Tired by the journey – August 14, 2024

Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 101, 109:1-4(5-19)20-30; PM Psalm 119:121-144
Judges 13:15-24; Acts 6:1-15; John 4:1-26 

After a full day yesterday, I arrived home and did something uncharacteristic. I stretched out on the sofa and took nap! I woke up a bit disoriented and felt markedly more refreshed. And so, as I read the Gospel according to John appointed for today, what jumped out at the start was verse 6: “Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.” Jesus was worn out. Exhausted. I don’t know exactly what it felt like for Jesus in the ancient Near East to be wearied by fatigue, but I know how I can feel in those moments: Dragging. Groggy. Encumbered.

Jesus is described many ways in Holy Scripture: The Son of God. The fulfillment of God’s promise. A rabbi. A healer. One who goes away alone to reset and pray. I do not remember reading that Jesus was tired. This very humanizing detail about the divinely sent Jesus adds a different shimmer to this day’s gospel.

There are a few points to note. The first is this: Jesus sat down when he was tired. He listened to his body and committed to scaling back just a bit. His good work did not stop. Jesus simply changed the posture of his body to conserve his strength. Perhaps we can do the same…even when it is a time that we would usually be at the peak of our day’s work.

Secondly, there can be unexpected blessing and gift that comes when asking for help. As his friends had gone to purchase food, Jesus asked a woman who came up to the well to draw up some water for him. This was forbidden on a couple of levels. Men did not speak to unaccompanied women who were not their wives or family members – especially in public. The woman was from Samaria; Jews did not share things in common with Samaritans, for they were people of different faiths and practices. Nevertheless, Jesus asked her for a drink from the well when he was in need. The discourse that followed is the longest conversation in the New Testament that Jesus had with a woman. This conversation at the well became a conversion moment for the Samaritan woman, for she was truly seen by Jesus as a person thirsting for eternal, living water. He saw and named the discomfort of her relationship status – being married five times and now living with one who was not her husband. The Samaritan woman at the well became an evangelist for Jesus, as retelling her story opened the eyes of many other Samaritans to believe that Jesus was indeed the Savior of the world. There can be unexpected blessing and gift that comes when asking for help.



Be gentle on yourself today if you are feeling tired out by your journey. Take a lesson from Jesus. Sit down. Conserve your strength. Ask others for help. God will bestow grace on us, just where we are – especially when we realize that it is the living water of baptism that refreshes us.

May God bless you in your work and rest this day,

Katherine+

Reflection and Challenge

How easy is it for you to listen to your body and ask for help today? By extension, who will you help in those exchanges, too?

Sit with God in prayer and lift up those who have, are, and will help you.