The Samaritan Woman
Tradition calls the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4 “Photina,” that is, “the enlightened one.” Her story shows a dramatic turn: a discouraged outcast receives the light of truth about Christ and immediately becomes an enthusiastic evangelist. She finds Jesus at the well in the loneliest part of the day and he surprises her by asking for a drink, despite the cultural taboos. He takes her experiences and questions seriously and offers her “living water.”
The pairing of this story with Moses striking the rock is ingenious. In the Exodus reading, the thirsty Israelites are in the desert and Moses cries out to God for water. God instructs him to strike the rock with his staff and water miraculously gushes forth. God says, “I will be standing there in front of you on the rock,” directing the blow to just the right spot.
By analogy, then, the woman is the rock while Christ is Moses, while yet also being God “standing there in front of you.” Jesus strikes the rock, seeking the reservoir of faith hidden, and she responds generously, even gushingly. She runs back into her town of Sychar, telling everyone, “Come see a man who told me everything I have done. Could he possibly be the Messiah?” The town turns out to be another great reservoir, ready to be found. As Christ says in John 7:38, “Whoever believes in me, as scripture says: ‘Rivers of living water will flow from within him.’”
Take a moment to pause and picture yourself as a rock in the desert. Ask Christ to seek and find your hidden reservoir of faith. Do you fear the blow? Or do you fear that your well-spring is dry? Then ask him to fill it, saying with Photina, “Sir, give me this water.”
Katy Wehr
Managing Editor, Logos: A Journal of Catholic Thought and Culture
Center for Catholic Studies
For a different musical reflection on this passage, listen to my song “The Samaritan Woman” from my 2018 album of songs about women in the Gospels, And All the Marys.
