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Scripture Script
The Cast of Characters: Isaiah, Narrator Samaritan Woman (Narrator S.W.), Narrator Peter, Andrew, John, James, Peter, Philip, Nathanael, Samaritan Woman (S.W.), Jesus
The Scene: Jacob’s Well in Samaria, Pathway to and from Jacob’s Well, the Synagogue in Nazareth. Click to View Maps
Props/Costumes: A beautiful headdress, the oil of gladness, the garment of praise– and a lovely box to put them in. If performing the scene for an audience, or for greater effect in the Bible study, use actual props/costumes. Otherwise, pantomiming them will suffice.
(Lights come up on our Readers/Characters, all in a row. Perhaps a slight curve will help with eye contact. The characters should be placed in such a way that the reading is most powerful, and in a way that increases eye contact. Narrator Peter, Narrator S.W., and perhaps Isaiah, should be positioned separately from the rest, to show that they are narrating.)
The Samaritan Woman by Debbie Clark
- All Parts (11)
- Isaiah
- Narrator S.W.
- Narrator Peter
- Andrew
- John
- James
- Peter
- Philip
- Nathanael
- Samaritan Woman
- Jesus
| Isaiah: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion—to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified. | |
| (Lights out, then quickly back up) | |
| Narrator S.W.: Every day I walked to the well, not with a beautiful headdress, not with the oil of gladness, nor with the garment of praise. No, those things were not for me. It was, rather, shame, that caused me to come to Jacob’s Well in the heat of the day, the sixth hour—high noon on the desert. I did not fit in with my people, the Samaritans. When the other women gathered in the cool of the morning, or the evening at sunset, to draw fresh water and talk, and laugh, and sing, and live life—I was at home, hiding. Alone. | |
| Narrator Peter: Now it was the custom in those days, the days of Jesus and His disciples, that every week on the Sabbath, there would be a reading from the Torah, or Law, which is the first 5 books of the Bible. Then another reading from the Prophets. If there was a visiting rabbi, that teacher would read the text. After reading the Scripture, the rabbi would sit, and that was the signal for the beginning of the sermon. The rabbi would sit on a chair or bench, and the rest of us would sit on the floor at his feet. | |
| John: And so it was with us, as we left Jerusalem after the Passover, after Jesus’ now famous meeting with the highly respected Nicodemus, member of the Jewish ruling council, the Sanhedrin. We sat at the feet of Jesus, and He was teaching us more and more. | |
| Andrew: Our families and friends headed back to Galilee, after Passover, but we headed out into the Judean countryside near Jerusalem, and even began baptizing people, just like John the Baptist did. | |
| John: When Jesus decided it was time to go back to Galilee, He said He “needed” to go through Samaria. Ordinarily we took the route through the region of Perea, east of the Jordan River. Although a bit longer, it avoided the Samaritans. | |
| James: After about a day and a half of solid hiking, we arrived at a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave his son Joseph. | |
| Narrator Peter: Now Jacob’s Well was there; so Jesus, wearied as He was from His journey, sat beside the well. It was about the sixth hour, or high noon. | |
| Philip: As was the custom of a teacher and his disciples, as that is what we had become, Jesus sent us to look for food. | |
| Nathanael: Down the path and into the city. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| James: I would rather not deal with these people, these Samaritans who desecrated our temple. | |
| John: We destroyed theirs, so I think the score is more than even. It was a long time ago. | |
 | (Sound Effect: A cart, drawn by oxen, passes by up ahead.) |
| John: Follow that cart! There’s sure to be food that way. | |
| Andrew: Why should we come this way anyway? Our route is so friendly. | |
| Peter: Perhaps He wants to form an alliance with them to defeat the Romans. Many of them do believe in the Torah. I have no quarrel with them. It’s our own leaders who now desecrate our temple. What I don’t understand is why He meets with Nicodemus. I’m no prophet, but I don’t see the Sanhedrin and the Sadducees changing. If He is indeed The Christ, what is His game plan? | |
| John: Perhaps we have missed or misunderstood something written by the prophets. For He is certainly from God, is He not? | |
| Andrew: John the Baptist maintains He is the Lamb of God. I heard one of his disciples say, back there in the Judean countryside, that John says, “He must increase, but I must decrease”. | |
| Nathanael: Well, we’re all going to decrease if we don’t find some food soon. | |
| Philip: You can say that again! | |
| Nathanael: Well, we’re all going to decrease if we don’t find some food soon. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| Narrator Peter: Meanwhile, as Jesus sat by the well, the same well Jacob had dug around 2000 years earlier, a woman came to draw water. Jesus spoke to her: | |
| Jesus: Give Me a drink. | |
| Narrator S.W.: I looked at the man, curiously I’m sure. Why was He speaking to me, a woman? He must not be religious. And why does He ask me for a drink? Jews do not share utensils or cups, or even water pots with us Samaritans. They consider us unclean. | |
| S.W.: How is it that you, a Jew, asks for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria? | |
| Jesus: If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, “Give Me a drink,” you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water. | |
| S.W.: Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock. | |
| Jesus: Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. | |
| Narrator S.W.: I looked at Jesus, still confused, I’m sure. What was it He wanted? A religious man would not have spoken to me at all. And He spoke with so much power, and with such confidence of the truth of what He said. Could He make my life right again? Whole again? To make me not an outcast? A failure? Certainly, everything was not entirely my fault. Yet here I was. So tired. So alone. | |
| S.W.: Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water. | |
| Jesus: Go, call your husband, and come here. | |
| S.W.: I have no husband. | |
| Jesus: You are right in saying, “I have no husband”; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true. | |
| Narrator S.W.: How does He know that, I thought. Who would have told Him? I have never seen this man. I would remember, I’m sure. And if I did somehow meet Him in the past, how would He know my current situation? | |
| S.W.: Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship. | |
| Jesus: Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know, we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. | |
| Narrator S.W.: Some men, His followers I assumed, were coming towards us in the distance. I felt no threat, though. Rather, the opposite—great comfort. | |
| | (Sound Effect: The woman, operating the well crank to let down her water pot.) |
| Narrator S.W.: I let down my water pot to draw up water. Who was this man, and why was He talking to me? Could He really help me? Was this “living water” He had for me? | |
| S.W.: I know that Messiah is coming. When He comes, He will tell us all things. | |
| Jesus: I who speak to you am He. | |
| Narrator S.W.: And at that moment nothing else mattered. | |
| | (Sound Effect: The woman, operating the well crank quickly, drawing up water.) |
| Narrator S.W.: I drew up my water pot as quickly as I could. | |
| Narrator S.W.: I unhooked my water pot and stepped toward Jesus. And He met me there. I handed my water over to Him, speechless. I believed Him! Then I did something I thought I would never in my life do. I went to talk to the men, the truly well-respected men of the city. I said, | |
| S.W.: Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ? | |
| Narrator Peter: Meanwhile, we were amazed that we had found Jesus talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking to her?” Instead, we passed around the food and began to eat. We were quite famished, but Jesus just sat there. | |
| Peter: Rabbi, eat. | |
| Narrator Peter: “Yes, eat up, Rabbi,” the others said. | |
| Jesus: I have food to eat that you do not know about. | |
| John: Has anyone brought Him something to eat? | |
| Jesus: My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work. Do you not say, “There are yet four months, then comes the harvest”? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, “One sows and another reaps.” I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor. | |
| Narrator S.W.: Then, the respected men of the city came out to Jesus, at Jacob’s well. And many of my people believed in Him because of my words and my testimony that “He told me all that I ever did.” And many more believed because of His word. They said to me, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.” | |
| Narrator Peter: And the Samaritans asked Him to stay with them, and He stayed there two days. | |
| Narrator S.W.: The Messiah, The Christ, the Savior of the world. And the water we drank that day became in us a spring of water welling up to eternal life! And I stopped going to the well, Jacob’s Well, in the heat of the day, alone. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| Narrator Peter: When we arrived in Galilee, our people welcomed Jesus, having seen all that He had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast. In Galilee He continued healing people, and was saying, | |
| Jesus: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. | |
| Narrator Peter: Meanwhile, we fishermen carried on with our work, and with following Jesus. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| Narrator Peter: And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about Him went out through all the surrounding country. And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as was His custom, He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and He stood up to read. | |
| John: Now it was the custom in those days, that every week on the Sabbath, there would be a reading from the Torah, or Law, which is the first five books of the Bible. Then another reading from the Prophets. If there was a visiting rabbi, that teacher would read the text. | |
| Narrator Peter: And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to Jesus. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, | |
| Jesus: The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. | |
| Narrator Peter: And He rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. | |
| John: After reading the Scripture, the rabbi would sit, and that was the signal for the beginning of the sermon. The rabbi would sit on a chair or bench, and the rest of us would sit on the floor at His feet. | |
| Narrator Peter: And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Jesus. | |
| John: We, as a people, had been reading that prophetic passage from Isaiah for centuries, waiting for God’s anointed, longing for God’s deliverer, hoping for the conqueror to come! | |
| Narrator Peter: What would Jesus say? What new light would He shed? This hometown boy, this son of Joseph the carpenter—– | |
| Jesus: Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. | |
| (Lights out, then slowly back up) | |
| Isaiah: …To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; | |
| Jesus: …to comfort all who mourn; to grant those who mourn in Zion– (Action: Jesus picks up a box and carries it over to the Samaritan woman. He stands beside her.) | |
| John: …to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, (Action: Jesus unveils a headdress from the box and places it on the Samaritan woman. John goes to stand with them.) | |
| James: …the oil of gladness instead of mourning, (Action: Jesus anoints her head with oil. James goes to stand with them.) | |
| Andrew: …the garment of praise… (Action: Jesus places a beautiful garment on the Samaritan woman. Andrew goes to stand with them.) | |
| Peter: …instead of a faint spirit; (Action: Peter goes to stand with them. Philip and Nathanael follow. They all form a portrait, close together, as if someone was taking their picture.) | |
| Narrator Peter: …that they may be called oaks of righteousness, | |
| Narrator S.W.: …the planting of the Lord, | |
| S.W.: …that He may be glorified. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| Narrator S.W.: The Messiah, The Christ, the Savior of the world! And the water we drank that day became in us a spring of water welling up to eternal life! And I stopped going to the well, Jacob’s Well, in the heat of the day, alone. I am not alone. | |
| Jesus: The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor; He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor. | |
| All, In Unison: We are not alone. | |
| Jesus: Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. |
(Lights out, end of Episode #3)
| Isaiah: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion—to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified. | |
| (Lights out, then quickly back up) | |
| Narrator S.W.: Every day I walked to the well, not with a beautiful headdress, not with the oil of gladness, nor with the garment of praise. No, those things were not for me. It was, rather, shame, that caused me to come to Jacob’s Well in the heat of the day, the sixth hour—high noon on the desert. I did not fit in with my people, the Samaritans. When the other women gathered in the cool of the morning, or the evening at sunset, to draw fresh water and talk, and laugh, and sing, and live life—I was at home, hiding. Alone. | |
| Narrator Peter: Now it was the custom in those days, the days of Jesus and His disciples, that every week on the Sabbath, there would be a reading from the Torah, or Law, which is the first 5 books of the Bible. Then another reading from the Prophets. If there was a visiting rabbi, that teacher would read the text. After reading the Scripture, the rabbi would sit, and that was the signal for the beginning of the sermon. The rabbi would sit on a chair or bench, and the rest of us would sit on the floor at his feet. | |
