Margaret Killingray from LICC considers Jesus' model of leadership

Margaret Killingray

So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar... Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, 'Will you give me a drink?'
John 4:5-7

The story of Jesus and the woman of Samaria provides a rich source of reflection - on evangelism, gender, ethnicity, worship, and more besides - but the implications of the first few verses are often overlooked.

So far as we know, these two were on their own. The disciples were off looking for lunch. The woman was making a solitary trip to the well at noon. Between them lay the cultural barriers of status that would normally rule out any kind of genuine communication. He was a rabbi, a man and a Jew. He was also tired, hot, hungry and thirsty. She may well have been kept by some man as an unloved drudge. She may well have expected Jesus to stand up and walk away until she had finished her solitary task.

But he didn't. He didn't hide his vulnerability and need - he was thirsty and the well was deep. He didn't pull rank and he didn't insist on his status. He'd already faced that temptation. Beginning 'If you are the Son of God', the tempter had suggested that if Jesus really did have the authority, and as he was hungry, he should turn stones into bread. And if people didn't realise who he was, he should demonstrate his sonship in an impressive way that all could see. But he chose not to go that route.

Anyone who has any kind of authority faces the temptation to ensure that everyone 'beneath' them knows the extent of that power, and that any weakness is well hidden. How much is status worth to us? How difficult do we find it to allow others to see our frailties and our vulnerabilities, fearing that our authority will be diminished by such openness?

Jesus stayed sitting on the wall of the well, and asked her for a drink. He put himself in her debt. Later he began to tell her who he really was and to startle her with his knowledge. But not before he had established that he was a fellow human being. In doing so he shocked her, and his disciples. What barriers do we need to break down today? It might begin with something as simple as a request for a drink of water.