THIRD SUNDAY OF LENT, YEAR A
15th March 2020
Exodus 17:3-7; Romans 5:1-2,5-8; John 4:5-42.
Jesus Christ is the perfect model of human desire. He understands the human nature because as the son of God, he has been through the paths of human predicament. He is like us in all things but sin. (Heb. 4:15). The encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well reveals God’s understanding of human nature. The insatiable nature of human desire is revealed in the life of the Samaritan woman. The Samaritan woman at the well has been married five times and is currently living with a man that is not her husband. Once our choice is entangled with the wrong model, crisis sets in. To be married five times and not finding love, shows the pitiable human nature.
The first reading from the book of exodus deals with the grumbling of the people of Israel against Moses at Massah and Meribah. Tormented by thirst, the people complained against Moses to the extent of wishing to go back to Egypt, the land of slavery. The present predicament removed the saving power of God from their minds. Unknown to the people of Israel, what happened at Meribah was merely a test of their faith. I tested you at the waters of Meribah. (Psalm 81:7). Suddenly they forgot that the same God who led them on dry land across the sea, is capable of quenching their thirst. Human desire is also transient.
The solution offered by Jesus Christ to the insatiable and transient human desire is the living water. He tells the Samaritan woman at the well that whoever drinks the water from the well will be thirsty again. But the living water will quench all thirst and go on to well up eternal life. The two-fold problem of insatiability and transience will be solved by drinking of the living water. What this means is that nothing on earth is capable of satisfying our innermost quest for meaning. We can never have enough of Jesus Christ. A true taste of Jesus Christ makes a deep and lasting impression. Jesus Christ is the perfect model of human desire.
Anthony Ekpunobi, CM.