| John: And so it was with us, as we left Jerusalem after the Passover, after Jesus’ now famous meeting with the highly respected Nicodemus, member of the Jewish ruling council, the Sanhedrin. We sat at the feet of Jesus, and He was teaching us more and more. | |
| Andrew: Our families and friends headed back to Galilee, after Passover, but we headed out into the Judean countryside near Jerusalem, and even began baptizing people, just like John the Baptist did. | |
| John: When Jesus decided it was time to go back to Galilee, He said He “needed” to go through Samaria. Ordinarily we took the route through the region of Perea, east of the Jordan River. Although a bit longer, it avoided the Samaritans. | |
| James: After about a day and a half of solid hiking, we arrived at a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave his son Joseph. | |
| Narrator Peter: Now Jacob’s Well was there; so Jesus, wearied as He was from His journey, sat beside the well. It was about the sixth hour, or high noon. | |
| Philip: As was the custom of a teacher and his disciples, as that is what we had become, Jesus sent us to look for food. | |
| Nathanael: Down the path and into the city. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| James: I would rather not deal with these people, these Samaritans who desecrated our temple. | |
| John: We destroyed theirs, so I think the score is more than even. It was a long time ago. | |
 | (Sound Effect: A cart, drawn by oxen, passes by up ahead.) |
| John: Follow that cart! There’s sure to be food that way. | |
| Andrew: Why should we come this way anyway? Our route is so friendly. | |
| Peter: Perhaps He wants to form an alliance with them to defeat the Romans. Many of them do believe in the Torah. I have no quarrel with them. It’s our own leaders who now desecrate our temple. What I don’t understand is why He meets with Nicodemus. I’m no prophet, but I don’t see the Sanhedrin and the Sadducees changing. If He is indeed The Christ, what is His game plan? | |
| John: Perhaps we have missed or misunderstood something written by the prophets. For He is certainly from God, is He not? | |
| Andrew: John the Baptist maintains He is the Lamb of God. I heard one of his disciples say, back there in the Judean countryside, that John says, “He must increase, but I must decrease”. | |
| Nathanael: Well, we’re all going to decrease if we don’t find some food soon. | |
| Philip: You can say that again! | |
| Nathanael: Well, we’re all going to decrease if we don’t find some food soon. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| Narrator Peter: Meanwhile, as Jesus sat by the well, the same well Jacob had dug around 2000 years earlier, a woman came to draw water. Jesus spoke to her: | |
| Jesus: Give Me a drink. | |
| Narrator S.W.: I looked at the man, curiously I’m sure. Why was He speaking to me, a woman? He must not be religious. And why does He ask me for a drink? Jews do not share utensils or cups, or even water pots with us Samaritans. They consider us unclean. | |
| S.W.: How is it that you, a Jew, asks for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria? | |
| Jesus: If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, “Give Me a drink,” you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water. | |
| S.W.: Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock. | |
| Jesus: Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. | |
| Narrator S.W.: I looked at Jesus, still confused, I’m sure. What was it He wanted? A religious man would not have spoken to me at all. And He spoke with so much power, and with such confidence of the truth of what He said. Could He make my life right again? Whole again? To make me not an outcast? A failure? Certainly, everything was not entirely my fault. Yet here I was. So tired. So alone. | |
| S.W.: Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water. | |
| Jesus: Go, call your husband, and come here. | |
| S.W.: I have no husband. | |
| Jesus: You are right in saying, “I have no husband”; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true. | |
| Narrator S.W.: How does He know that, I thought. Who would have told Him? I have never seen this man. I would remember, I’m sure. And if I did somehow meet Him in the past, how would He know my current situation? | |
| S.W.: Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship. | |
| Jesus: Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know, we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. | |
| Narrator S.W.: Some men, His followers I assumed, were coming towards us in the distance. I felt no threat, though. Rather, the opposite—great comfort. | |
| | (Sound Effect: The woman, operating the well crank to let down her water pot.) |
| Narrator S.W.: I let down my water pot to draw up water. Who was this man, and why was He talking to me? Could He really help me? Was this “living water” He had for me? | |
| S.W.: I know that Messiah is coming. When He comes, He will tell us all things. | |
| Jesus: I who speak to you am He. | |
| Narrator S.W.: And at that moment nothing else mattered. | |
| | (Sound Effect: The woman, operating the well crank quickly, drawing up water.) |
| Narrator S.W.: I drew up my water pot as quickly as I could. | |
| Narrator S.W.: I unhooked my water pot and stepped toward Jesus. And He met me there. I handed my water over to Him, speechless. I believed Him! Then I did something I thought I would never in my life do. I went to talk to the men, the truly well-respected men of the city. I said, | |
| S.W.: Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ? | |
| Narrator Peter: Meanwhile, we were amazed that we had found Jesus talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking to her?” Instead, we passed around the food and began to eat. We were quite famished, but Jesus just sat there. | |
| Peter: Rabbi, eat. | |
| Narrator Peter: “Yes, eat up, Rabbi,” the others said. | |
| Jesus: I have food to eat that you do not know about. | |
| John: Has anyone brought Him something to eat? | |
| Jesus: My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work. Do you not say, “There are yet four months, then comes the harvest”? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, “One sows and another reaps.” I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor. | |
| Narrator S.W.: Then, the respected men of the city came out to Jesus, at Jacob’s well. And many of my people believed in Him because of my words and my testimony that “He told me all that I ever did.” And many more believed because of His word. They said to me, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.” | |
| Narrator Peter: And the Samaritans asked Him to stay with them, and He stayed there two days. | |
| Narrator S.W.: The Messiah, The Christ, the Savior of the world. And the water we drank that day became in us a spring of water welling up to eternal life! And I stopped going to the well, Jacob’s Well, in the heat of the day, alone. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| Narrator Peter: When we arrived in Galilee, our people welcomed Jesus, having seen all that He had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast. In Galilee He continued healing people, and was saying, | |
| Jesus: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. | |
| Narrator Peter: Meanwhile, we fishermen carried on with our work, and with following Jesus. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| Narrator Peter: And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about Him went out through all the surrounding country. And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as was His custom, He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and He stood up to read. | |
| John: Now it was the custom in those days, that every week on the Sabbath, there would be a reading from the Torah, or Law, which is the first five books of the Bible. Then another reading from the Prophets. If there was a visiting rabbi, that teacher would read the text. | |
| Narrator Peter: And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to Jesus. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, | |
| Jesus: The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. | |
| Narrator Peter: And He rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. | |
| John: After reading the Scripture, the rabbi would sit, and that was the signal for the beginning of the sermon. The rabbi would sit on a chair or bench, and the rest of us would sit on the floor at His feet. | |
| Narrator Peter: And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Jesus. | |
| John: We, as a people, had been reading that prophetic passage from Isaiah for centuries, waiting for God’s anointed, longing for God’s deliverer, hoping for the conqueror to come! | |
| Narrator Peter: What would Jesus say? What new light would He shed? This hometown boy, this son of Joseph the carpenter—– | |
| Jesus: Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. | |
| (Lights out, then slowly back up) | |
| Isaiah: …To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; | |
| Jesus: …to comfort all who mourn; to grant those who mourn in Zion– (Action: Jesus picks up a box and carries it over to the Samaritan woman. He stands beside her.) | |
| John: …to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, (Action: Jesus unveils a headdress from the box and places it on the Samaritan woman. John goes to stand with them.) | |
| James: …the oil of gladness instead of mourning, (Action: Jesus anoints her head with oil. James goes to stand with them.) | |
| Andrew: …the garment of praise… (Action: Jesus places a beautiful garment on the Samaritan woman. Andrew goes to stand with them.) | |
| Peter: …instead of a faint spirit; (Action: Peter goes to stand with them. Philip and Nathanael follow. They all form a portrait, close together, as if someone was taking their picture.) | |
| Narrator Peter: …that they may be called oaks of righteousness, | |
| Narrator S.W.: …the planting of the Lord, | |
| S.W.: …that He may be glorified. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| Narrator S.W.: The Messiah, The Christ, the Savior of the world! And the water we drank that day became in us a spring of water welling up to eternal life! And I stopped going to the well, Jacob’s Well, in the heat of the day, alone. I am not alone. | |
| Jesus: The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor; He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor. | |
| All, In Unison: We are not alone. | |
| Jesus: Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. |
(Lights out, end of Episode #3)
| Isaiah: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion—to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified. | |
| (Lights out, then quickly back up) | |
| Narrator S.W.: Every day I walked to the well, not with a beautiful headdress, not with the oil of gladness, nor with the garment of praise. No, those things were not for me. It was, rather, shame, that caused me to come to Jacob’s Well in the heat of the day, the sixth hour—high noon on the desert. I did not fit in with my people, the Samaritans. When the other women gathered in the cool of the morning, or the evening at sunset, to draw fresh water and talk, and laugh, and sing, and live life—I was at home, hiding. Alone. | |
| Narrator Peter: Now it was the custom in those days, the days of Jesus and His disciples, that every week on the Sabbath, there would be a reading from the Torah, or Law, which is the first 5 books of the Bible. Then another reading from the Prophets. If there was a visiting rabbi, that teacher would read the text. After reading the Scripture, the rabbi would sit, and that was the signal for the beginning of the sermon. The rabbi would sit on a chair or bench, and the rest of us would sit on the floor at his feet. | |
| John: And so it was with us, as we left Jerusalem after the Passover, after Jesus’ now famous meeting with the highly respected Nicodemus, member of the Jewish ruling council, the Sanhedrin. We sat at the feet of Jesus, and He was teaching us more and more. | |
| Andrew: Our families and friends headed back to Galilee, after Passover, but we headed out into the Judean countryside near Jerusalem, and even began baptizing people, just like John the Baptist did. | |
| John: When Jesus decided it was time to go back to Galilee, He said He “needed” to go through Samaria. Ordinarily we took the route through the region of Perea, east of the Jordan River. Although a bit longer, it avoided the Samaritans. | |
| James: After about a day and a half of solid hiking, we arrived at a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave his son Joseph. | |
| Narrator Peter: Now Jacob’s Well was there; so Jesus, wearied as He was from His journey, sat beside the well. It was about the sixth hour, or high noon. | |
| Philip: As was the custom of a teacher and his disciples, as that is what we had become, Jesus sent us to look for food. | |
| Nathanael: Down the path and into the city. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| James: I would rather not deal with these people, these Samaritans who desecrated our temple. | |
| John: We destroyed theirs, so I think the score is more than even. It was a long time ago. | |
| (Sound Effect: A cart, drawn by oxen, passes by up ahead.) |
| John: Follow that cart! There’s sure to be food that way. | |
| Andrew: Why should we come this way anyway? Our route is so friendly. | |
| Peter: Perhaps He wants to form an alliance with them to defeat the Romans. Many of them do believe in the Torah. I have no quarrel with them. It’s our own leaders who now desecrate our temple. What I don’t understand is why He meets with Nicodemus. I’m no prophet, but I don’t see the Sanhedrin and the Sadducees changing. If He is indeed The Christ, what is His game plan? | |
| John: Perhaps we have missed or misunderstood something written by the prophets. For He is certainly from God, is He not? | |
