Lent 3 – 2026
John 4:5-42
Marian Free
In the name of God whose choice of disciples is not limited to gender, nor is it constrained by stereotype or social norms. Amen.
Those who prepare our lectionary will not have planned this, but what a wonderful gospel reading for International Women’s Day! In the account of the woman whom Jesus meets at the well, we are presented with an illustration of an intelligent woman with an enquiring mind, a woman who has the confidence to engage a stranger in a conversation about theology, a woman who is the first to whom Jesus reveals his identity, one of the first evangelists and a woman whose story tells us about the role of women as leaders in the community for whom the fourth gospel was written.
One of the distinctive features of the fourth gospel is the significant role played by women. Indeed, the prominence of women suggests that in the latter part of the first century women continued to exercise leadership in the community behind the formation of this gospel. Unlike the Synoptic gospels in which the accounts of women are few and are often retold in such a way as to limit their authority and to emphasise their passivity, John’s gospel features many women who confidently engage with Jesus and who are empowered to share the good news with others. At a time when women were beginning to be written out of the story of the Jesus’ movement, the author of John’s gospel continues to recognise the roles women played, their conversations and confrontations with Jesus as well as their capacity to share the gospel with others and to bring them to faith.
The gospel begins with the wedding at Cana in which we meet the mother of Jesus. Here Mary takes it upon herself to let Jesus know that the wine has run out and tells the servants to do whatever Jesus asks them to do. Though Jesus’ initial reaction suggests he will ignore his mother, he responds by turning water into wine. Later, when the author of the gospel is recounting the story of the raising of Lazarus, it is Lazarus’ sisters, Mary and Martha, who exercise key roles which suggests that they hold positions of leadership within that community. It is significant that neither Martha nor Mary are afraid to berate Jesus for his tardiness and that they have no hesitation in blaming Jesus for the death of their brother. Martha even questions Jesus’ wisdom in opening the tomb. In this gospel it is Martha, not Peter, who identifies Jesus as the Christ: “you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”
A few days later Mary, takes expensive oil and anoints Jesus’ feet, modelling a form of servanthood that Jesus himself will adopt when he washes the feet of the disciples. Martha and Mary are not silence as they are in the gospel of Luke. In John’s gospel they are revealed as women of significance in the community who are at the centre of Jesus’ circle and who are confident in themselves and in their relationship with Jesus.
In John the women at the foot of the cross are named – the three Marys – and finally, to cap off a gospel in which the intelligence, insight, wisdom and confidence of women are celebrated, it is Mary Magdalene who not only sees the risen Christ, but who is commissioned to tell the disciples that she has seen him. Magdalene then is the apostle to the apostles, the first among the apostles.
The women of John’s are not passive, compliant or anxious women who are worried about social norms or about what others might think. They are women who are confident of their own worth, of their right to engage with and even to challenge Jesus and of their commission to share the gospel with others.
From the way in which stories of women are recorded, it is possible to surmise that the communities which gave birth to the Synoptic gospels had begun to limit the roles that women were able to play (listeners and housekeepers) and that as a result the Jesus’ story is told in such a way that diminishes their contribution to the Jesus’ movement. Similarly, it possible to conclude that the community behind the fourth gospel continued to celebrate (and even elevate) the women who followed Jesus. This observation leads to the conclusion that women continued to have leadership roles in the Johannine community well into the late first century. (That is, they couldn’t be written out of the story because they were part of the continuing story.)
In this morning’s gospel Jesus is returning to Galilee from Jerusalem and has chosen to take the direct route through Samaria. On reaching the outskirts Sychar he sends his disciples to buy food while he rests at a well. When a woman comes to draw water, Jesus initiates a conversation and, even though social norms dictate that the two should not speak to each other (or share utensils), the woman responds. As with his encounter with Nicodemus, Jesus uses imagery that has a double meaning, but in contrast to Nicodemus who goes away confused, the woman of Samaria enters into a discussion a discussion that moves beyond the initial misunderstanding into a debate about the practice of faith and the coming of the Christ.
Unfortunately, a focus on the number of husbands and the fact that the woman came to the well at noon have led to assumptions about her morality and about her status within her community. As a result, we have tended to lose sight of her wit, her intelligence, her confidence, her agency and her influence in her community which meant that rather than being ostracized, she was considered sufficiently trustworthy by her fellow townspeople that they did not question her report but immediately left the city to see Jesus for themselves.
On this International Women’s Day, let us celebrate the women who refused to be defined and limited by cultural norms and whose confidence, intelligence and wisdom have continued to inform, encourage and to inspire us in our own journeys of faith.
Tags: leadership of women, Samaritan woman, Woman at the welll, women in John's gospel
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