THE ROCK OF SALVATION

Reflection of the 3^rd Sunday of Lent Year A

(Ex 17:3-7; Rm 5:1-2, 5-8; Jn 4:5-42)

The Israelites became extremely thirsty along the way. They lost patience and lost faith. Their journey to life now appeared like a death-trap; they preferred the food of slavery to the journey of freedom. So they turned against Moses saying, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst? Suddenly, the one who saved them was accused of working against them! This is what happens when man is consumed by insatiable human desires or thirsty for the water that increases his thirst. However, Moses mediated before God for the people.

The Lord told Moses to take with him the rod with which he struck the Nile and go to the rock at Horeb. “Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it that the people may drink.” The Sound of Silence perceives the impact of the rod of Moses on the Rock! Imagine Moses lifting and landing the rod on the rock. It was not mere dry rock that gushed forth water. The Lord declared Himself on the rock. Therefore, the impact of the rod, which carried with it all their stubbornness and rebellious acts, landed on the One who overshadowed Horeb, and who made the water gush forth. The Lord received and transformed the impact of the rod to spring of water for the people. “Hail the Rock who saves us” (Ps 95:1).

This impact resounds loudly and consistently in Jesus Christ as we behold Him dialoguing with the Samaritan woman. “And all drank from the same spiritual drink, since they drank from the spiritual rock which followed them, and that rock was Christ” (1Cor 10:4). In Jesus, God is no more hiding behind a rock...Jesus is the Cornerstone, the Living Water, and the Mediator. The impact of the rod of Moses is fulfilled as the soldiers struck Jesus, spat on him, drove the nails into His arms and feet, and pierced His side. Then from His side flowed Blood and Water, the fountain of life. The real thirst and drink is now revealed in Him to the amazement of His disciples and the Samaritan woman.

The weariness of the Israelites on their journey to freedom met its end in Jesus who was worn out from His journey and sat at Jacob’s well in Samaria. And Jesus was thirsty! In His thirst God’s people can no more lose faith because of any thirst. Instead, human desire can now lead to the glory of God. The Samaritan woman became a symbol of the rebellious people of God, as Jesus fulfilled the role of Moses as Mediator. She begane by being obstinate; she refused Jesus the water from the well. As Jesus began to introduce Himself to her, unveiling gradually to her the mystery of His identity, the Samaritan woman began to have a change of heart. "...Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give will ever be thirsty again..." At this point her interest in Jesus and thirst for living water was activated, though clouded by her human understanding. She said, "Sir, give me some of that water, so that I may never be thirsty or come here again to draw water."

At this point, Jesus moved the dialogue to her inner Self, where the real thirst lies. Of course, we cannot worship God in spirit and in truth if our inner life is not laid bare before God. He said to her, "Go and call your husband." At this point, the woman's secret choices were exposed--choices which reflect her thirst for a saviour, but grossly misplaced on the altar of bodily pleasure! Untill now, she had lived an unhappy and unstable life, replacing one man with another in her quest for satisfaction. Seeing that her secret life is not hidden from Jesus, she recognized Him as a prophet. 

The idea of a "prophet" summons her to religion. But she had her excuses for exempting herself from religion. Jesus then redeems her idea of religion and satisfies her thirst for worship. "But the hour is coming--indeed is here already--when true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth..." True worship does not depend on space or location. But to worship God in truth will lead to the acceptance of the Messiah. So the woman expressed her thirst for the Messiah who was to come. But Jesus answered her emphatically,  "I who speak to you, am He." 

What else could she long for! Hail the Rock who saves us. She had received her salvation. Her request for living water was granted. Having received Jesus the Living Water, she was filled with joy, and the woman abandoned her natural water, moved into town like a disciple, and brought 

others for Jesus.

This is an unmerrited grace. He quenches our thirst even while we are rebellious. We must stand on Jesus with strong faith. He is our Rock of Salvation. Jesus has won peace for us, and access to divine grace. Like the Samaritan woman, we must allow Jesus to redeem our inner self, that seat of making choices, such that we choose Him who had choosen us, Jesus Christ; and worship God in Spirit and in the truth.

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.SsR

Ss Peter and Paul Catholic, 

Tedi-Muwo, Ojo, Lagos.

Sunday 15th March, 2020