Lost in the commotion of arriving disciples, fleeing woman,
fast-approaching townspeople, and abandoned pottery, is Jesus. He has not had a morsel of food to eat all
day; and as far as we can tell, he never did get that cup of water from the
now-absentee woman.
The disciples do the right thing—they suggest he have
something to eat. They know he probably
has not had anything to eat, since that is the reason they went into town. Now, setting aside their obvious curiosity
about the woman at the well, they change the subject to a more palatable
one. They quickly redirect the focus
from the woman—the Samaritan cast-off, to something they consider a
priority. Their approach is formal,
“Rabbi,” they suggest, “why don’t you take a bite?” They probably want to pepper him with all
sorts of questions about the woman, but they resist. Instead they go to a safe and more palatable
subject—food.
I confess that there are times I overlook the important in
favor of the expedient; the significant over the comfortable. I wonder what I would have done if I found
myself in that identical situation.
Would I have asked Jesus, “Hey, what gives?” knowing that I might not
want to hear the answer to the question?
Or would I have meandered into the default level-one question in order
to avoid having to deal with a matter that may require I actually be
interested. There are things more important
and pressing that the things I can see and touch.
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