Saturday, March 5, 2011

The Woman at the Well

This story has a little more conversation than action, which isn't ideal for our group, but a worthwhile story nonetheless.

We introduced Jesus and His disciples, then looked at a map and explained that while many pious Jews would go the long way around to Galilee to avoid passing through Samaria, Jesus chose to walk straight through. After they walked for a while, Jesus stopped to rest by a well (a large bucket) while His disciples went into the town to buy some food. While Jesus is resting, this woman comes along with her water jug. Jesus is glad to see her, because He is thirsty. He asks her for a drink. She says, huh, you're asking me for a drink? Aren't you afraid it would be unclean? Jesus responds, what you say makes some sense; in fact it would make more sense for you to ask ME for water, because the water I would give you would be better than anything you could get from this well. The woman responds, how could you give better water than from this famous well handed down by our ancestor Jacob? You don't even have a bucket! Jesus says, if you drink this water, you will eventually get thirsty again. But if you drink the life-giving water I have to give you, you will never thirst again. Of course the woman wants some of this water. Jesus says, okay, go get your husband so I can give it to you both together. The woman is a bit embarrassed and says, well, I don't exactly have a husband. Jesus says, I know; you've have five husbands, but the man you're living with now is not your husband. Whoa, now the woman is REALLY embarrassed! Time to change the subject! She says, obviously, you're a prophet, so tell me something I've always wanted to know: Since our famous ancestor Jacob himself worshipped the Lord right here, how come you Jews say you can only worship God at the temple in Jerusalem? Jesus says, it's not where you worship, it's whom you worship that is important. (I skipped the spirit-and-truth line as a bit too abstract for the moment). The woman says, oh, it sounds too complicated; when the Messiah comes, He will explain it. Jesus says, I am the Messiah.

The woman is amazed but before she can say anything, the disciples come back with some food. They can't imagine that Jesus would really want to be having a conversation with a Samaritan woman, so they ignore her and try to get Jesus to eat. In the Bible story, Jesus doesn't eat but tries to explain to them that doing His Father's work is the best food—kind of like the living water He gives is the best water. And I wrote our story this way BUT did not take into account the fact that when our "Jesus" was urged to eat, there was no way he was going to refuse food!! So we scrambled a bit and let him while saying something like, this food is fine but doing my Father's work makes me even more satisfied. The disciples are amazed and a bit skeptical—talking to a Samaritan woman is the Father's work?? But just then the woman, who has been grabbing all sorts of people from the "audience" to come back with her, arrives at the well with a crowd who want to see who this prophet was who had come to Samaria. Jesus talks to them and they all believe in him (he shakes hands with everyone). So—talking to this woman was a good way to do God's work after all! (I hoped people would make the application that we should invite/welcome anyone, no matter how much they do or don't "fit in," because you just never know whose heart God is calling.

We used a game Kevin Hui created several years ago called "drinking living water". Everyone got a small bottle of a popular drink containing live lactobacillus. The twist to make it fun was that everyone also received a long straw made up of five regular straws joined together. They went two by two to see who could finish their bottles the fastest. Ka Ho (on the left) was the star!

For craft time we made these little "wells" out of craft sticks and cut-up toilet paper rolls. (This is after having made toilet-roll dogs last week. I NEVER throw away the rolls any more when I change the paper at home!)

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