Encounter at the Well

Dawn light was starting to come in the windows. Mahlah tried to squeeze her eyelids tightly closed against the light, but finally gave up and opened them. She looked around the dingy room, her eyes burning and dry. She reached up a quick hand to rub them. She shut her eyelids for a little welcome break before facing another day.

When she next opened them, her full bladder forced her to get out of bed. She efficiently tended to business, and cursed at the little water remaining in the pitcher. She would have go go to the well again today. Yesterday’s dishes were stacked in the sink, and the entire house was covered with a fine layer of dust. She would not only have to go, but make the trip several times to bring back sufficient water.

She looked for something she could eat for her breakfast. It looked as if Aaron had already left for the day. His breakfast dishes were still on the table, so she carried them over to the sink area. Mahlah reached up for the last pieces of bread, and tore off a piece. She tried to chew and swallow it, but her mouth was too dry, so she gave up after a few bites.

Mahlah surveyed the empty room seeing the marks of Aaron’s presence, and felt grateful that at least this man didn’t beat her. He was nice enough to her, and he had shared his house and his bed with her. There had been many men not nearly so generous. Starting with her father. He had thrown her out of his house when she was just 12, which had begun her seemingly endless life of desperation. But Aaron was, at least, carelessly kind to her.

She went to their bedroom and finished dressing for the day. She walked to the door and bent down for her shoes. How would she kill the time until the other women had finished at the well? She couldn’t face them this morning, no matter how thirsty she was. Besides, the head man of their village had threatened her if she went for water too early, while the other women were there. She wasn’t really too fearful, because she knew he, too, had shameful secrets, but it was all very unpleasant. It was much simpler to just stay out of people’s way, not draw attention to herself.

She decided she would go for a long walk, and grabbed some more bread to take with her. It was early afternoon before she came back to the house to pick up the jar and start the process of getting enough water. As she got closer, she saw a man just sitting there. Strange…..men shouldn’t be here at this time of day. As she got closer, she saw that he was Jewish. Against her will, her body tensed. Something very unpleasant must be happening. Was it a scouting mission for something bad? What was a Jew doing deep in Samaritan territory? But her thirst and desperation kept moving her forward. She tried to move slowly and quietly, to pose no threat to this strange man. When she got had finally gotten close enough for him to see her approach, he spoke.

“Will you get me a drink?” She stopped in startled surprise, then answered “You are a Jew. I am a Samaritan! How can you ask me for a drink?” Surely this would be an end to their discussion.

There was no immediate reply and she looked around. He was all alone. She was guarded, fear rising up. Nothing like this had ever happened to her before. She tried to think: what was his game? Was he just like every other man, looking for a woman to take advantage of? Or…..she saw that he had no jar of his own. Could he just be thirsty? Could it possibly be that simple?

Then the man spoke again: “If you knew the gift of God and who is asking you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

Imperceptibly she relaxed, sensing no violent intent on his part. True, his words made no sense. Clearly he had been driven insane by heat and thirst. She drew herself up and answered coolly “Sir, you have nothing to draw with and this well is deep. What are you talking about? Where can you get this “living water?” Are you greater than our father Jacob who gave us this well? Who drank from it himself, along with his sons, their flocks and herds?”

The man answered “Everyone who drinks from this well thirsts again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

She stared, baffled but intrigued by what he said. Could it be? Something about his use of the term “living water” rang a bell, but her more immediate concern was her terrible thirst, and the possibility of a release from her need to fetch water forever! Did this man hold the secret to an eternal source of water somewhere?

She cried “Sir, give me this water so I will never be thirsty and won’t have to come and draw water anymore!!

But instead he just said “Go get your husband.”

Stung, she pulled back. Angry tears rose to her eyes. She should have known. He was just like all the men she had ever met, playing a cruel trick to mock and shame her. Softly she mumbled, “I have no husband.” She hung her head, eyes tightly closed, waiting for the angry words. She would survive it again, she always had.

But to her surprise he was still speaking gently. “You are correct when you say you have no husband. You have had five husbands, and the man you are with now is not your husband. What you say is true.”

Stunned she stared at him. Who was this Jewish stranger? How did he know these things about her? Had he been gossiping in the village? But Aaron would have known about it! A Jew in a Samaritan village was an event to set everyone to talking. He must be one of those Israelite prophets, then. She had heard about these people.

She tried to phrase her next sentence with the utmost respect. “Sir, I can see you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain but you Jews claim that the place we must worship is in Jerusalem.”

She felt a little thrill of worry at her confrontational words. He was a Jewish man of much higher rank, clearly. The least he might do if she had offended him was strike her, or make her leave the well without her water. She waited for his next sentence.

Yet his next words, far from the angry discipline she was expecting, came softly, but firmly. He told her that the time was coming when Samaritans and Jews would worship together, in spirit and truth, and taught with a clarity and wisdom she had never heard before. Impulsively she blurted “I know that the Messiah is coming! When he comes, he will explain everything to us!”

The man’s next words came: “I who speak to you am He.”

She was speechless, staring in wonder. In her peripheral vision, she saw several other men approaching. They stopped near the man and stood gaping at her. She didn’t sense a threat from them, but they were clearly taken aback.

Suddenly she leapt to her feet. Forgetting her water jar, Mahlah ran as fast as she could back to the village. Disturbed by this unexpected commotion, the people came to their doors staring in wonder. In the grip of strong emotions, she stammered out the story. Tears streamed down her face, making dark streaks through the dust and landing on the ground at her feet. Their faces, at first hardened into masks of annoyance, gradually lightened with joy and wonder. People started running toward the well, one at a time then forming into loose groups. Excited yells and singing came drifting back.

They found the man still there, along with his disciples, and ushered them back to the village. Everyone was talking excitedly, and Mahlah felt a warmth that had nothing to do with the heat outside. The man paused when he got to her, and they looked into each other’s eyes. Then he motioned to her, and they went in together to the head man’s house to finally get the drink of water she’d been needing all day.

Author’s Note: As usual, every detail that the gospel of John gives is included. I fleshed out the story from a combination of biblical knowledge and my own vivid imagination. It is strictly for entertainment purposes and your private meditation.