The Collect Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
The Collect The collect’s theme seems to be a recognition that we depend on God for all in body and spirit. The lessons for RCL A, B and C present a mix of God’s concern for our bodies – in the provision of water from a rock in RCL A and God’s plan to send Moses to rescue His people by the burning bush in RCL C. The Collect And His concern for our spirit in the provision of the Law in RCL B by the 10 Commandments and his assurance of faith in RCL C in that years’ reading from Corinthians 10:1-13 with: “God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.” This Collect seems to be more of an observation that God will protect and has protected us through time. Even when we cannot see it even in a life time, as Israel waited 400 years in Egypt. Today’s readings center around water and forgiveness? the symbol of water Exodus 17:1-7 From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. The people quarreled with Moses, and said, "Give us water to drink." Moses said to them, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” Exodus 17:1-7 But the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, "Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?" So Moses cried out to the Lord, "What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me." The Lord said to Moses, "Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. Exodus 17:1-7 I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink." Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarreled and tested the Lord, saying, "Is the Lord among us or not?" Story Context The event in today’s reading is early in the Exodus experience. Freed from Egypt. The Israelites have crossed the Red Sea. Bread from Heaven has just started. Trying Experiences in the Wilderness Israel's thirst was also quenched with water from the rock in an incident in Numbers 20.2-13. “Test the LORD” in this context means to demand proof that God was in their midst. The place is named both Massah from the Hebrew verb "test" and Meribah from the verb "find fault“! These names became memorials of Israel's faithlessness. Symbolism The lack of water is equated with unhappiness and despair. Water is given, and it preserves life. God brings water from a rock, which is by nature dry and lifeless. Those Darn Israelites! They were always ‘testing’ the Lord – looking for a sign. But, aren't they just doing what everyone does? Have you ever said -Why this? Why Now! When people are in a fix, isn’t their and our reaction a natural one? Have you ever looked for a sign? Pieter de Grebber, Moses Striking the Rock, c. 1630
Oil on canvas, 65 x 52 in.
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Tourcoing Tintoretto, Moses Drawing Water from the Rock, 1577
Oil on canvas, 18 x 17 ft.
Scuola Grande di San Rocco, Venice Psalm 95 Venite, exultemus 1 Come, let us sing to the LORD; *
let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation. 2 Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving *and raise a loud shout to him with psalms. 3 For the LORD is a great God, *
and a great King above all gods. 4 In his hand are the caverns of the earth, *
and the heights of the hills are his also. Psalm 95 Venite, exultemus 5 The sea is his, for he made it, *
and his hands have molded the dry land. 6 Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee, *
and kneel before the LORD our Maker. 7 For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. *
Oh, that today you would hearken to his voice! Psalm 95 Venite, exultemus 8 Harden not your hearts,
as your forebears did in the wilderness, *
at Meribah, and on that day at Massah,
when they tempted me. 9 They put me to the test, *
though they had seen my works. Psalm 95 Venite, exultemus 10 Forty years long I detested that generation and said, * "This people are wayward in their hearts;
they do not know my ways." 11 So I swore in my wrath, *
"They shall not enter into my rest." A Liturgy of God's Kingship This brief outline of a service opens with a hymn celebrating God's kingship. 1-2: Summons to worship. 3-5: God's rule based upon the fact that he created the world. 6-7a: Renewed summons to worship. 7b-1 1: Prophetic warning against disobedience. Familiar? 7 For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. * Psalm 95 the “Venite” has a familiar sound particularly to older Episcopalians. It is one of the selections for Daily Morning Prayer in Rite One and Rite Two of the Book of Common Prayer. It is also the subject of popular choral arrangements
But is this the only rock? Numbers 20 The Waters of Meribah 20 The Israelites, the whole congregation, came into the wilderness of Zin in the first month, and the people stayed in Kadesh. Miriam died there, and was buried there. 2 Now there was no water for the congregation; so they gathered together against Moses and against Aaron. 3 The people quarreled with Moses and said, "Would that we had died when our kindred died before the LORD! 4 Why have you brought the assembly of the LORD into this wilderness for us and our livestock to die here? Numbers 20 The Waters of Meribah 5 Why have you brought us up out of Egypt, to bring us to this wretched place? It is no place for grain, or figs, or vines, or pomegranates; and there is no water to drink." 6 Then Moses and Aaron went away from the assembly to the entrance of the tent of meeting; they fell on their faces, and the glory of the LORD appeared to them. 7 The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 8 Take the staff, and assemble the congregation, you and your brother Aaron, and command the rock before their eyes to yield its water. Thus you shall bring water out of the rock for them; thus you shall provide drink for the congregation and their livestock. Numbers 20 The Waters of Meribah 9 So Moses took the staff from before the LORD, as he had commanded him. 10 Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, "Listen, you rebels, shall we bring water for you out of this rock?" 11 Then Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff; water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their livestock drank. 12 But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, "Because you did not trust in me, to show my holiness before the eyes of the Israelites, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them." 13 These are the waters of Meribah, where the people of Israel quarreled with the LORD, and by which he showed his holiness. Sin
