His Animals? - October 21, 2010

Good Thursday morning! Flirting with the freezing mark again, but not quite there yet. 2010 is definitely easing us into the winter, but arrive it will. What does the lady at the well have to say this morning?

"And besides, do you think you're greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his animals enjoyed?" John 4:12

First she questions his lack of tools, and then his word. Finally, she wants to know who does Jesus think he is, and how in the world he can offer better water than her own historical well. My first question was, "What do the animals have to do with it?" It's like the woman is assembling a cast of thousands on her side, even to the point of calling down generations of sheep and goats as witnesses. I wonder what has gone on in this woman's life that makes her so ready to argue? I can imagine Jesus answering with something like, "Animals? What do the animals have to do with it?" Okay, maybe I'm the only one who would be distracted by the animals in her question. That well must have been a good one though to last for centuries watering Jacob, his sons, and his animals. Of course, the woman at the well might have made a good trial attorney too: "30 generations of animals agree that this well is good, you honor! It has been handed down to us by Jacob and his sons and his animals!"

My Bible notes say that the well was a deep hole where the water seeped up from rain and dew. I don't know how they know this, but perhaps the well was more than that in Jacob's day. The spring that fed the well in ancient times may have been lost long ago, or the artesian water dried up over the centuries. While I have learned not to question the Bible, the study notes made many centuries later are fair game. We don't know what may have made this well so good, but we do know this Samaritan woman was proud of her heritage from Jacob. We also know that God gives all things good to us, and that whatever mechanism makes the well so good is not as important as giving thanks to God is. We shouldn't miss the message of Jesus by wondering about the mechanism...or the animals. Like this woman, we also have a tendency to question the messenger when the message seems beyond our understanding.

If a person came to your town and presented an odd-looking device saying, "This will provide clean, green, power to your town forever!" We would immediately start questioning where the device came from, what exactly the mechanism and energy source was, how safe the device might be, and many other questions. It might take a child to ask the obvious: How do we connect to it? Jesus brought a new message to town about eternal life. People like Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman didn't get it right away, but we can learn from their lack of understanding when Jesus takes the time to explain this new message of His. What we need to make sure other people know is how to connect to this life changing message that Jesus brings to all of us.

Glory to God on this fine Thursday morning!

Bucky