a shared heritage, which gives them a starting point. The conversation begins with a request for water, but soon moves into different territory. Read it again, and look at the way it moves. Jesus offers living water; the woman refers to Jacob, the patriarch and provider of the well; but Jesus can offer the water of life, access to a different tradition and spirituality.
When Jesus asks the woman to call her husband, she turns the conversation back to matters of faith. She and Jesus hold a breathtaking theological discussion, which ends in the extremely rare declaration by Jesus that he is the Messiah.
Then the disciples come back. Now arrows start moving from the circle out into the surrounding world. The woman goes back to her village. Meanwhile, Jesus tries to share with his disciples the astonishing thing that has just happened. "Open your eyes," Jesus says to them. Maybe his eyes have been opened by his conversation with the Samaritan woman in the same way they seem to have been in his conversation with the Syrophoenician woman, found in Mark 7.24-30.
And sure enough, the woman comes back with her fellow villagers. Having shown herself to be a perceptive student, she proves to be a quick and excellent teacher. The woman's teaching process is complete when she introduces her students to the source of her knowledge and they begin to learn, not for her sake, but for their own.
In this episode, Jesus engaged with a woman in a wide-ranging theological conversation, watched her go off to teach others, and bring them to him. And he used the example of their conversation to teach the disciples. As so often, he transcended the barrier of gender – among others – which would have outlawed the whole encounter.
If you put yourself in the circle with Jesus, what are the arrows pointing down at you? What kind of learning conversation do you have with Jesus? And who then are you called to share your enthusiasm and your knowledge with?