Zin Romans 5:1-11 Since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. Romans 5:1-11 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person-- though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. Romans 5:1-11 For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. Context We seem to be moving through the ‘argument’ in Roman’s first backwards now along. Today’s reading is part of the bridge from last week’s reading to the reading for the first Sunday in Lent about Adam and Sin. The reading for today is thus immediately before the reading about Adam and sin from two weeks ago. Back to Moses…. The lack of human faith, as shown in the wilderness incidents, even immediately after the parting of the red sea. Perhaps makes God’s demonstration of faith in contrast to human faithlessness the more stark! According to Paul “But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.” What about suffering? The people suffered thirst and blamed God. God answered by relief of that suffering! Paul, of course is Paul – he says the suffering part is good for you – leading to hope. Still not a very satisfying answer- see Job….. Context In both OT and Epistle – we see a faithful God dealing in forgiveness for failed people Also, note it is people who are to be reconciled to God and not the other way round. John 4:5-42 Part 1 Jesus came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon. A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?" (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.) John 4:5-42 Part 2Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, `Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water." The woman said to him, "Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well, and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?" Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life." The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.” John 4:5-42 Part 3 Jesus said to her, "Go, call your husband, and come back." The woman answered him, "I have no husband." Jesus said to her, "You are right in saying, `I have no husband'; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!" The woman said to him, "Sir, I see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” John 4:5-42 Part 4 Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." The woman said to him, "I know that Messiah is coming" (who is called Christ). "When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us." Jesus said to her, "I am he, the one who is speaking to you.” John 4:5-42 Part 5 Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, "What do you want?" or, "Why are you speaking with her?" Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, "Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?" They left the city and were on their way to him. John 4:5-42 Part 6 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, "Rabbi, eat something." But he said to them, "I have food to eat that you do not know about." So the disciples said to one another, "Surely no one has brought him something to eat?" Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. John 4:5-42 Part 7 Do you not say, `Four months more, then comes the harvest'? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, `One sows and another reaps.' I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.” John 4:5-42 Part 8 Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me everything I have ever done." So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, "It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world." Christ and the Samarian Woman Benedetto da Maiano, Christ and the Samarian Woman, c. 1475 Terracotta, 16 x 30 in., Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest Juan de Flandes,
Christ and the Woman of Samaria, 1496-1504
Oil on panel, 9 ½ x 7 in.,
Musée du Louvre, Paris Annibale Carracci, The Samaritan Woman at the Well, c. 1600
Oil on canvas, 5 ½ x 7 ½ ft.
Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan Guercino,
Jesus and the Samaritan Woman at the Well, 1640-41
Oil on canvas,
46 x 61 ½ in. Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid
Attributed to Rembrandt, Christ and the Woman of Samaria, 1655
Oil on wood,
25 x 19 1/4 in.
Metropolitan Museum Rembrandt, Christ and the Woman of Samaria among Ruins, 1634
Etching
5 x 4 1/8 in.
Metropolitan Museum Rembrandt,
Christ and the Woman of Samaria, 1658
etching and drypoint
3rd of 5 states
5 x 6 ¼ in.
Metropolitan Museum of Art Introduction to the Gospel According to John Who wrote this Gospel? Tradition says it was the apostle John. Many scholars, however, think that it was composed by a disciple of John who recorded his preaching as Mark did that of Peter. The Gospel was published near the close of the first century. Jesus and the Samaritans Samaria is between Judea and Galilee with a mixed people. The Jews held Samaritans in contempt, as religious apostates. Being tired out, shows Jesus' humanity. Rabbis in that day and age avoided speaking to a woman in public. “I have no husband, a true answer, literally taken, though given with an intention to deceive,” Jesus both saw through the lie and disregarded the Sin. The Mountain The mountain here is Mount Gerizim, where the Samaritans had a temple. The comments made by Jesus mean that the place of worship is not of primary importance. The point in that day was an important one. In 2 Kings, the view was that God was a local deity and part of his location was this mountain [not at Jerusalem.] Assyria Resettles Samaria In Second Kings, those in the Northern Kingdom were exiled, afterward foreigners were given Samaria. They were attacked by Lions, since they did know how to worship God, The Assyrians let one of the priests return to teach them how to worship or at any rate how to avoid the lions! The Samarian mountain was where Jacob bought land and later where Joseph was placed after the Exodus. The Samarian mountain had a real claim to be ‘the’ mountain. Samaritans Samaritans still survive in our own day, as a community preserving its ancient rites on its holy site, Mount Gerizim. There is a Samaritan Pentateuch. The scroll preserved by the present-day Samaritan community is claimed by them to date back to Abishua, the great -grandson of Aaron mentioned in 1 Chronicles. It is actually a medieval scroll, although it certainly preserves older traditions sometimes valued by textual critics Living Water The symbol here is Living Water, offered by Jesus. The Samaritans initially are interested by the knowledge of Jesus about the woman. But after contact with Jesus they believe because of him. The gift of faith from Jesus illustrates Paul’s point about grace. Subtext That Jesus was a more efficient savior than Moses who was imperfect as a human. Remember John was written late in the 1st Century, after the destruction of the temple. The lesson that God is worshipped not in a place but in the spirit would have been an important point. Water was a powerful symbol of the OT and used by John extensively in his Gospel – e.g crucifixion. The notes of explanation indicate that the 4th Gospel audience was not primarily Jewish.