| Andrew: John the Baptist maintains He is the Lamb of God. I heard one of his disciples say, back there in the Judean countryside, that John says, “He must increase, but I must decrease”. | |
| Nathanael: Well, we’re all going to decrease if we don’t find some food soon. | |
| Philip: You can say that again! | |
| Nathanael: Well, we’re all going to decrease if we don’t find some food soon. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| Narrator Peter: Meanwhile, as Jesus sat by the well, the same well Jacob had dug around 2000 years earlier, a woman came to draw water. Jesus spoke to her: | |
| Jesus: Give Me a drink. | |
| Narrator S.W.: I looked at the man, curiously I’m sure. Why was He speaking to me, a woman? He must not be religious. And why does He ask me for a drink? Jews do not share utensils or cups, or even water pots with us Samaritans. They consider us unclean. | |
| S.W.: How is it that you, a Jew, asks for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria? | |
| Jesus: If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, “Give Me a drink,” you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water. | |
| S.W.: Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock. | |
| Jesus: Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. | |
| Narrator S.W.: I looked at Jesus, still confused, I’m sure. What was it He wanted? A religious man would not have spoken to me at all. And He spoke with so much power, and with such confidence of the truth of what He said. Could He make my life right again? Whole again? To make me not an outcast? A failure? Certainly, everything was not entirely my fault. Yet here I was. So tired. So alone. | |
| S.W.: Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water. | |
| Jesus: Go, call your husband, and come here. | |
| S.W.: I have no husband. | |
| Jesus: You are right in saying, “I have no husband”; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true. | |
| Narrator S.W.: How does He know that, I thought. Who would have told Him? I have never seen this man. I would remember, I’m sure. And if I did somehow meet Him in the past, how would He know my current situation? | |
| S.W.: Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship. | |
| Jesus: Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know, we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. | |
| Narrator S.W.: Some men, His followers I assumed, were coming towards us in the distance. I felt no threat, though. Rather, the opposite—great comfort. | |
| | (Sound Effect: The woman, operating the well crank to let down her water pot.) |
| Narrator S.W.: I let down my water pot to draw up water. Who was this man, and why was He talking to me? Could He really help me? Was this “living water” He had for me? | |
| S.W.: I know that Messiah is coming. When He comes, He will tell us all things. | |
| Jesus: I who speak to you am He. | |
| Narrator S.W.: And at that moment nothing else mattered. | |
| | (Sound Effect: The woman, operating the well crank quickly, drawing up water.) |
| Narrator S.W.: I drew up my water pot as quickly as I could. | |
| Narrator S.W.: I unhooked my water pot and stepped toward Jesus. And He met me there. I handed my water over to Him, speechless. I believed Him! Then I did something I thought I would never in my life do. I went to talk to the men, the truly well-respected men of the city. I said, | |
| S.W.: Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ? | |
| Narrator Peter: Meanwhile, we were amazed that we had found Jesus talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking to her?” Instead, we passed around the food and began to eat. We were quite famished, but Jesus just sat there. | |
| Peter: Rabbi, eat. | |
| Narrator Peter: “Yes, eat up, Rabbi,” the others said. | |
| Jesus: I have food to eat that you do not know about. | |
| John: Has anyone brought Him something to eat? | |
| Jesus: My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work. Do you not say, “There are yet four months, then comes the harvest”? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, “One sows and another reaps.” I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor. | |
| Narrator S.W.: Then, the respected men of the city came out to Jesus, at Jacob’s well. And many of my people believed in Him because of my words and my testimony that “He told me all that I ever did.” And many more believed because of His word. They said to me, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.” | |
| Narrator Peter: And the Samaritans asked Him to stay with them, and He stayed there two days. | |
| Narrator S.W.: The Messiah, The Christ, the Savior of the world. And the water we drank that day became in us a spring of water welling up to eternal life! And I stopped going to the well, Jacob’s Well, in the heat of the day, alone. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| Narrator Peter: When we arrived in Galilee, our people welcomed Jesus, having seen all that He had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast. In Galilee He continued healing people, and was saying, | |
| Jesus: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. | |
| Narrator Peter: Meanwhile, we fishermen carried on with our work, and with following Jesus. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| Narrator Peter: And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about Him went out through all the surrounding country. And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as was His custom, He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and He stood up to read. | |
| John: Now it was the custom in those days, that every week on the Sabbath, there would be a reading from the Torah, or Law, which is the first five books of the Bible. Then another reading from the Prophets. If there was a visiting rabbi, that teacher would read the text. | |
| Narrator Peter: And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to Jesus. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, | |
| Jesus: The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. | |
| Narrator Peter: And He rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. | |
| John: After reading the Scripture, the rabbi would sit, and that was the signal for the beginning of the sermon. The rabbi would sit on a chair or bench, and the rest of us would sit on the floor at His feet. | |
| Narrator Peter: And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Jesus. | |
| John: We, as a people, had been reading that prophetic passage from Isaiah for centuries, waiting for God’s anointed, longing for God’s deliverer, hoping for the conqueror to come! | |
| Narrator Peter: What would Jesus say? What new light would He shed? This hometown boy, this son of Joseph the carpenter—– | |
| Jesus: Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. | |
| (Lights out, then slowly back up) | |
| Isaiah: …To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; | |
| Jesus: …to comfort all who mourn; to grant those who mourn in Zion– (Action: Jesus picks up a box and carries it over to the Samaritan woman. He stands beside her.) | |
| John: …to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, (Action: Jesus unveils a headdress from the box and places it on the Samaritan woman. John goes to stand with them.) | |
| James: …the oil of gladness instead of mourning, (Action: Jesus anoints her head with oil. James goes to stand with them.) | |
| Andrew: …the garment of praise… (Action: Jesus places a beautiful garment on the Samaritan woman. Andrew goes to stand with them.) | |
| Peter: …instead of a faint spirit; (Action: Peter goes to stand with them. Philip and Nathanael follow. They all form a portrait, close together, as if someone was taking their picture.) | |
| Narrator Peter: …that they may be called oaks of righteousness, | |
| Narrator S.W.: …the planting of the Lord, | |
| S.W.: …that He may be glorified. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| Narrator S.W.: The Messiah, The Christ, the Savior of the world! And the water we drank that day became in us a spring of water welling up to eternal life! And I stopped going to the well, Jacob’s Well, in the heat of the day, alone. I am not alone. | |
| Jesus: The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor; He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor. | |
| All, In Unison: We are not alone. | |
| Jesus: Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. |
(Lights out, end of Episode #3)
| Isaiah: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion—to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified. | |
| (Lights out, then quickly back up) | |
| Narrator S.W.: Every day I walked to the well, not with a beautiful headdress, not with the oil of gladness, nor with the garment of praise. No, those things were not for me. It was, rather, shame, that caused me to come to Jacob’s Well in the heat of the day, the sixth hour—high noon on the desert. I did not fit in with my people, the Samaritans. When the other women gathered in the cool of the morning, or the evening at sunset, to draw fresh water and talk, and laugh, and sing, and live life—I was at home, hiding. Alone. | |
| Narrator Peter: Now it was the custom in those days, the days of Jesus and His disciples, that every week on the Sabbath, there would be a reading from the Torah, or Law, which is the first 5 books of the Bible. Then another reading from the Prophets. If there was a visiting rabbi, that teacher would read the text. After reading the Scripture, the rabbi would sit, and that was the signal for the beginning of the sermon. The rabbi would sit on a chair or bench, and the rest of us would sit on the floor at his feet. | |
| John: And so it was with us, as we left Jerusalem after the Passover, after Jesus’ now famous meeting with the highly respected Nicodemus, member of the Jewish ruling council, the Sanhedrin. We sat at the feet of Jesus, and He was teaching us more and more. | |
| Andrew: Our families and friends headed back to Galilee, after Passover, but we headed out into the Judean countryside near Jerusalem, and even began baptizing people, just like John the Baptist did. | |
| John: When Jesus decided it was time to go back to Galilee, He said He “needed” to go through Samaria. Ordinarily we took the route through the region of Perea, east of the Jordan River. Although a bit longer, it avoided the Samaritans. | |
| James: After about a day and a half of solid hiking, we arrived at a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave his son Joseph. | |
| Narrator Peter: Now Jacob’s Well was there; so Jesus, wearied as He was from His journey, sat beside the well. It was about the sixth hour, or high noon. | |
| Philip: As was the custom of a teacher and his disciples, as that is what we had become, Jesus sent us to look for food. | |
| Nathanael: Down the path and into the city. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| James: I would rather not deal with these people, these Samaritans who desecrated our temple. | |
| John: We destroyed theirs, so I think the score is more than even. It was a long time ago. | |
| (Sound Effect: A cart, drawn by oxen, passes by up ahead.) |
| John: Follow that cart! There’s sure to be food that way. | |
| Andrew: Why should we come this way anyway? Our route is so friendly. | |
| Peter: Perhaps He wants to form an alliance with them to defeat the Romans. Many of them do believe in the Torah. I have no quarrel with them. It’s our own leaders who now desecrate our temple. What I don’t understand is why He meets with Nicodemus. I’m no prophet, but I don’t see the Sanhedrin and the Sadducees changing. If He is indeed The Christ, what is His game plan? | |
| John: Perhaps we have missed or misunderstood something written by the prophets. For He is certainly from God, is He not? | |
| Andrew: John the Baptist maintains He is the Lamb of God. I heard one of his disciples say, back there in the Judean countryside, that John says, “He must increase, but I must decrease”. | |
| Nathanael: Well, we’re all going to decrease if we don’t find some food soon. | |
| Philip: You can say that again! | |
| Nathanael: Well, we’re all going to decrease if we don’t find some food soon. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| Narrator Peter: Meanwhile, as Jesus sat by the well, the same well Jacob had dug around 2000 years earlier, a woman came to draw water. Jesus spoke to her: | |
| Jesus: Give Me a drink. | |
| Narrator S.W.: I looked at the man, curiously I’m sure. Why was He speaking to me, a woman? He must not be religious. And why does He ask me for a drink? Jews do not share utensils or cups, or even water pots with us Samaritans. They consider us unclean. | |
| S.W.: How is it that you, a Jew, asks for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria? | |
| Jesus: If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, “Give Me a drink,” you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water. | |
| S.W.: Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock. | |
| Jesus: Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. | |
| Narrator S.W.: I looked at Jesus, still confused, I’m sure. What was it He wanted? A religious man would not have spoken to me at all. And He spoke with so much power, and with such confidence of the truth of what He said. Could He make my life right again? Whole again? To make me not an outcast? A failure? Certainly, everything was not entirely my fault. Yet here I was. So tired. So alone. | |
| S.W.: Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water. | |
| Jesus: Go, call your husband, and come here. | |
| S.W.: I have no husband. | |
| Jesus: You are right in saying, “I have no husband”; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true. | |
| Narrator S.W.: How does He know that, I thought. Who would have told Him? I have never seen this man. I would remember, I’m sure. And if I did somehow meet Him in the past, how would He know my current situation? | |
| S.W.: Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship. | |
| Jesus: Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know, we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. | |
