The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-02-17
THE sUNDAY-sCHOOL LESSON.
Feb. IS, 1900, John Nv, 5-26-Jesus at
jacobs Well.

Jacobs Well.
Jesus was transferring the scene OF His minis
try from Judea to Galilee. but while in transit
He quietly placed the leaven Of His gospel in
the very heart of populous Samaria. He had
spent eight months OF the first year of His pub
lie life in and around Jerusalem, but the ap
proach of winter. and that worse winter OF
Pharisaical hostility. bade Him find a more con-
genial locality. He ignored the prejudice Of the
Jews and gave His disciples an object lesson by
going through Samaria. . . After four days
journey. at midday, Jesus. wearied. sat thus
upon the well. Chrysostom says. Thus, not
upon a throne, or chair or cushion" but as a
wayfaring man would, upon the ground, His
side against the stone parapet of the well, His
arm upon its top. and His head supported by
His hand. See in this the reality of our Savior's
human nature! . . . A woman approaches.
She comes, perhaps. at this unusual hour be-
cause her character made 1t impossible for her
to come at the seasons when the pure maids and
matrons of Sychar visited the we'll. She lowers
her large earthen vessel by the cord which she
has brought for the purpose, a hundred feet to
the cool. crystal water. Just as she lifts the
dripping jar to her head the dusty traveller asks
a drink. Jesus put himself under obligation TO
her at the very start by His request. He took
her good will for granted. A compliment was
implied. I'VE despise not him whose service we
ask" What magic in kindness! This
obtuse and sinful woman, used only to epithet
and blow-gentle poiiteness transmutes her into
a docile pupil. She recognizes the nationality of
the stranger. Countenance, accent and garb be-
tray Him. A Jew-but where is the racial preju-
dice? She vaguely recognizes the moral super
iority Of the person before her. and is prepared
for the step in advance. to which Jesus leads
her In His next remark. 80 Poetry Is, In
large measure. the association Of superior ideas
with common objects. If that be so, Jesus was
an ideal poet He takes the commonest of OBJ
jects. water. and the commonest of experiences,
the quenching Of thirst with this natural fluid,
to portray the most uncommon experience of
the human SOUL The woman sees the enigma.
'She is set a-wondering. and that, for her, was
a great gain.' for. as Bengal says, wonder
provokes progress" . While she. still
loosely holds to the literal. and talks of the
depth Of the well and the lack Of drawing appli-
ances, she yet skirts the edge OF the Savior's
spiritual meaning, and knows in her heart that
He who talks with her is greater than the
patriarch (whom she claimed as a progenitor)
who bestowed upon his descendants the great
boon of this excellent well. " " Jesus lets in
a new ray OF light upon a mind from which the
mists have already begun to lift, when He con-
trasts natures water with the living water.
Water for only the briefest possible period
slakes thirst. The path to the fountain is we'll
trodden. but the gift OF God Is the transplanting
of a perennial fountain into the very soul-a
fountain whose tall Jet penetrates even the i'm
mortal life above. . The poor Samaritan
hereto and outcast is enamored of this gift
so wondrously described. She asks for 1t, but in
terms which reveal the fact that the husks of
liberalism have not all been stripped Off. The
heaviest duty Of her life is this frequent two
mile journey from city to well and back; the la
borious drawing with the crudest possible ap-
pliances; the carrying of the heavy jar upon the
head. II the gift of God will set her free from
all this toll. and yet keep her from thirst. of
course she wants it. At the same time she has
a dawning consciousness that the gift means
more than this. . Like a skillful surgeon,
kind but firm. Jesus inserts the cleaning lancet
of His question. The hideous incidents Of an
aduiterous career are laid bare In a moment.
The woman Is in the presence of Omniscience.
The exact and minutest details Of her unsavory
life are noted. Yet such mercy and gentleness is
irresistible. The thing Is done. not in such a
manner as to make her cry. Hast thou found
me out, o mine enemy ?' but rather, 'fSir, I per-
ceive thou art a prophet" " . A scared con-
science is softened. confession Is made and
tears Of penitence flow. She rises now easily to
the high spiritual plane Of the Savior's teach
ing. She knows that the water of which He
spoke Is for the washing of regeneration-the
gift Is a new heart to which the Spirit bears
witness " " " In the joy of her new life she
propounds a practical question to the Divine
Teacher. whom it was her nappy fortune to
meet that day. Where shall she worship the
Infinite One whose ineffable gift she has Just re-
ceived? On G~erizim-to which she pointed as
she understanding to her hereditary instruc-
ton: or In Jerusalem. from which she had Just
come? In aswer to this question Jesus unfolds
that basal principle Of Christianity, that all the
earth Is holy. and no one spot more holy than
another; that the item of topography in religion
is henceforth erased; and. further, that hence
forth. to a Spirit-God, spirit-sacrifces only shall
be made. Qeb. tx. IA; Rom. xii, ID sss
The woman. her clouded mind now thorouehly
illuminated. looked up and adoringIy exclaimed.
Your teaching is just like that which we might
expect from the Messiah himself!' The Savior
accepts her loving challenge, and in despised
Samaria, and to a woman till late degraded. He
made his first categorical declaration Of messiah
ship.
THE camar;,ar