John 14:1-15
Jesus asks her for a drink of water. Her!
It pours over me like the first light of dawn.
It’s just like him. The divine one willing to pour his limitless self into baby-flesh wouldn’t consider anything like this beneath him. None of us can sink so low that he would be unwilling to meet us there in the burning heat of the day.
And he did it raw. Getting to her made him hot, tired and thirsty.
His request puts her above him, his benefactor.
What a collage of conditions! Thirst, fatigue, heat, ostracism, timing, disregard for reputation and protocol, shame, defiance, chutzpah, wittiness, surprise, earnestness, glee! The collage creates a container roomy enough for any of us at any time in any state.
The intelligent thrust-for-thrust repartee makes the way for reciprocity and sweet mutuality – how unexpected, how breathtaking is that?! A drink of cool well water for him; a bubbling-up spring of running, dancing, leaping, gurgling, singing, living water for her. And both of them refreshed and replete.
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