| Narrator S.W.: Some men, His followers I assumed, were coming towards us in the distance. I felt no threat, though. Rather, the opposite—great comfort. | |
| | (Sound Effect: The woman, operating the well crank to let down her water pot.) |
| Narrator S.W.: I let down my water pot to draw up water. Who was this man, and why was He talking to me? Could He really help me? Was this “living water” He had for me? | |
| S.W.: I know that Messiah is coming. When He comes, He will tell us all things. | |
| Jesus: I who speak to you am He. | |
| Narrator S.W.: And at that moment nothing else mattered. | |
| | (Sound Effect: The woman, operating the well crank quickly, drawing up water.) |
| Narrator S.W.: I drew up my water pot as quickly as I could. | |
| Narrator S.W.: I unhooked my water pot and stepped toward Jesus. And He met me there. I handed my water over to Him, speechless. I believed Him! Then I did something I thought I would never in my life do. I went to talk to the men, the truly well-respected men of the city. I said, | |
| S.W.: Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ? | |
| Narrator Peter: Meanwhile, we were amazed that we had found Jesus talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking to her?” Instead, we passed around the food and began to eat. We were quite famished, but Jesus just sat there. | |
| Peter: Rabbi, eat. | |
| Narrator Peter: “Yes, eat up, Rabbi,” the others said. | |
| Jesus: I have food to eat that you do not know about. | |
| John: Has anyone brought Him something to eat? | |
| Jesus: My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work. Do you not say, “There are yet four months, then comes the harvest”? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, “One sows and another reaps.” I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor. | |
| Narrator S.W.: Then, the respected men of the city came out to Jesus, at Jacob’s well. And many of my people believed in Him because of my words and my testimony that “He told me all that I ever did.” And many more believed because of His word. They said to me, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.” | |
| Narrator Peter: And the Samaritans asked Him to stay with them, and He stayed there two days. | |
| Narrator S.W.: The Messiah, The Christ, the Savior of the world. And the water we drank that day became in us a spring of water welling up to eternal life! And I stopped going to the well, Jacob’s Well, in the heat of the day, alone. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| Narrator Peter: When we arrived in Galilee, our people welcomed Jesus, having seen all that He had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast. In Galilee He continued healing people, and was saying, | |
| Jesus: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. | |
| Narrator Peter: Meanwhile, we fishermen carried on with our work, and with following Jesus. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| Narrator Peter: And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about Him went out through all the surrounding country. And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as was His custom, He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and He stood up to read. | |
| John: Now it was the custom in those days, that every week on the Sabbath, there would be a reading from the Torah, or Law, which is the first five books of the Bible. Then another reading from the Prophets. If there was a visiting rabbi, that teacher would read the text. | |
| Narrator Peter: And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to Jesus. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, | |
| Jesus: The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. | |
| Narrator Peter: And He rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. | |
| John: After reading the Scripture, the rabbi would sit, and that was the signal for the beginning of the sermon. The rabbi would sit on a chair or bench, and the rest of us would sit on the floor at His feet. | |
| Narrator Peter: And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Jesus. | |
| John: We, as a people, had been reading that prophetic passage from Isaiah for centuries, waiting for God’s anointed, longing for God’s deliverer, hoping for the conqueror to come! | |
| Narrator Peter: What would Jesus say? What new light would He shed? This hometown boy, this son of Joseph the carpenter—– | |
| Jesus: Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. | |
| (Lights out, then slowly back up) | |
| Isaiah: …To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; | |
| Jesus: …to comfort all who mourn; to grant those who mourn in Zion– (Action: Jesus picks up a box and carries it over to the Samaritan woman. He stands beside her.) | |
| John: …to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, (Action: Jesus unveils a headdress from the box and places it on the Samaritan woman. John goes to stand with them.) | |
| James: …the oil of gladness instead of mourning, (Action: Jesus anoints her head with oil. James goes to stand with them.) | |
| Andrew: …the garment of praise… (Action: Jesus places a beautiful garment on the Samaritan woman. Andrew goes to stand with them.) | |
| Peter: …instead of a faint spirit; (Action: Peter goes to stand with them. Philip and Nathanael follow. They all form a portrait, close together, as if someone was taking their picture.) | |
| Narrator Peter: …that they may be called oaks of righteousness, | |
| Narrator S.W.: …the planting of the Lord, | |
| S.W.: …that He may be glorified. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| Narrator S.W.: The Messiah, The Christ, the Savior of the world! And the water we drank that day became in us a spring of water welling up to eternal life! And I stopped going to the well, Jacob’s Well, in the heat of the day, alone. I am not alone. | |
| Jesus: The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor; He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor. | |
| All, In Unison: We are not alone. | |
| Jesus: Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. |
(Lights out, end of Episode #3)
| Isaiah: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion—to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified. | |
| (Lights out, then quickly back up) | |
| Narrator S.W.: Every day I walked to the well, not with a beautiful headdress, not with the oil of gladness, nor with the garment of praise. No, those things were not for me. It was, rather, shame, that caused me to come to Jacob’s Well in the heat of the day, the sixth hour—high noon on the desert. I did not fit in with my people, the Samaritans. When the other women gathered in the cool of the morning, or the evening at sunset, to draw fresh water and talk, and laugh, and sing, and live life—I was at home, hiding. Alone. | |
| Narrator Peter: Now it was the custom in those days, the days of Jesus and His disciples, that every week on the Sabbath, there would be a reading from the Torah, or Law, which is the first 5 books of the Bible. Then another reading from the Prophets. If there was a visiting rabbi, that teacher would read the text. After reading the Scripture, the rabbi would sit, and that was the signal for the beginning of the sermon. The rabbi would sit on a chair or bench, and the rest of us would sit on the floor at his feet. | |
| John: And so it was with us, as we left Jerusalem after the Passover, after Jesus’ now famous meeting with the highly respected Nicodemus, member of the Jewish ruling council, the Sanhedrin. We sat at the feet of Jesus, and He was teaching us more and more. | |
| Andrew: Our families and friends headed back to Galilee, after Passover, but we headed out into the Judean countryside near Jerusalem, and even began baptizing people, just like John the Baptist did. | |
| John: When Jesus decided it was time to go back to Galilee, He said He “needed” to go through Samaria. Ordinarily we took the route through the region of Perea, east of the Jordan River. Although a bit longer, it avoided the Samaritans. | |
| James: After about a day and a half of solid hiking, we arrived at a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave his son Joseph. | |
| Narrator Peter: Now Jacob’s Well was there; so Jesus, wearied as He was from His journey, sat beside the well. It was about the sixth hour, or high noon. | |
| Philip: As was the custom of a teacher and his disciples, as that is what we had become, Jesus sent us to look for food. | |
| Nathanael: Down the path and into the city. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| James: I would rather not deal with these people, these Samaritans who desecrated our temple. | |
| John: We destroyed theirs, so I think the score is more than even. It was a long time ago. | |
| (Sound Effect: A cart, drawn by oxen, passes by up ahead.) |
| John: Follow that cart! There’s sure to be food that way. | |
| Andrew: Why should we come this way anyway? Our route is so friendly. | |
| Peter: Perhaps He wants to form an alliance with them to defeat the Romans. Many of them do believe in the Torah. I have no quarrel with them. It’s our own leaders who now desecrate our temple. What I don’t understand is why He meets with Nicodemus. I’m no prophet, but I don’t see the Sanhedrin and the Sadducees changing. If He is indeed The Christ, what is His game plan? | |
| John: Perhaps we have missed or misunderstood something written by the prophets. For He is certainly from God, is He not? | |
| Andrew: John the Baptist maintains He is the Lamb of God. I heard one of his disciples say, back there in the Judean countryside, that John says, “He must increase, but I must decrease”. | |
| Nathanael: Well, we’re all going to decrease if we don’t find some food soon. | |
| Philip: You can say that again! | |
| Nathanael: Well, we’re all going to decrease if we don’t find some food soon. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| Narrator Peter: Meanwhile, as Jesus sat by the well, the same well Jacob had dug around 2000 years earlier, a woman came to draw water. Jesus spoke to her: | |
| Jesus: Give Me a drink. | |
| Narrator S.W.: I looked at the man, curiously I’m sure. Why was He speaking to me, a woman? He must not be religious. And why does He ask me for a drink? Jews do not share utensils or cups, or even water pots with us Samaritans. They consider us unclean. | |
| S.W.: How is it that you, a Jew, asks for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria? | |
| Jesus: If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, “Give Me a drink,” you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water. | |
| S.W.: Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock. | |
| Jesus: Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. | |
| Narrator S.W.: I looked at Jesus, still confused, I’m sure. What was it He wanted? A religious man would not have spoken to me at all. And He spoke with so much power, and with such confidence of the truth of what He said. Could He make my life right again? Whole again? To make me not an outcast? A failure? Certainly, everything was not entirely my fault. Yet here I was. So tired. So alone. | |
| S.W.: Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water. | |
| Jesus: Go, call your husband, and come here. | |
| S.W.: I have no husband. | |
| Jesus: You are right in saying, “I have no husband”; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true. | |
| Narrator S.W.: How does He know that, I thought. Who would have told Him? I have never seen this man. I would remember, I’m sure. And if I did somehow meet Him in the past, how would He know my current situation? | |
| S.W.: Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship. | |
| Jesus: Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know, we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. | |
| Narrator S.W.: Some men, His followers I assumed, were coming towards us in the distance. I felt no threat, though. Rather, the opposite—great comfort. | |
| | (Sound Effect: The woman, operating the well crank to let down her water pot.) |
| Narrator S.W.: I let down my water pot to draw up water. Who was this man, and why was He talking to me? Could He really help me? Was this “living water” He had for me? | |
| S.W.: I know that Messiah is coming. When He comes, He will tell us all things. | |
| Jesus: I who speak to you am He. | |
| Narrator S.W.: And at that moment nothing else mattered. | |
| | (Sound Effect: The woman, operating the well crank quickly, drawing up water.) |
| Narrator S.W.: I drew up my water pot as quickly as I could. | |
| Narrator S.W.: I unhooked my water pot and stepped toward Jesus. And He met me there. I handed my water over to Him, speechless. I believed Him! Then I did something I thought I would never in my life do. I went to talk to the men, the truly well-respected men of the city. I said, | |
| S.W.: Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ? | |
| Narrator Peter: Meanwhile, we were amazed that we had found Jesus talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking to her?” Instead, we passed around the food and began to eat. We were quite famished, but Jesus just sat there. | |
| Peter: Rabbi, eat. | |
| Narrator Peter: “Yes, eat up, Rabbi,” the others said. | |
| Jesus: I have food to eat that you do not know about. | |
| John: Has anyone brought Him something to eat? | |
| Jesus: My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work. Do you not say, “There are yet four months, then comes the harvest”? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, “One sows and another reaps.” I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor. | |
| Narrator S.W.: Then, the respected men of the city came out to Jesus, at Jacob’s well. And many of my people believed in Him because of my words and my testimony that “He told me all that I ever did.” And many more believed because of His word. They said to me, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.” | |
| Narrator Peter: And the Samaritans asked Him to stay with them, and He stayed there two days. | |
