Fiction Friday! – Interview With the Woman at the Well – Part 1

 

A Fictional Interview With the Woman at the Well
Part 1

Taken from the Biblical Account in John 4

Today I am visiting with the Samaritan woman whose encounter with Jesus is recorded in John 4. To begin our conversation, I want to thank you for being with us … and right off I want to tell you that yours was the most difficult story of the four Nameless Women to write. 

A – Really? What was the reason for that?

Q – When I started doing the research, I ran into a brick wall. Even with the Internet, I found only a few resources, which gave me information about the Samaritans … and even less information on Samaritan women. I only found one image of a Samaritan woman.

A- I see. Yes, Samaritan communities are very ingrown, even today, and do not like any kind of publicity or intrusion into our way of life.

Q – And Samaritan women?

A – Very private, and undervalued.

Q – Do you think Jesus singled you out for that very reason?

A – (A soft chuckle) I’ve thought about why Jesus chose to talk to me that day for so long. And there are many perspectives from which to observe this encounter. First of all, I’ve since learned he intentionally chose to travel through Samaria when the traditional route for the Jews was to go around. We were a hated race because of our intermarriage with pagans who conquered Israel, and because of our belief that Mount Gerizim was the proper place for worship rather than Jerusalem. Jews would avoid going through Samaria to avoid becoming contaminated, but Jesus purposefully went to Jacob’s well to seek me out.

And I’m sure you know that noon was not the usual time for the women to go to the well. I always went then to avoid the gossipy women. I was not exactly considered proper company.

Q – So you were surprised that he spoke to you?

A – “Surprised” is a mild description. I was stunned. I perceived from his clothing he was a Jew. Not only was I a Samaritan, but for a Jewish man to speak to a Samaritan woman. I almost dropped my water pot. And he spoke so strangely.

Q – What do you mean?

A – He’d asked for a drink, but he had nothing with which to draw water from the well. Then he started talking about living water. I was very confused.

Q – In my fictitious recounting of the incident, I gave you the name “Marah,” which means “bitter” in Hebrew. Was it a fitting name for you?

A – Very. By the time I met Jesus, I had become bitter and hardened through my life experiences. Having been widowed and divorced and abandoned. I was an embittered woman.

Q – What was it that made you realize this man was different, that what he was offering you was something beyond physical water?

A – It took me a while. I thought if he gave me “living” water I would never have to come to the well again to draw water for our household. Honestly I didn’t know what he meant. Then when he told me to go tell my husband, and he knew the man I was living with wasn’t my husband … well, I knew something supernatural was going on. There was no way he could have known that except God had revealed it to him. My legs started trembling, and I didn’t know whether I could remain standing. Suddenly the mid-day heat seemed intolerable. I set my water pot down, and sat on the edge of the well.

Q – I want to ask you about your five husbands before we continue, but that will have to wait until next week. I’m finding our conversation very interesting. Stay tuned for Part 2 next week on Fiction Friday!

Questions for my readers. Please leave your comments below…

What do you think about Jesus breaking all of the cultural rules by speaking to this woman?

What would you have thought when Jesus started talking about ‘living water’?
When has Jesus come to you in your life when you least expected Him to show up?

 

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