Understanding the Word

By Dianne Bergant, C.S.A.

The murmuring of the people in the wilderness lays bare their resistance to  the leadership of Moses, and the shallowness of their trust in God. Still, just as  God delivered the people from the bondage of Egypt through the leadership of  Moses, so now, again through the actions of Moses, God gives them the water  they demand. One wonders how a people who were the beneficiaries of God’s  abiding concern and miraculous protection could be so faithless and lacking in  trust. After all that God has done, they still put God to the test. This is but another  example of God’s boundless and compassionate love for sinners.  

Paul’s teaching on justification is quite clear. It is based on the righteousness  that originates in God, a righteousness that gives and sustains life, security, and  well being. Human beings are righteous when they respect and enhance that life,  security, and well being. They can only do this if they are in right relationship  with God and, through this relationship, share in God’s righteousness. According  to Paul, we have no right to this relationship with God. It has been given to us,  won for us by the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, we have never deserved it. Yet, out of  love, God gives it to us.  

Jesus asks the Samaritan woman for water when in fact he is the one who will  give her “living water.” His knowledge of her marital situation prompts her to  call him a prophet and to engage him in a discussion about the proper place to  worship God. Jesus moves this conversation from a discussion of the place of  worship to one that characterizes the manner of worship. Jesus’ discussion with  the woman is curious. She is a questionable member (a sinner) of a subordinate  group (a woman) of a despised people (a Samaritan). Yet she is the one whom  Jesus approaches; she is the one to whom he reveals himself as Messiah; and she  is the one who heralds this good news to the people in the town.

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