John 4:1-42 sermon "The Woman at the Well" by Dr. Bob Utley, retired professor of hermeneutics (Bible interpretation). Delivered at Lakeside Baptist Church, Dallas, Texas.
This woman at the well isn’t broken by any means. First of all, the circumstances of this pericope is an allusion to Genesis 38, when Tamar tricks Judah into keeping his obligation to provide her offspring to continue his line and to ensure her economic welfare. The fact that this occurs at Jacob’s Well should be the tell-tale for the discerning pilgrim. The woman comes to the well to get pregnant. She has had children from five men and she wants another. It is part of her social security. She is either with a man that has been unable to accomplish this task or she is content with a convenient target of opportunity. She hasn’t come out to the well to avoid the slander of her neighbors: the response of the village after she returns from the well isn’t one of disdain for a “fallen women” but an immediate acceptance of her proclamation as they stream out of the village to meet this prophet. She has come out to the oasis because a traveler has pulled up and she wants to get pregnant. The dialogue between Jesus and the woman begins as a flirtation. She assumes he is making a pass at her and she teases him. If there was a sound track, it would be playing Shania Twain’s “That Don’t Impress Me Much” while she jousts with Jesus’ claims of status. But the music changes to the hook of Ace to Base’s “All She Wants Is Another Baby” at Mark 4:13, when the metaphor of “water” takes on the procreative turn she is seeking. From her perspective, “living water” is a metaphor for intercourse and the economics of her situation, that is, a woman seeking another child for her own future welfare, compels her to seek out this “living water” But, of course, Jesus isn’t talking about an erotic interlude, but is addressing the specific issue she has brought to him: her desire for a bun in the oven. “If your husband is shooting blanks, bring him to me and I’ll fix him” is the subtext to the converstational theme, which, of course, she demurs “I have not husband”. She is not a Jew: she is sufficient unto herself and content with that circumstance. Which provides Jesus the opportunity to demonstrate who He is, first by a recitation of her history of polyandry, then, by a brief recitation of His theology and then, when she comments on the Samaritan’s racial memory of the coming of the Jewish Messiah, Jesus explicitly reveals HImself as the fulfillment of this memory and emphasizes the point by making her pregnant in the same way the Holy Ghost made His made His Mother pregnant. At that moment of intense intimacy, His disciples arrive and break the spell. And, again, the music changes to Natalie Merchant’s theme song from the Lilith Fair, “Kind and Generous” as the woman dances away to carry this stunning revelation to her neighbors in the village, forgetting her water bottle. . She hasn’t been shamed by Jesus, but validated and, if she needed it, empowered to inspire her neighbors to IMMEDIATELY drop everything to come out and meet this prophet. She’s not chagrin in the least. She is giddy with the loveliness of her encounter with Jesus and the baptism of the Spirit of God which made her pregnant. In this last task, she anticipates Mary Magdalene running from the tomb to announce His resurrection and completes the hat trick of representing an allusion to Tamar, a self-empowered woman, Mary, Mother of God, who magnifies the Glory of The Lord, and Mary Magdalene, who brought the word of the Messiah to her world. This isn’t a portrait of a damaged woman seeking salvation from her shame, but a strong and self-reliant woman whose life is sanctified by salvation and glorified by this sanctification. This is not the Gospel of Shame required by TULIP, but the arrival of the Kingdom of Heaven in Sychar in the womb of this woman. And, like Mike Pense, His disciples are horrified that He was in extremely intimate circumstance with a gentile woman. It’s one thing for His disciples to misapprehend the circumstances of His ministry before the fact, but 2000 years later, the interpretation of this pericope according the Gospel of Shame is far more the gender politics that continues to pollute Christianity than the theological rigtheousness it claims to represent. It’s the same theology that informed Roy Moore’s supporters. The Kingdom of Heaven is salvation as a process of sanctification. It’s not what you do to JUSTIFY salvation but what you do BECAUSE of salvation.
Thanks for this vid, very good serman!
This woman at the well isn’t broken by any means. First of all, the circumstances of this pericope is an allusion to Genesis 38, when Tamar tricks Judah into keeping his obligation to provide her offspring to continue his line and to ensure her economic welfare. The fact that this occurs at Jacob’s Well should be the tell-tale for the discerning pilgrim.
The woman comes to the well to get pregnant. She has had children from five men and she wants another. It is part of her social security. She is either with a man that has been unable to accomplish this task or she is content with a convenient target of opportunity. She hasn’t come out to the well to avoid the slander of her neighbors: the response of the village after she returns from the well isn’t one of disdain for a “fallen women” but an immediate acceptance of her proclamation as they stream out of the village to meet this prophet. She has come out to the oasis because a traveler has pulled up and she wants to get pregnant.
The dialogue between Jesus and the woman begins as a flirtation. She assumes he is making a pass at her and she teases him. If there was a sound track, it would be playing Shania Twain’s “That Don’t Impress Me Much” while she jousts with Jesus’ claims of status. But the music changes to the hook of Ace to Base’s “All She Wants Is Another Baby” at Mark 4:13, when the metaphor of “water” takes on the procreative turn she is seeking. From her perspective, “living water” is a metaphor for intercourse and the economics of her situation, that is, a woman seeking another child for her own future welfare, compels her to seek out this “living water”
But, of course, Jesus isn’t talking about an erotic interlude, but is addressing the specific issue she has brought to him: her desire for a bun in the oven. “If your husband is shooting blanks, bring him to me and I’ll fix him” is the subtext to the converstational theme, which, of course, she demurs “I have not husband”. She is not a Jew: she is sufficient unto herself and content with that circumstance.
Which provides Jesus the opportunity to demonstrate who He is, first by a recitation of her history of polyandry, then, by a brief recitation of His theology and then, when she comments on the Samaritan’s racial memory of the coming of the Jewish Messiah, Jesus explicitly reveals HImself as the fulfillment of this memory and emphasizes the point by making her pregnant in the same way the Holy Ghost made His made His Mother pregnant.
At that moment of intense intimacy, His disciples arrive and break the spell. And, again, the music changes to Natalie Merchant’s theme song from the Lilith Fair, “Kind and Generous” as the woman dances away to carry this stunning revelation to her neighbors in the village, forgetting her water bottle. . She hasn’t been shamed by Jesus, but validated and, if she needed it, empowered to inspire her neighbors to IMMEDIATELY drop everything to come out and meet this prophet. She’s not chagrin in the least. She is giddy with the loveliness of her encounter with Jesus and the baptism of the Spirit of God which made her pregnant.
In this last task, she anticipates Mary Magdalene running from the tomb to announce His resurrection and completes the hat trick of representing an allusion to Tamar, a self-empowered woman, Mary, Mother of God, who magnifies the Glory of The Lord, and Mary Magdalene, who brought the word of the Messiah to her world. This isn’t a portrait of a damaged woman seeking salvation from her shame, but a strong and self-reliant woman whose life is sanctified by salvation and glorified by this sanctification. This is not the Gospel of Shame required by TULIP, but the arrival of the Kingdom of Heaven in Sychar in the womb of this woman.
And, like Mike Pense, His disciples are horrified that He was in extremely intimate circumstance with a gentile woman. It’s one thing for His disciples to misapprehend the circumstances of His ministry before the fact, but 2000 years later, the interpretation of this pericope according the Gospel of Shame is far more the gender politics that continues to pollute Christianity than the theological rigtheousness it claims to represent. It’s the same theology that informed Roy Moore’s supporters.
The Kingdom of Heaven is salvation as a process of sanctification. It’s not what you do to JUSTIFY salvation but what you do BECAUSE of salvation.