| Narrator S.W.: The Messiah, The Christ, the Savior of the world. And the water we drank that day became in us a spring of water welling up to eternal life! And I stopped going to the well, Jacob’s Well, in the heat of the day, alone. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| Narrator Peter: When we arrived in Galilee, our people welcomed Jesus, having seen all that He had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast. In Galilee He continued healing people, and was saying, | |
| Jesus: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. | |
| Narrator Peter: Meanwhile, we fishermen carried on with our work, and with following Jesus. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| Narrator Peter: And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about Him went out through all the surrounding country. And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as was His custom, He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and He stood up to read. | |
| John: Now it was the custom in those days, that every week on the Sabbath, there would be a reading from the Torah, or Law, which is the first five books of the Bible. Then another reading from the Prophets. If there was a visiting rabbi, that teacher would read the text. | |
| Narrator Peter: And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to Jesus. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, | |
| Jesus: The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. | |
| Narrator Peter: And He rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. | |
| John: After reading the Scripture, the rabbi would sit, and that was the signal for the beginning of the sermon. The rabbi would sit on a chair or bench, and the rest of us would sit on the floor at His feet. | |
| Narrator Peter: And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Jesus. | |
| John: We, as a people, had been reading that prophetic passage from Isaiah for centuries, waiting for God’s anointed, longing for God’s deliverer, hoping for the conqueror to come! | |
| Narrator Peter: What would Jesus say? What new light would He shed? This hometown boy, this son of Joseph the carpenter—– | |
| Jesus: Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. | |
| (Lights out, then slowly back up) | |
| Isaiah: …To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; | |
| Jesus: …to comfort all who mourn; to grant those who mourn in Zion– (Action: Jesus picks up a box and carries it over to the Samaritan woman. He stands beside her.) | |
| John: …to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, (Action: Jesus unveils a headdress from the box and places it on the Samaritan woman. John goes to stand with them.) | |
| James: …the oil of gladness instead of mourning, (Action: Jesus anoints her head with oil. James goes to stand with them.) | |
| Andrew: …the garment of praise… (Action: Jesus places a beautiful garment on the Samaritan woman. Andrew goes to stand with them.) | |
| Peter: …instead of a faint spirit; (Action: Peter goes to stand with them. Philip and Nathanael follow. They all form a portrait, close together, as if someone was taking their picture.) | |
| Narrator Peter: …that they may be called oaks of righteousness, | |
| Narrator S.W.: …the planting of the Lord, | |
| S.W.: …that He may be glorified. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| Narrator S.W.: The Messiah, The Christ, the Savior of the world! And the water we drank that day became in us a spring of water welling up to eternal life! And I stopped going to the well, Jacob’s Well, in the heat of the day, alone. I am not alone. | |
| Jesus: The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor; He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor. | |
| All, In Unison: We are not alone. | |
| Jesus: Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. |
(Lights out, end of Episode #3)
| Isaiah: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion—to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified. | |
| (Lights out, then quickly back up) | |
| Narrator S.W.: Every day I walked to the well, not with a beautiful headdress, not with the oil of gladness, nor with the garment of praise. No, those things were not for me. It was, rather, shame, that caused me to come to Jacob’s Well in the heat of the day, the sixth hour—high noon on the desert. I did not fit in with my people, the Samaritans. When the other women gathered in the cool of the morning, or the evening at sunset, to draw fresh water and talk, and laugh, and sing, and live life—I was at home, hiding. Alone. | |
| Narrator Peter: Now it was the custom in those days, the days of Jesus and His disciples, that every week on the Sabbath, there would be a reading from the Torah, or Law, which is the first 5 books of the Bible. Then another reading from the Prophets. If there was a visiting rabbi, that teacher would read the text. After reading the Scripture, the rabbi would sit, and that was the signal for the beginning of the sermon. The rabbi would sit on a chair or bench, and the rest of us would sit on the floor at his feet. | |
| John: And so it was with us, as we left Jerusalem after the Passover, after Jesus’ now famous meeting with the highly respected Nicodemus, member of the Jewish ruling council, the Sanhedrin. We sat at the feet of Jesus, and He was teaching us more and more. | |
| Andrew: Our families and friends headed back to Galilee, after Passover, but we headed out into the Judean countryside near Jerusalem, and even began baptizing people, just like John the Baptist did. | |
| John: When Jesus decided it was time to go back to Galilee, He said He “needed” to go through Samaria. Ordinarily we took the route through the region of Perea, east of the Jordan River. Although a bit longer, it avoided the Samaritans. | |
| James: After about a day and a half of solid hiking, we arrived at a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave his son Joseph. | |
| Narrator Peter: Now Jacob’s Well was there; so Jesus, wearied as He was from His journey, sat beside the well. It was about the sixth hour, or high noon. | |
| Philip: As was the custom of a teacher and his disciples, as that is what we had become, Jesus sent us to look for food. | |
| Nathanael: Down the path and into the city. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| James: I would rather not deal with these people, these Samaritans who desecrated our temple. | |
| John: We destroyed theirs, so I think the score is more than even. It was a long time ago. | |
| (Sound Effect: A cart, drawn by oxen, passes by up ahead.) |
| John: Follow that cart! There’s sure to be food that way. | |
| Andrew: Why should we come this way anyway? Our route is so friendly. | |
| Peter: Perhaps He wants to form an alliance with them to defeat the Romans. Many of them do believe in the Torah. I have no quarrel with them. It’s our own leaders who now desecrate our temple. What I don’t understand is why He meets with Nicodemus. I’m no prophet, but I don’t see the Sanhedrin and the Sadducees changing. If He is indeed The Christ, what is His game plan? | |
| John: Perhaps we have missed or misunderstood something written by the prophets. For He is certainly from God, is He not? | |
| Andrew: John the Baptist maintains He is the Lamb of God. I heard one of his disciples say, back there in the Judean countryside, that John says, “He must increase, but I must decrease”. | |
| Nathanael: Well, we’re all going to decrease if we don’t find some food soon. | |
| Philip: You can say that again! | |
| Nathanael: Well, we’re all going to decrease if we don’t find some food soon. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| Narrator Peter: Meanwhile, as Jesus sat by the well, the same well Jacob had dug around 2000 years earlier, a woman came to draw water. Jesus spoke to her: | |
| Jesus: Give Me a drink. | |
| Narrator S.W.: I looked at the man, curiously I’m sure. Why was He speaking to me, a woman? He must not be religious. And why does He ask me for a drink? Jews do not share utensils or cups, or even water pots with us Samaritans. They consider us unclean. | |
| S.W.: How is it that you, a Jew, asks for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria? | |
| Jesus: If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, “Give Me a drink,” you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water. | |
| S.W.: Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock. | |
| Jesus: Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. | |
| Narrator S.W.: I looked at Jesus, still confused, I’m sure. What was it He wanted? A religious man would not have spoken to me at all. And He spoke with so much power, and with such confidence of the truth of what He said. Could He make my life right again? Whole again? To make me not an outcast? A failure? Certainly, everything was not entirely my fault. Yet here I was. So tired. So alone. | |
| S.W.: Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water. | |
| Jesus: Go, call your husband, and come here. | |
| S.W.: I have no husband. | |
| Jesus: You are right in saying, “I have no husband”; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true. | |
| Narrator S.W.: How does He know that, I thought. Who would have told Him? I have never seen this man. I would remember, I’m sure. And if I did somehow meet Him in the past, how would He know my current situation? | |
| S.W.: Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship. | |
| Jesus: Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know, we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. | |
| Narrator S.W.: Some men, His followers I assumed, were coming towards us in the distance. I felt no threat, though. Rather, the opposite—great comfort. | |
| | (Sound Effect: The woman, operating the well crank to let down her water pot.) |
| Narrator S.W.: I let down my water pot to draw up water. Who was this man, and why was He talking to me? Could He really help me? Was this “living water” He had for me? | |
| S.W.: I know that Messiah is coming. When He comes, He will tell us all things. | |
| Jesus: I who speak to you am He. | |
| Narrator S.W.: And at that moment nothing else mattered. | |
| | (Sound Effect: The woman, operating the well crank quickly, drawing up water.) |
| Narrator S.W.: I drew up my water pot as quickly as I could. | |
| Narrator S.W.: I unhooked my water pot and stepped toward Jesus. And He met me there. I handed my water over to Him, speechless. I believed Him! Then I did something I thought I would never in my life do. I went to talk to the men, the truly well-respected men of the city. I said, | |
| S.W.: Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ? | |
| Narrator Peter: Meanwhile, we were amazed that we had found Jesus talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking to her?” Instead, we passed around the food and began to eat. We were quite famished, but Jesus just sat there. | |
| Peter: Rabbi, eat. | |
| Narrator Peter: “Yes, eat up, Rabbi,” the others said. | |
| Jesus: I have food to eat that you do not know about. | |
| John: Has anyone brought Him something to eat? | |
| Jesus: My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work. Do you not say, “There are yet four months, then comes the harvest”? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, “One sows and another reaps.” I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor. | |
| Narrator S.W.: Then, the respected men of the city came out to Jesus, at Jacob’s well. And many of my people believed in Him because of my words and my testimony that “He told me all that I ever did.” And many more believed because of His word. They said to me, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.” | |
| Narrator Peter: And the Samaritans asked Him to stay with them, and He stayed there two days. | |
| Narrator S.W.: The Messiah, The Christ, the Savior of the world. And the water we drank that day became in us a spring of water welling up to eternal life! And I stopped going to the well, Jacob’s Well, in the heat of the day, alone. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| Narrator Peter: When we arrived in Galilee, our people welcomed Jesus, having seen all that He had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast. In Galilee He continued healing people, and was saying, | |
| Jesus: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. | |
| Narrator Peter: Meanwhile, we fishermen carried on with our work, and with following Jesus. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| Narrator Peter: And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about Him went out through all the surrounding country. And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as was His custom, He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and He stood up to read. | |
| John: Now it was the custom in those days, that every week on the Sabbath, there would be a reading from the Torah, or Law, which is the first five books of the Bible. Then another reading from the Prophets. If there was a visiting rabbi, that teacher would read the text. | |
| Narrator Peter: And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to Jesus. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, | |
| Jesus: The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. | |
| Narrator Peter: And He rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. | |
| John: After reading the Scripture, the rabbi would sit, and that was the signal for the beginning of the sermon. The rabbi would sit on a chair or bench, and the rest of us would sit on the floor at His feet. | |
| Narrator Peter: And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Jesus. | |
| John: We, as a people, had been reading that prophetic passage from Isaiah for centuries, waiting for God’s anointed, longing for God’s deliverer, hoping for the conqueror to come! | |
| Narrator Peter: What would Jesus say? What new light would He shed? This hometown boy, this son of Joseph the carpenter—– | |
| Jesus: Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. | |
