The Third Sunday of Lent
“PSALM 130 V 1-2” by Susan Black
To Be Seen and Known
By Susan Black
Gospel: John 4:4-43
We all want to be seen and be known, don’t we? Not for whatever qualities our façade projects, but for our actual selves, right? Before you reflexively answer “Yes,” think about the risk that such intimacy entails—the risk of being judged or of being misunderstood, for example. The risk exists even among those closest to us, and looms larger when someone considered the “other” is involved.
In today’s Gospel, both the unnamed woman and Jesus find themselves in this uncertain position. As a Samaritan and a Jew, as a woman and a man, society paints each of them as the “other.” But in a seemingly random encounter that turns into deep engagement, they take a chance. They ignore the divisions between them and open up, one to one.
Minding her own business, the woman has gone, alone, to the community well at an odd time of day to draw water. What her own people have seen and know about her has caused them to shun and shame her, so it is better that she keep her distance, even for this homely but vital chore. There she finds Jesus, also alone, who seems to be waiting for her. He dares to ask for a drink of water. This initiative is socially provocative on many levels, and no doubt she knows how to cut it short. But something within whispers to her. She responds to Jesus.
In the probing conversation that follows, the woman begins to realize that she is being seen and known. Moreover, she is being accepted, completely, even for her checkered past and compromised present. Like a flower, she blossoms in the steady light of Jesus’s attention. He, too, allows himself to be seen and known, first as divine living water that slakes all thirst. Then, when he senses that she is ready, he reveals himself as “I am He,” the long-awaited Messiah.
Transformed into an evangelist, the woman enthusiastically shares this extraordinary news with a community that now has the chance to truly see and know her. Whether they will take the risk is beyond the scope of this Gospel. What we are told is that Jesus spends two fruitful days being seen and known by his newly minted followers, and seeing and knowing them. He then continues on his way.
The Samaritan woman is never named. This omission may seem odd in such a rich and compelling story, as it is a truism that being named denotes a person’s unique centrality to any Gospel. But another view is possible: the Samaritan woman is Everywoman and Everyman. She is each one of us and bears our individual names; she is all of us.
Anyone who longs to be seen and be known—who wants to see and know—also shares a desire that transcends any notion of being the different “other.” We want and need to exist in relationship with “one another.” Craving the divine living water of God, may we all unite at the community well. There we will encounter Jesus, waiting to engage us.
Susan Black is an artist, writer and Benedictine Oblate living in Aurora, Oregon. You can find our more about her at www.BlackStarStudio.me