He Thirsts
Third Sunday of Lent
Lectionary: 28
Jesus was tired, and he was thirsty. Sometimes, we forget that Jesus became tired, hungry, and thirsty just like us. He experienced all the healthy and holy needs and desires we experience. Sometimes we think of his miracles and his incredible perseverance during the passion, and forget about his humanity.
When I get tired, hungry and thirsty, I am like the Children of Israel in the first reading: I get grumpy, and I grumble.
When Jesus was tired and thirsty, he reached out to a stranger with kindness. And not just any stranger, but a Samaritan woman. The Jews hated the Samaritans. They saw the Samaritans as traitors, and half-breeds. Often they would walk an extra day or more just to avoid walking through Samaritan territory. It was entirely improper for a Jewish Rabbi to speak to a Samaritan, and even worse that she was a woman of dubious character.
Jesus looked at the woman and saw something different.
He saw a person.
The Samaritan woman was shocked – “How can you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” – she asked.
Mystics and theologians tell us that Jesus was not only thirsty for water. Just as on the cross, when he cried “I thirst,” Jesus was thirsty for water, but he was also thirsty for our love. He is still thirsty for you and for me. He is still thirsty for our love.
Jesus was not just thirsty for the love of the holy scribes and priests. This woman was no holy woman. She was married five times, and lived with a man not her husband. If she were a Catholic, she would be unable to receive her lord in the Eucharist.
But Jesus thirsted for her pure, holy, spiritual love.
When Jesus looks at us, he does not see our sins and failures. Jesus sees us. He sees our hearts. He knows our sins, and he loves us anyway.
The Samaritan woman had many good traits that the average person might overlook. She was polite to Jesus, a Jew. She had every reason to think he might be a little bit crazy or confused, since he was offering water, but didn’t even have a bucket. She did not mock him or argue with him, but was simply kind to a strange Jew at her well. She was also honest. She admitted honestly that she had no husband, since the man she was with was not her husband. Jesus saw this in her.
Others didn’t see what Jesus saw. Even the disciples came back and were amazed that he was talking to this woman. They saw her appearance. They saw her sex. They saw her nationality. They might even have seen her sin. They did not see her.
Do we really understand how Jesus looks at us?
Jesus looks at us with love. He sees our faults, failures, and sins. He sees them, but he loves us. We can be honest with him. He already knows our dark secrets, and he loves us anyway. He sees our merits, and our kindnesses, too. He does not love us because of those things, but he loves those things in our hearts. He looks at us with love, and desires to give us eternal life so abundant that it overflows our hearts, and provides life to our family and friends and neighbors.
Jesus is not worried about our sex, or our nationality, or our sins. The things that distract and trouble us so much are nothing to him, compared to the love he has for us.
Did you notice that the woman never gave Jesus water? She went away, and left her jar. It never says she gave him anything to drink. She didn’t even do what he asked. The disciples returned, and brought food, but Jesus was neither hungry nor thirsty. He was satisfied.
He was not satisfied because the woman gave him what he asked. He was not satisfied because she brought the entire town to see that he is the Christ. He was satisfied because this woman, with all of her baggage, allowed him to see her for who she was, and allowed herself to see Jesus for who he is.
Jesus thirsts for our love. Will we draw near to him, and be honest with him?
Through him, we have peace with God. Not through our righteousness. Not through our time, talent, and treasure. Only through Jesus Christ. He thirsts for us. He loves us so much, that he was willing to die for us, while we were still sinners.
He thirsts for our love.
He thirsts for my love. He thirsts for your love.
Come to him who thirsts for our love. He will be satisfied in us, and we in him, forever.