| (Lights out, then slowly back up) | |
| Isaiah: …To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; | |
| Jesus: …to comfort all who mourn; to grant those who mourn in Zion– (Action: Jesus picks up a box and carries it over to the Samaritan woman. He stands beside her.) | |
| John: …to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, (Action: Jesus unveils a headdress from the box and places it on the Samaritan woman. John goes to stand with them.) | |
| James: …the oil of gladness instead of mourning, (Action: Jesus anoints her head with oil. James goes to stand with them.) | |
| Andrew: …the garment of praise… (Action: Jesus places a beautiful garment on the Samaritan woman. Andrew goes to stand with them.) | |
| Peter: …instead of a faint spirit; (Action: Peter goes to stand with them. Philip and Nathanael follow. They all form a portrait, close together, as if someone was taking their picture.) | |
| Narrator Peter: …that they may be called oaks of righteousness, | |
| Narrator S.W.: …the planting of the Lord, | |
| S.W.: …that He may be glorified. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| Narrator S.W.: The Messiah, The Christ, the Savior of the world! And the water we drank that day became in us a spring of water welling up to eternal life! And I stopped going to the well, Jacob’s Well, in the heat of the day, alone. I am not alone. | |
| Jesus: The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor; He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor. | |
| All, In Unison: We are not alone. | |
| Jesus: Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. |
(Lights out, end of Episode #3)
| Isaiah: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion—to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified. | |
| (Lights out, then quickly back up) | |
| Narrator S.W.: Every day I walked to the well, not with a beautiful headdress, not with the oil of gladness, nor with the garment of praise. No, those things were not for me. It was, rather, shame, that caused me to come to Jacob’s Well in the heat of the day, the sixth hour—high noon on the desert. I did not fit in with my people, the Samaritans. When the other women gathered in the cool of the morning, or the evening at sunset, to draw fresh water and talk, and laugh, and sing, and live life—I was at home, hiding. Alone. | |
| Narrator Peter: Now it was the custom in those days, the days of Jesus and His disciples, that every week on the Sabbath, there would be a reading from the Torah, or Law, which is the first 5 books of the Bible. Then another reading from the Prophets. If there was a visiting rabbi, that teacher would read the text. After reading the Scripture, the rabbi would sit, and that was the signal for the beginning of the sermon. The rabbi would sit on a chair or bench, and the rest of us would sit on the floor at his feet. | |
| John: And so it was with us, as we left Jerusalem after the Passover, after Jesus’ now famous meeting with the highly respected Nicodemus, member of the Jewish ruling council, the Sanhedrin. We sat at the feet of Jesus, and He was teaching us more and more. | |
| Andrew: Our families and friends headed back to Galilee, after Passover, but we headed out into the Judean countryside near Jerusalem, and even began baptizing people, just like John the Baptist did. | |
| John: When Jesus decided it was time to go back to Galilee, He said He “needed” to go through Samaria. Ordinarily we took the route through the region of Perea, east of the Jordan River. Although a bit longer, it avoided the Samaritans. | |
| James: After about a day and a half of solid hiking, we arrived at a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave his son Joseph. | |
| Narrator Peter: Now Jacob’s Well was there; so Jesus, wearied as He was from His journey, sat beside the well. It was about the sixth hour, or high noon. | |
| Philip: As was the custom of a teacher and his disciples, as that is what we had become, Jesus sent us to look for food. | |
| Nathanael: Down the path and into the city. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| James: I would rather not deal with these people, these Samaritans who desecrated our temple. | |
| John: We destroyed theirs, so I think the score is more than even. It was a long time ago. | |
| (Sound Effect: A cart, drawn by oxen, passes by up ahead.) |
| John: Follow that cart! There’s sure to be food that way. | |
| Andrew: Why should we come this way anyway? Our route is so friendly. | |
| Peter: Perhaps He wants to form an alliance with them to defeat the Romans. Many of them do believe in the Torah. I have no quarrel with them. It’s our own leaders who now desecrate our temple. What I don’t understand is why He meets with Nicodemus. I’m no prophet, but I don’t see the Sanhedrin and the Sadducees changing. If He is indeed The Christ, what is His game plan? | |
| John: Perhaps we have missed or misunderstood something written by the prophets. For He is certainly from God, is He not? | |
| Andrew: John the Baptist maintains He is the Lamb of God. I heard one of his disciples say, back there in the Judean countryside, that John says, “He must increase, but I must decrease”. | |
| Nathanael: Well, we’re all going to decrease if we don’t find some food soon. | |
| Philip: You can say that again! | |
| Nathanael: Well, we’re all going to decrease if we don’t find some food soon. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| Narrator Peter: Meanwhile, as Jesus sat by the well, the same well Jacob had dug around 2000 years earlier, a woman came to draw water. Jesus spoke to her: | |
| Jesus: Give Me a drink. | |
| Narrator S.W.: I looked at the man, curiously I’m sure. Why was He speaking to me, a woman? He must not be religious. And why does He ask me for a drink? Jews do not share utensils or cups, or even water pots with us Samaritans. They consider us unclean. | |
| S.W.: How is it that you, a Jew, asks for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria? | |
| Jesus: If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, “Give Me a drink,” you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water. | |
| S.W.: Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock. | |
| Jesus: Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. | |
| Narrator S.W.: I looked at Jesus, still confused, I’m sure. What was it He wanted? A religious man would not have spoken to me at all. And He spoke with so much power, and with such confidence of the truth of what He said. Could He make my life right again? Whole again? To make me not an outcast? A failure? Certainly, everything was not entirely my fault. Yet here I was. So tired. So alone. | |
| S.W.: Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water. | |
| Jesus: Go, call your husband, and come here. | |
| S.W.: I have no husband. | |
| Jesus: You are right in saying, “I have no husband”; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true. | |
| Narrator S.W.: How does He know that, I thought. Who would have told Him? I have never seen this man. I would remember, I’m sure. And if I did somehow meet Him in the past, how would He know my current situation? | |
| S.W.: Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship. | |
| Jesus: Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know, we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. | |
| Narrator S.W.: Some men, His followers I assumed, were coming towards us in the distance. I felt no threat, though. Rather, the opposite—great comfort. | |
| | (Sound Effect: The woman, operating the well crank to let down her water pot.) |
| Narrator S.W.: I let down my water pot to draw up water. Who was this man, and why was He talking to me? Could He really help me? Was this “living water” He had for me? | |
| S.W.: I know that Messiah is coming. When He comes, He will tell us all things. | |
| Jesus: I who speak to you am He. | |
| Narrator S.W.: And at that moment nothing else mattered. | |
| | (Sound Effect: The woman, operating the well crank quickly, drawing up water.) |
| Narrator S.W.: I drew up my water pot as quickly as I could. | |
| Narrator S.W.: I unhooked my water pot and stepped toward Jesus. And He met me there. I handed my water over to Him, speechless. I believed Him! Then I did something I thought I would never in my life do. I went to talk to the men, the truly well-respected men of the city. I said, | |
| S.W.: Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ? | |
| Narrator Peter: Meanwhile, we were amazed that we had found Jesus talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking to her?” Instead, we passed around the food and began to eat. We were quite famished, but Jesus just sat there. | |
| Peter: Rabbi, eat. | |
| Narrator Peter: “Yes, eat up, Rabbi,” the others said. | |
| Jesus: I have food to eat that you do not know about. | |
| John: Has anyone brought Him something to eat? | |
| Jesus: My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work. Do you not say, “There are yet four months, then comes the harvest”? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, “One sows and another reaps.” I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor. | |
| Narrator S.W.: Then, the respected men of the city came out to Jesus, at Jacob’s well. And many of my people believed in Him because of my words and my testimony that “He told me all that I ever did.” And many more believed because of His word. They said to me, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.” | |
| Narrator Peter: And the Samaritans asked Him to stay with them, and He stayed there two days. | |
| Narrator S.W.: The Messiah, The Christ, the Savior of the world. And the water we drank that day became in us a spring of water welling up to eternal life! And I stopped going to the well, Jacob’s Well, in the heat of the day, alone. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| Narrator Peter: When we arrived in Galilee, our people welcomed Jesus, having seen all that He had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast. In Galilee He continued healing people, and was saying, | |
| Jesus: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. | |
| Narrator Peter: Meanwhile, we fishermen carried on with our work, and with following Jesus. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| Narrator Peter: And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about Him went out through all the surrounding country. And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as was His custom, He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and He stood up to read. | |
| John: Now it was the custom in those days, that every week on the Sabbath, there would be a reading from the Torah, or Law, which is the first five books of the Bible. Then another reading from the Prophets. If there was a visiting rabbi, that teacher would read the text. | |
| Narrator Peter: And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to Jesus. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, | |
| Jesus: The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. | |
| Narrator Peter: And He rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. | |
| John: After reading the Scripture, the rabbi would sit, and that was the signal for the beginning of the sermon. The rabbi would sit on a chair or bench, and the rest of us would sit on the floor at His feet. | |
| Narrator Peter: And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Jesus. | |
| John: We, as a people, had been reading that prophetic passage from Isaiah for centuries, waiting for God’s anointed, longing for God’s deliverer, hoping for the conqueror to come! | |
| Narrator Peter: What would Jesus say? What new light would He shed? This hometown boy, this son of Joseph the carpenter—– | |
| Jesus: Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. | |
| (Lights out, then slowly back up) | |
| Isaiah: …To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; | |
| Jesus: …to comfort all who mourn; to grant those who mourn in Zion– (Action: Jesus picks up a box and carries it over to the Samaritan woman. He stands beside her.) | |
| John: …to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, (Action: Jesus unveils a headdress from the box and places it on the Samaritan woman. John goes to stand with them.) | |
| James: …the oil of gladness instead of mourning, (Action: Jesus anoints her head with oil. James goes to stand with them.) | |
| Andrew: …the garment of praise… (Action: Jesus places a beautiful garment on the Samaritan woman. Andrew goes to stand with them.) | |
| Peter: …instead of a faint spirit; (Action: Peter goes to stand with them. Philip and Nathanael follow. They all form a portrait, close together, as if someone was taking their picture.) | |
| Narrator Peter: …that they may be called oaks of righteousness, | |
| Narrator S.W.: …the planting of the Lord, | |
| S.W.: …that He may be glorified. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| Narrator S.W.: The Messiah, The Christ, the Savior of the world! And the water we drank that day became in us a spring of water welling up to eternal life! And I stopped going to the well, Jacob’s Well, in the heat of the day, alone. I am not alone. | |
| Jesus: The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor; He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor. | |
| All, In Unison: We are not alone. | |
| Jesus: Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. |
(Lights out, end of Episode #3)
| Isaiah: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion—to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified. | |
| (Lights out, then quickly back up) | |
| Narrator S.W.: Every day I walked to the well, not with a beautiful headdress, not with the oil of gladness, nor with the garment of praise. No, those things were not for me. It was, rather, shame, that caused me to come to Jacob’s Well in the heat of the day, the sixth hour—high noon on the desert. I did not fit in with my people, the Samaritans. When the other women gathered in the cool of the morning, or the evening at sunset, to draw fresh water and talk, and laugh, and sing, and live life—I was at home, hiding. Alone. | |
