Vibrant Lives

  • Home
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact
  • Inspiration Corner
  • Home
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact
  • Inspiration Corner

Meeting at the Well...

4/17/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
My friend Beth texted me a picture of the Samaritan Woman and Jesus talking at the well that she found in her great-grandmother’s Bible. She knows how much I love this story and respect the woman’s courage to speak up for herself and for her people. This portrait, by Anton Laurids Johannes Dorph, depicts a conversation between two unlikely people and is one that I have not seen before. It is rich with meaning and begs to me to unpack some of the imagery surrounding this uncharacteristic meeting at the well.
When I took a “movie” class in college, one of the things we were taught about movie scenes is to look where the central character is placed in the scene. If the character is in a weak position; he/she would be near the bottom of the screen or made to look small within the camera frame. If the actor is shown to be tall or taking up most of the screen then he/she is in a place of power. Directors do this intentionally to give the audience a subliminal message in building the drama. This was news to me as I just thought that one person was either standing or sitting based on their choice. However I learned that nothing in movie production is left to chance. Who knew? This power dynamic is something I noticed in the picture of Jesus and the woman at the well. The woman is standing above or higher than the sitting Jesus. Does that mean she is powerful and that Jesus is weak? The concept of a woman being more powerful than a man in the first-century would have been foreign to the crowd listening to this story.  Not only was a conversation not supposed to happen between a man and a woman but also not between a Jew and Samaritan because for centuries they had hated each other. I believe that Jesus was well aware of power dynamic between men and women as well as the cultural differences, however he never seemed to care about the norms of society and was often acted counter-cultural to what was expected of him. With this in mind, I believe the artist captured the heart of his ministry by placing Jesus in a nonthreatening posture so that the woman would be more comfortable conversing a Jewish man.

Another aspect of this image that stands out to me is the way she is dressed. The artist robed her completely in white, which is a positive sign of purity, innocence and goodness. Too often I have heard sermons preached about her five failed marriages, which then leads to how Jesus would offer her forgiveness. But if you read the text and let go of all of the negative images that have surrounded her for so many years, you would read that not once does Jesus require her to ask for forgiveness or offer forgiveness of her sins. He never judged her but treated her as an equal by engaging her in an intellectual and religious conversation. Ironically enough, the color white also represents a successful beginning, which I think is fitting given Jesus was a Jewish man speaking with a despised Samaritan woman. They had a new understanding of each other and better yet, this meeting is the beginning of her ministry to bring her people to meet the Messiah?

Lastly in this photo, I notice the jug that stands between them. According to the story, this woman came to draw water during the hottest part of the day. While the biblical text does not give us the reason why she is there at midday, many theologians have concluded that this is a sign that she was an outcast in her community mainly because of her husbands. We are given no reason why she has had five husbands. In this patriarchal world, a husband could divorce his wife for any reason such as burning his toast. Okay so they didn’t have toasters however you get my drift. WE don’t know if her husbands died in war, from disease or even by accident. One thing is for sure; women were more or less the property of their husbands and had few options for taking care of their needs like food and shelter. Again too many times people jump to the conclusion that she is no better than a prostitute. The scripture does not indicate that at all. This woman of Samaria is well-versed in protocol between men and women, Jews and Samaritans and even religious practices. What this conversation shows me is the extravagant love that Jesus has for all people regardless of gender, race, religion or economic status.

The Samaritan woman came to the well for water but in the end left her water jar to run into the town to proclaim that she may just have met the great I Am. The text describes it like this, “Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him (Jesus) because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers” (John 4:39-41). The jar in this picture stands large between them however after their unusual and unexpected conversation the world changed for both of them. Through Jesus this nameless woman gained her voice to proclaim the Messiah to her people! In turn, this Samaritan woman brought her people to meet Jesus and experience his saving grace. This picture is my inspiration to follow the example of Christ and the woman to speak for those who cannot speak and empower others to find their voices.
 
