Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: Drip (04/25/13)
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TITLE: Two Paths Cross, and Earth Meets Heaven | Previous Challenge Entry
By Michelle Knoll
05/02/13 -
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He could tell she was studying him. Sizing him up, deciding if he was safe or not. His clothing betrayed his nationality. He was a Jew. But with his sweaty, dirty appearance, Jesus knew she was wondering what sort of Jew he was, and what he was looking for in her village of Sychar.
Her cold eyes and sharp features expressed a bitterness of soul, born from a life of searching for love yet never finding it. With a smirk, she lowered her jug into the well.
"Come now. You're a Jew. Are you really wanting just a drink of water from me, a Samaritan?"
Their eyes met in silence as she waited for his response. Jesus merely smiled, knowing she was testing him.
"If you knew who was asking you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."
A gasp escaped from the woman's lips as she stared at him in amazement.
"But there's nothing here for you to draw water! This well is deep! You have no rope, no jug. How are you going to get this living water? Do you have more power than Jacob, who gave us this well?"
Sarcasm dripped from her words as she pulled the heavy jug from the well. Jesus could sense the weariness in her soul, and his heart was moved with compassion. He stood and faced her, placing his hands on her water jug.
"Whoever drinks this water will be thirsty again. But whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. The water I give will become a spring of living water in them, welling up to eternal life!"
She recoiled, almost pulling the jug off the well. Water sloshed over the lip, dripping down the side of the jug onto the dirt below. Jesus saw the pain in her eyes, and its message was all too clear: prove to me I can trust you.
"Well, then, please give me of this living water so I don't have to come to this well every day!"
Jesus' tone was quiet yet firm.
"Okay. Go get you husband. Bring him here."
"But I don't have a husband."
Jesus chuckled.
"You know, you're right."
He dipped his finger into the water in her water jug, and then moved his hand over the opening of the well. One drop of water dripped off his finger. He repeated this process as he spoke.
"As a matter of fact, you've had five husbands."
The water dripped off his finger again.
"And yet – "
The water dripped again.
"– the man you're with now – "
The water dripped again.
" – is not your husband."
The water dripped again.
The woman stared at the water jug, then at the well opening, then at Jesus. Eyes wide, she spoke barely above a whisper.
"You're a prophet!"
Jesus took his hands off the water jug, and waited. Nervously, the woman continued.
"Okay, prophet, tell me something. Our ancestors worshiped here, but you Jews say all must worship in Jerusalem. So which place is the real place of worship? Answer me that."
Jesus' laughter filled the entire area. "Woman, the day is coming, and already is, when people will worship God in spirit and in truth! God is a spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."
"True. One day Messiah will come, and then he'll explain all this."
Jesus leaned closer to the woman, as if to share a secret.
"Woman, I am He."
The woman stepped back in shock as the reality of Jesus' words set in. As she turned to leave, she ran headlong into Jesus' disciples who had just come back with food and drink. Grabbing one of them, she exclaimed:
"He's the Messiah! Right here! In Sychar!"
The disciple (who was Nathaniel) shrugged his shoulders and said, "Well, yes. Salvation is of the Jews."
They watched as she ran for the village, shouting the entire way.
Peter walked up to Jesus and asked, "Where's she going?"
"Well, I told her to go get her husband, but she doesn't have one." Placing the woman's water jug on the ground by the well, he smiled at his disciples. "I guess we'll have to wait and see who she brings back with her."
1 Author's note: this entire story is a paraphrase of John 4:1-30, taken from the NIV
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