| Narrator Peter: Now it was the custom in those days, the days of Jesus and His disciples, that every week on the Sabbath, there would be a reading from the Torah, or Law, which is the first 5 books of the Bible. Then another reading from the Prophets. If there was a visiting rabbi, that teacher would read the text. After reading the Scripture, the rabbi would sit, and that was the signal for the beginning of the sermon. The rabbi would sit on a chair or bench, and the rest of us would sit on the floor at his feet. | |
| John: And so it was with us, as we left Jerusalem after the Passover, after Jesus’ now famous meeting with the highly respected Nicodemus, member of the Jewish ruling council, the Sanhedrin. We sat at the feet of Jesus, and He was teaching us more and more. | |
| Andrew: Our families and friends headed back to Galilee, after Passover, but we headed out into the Judean countryside near Jerusalem, and even began baptizing people, just like John the Baptist did. | |
| John: When Jesus decided it was time to go back to Galilee, He said He “needed” to go through Samaria. Ordinarily we took the route through the region of Perea, east of the Jordan River. Although a bit longer, it avoided the Samaritans. | |
| James: After about a day and a half of solid hiking, we arrived at a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave his son Joseph. | |
| Narrator Peter: Now Jacob’s Well was there; so Jesus, wearied as He was from His journey, sat beside the well. It was about the sixth hour, or high noon. | |
| Philip: As was the custom of a teacher and his disciples, as that is what we had become, Jesus sent us to look for food. | |
| Nathanael: Down the path and into the city. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| James: I would rather not deal with these people, these Samaritans who desecrated our temple. | |
| John: We destroyed theirs, so I think the score is more than even. It was a long time ago. | |
| | (Sound Effect: A cart, drawn by oxen, passes by up ahead.) |
| John: Follow that cart! There’s sure to be food that way. | |
| Andrew: Why should we come this way anyway? Our route is so friendly. | |
| Peter: Perhaps He wants to form an alliance with them to defeat the Romans. Many of them do believe in the Torah. I have no quarrel with them. It’s our own leaders who now desecrate our temple. What I don’t understand is why He meets with Nicodemus. I’m no prophet, but I don’t see the Sanhedrin and the Sadducees changing. If He is indeed The Christ, what is His game plan? | |
| John: Perhaps we have missed or misunderstood something written by the prophets. For He is certainly from God, is He not? | |
| Andrew: John the Baptist maintains He is the Lamb of God. I heard one of his disciples say, back there in the Judean countryside, that John says, “He must increase, but I must decrease”. | |
| Nathanael: Well, we’re all going to decrease if we don’t find some food soon. | |
| Philip: You can say that again! | |
| Nathanael: Well, we’re all going to decrease if we don’t find some food soon. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| Narrator Peter: Meanwhile, as Jesus sat by the well, the same well Jacob had dug around 2000 years earlier, a woman came to draw water. Jesus spoke to her: | |
| Jesus: Give Me a drink. | |
| Narrator S.W.: I looked at the man, curiously I’m sure. Why was He speaking to me, a woman? He must not be religious. And why does He ask me for a drink? Jews do not share utensils or cups, or even water pots with us Samaritans. They consider us unclean. | |
| S.W.: How is it that you, a Jew, asks for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria? | |
| Jesus: If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, “Give Me a drink,” you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water. | |
| S.W.: Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock. | |
| Jesus: Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. | |
| Narrator S.W.: I looked at Jesus, still confused, I’m sure. What was it He wanted? A religious man would not have spoken to me at all. And He spoke with so much power, and with such confidence of the truth of what He said. Could He make my life right again? Whole again? To make me not an outcast? A failure? Certainly, everything was not entirely my fault. Yet here I was. So tired. So alone. | |
| S.W.: Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water. | |
| Jesus: Go, call your husband, and come here. | |
| S.W.: I have no husband. | |
| Jesus: You are right in saying, “I have no husband”; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true. | |
| Narrator S.W.: How does He know that, I thought. Who would have told Him? I have never seen this man. I would remember, I’m sure. And if I did somehow meet Him in the past, how would He know my current situation? | |
| S.W.: Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship. | |
| Jesus: Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know, we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. | |
| Narrator S.W.: Some men, His followers I assumed, were coming towards us in the distance. I felt no threat, though. Rather, the opposite—great comfort. | |
| (Sound Effect: The woman, operating the well crank to let down her water pot.) |
| Narrator S.W.: I let down my water pot to draw up water. Who was this man, and why was He talking to me? Could He really help me? Was this “living water” He had for me? | |
| S.W.: I know that Messiah is coming. When He comes, He will tell us all things. | |
| Jesus: I who speak to you am He. | |
| Narrator S.W.: And at that moment nothing else mattered. | |
| | (Sound Effect: The woman, operating the well crank quickly, drawing up water.) |
| Narrator S.W.: I drew up my water pot as quickly as I could. | |
| Narrator S.W.: I unhooked my water pot and stepped toward Jesus. And He met me there. I handed my water over to Him, speechless. I believed Him! Then I did something I thought I would never in my life do. I went to talk to the men, the truly well-respected men of the city. I said, | |
| S.W.: Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ? | |
| Narrator Peter: Meanwhile, we were amazed that we had found Jesus talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking to her?” Instead, we passed around the food and began to eat. We were quite famished, but Jesus just sat there. | |
| Peter: Rabbi, eat. | |
| Narrator Peter: “Yes, eat up, Rabbi,” the others said. | |
| Jesus: I have food to eat that you do not know about. | |
| John: Has anyone brought Him something to eat? | |
| Jesus: My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work. Do you not say, “There are yet four months, then comes the harvest”? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, “One sows and another reaps.” I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor. | |
| Narrator S.W.: Then, the respected men of the city came out to Jesus, at Jacob’s well. And many of my people believed in Him because of my words and my testimony that “He told me all that I ever did.” And many more believed because of His word. They said to me, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.” | |
| Narrator Peter: And the Samaritans asked Him to stay with them, and He stayed there two days. | |
| Narrator S.W.: The Messiah, The Christ, the Savior of the world. And the water we drank that day became in us a spring of water welling up to eternal life! And I stopped going to the well, Jacob’s Well, in the heat of the day, alone. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| Narrator Peter: When we arrived in Galilee, our people welcomed Jesus, having seen all that He had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast. In Galilee He continued healing people, and was saying, | |
| Jesus: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. | |
| Narrator Peter: Meanwhile, we fishermen carried on with our work, and with following Jesus. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| Narrator Peter: And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about Him went out through all the surrounding country. And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as was His custom, He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and He stood up to read. | |
| John: Now it was the custom in those days, that every week on the Sabbath, there would be a reading from the Torah, or Law, which is the first five books of the Bible. Then another reading from the Prophets. If there was a visiting rabbi, that teacher would read the text. | |
| Narrator Peter: And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to Jesus. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, | |
| Jesus: The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. | |
| Narrator Peter: And He rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. | |
| John: After reading the Scripture, the rabbi would sit, and that was the signal for the beginning of the sermon. The rabbi would sit on a chair or bench, and the rest of us would sit on the floor at His feet. | |
| Narrator Peter: And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Jesus. | |
| John: We, as a people, had been reading that prophetic passage from Isaiah for centuries, waiting for God’s anointed, longing for God’s deliverer, hoping for the conqueror to come! | |
| Narrator Peter: What would Jesus say? What new light would He shed? This hometown boy, this son of Joseph the carpenter—– | |
| Jesus: Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. | |
| (Lights out, then slowly back up) | |
| Isaiah: …To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; | |
| Jesus: …to comfort all who mourn; to grant those who mourn in Zion– (Action: Jesus picks up a box and carries it over to the Samaritan woman. He stands beside her.) | |
| John: …to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, (Action: Jesus unveils a headdress from the box and places it on the Samaritan woman. John goes to stand with them.) | |
| James: …the oil of gladness instead of mourning, (Action: Jesus anoints her head with oil. James goes to stand with them.) | |
| Andrew: …the garment of praise… (Action: Jesus places a beautiful garment on the Samaritan woman. Andrew goes to stand with them.) | |
| Peter: …instead of a faint spirit; (Action: Peter goes to stand with them. Philip and Nathanael follow. They all form a portrait, close together, as if someone was taking their picture.) | |
| Narrator Peter: …that they may be called oaks of righteousness, | |
| Narrator S.W.: …the planting of the Lord, | |
| S.W.: …that He may be glorified. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| Narrator S.W.: The Messiah, The Christ, the Savior of the world! And the water we drank that day became in us a spring of water welling up to eternal life! And I stopped going to the well, Jacob’s Well, in the heat of the day, alone. I am not alone. | |
| Jesus: The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor; He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor. | |
| All, In Unison: We are not alone. | |
| Jesus: Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. |
(Lights out, end of Episode #3)
| Isaiah: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion—to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified. | |
| (Lights out, then quickly back up) | |
| Narrator S.W.: Every day I walked to the well, not with a beautiful headdress, not with the oil of gladness, nor with the garment of praise. No, those things were not for me. It was, rather, shame, that caused me to come to Jacob’s Well in the heat of the day, the sixth hour—high noon on the desert. I did not fit in with my people, the Samaritans. When the other women gathered in the cool of the morning, or the evening at sunset, to draw fresh water and talk, and laugh, and sing, and live life—I was at home, hiding. Alone. | |
| Narrator Peter: Now it was the custom in those days, the days of Jesus and His disciples, that every week on the Sabbath, there would be a reading from the Torah, or Law, which is the first 5 books of the Bible. Then another reading from the Prophets. If there was a visiting rabbi, that teacher would read the text. After reading the Scripture, the rabbi would sit, and that was the signal for the beginning of the sermon. The rabbi would sit on a chair or bench, and the rest of us would sit on the floor at his feet. | |
| John: And so it was with us, as we left Jerusalem after the Passover, after Jesus’ now famous meeting with the highly respected Nicodemus, member of the Jewish ruling council, the Sanhedrin. We sat at the feet of Jesus, and He was teaching us more and more. | |
| Andrew: Our families and friends headed back to Galilee, after Passover, but we headed out into the Judean countryside near Jerusalem, and even began baptizing people, just like John the Baptist did. | |
| John: When Jesus decided it was time to go back to Galilee, He said He “needed” to go through Samaria. Ordinarily we took the route through the region of Perea, east of the Jordan River. Although a bit longer, it avoided the Samaritans. | |
| James: After about a day and a half of solid hiking, we arrived at a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave his son Joseph. | |
| Narrator Peter: Now Jacob’s Well was there; so Jesus, wearied as He was from His journey, sat beside the well. It was about the sixth hour, or high noon. | |
| Philip: As was the custom of a teacher and his disciples, as that is what we had become, Jesus sent us to look for food. | |
| Nathanael: Down the path and into the city. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| James: I would rather not deal with these people, these Samaritans who desecrated our temple. | |
| John: We destroyed theirs, so I think the score is more than even. It was a long time ago. | |
| (Sound Effect: A cart, drawn by oxen, passes by up ahead.) |
| John: Follow that cart! There’s sure to be food that way. | |
| Andrew: Why should we come this way anyway? Our route is so friendly. | |
| Peter: Perhaps He wants to form an alliance with them to defeat the Romans. Many of them do believe in the Torah. I have no quarrel with them. It’s our own leaders who now desecrate our temple. What I don’t understand is why He meets with Nicodemus. I’m no prophet, but I don’t see the Sanhedrin and the Sadducees changing. If He is indeed The Christ, what is His game plan? | |
| John: Perhaps we have missed or misunderstood something written by the prophets. For He is certainly from God, is He not? | |
| Andrew: John the Baptist maintains He is the Lamb of God. I heard one of his disciples say, back there in the Judean countryside, that John says, “He must increase, but I must decrease”. | |
| Nathanael: Well, we’re all going to decrease if we don’t find some food soon. | |
| Philip: You can say that again! | |
| Nathanael: Well, we’re all going to decrease if we don’t find some food soon. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| Narrator Peter: Meanwhile, as Jesus sat by the well, the same well Jacob had dug around 2000 years earlier, a woman came to draw water. Jesus spoke to her: | |
| Jesus: Give Me a drink. | |
| Narrator S.W.: I looked at the man, curiously I’m sure. Why was He speaking to me, a woman? He must not be religious. And why does He ask me for a drink? Jews do not share utensils or cups, or even water pots with us Samaritans. They consider us unclean. | |
| S.W.: How is it that you, a Jew, asks for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria? | |
| Jesus: If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, “Give Me a drink,” you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water. | |
| S.W.: Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock. | |
| Jesus: Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. | |
| Narrator S.W.: I looked at Jesus, still confused, I’m sure. What was it He wanted? A religious man would not have spoken to me at all. And He spoke with so much power, and with such confidence of the truth of what He said. Could He make my life right again? Whole again? To make me not an outcast? A failure? Certainly, everything was not entirely my fault. Yet here I was. So tired. So alone. | |
| S.W.: Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water. | |
| Jesus: Go, call your husband, and come here. | |
| S.W.: I have no husband. | |
| Jesus: You are right in saying, “I have no husband”; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true. | |
| Narrator S.W.: How does He know that, I thought. Who would have told Him? I have never seen this man. I would remember, I’m sure. And if I did somehow meet Him in the past, how would He know my current situation? | |
| S.W.: Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship. | |
| Jesus: Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know, we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. | |
| Narrator S.W.: Some men, His followers I assumed, were coming towards us in the distance. I felt no threat, though. Rather, the opposite—great comfort. | |
| | (Sound Effect: The woman, operating the well crank to let down her water pot.) |
| Narrator S.W.: I let down my water pot to draw up water. Who was this man, and why was He talking to me? Could He really help me? Was this “living water” He had for me? | |
| S.W.: I know that Messiah is coming. When He comes, He will tell us all things. | |
| Jesus: I who speak to you am He. | |
| Narrator S.W.: And at that moment nothing else mattered. | |
| | (Sound Effect: The woman, operating the well crank quickly, drawing up water.) |
| Narrator S.W.: I drew up my water pot as quickly as I could. | |
| Narrator S.W.: I unhooked my water pot and stepped toward Jesus. And He met me there. I handed my water over to Him, speechless. I believed Him! Then I did something I thought I would never in my life do. I went to talk to the men, the truly well-respected men of the city. I said, | |
| S.W.: Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ? | |
| Narrator Peter: Meanwhile, we were amazed that we had found Jesus talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking to her?” Instead, we passed around the food and began to eat. We were quite famished, but Jesus just sat there. | |
| Peter: Rabbi, eat. | |
| Narrator Peter: “Yes, eat up, Rabbi,” the others said. | |
| Jesus: I have food to eat that you do not know about. | |
| John: Has anyone brought Him something to eat? | |
| Jesus: My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work. Do you not say, “There are yet four months, then comes the harvest”? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, “One sows and another reaps.” I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor. | |
| Narrator S.W.: Then, the respected men of the city came out to Jesus, at Jacob’s well. And many of my people believed in Him because of my words and my testimony that “He told me all that I ever did.” And many more believed because of His word. They said to me, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.” | |
| Narrator Peter: And the Samaritans asked Him to stay with them, and He stayed there two days. | |
| Narrator S.W.: The Messiah, The Christ, the Savior of the world. And the water we drank that day became in us a spring of water welling up to eternal life! And I stopped going to the well, Jacob’s Well, in the heat of the day, alone. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| Narrator Peter: When we arrived in Galilee, our people welcomed Jesus, having seen all that He had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast. In Galilee He continued healing people, and was saying, | |
| Jesus: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. | |
| Narrator Peter: Meanwhile, we fishermen carried on with our work, and with following Jesus. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| Narrator Peter: And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about Him went out through all the surrounding country. And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as was His custom, He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and He stood up to read. | |
| John: Now it was the custom in those days, that every week on the Sabbath, there would be a reading from the Torah, or Law, which is the first five books of the Bible. Then another reading from the Prophets. If there was a visiting rabbi, that teacher would read the text. | |
| Narrator Peter: And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to Jesus. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, | |
| Jesus: The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. | |
| Narrator Peter: And He rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. | |
| John: After reading the Scripture, the rabbi would sit, and that was the signal for the beginning of the sermon. The rabbi would sit on a chair or bench, and the rest of us would sit on the floor at His feet. | |
| Narrator Peter: And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Jesus. | |
| John: We, as a people, had been reading that prophetic passage from Isaiah for centuries, waiting for God’s anointed, longing for God’s deliverer, hoping for the conqueror to come! | |
| Narrator Peter: What would Jesus say? What new light would He shed? This hometown boy, this son of Joseph the carpenter—– | |
| Jesus: Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. | |
| (Lights out, then slowly back up) | |
| Isaiah: …To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; | |
| Jesus: …to comfort all who mourn; to grant those who mourn in Zion– (Action: Jesus picks up a box and carries it over to the Samaritan woman. He stands beside her.) | |
| John: …to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, (Action: Jesus unveils a headdress from the box and places it on the Samaritan woman. John goes to stand with them.) | |
| James: …the oil of gladness instead of mourning, (Action: Jesus anoints her head with oil. James goes to stand with them.) | |
| Andrew: …the garment of praise… (Action: Jesus places a beautiful garment on the Samaritan woman. Andrew goes to stand with them.) | |
| Peter: …instead of a faint spirit; (Action: Peter goes to stand with them. Philip and Nathanael follow. They all form a portrait, close together, as if someone was taking their picture.) | |
| Narrator Peter: …that they may be called oaks of righteousness, | |
| Narrator S.W.: …the planting of the Lord, | |
| S.W.: …that He may be glorified. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| Narrator S.W.: The Messiah, The Christ, the Savior of the world! And the water we drank that day became in us a spring of water welling up to eternal life! And I stopped going to the well, Jacob’s Well, in the heat of the day, alone. I am not alone. | |
| Jesus: The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor; He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor. | |
| All, In Unison: We are not alone. | |
| Jesus: Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. |
(Lights out, end of Episode #3)
| Isaiah: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion—to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified. | |
| (Lights out, then quickly back up) | |
| Narrator S.W.: Every day I walked to the well, not with a beautiful headdress, not with the oil of gladness, nor with the garment of praise. No, those things were not for me. It was, rather, shame, that caused me to come to Jacob’s Well in the heat of the day, the sixth hour—high noon on the desert. I did not fit in with my people, the Samaritans. When the other women gathered in the cool of the morning, or the evening at sunset, to draw fresh water and talk, and laugh, and sing, and live life—I was at home, hiding. Alone. | |
| Narrator Peter: Now it was the custom in those days, the days of Jesus and His disciples, that every week on the Sabbath, there would be a reading from the Torah, or Law, which is the first 5 books of the Bible. Then another reading from the Prophets. If there was a visiting rabbi, that teacher would read the text. After reading the Scripture, the rabbi would sit, and that was the signal for the beginning of the sermon. The rabbi would sit on a chair or bench, and the rest of us would sit on the floor at his feet. | |
| John: And so it was with us, as we left Jerusalem after the Passover, after Jesus’ now famous meeting with the highly respected Nicodemus, member of the Jewish ruling council, the Sanhedrin. We sat at the feet of Jesus, and He was teaching us more and more. | |
| Andrew: Our families and friends headed back to Galilee, after Passover, but we headed out into the Judean countryside near Jerusalem, and even began baptizing people, just like John the Baptist did. | |
| John: When Jesus decided it was time to go back to Galilee, He said He “needed” to go through Samaria. Ordinarily we took the route through the region of Perea, east of the Jordan River. Although a bit longer, it avoided the Samaritans. | |
| James: After about a day and a half of solid hiking, we arrived at a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave his son Joseph. | |
| Narrator Peter: Now Jacob’s Well was there; so Jesus, wearied as He was from His journey, sat beside the well. It was about the sixth hour, or high noon. | |
| Philip: As was the custom of a teacher and his disciples, as that is what we had become, Jesus sent us to look for food. | |
| Nathanael: Down the path and into the city. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| James: I would rather not deal with these people, these Samaritans who desecrated our temple. | |
| John: We destroyed theirs, so I think the score is more than even. It was a long time ago. | |
| (Sound Effect: A cart, drawn by oxen, passes by up ahead.) |
| John: Follow that cart! There’s sure to be food that way. | |
| Andrew: Why should we come this way anyway? Our route is so friendly. | |
| Peter: Perhaps He wants to form an alliance with them to defeat the Romans. Many of them do believe in the Torah. I have no quarrel with them. It’s our own leaders who now desecrate our temple. What I don’t understand is why He meets with Nicodemus. I’m no prophet, but I don’t see the Sanhedrin and the Sadducees changing. If He is indeed The Christ, what is His game plan? | |
| John: Perhaps we have missed or misunderstood something written by the prophets. For He is certainly from God, is He not? | |
| Andrew: John the Baptist maintains He is the Lamb of God. I heard one of his disciples say, back there in the Judean countryside, that John says, “He must increase, but I must decrease”. | |
| Nathanael: Well, we’re all going to decrease if we don’t find some food soon. | |
| Philip: You can say that again! | |
| Nathanael: Well, we’re all going to decrease if we don’t find some food soon. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| Narrator Peter: Meanwhile, as Jesus sat by the well, the same well Jacob had dug around 2000 years earlier, a woman came to draw water. Jesus spoke to her: | |
| Jesus: Give Me a drink. | |
| Narrator S.W.: I looked at the man, curiously I’m sure. Why was He speaking to me, a woman? He must not be religious. And why does He ask me for a drink? Jews do not share utensils or cups, or even water pots with us Samaritans. They consider us unclean. | |
| S.W.: How is it that you, a Jew, asks for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria? | |
| Jesus: If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, “Give Me a drink,” you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water. | |
| S.W.: Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock. | |
| Jesus: Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. | |
| Narrator S.W.: I looked at Jesus, still confused, I’m sure. What was it He wanted? A religious man would not have spoken to me at all. And He spoke with so much power, and with such confidence of the truth of what He said. Could He make my life right again? Whole again? To make me not an outcast? A failure? Certainly, everything was not entirely my fault. Yet here I was. So tired. So alone. | |
| S.W.: Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water. | |
| Jesus: Go, call your husband, and come here. | |
| S.W.: I have no husband. | |
| