Chapter 13 -- A Family: Act Two

Finally they said, "Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?" 

We're catching up to our friend from Samaria.  She's come a long way, but we need to step back a few years before she ended up where we first met her.  Let me tell you the story.

There was a man with two sisters.  The youngest sister left her home in exchange for what the world offered, and one day found she had lost everything of value.  Into her poverty came a Word and the Word drew her to Himself like no man ever had.  From that time on, where ever the Word was spoken she followed and listened.  In the listening her treasure was restored and the depth of her gratitude overwhelmed her.  Others, however, could see the restoration only with the greatest of difficulty.

We are in a well-appointed dining room in a prominent house in Bethany, a few miles from Jerusalem.  Several men are sitting or standing in a dinner room prior to a meal being served.  A few are talking casually but one is in a heated discussion with the host.

Ichabod - Are you sure you want to have this man here?   Do you know the kind of people this man associates with?

Simon - I have heard a great deal of gossip and innuendo from people who have neither heard nor seen him first hand.  If this is another charlatan "Messiah,"  I will be able to discern it quickly, God willing.

Ichabod - You are naive.  And you will bring a curse on this house.

Simon - I bring nothing of the kind.  My invitation to him is not an endorsement of his work, but this man has influence and teaches with authority.  As members of the Sanhedrin we have a responsibility to hear him out before passing judgement on his teaching.

Ichabod throws his hands up in frustration

Simon - Listen, Ichabod! This man is a guest in my house and will be shown respect.  You will show that respect if you wish to enjoy the same status.

Ichabod -I beg your forgiveness, my friend.

Simon -Very well, then.

A servant rushes in, out of breath.

Servant - Master, he is here!  And you should see the crowd that follows him.  I hardly recognize anyone.  They must be from out of town and ...

Simon -Yes, yes.  Bring him in and allow him to bring his friends.  Wait!  Allow him three friends.  We already have a crowd in here as it is.

The traveler, enters the room with three of his companions.  

He stands patiently near the table.

Simon -Ah, Rabbi!  Now we can eat. Come sit here next to me.  Your friends may sit with you.  

This is always an awkward time in high society.  

The lower classes will generally grab the first seat they see, 

eager to get at the food.  

In this house, however, the guests begin jockeying 

for position on the other side of Simon.  

The traveler hesitates as though waiting for something. 

He finally shrugs and sits at Simon's right hand.  

Simon looks exasperated.

Simon - Please, everyone sit.

Simon is a man of great influence.  

Everyone drops to the floor as though a rug had been pulled out from under them.  Servants begin bringing out the trays of food.  

Ichabod approaches the traveler.

Ichabod - Rabbi, your teaching has the entire country enthralled, but I was wondering about this teaching on the Sabbath.  Am I correct that you believe the Sabbath was created FOR man, not ...

Ichabod’s interrogation is cut short.  

There is some commotion just outside the door.  

Women are screaming, Servants are calling for aid.  

One voice is recognizable, however.  It is our Samaritan friend.

Mary -Leave me alone!  I have to see him.  He has to know what he's done for me!  

Mary bursts onto the room.  She carries a small clay jar.  

She sees the traveler and stops short.  

He smiles, once again, in recognition.  

She begins to weep.  

She moves to where he sits, 

kneels and opens the jar, 

pouring its contents on his feet.  

She begins wiping his feet with her hair and kissing them.

Ichabod pulls on Simon's arm and whispers roughly in his ear.

Ichabod -You see!  You know who that is.  We ran her out of town three years ago.  We have the right to take her out and stone her now.

Simon -Yes, I know.  If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is --that she is a sinner.

The Traveler appears not to have heard this interchange and examines a fig.

Traveler -Simon, I have something to tell you.

Simon -Tell me, teacher.

Traveler -Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty.  Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?

Simon - I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled.

Traveler -That's a good answer.  Now, consider this woman.  I came into your house. You did not give me water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.  There was very little warmth in your greeting to me but this woman has not stopped kissing my feet.  You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet.  

Simon, you need to know that her sins -- even though they are too numerous to count -- have been forgiven which is demonstrated her great love for me.  But he who has been forgiven little loves little. 

The Traveler turns to Mary.

Traveler - Your sins are forgiven.

This does not sit well with the other guests.  After all, forgiveness, like cleanliness, is divine ... not human.  The other guests start to murmur and recite her past sins.  But Mary cannot hear them.  She cannot see them.  She can only see the Traveler. 