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Denise seeks to empower people to live into their true potential...
                               Read More

    Archives

    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015

    Categories

    All
    Abundance
    Acceptance
    Adapt
    Adult
    Advent
    Adventure
    Alzheimer's
    Angelic
    Angels
    Art
    Attention
    Baby Jesus
    Baptist
    Beauty
    Belief
    Believe
    Belonging
    Be Still
    Betrayed
    Black Lives
    Blessed
    Blessing
    Bold
    Bounty
    Breathe
    Brithday
    Brokenness
    Build Together
    Call
    Captivity
    Caring
    Celebrate
    Challenged
    Champion
    Change
    Chaos
    Children
    Choice
    Christ
    Christ Child
    Christmas
    Church
    Community
    Comparisons
    Compassion
    Confidence
    Courage
    Creating
    Creation
    Creativity
    Crooked Lines
    Cross
    Crowd
    Crown Of Thorns
    Crucifixion
    Darkness
    David
    Dawn
    Decisions
    Delighted
    Denied
    Depression
    Determination
    Detour
    Disciples
    Discovery
    Divine
    Divorce
    Dry Bones
    Easter
    Empowered
    Equality
    Extravagance
    Eyewitness
    Failure
    Faith
    Faithfulness
    Family
    Father
    Fear
    Flame
    Forgiven
    Forgiveness
    Freedom
    Friend
    Fruits Of The Spirit
    Game
    Gift
    Gifts
    Gladiator
    Glorious
    Glory
    God
    God Given Gifts
    God-given Gifts
    God Moments
    God-moments
    God's Glory
    God's Love
    God's Timing
    Grace
    Grateful
    Gratitude
    Greatest
    Greek
    Handiwork
    Healed
    Heart
    Holding Space
    Holidays
    Holy Spirit
    Home
    Honor
    Hope
    Hopelessness
    Humanity
    Humility
    I AM
    Identity
    Imperfection
    Inside
    Isaiah
    Jesus
    Jesus Christ
    Job
    John 3:16
    John The Baptist
    Journey
    Joy
    Judging
    Labels
    Lent
    Light
    Liminal Space
    Lion's Heart
    Listen
    Lonliness
    Lord's Table
    Lost
    Love
    Love One Another
    Manager
    Manger
    Mary
    Matter
    Memorial Day
    Memphis
    Mended
    Mercy
    Messiah
    Messiness
    Ministry
    Mom
    Mothers
    Moving
    Music
    Mystery
    Nations
    Nativity
    Neighbor
    New Beginning
    New Birth
    New Day
    New Year
    Open
    Pain
    Paradise
    Parents
    Partner
    Peace
    Pentecost
    Persistent
    Perspective
    Potter
    Power
    Praise
    Prayer
    Preparing
    Presence
    Promise
    Psalm 23
    Purpose
    Pursuit
    Questions
    Radical
    Radio
    Randomness
    Remember 9/11
    Respect
    Rest
    Restoration
    Resurrection
    Risen
    Running
    Sacred Pit
    Sacrifice
    Salt
    Savior
    Scarsity
    Second Best
    See Others
    Serenity
    Servants
    Sharing
    Shepherd
    Shines
    Sibling
    Simon Of Cyrene
    Son
    Spirit
    Spirit Of God
    Spirit Of Love
    Stone
    Storm
    Storms
    Strength
    Suffering
    Suffering Servant
    Surrender
    Temptation
    Thankful
    Thanks
    Thanksgiving
    The Wall
    Together
    Tomb
    Tower Of Babel
    Traditions
    Transition
    Trauma
    Traveler
    Trinity
    Trust
    Understanding
    Undervalued
    Unfaithful
    Unity
    Unworthy
    Value
    Virus
    Vision
    Voice
    Voiceless
    Waiting
    Wandering
    Water
    Weeps
    Welcome
    Wilderness
    Wind
    Window
    Wisdom
    Woman At The Well
    Women

    RSS Feed

MENU

HOME
BLOG
ABOUT
CONTACT

COPYRIGHT © 2015 VIBRANTLIVES.NET

CONNECT WITH US