Traveler - Your faith has saved you; go in peace.  Go home, Mary!

Chapter 12:The Centurion, Part Two

When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help.

We will take a short intermission from our drama. There has been a significant change in our wayward friend's life and she needs to make some decisions.  We're going to move forward a couple of years before we catch up to her . Let's catch up with our soldier!  There is our soldier.  He's right over there.  Let’s find out what he has discovered since we last saw him.  

Sir!  A word with you.

Ah, my mysterious interrogators.  How have you been?

Still looking for the unusual.  How has your quest been?

Unexpectedly wonderful.

How so?

The man I followed is definitely a threat, but not to Rome.  He threatens the way we see the world and how we live in it.

And...?

And he has changed me forever. I have seen magicians and holy men do seemingly amazing things.  They work with great fanfare and show.  Sometimes what they do is real.  Most of it is not.  But this man... With just a word, he healed someone I cared a great deal for.  No show, no fanfare.  He asked for nothing more than that I would believe.  By his authority, I have a new direction in life.  I know all things are possible and nothing is impossible for me.

And he did all this with a single act?

No, he has done and said much more.  I have been following him for almost three years now, since the time with the baptist.  I have heard him speak again and again.  I have seen him do amazing things, all with humility and in his humanity.  This moment, however, was for me.  To cement something inside me that has been growing steadily.

And that would be?

Faith.  I believe in something greater than what I can see.

We are very happy for you.  I think we will meet again, though.

---

Miracles are wonderful and terrible, all at once.  They are often associated as a product of faith.  If you just believe hard enough, anything can happen.  But miracles have a tendency to set unrealistic expectations and foster a false sense of control over your environment.    Remember this:  While miracles may be a product of faith, they are not the substance of it.  We will meet our centurion again.  It’s time to get back to our drama.

Chapter 10: A family-Act One, Scene Two

We've left our wayward husband to look into the scene he described:  Jacob’s Well, just outside the town.  It the afternoon of that same day.  A group of women are talking at the well, filling urns with water.  They are gossipy, lighthearted and confident.  A man enters unseen and sits nearby.  He carries himself with the weariness of a constant traveler; a man a long way from home.  He sits on a rock and listens to their conversation.  So will we.

Esther Deborah, you have the patience of Job.  I don't know how you put up with it.

Rachel She has to.  We all do.  But we have our ways to get back what's ours. 

They all laugh

.

Deborah – But you haven’t heard the latest.

Esther – Good news, I hope.

Rachel – Tell us, sister.  Don’t leave us waiting.

Deborah – He came home this morning.

Rachel –  He just walked right in?

Deborah – Like nothing had ever happened...

Esther – You're not serious.

Deborah – ... and started washing his hands and face.

Esther – That's not all he should be washing.  I mean.... he should be washing Deborah’s feet

Rachel – Oh, of course. 

Rachel winks and the rest of the women grin.

Deborah – Then he kisses the children and says, "I'm off to work.  I'll be home for dinner." Then he takes my hand and gives me those eyes.  "We'll talk later," he says.

Esther – So you'll take him back?

Deborah –Of course.  He's a good provider.  And like you said:  we have our ways.

Rachel – Make him grovel, Deborah!

Esther – Like the dog he is.

Deborah – Yes... just like a dog.

Esther – But what about that woman?

Deborah – What about her?  Have you seen her lately?  She's not what she was when she took my husband, just like she wasn't what she claimed when she came to Sychar.  She'll not be stealing many more husbands here.  In fact, I don't expect the town will allow her to stay much longer.  

All – That’s right!

The traveler watches as they gather their 

jugs and leave.  Mary enters shortly after carrying her urn.  

She looks around to see if she's alone and then begins filling the urn.  

The traveler observes her quietly for a moment,  and smiles as 

though recognizing a long-lost relative.  He calls out to her.

Traveler – May I have a drink?

Mary –  Oh!  I didn't see you there.  Wait.... You’re a Jew, aren’t you?  I am a Samaritan.  You are not supposed to be talking with me.  How can you ask me for a drink? 

Traveler – If you knew who I was and what I can offer you, you would have asked me and I would have given you living water.

Mary – I don’t understand.  You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where would you get this living water?   (Proudly) Just who do you think you are, anyway.  Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?

The traveler comes over to the well and 

looks down into its depths.  He shrugs, unimpressed.

Traveler – Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks my water will never thirst again.  If fact, my water will become in him a spring of water overflowing with eternal life.

Real prophets are in short supply in Palestine, 

but Mary knew they are capable of great miracles.

Mary – (mumbling to herself) If I can win his favor, he might be able to get God to give me my own well.  I would never have to come here again.  I could open my own inn.  I could leave this town.  (angrily) I wouldn't need anybody ... not even a husband!

Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.

Traveler – First, go get your husband and come back.

Mary – I ... I have no husband.

Traveler –Yes, I know.  The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you have now is not your husband.  It's quite true, isn't it.

Mary has often been unclothed in front of a man, 

but she has never felt naked as she did now. 

She stammers and tries to change the subject.

Mary – Sir, I can see that you are a prophet.  

Searching for lost piety, she grasps for a fig leaf.

Mary – Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem...

Traveler – I am too weary to continue this dance.  Listen to me.  Soon you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem.  You Samaritans really don't know what you worship, but we do, for salvation comes from the Jews.  But today true worshipers are worshipping the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth. 

She believes she is safe now, hidden behind a 

false robe of religion.  It is time to close 

this conversation and move on.  There will be be no 

miraculous provision this time.  Or so she thinks.

Mary -- I know that Messiah is coming.  When he comes, he will explain everything to us.

Traveler– The Messiah is talking to you now. 

When confronted by real power, it often takes a moment 

to come to full acceptance.  It takes Mary a full five seconds.  

She gasps and stares, open-mouthed, 

not realizing that the Traveler's friends are approaching.  

They are surprised to find him talking with this 

woman and begin to question him about her.  
Seeing an opportunity to escape this uncomfortable 

moment, she flees, leaving the very symbol of her 

shame and imprisonment in Sychar: her water jar.  

She runs for the marketplace

Chapter 9: A Family, Act One, Scene One

So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour when a Samaritan woman came to draw water.

  The greatest enemy of faith is each other.  We tend to look at others as resources or challenges when we should be looking at them as fellow travelers.  Our inability to see our people as people is the single largest barrier to and individuals ability to achieve that vision that leads to faith.  We are seemingly intent on keeping each other in check, rather than encouraging each other to success.

  We’re about to visit with a woman that you may actually know quite well.  She’s the subject of many of your more important life lessons, yet  you probably have never really noticed her.  Let me tell you a little about her. 

  She has a brother and a sister.  In youth, both sisters were lovely, flirtatious and full of life.  One day the younger one said, "Brother, I have found someone I can make into my image of a man.  Give me my dowery from our estate, so I may marry him."  And though the older sister had not yet married, he did as she asked.  

  So, the young woman married.  But it was not long before she grew bored with this man she had made and returned to her flirtatious ways.  That vexed her husband beyond pliability and he divorced her, returning to her what was left of the dowery.  Now that she had shamed herself and the family, she got together all she had, and set off for a distant country that cared little about the religious issues of divorce.  There she married again ... and again ... and again.   

  Several years later, she finds herself unmarried, not as lively and lovely as she once was, and her wealth squandered by her own choice.  She longs for companionship, intimacy and commitment, but no one gives her anything.  It is a desperate time.  She lives now in a small home in a relatively large but unimpressive city.      

  We’re standing outside that home now.  There is a man emerging.  He is clearly frustrated.  He stands with hands on hips, a deep scowl on his face.  

Good Morning, sir.

Not from where I’m standing.

The day not starting our as anticipated?

Hardly.

What seems to be the problem?

All I wanted was some water to wash my face and get ready for the morning.

Seems reasonable.

I thought so.  Yet she throws me out. 

Are you sure there wasn’t any other rmotive behind her anger?

Oh, he said something about not being able to go to the well in the morning.

Why’s that?

Because she says the other women hate her.

That's a strong statement.

Yeah, well... she has this ...habit.

What habit?  

Taking other women’s husbands.

That could wear out one’s welcome in a small community pretty quick.

I suppose.

So why did you marry her?

I didn’t.  I’m married to someone else.

Oh.

Hey, I’m only human.  Oops!  Gotta go.

  The woman emerges from the home, disheveled and grumpy. As she adjusts her clothing and pushes her hair away from her face, we see a still lovely but once beautiful woman.  She is not what she was, but has not yet become what she sees herself to be.  She watches the man hurrying down the street and gives him a stare that could melt lead.  She knows the signs and stages of relationships.  She recognized the death rattle for this relationship.  She ambles about  briefly, picks up a pitcher, wraps her arms around it, then slumps into a chair.  She buries her hands in her face.  This seems to be a private moment and we have some other people to meet.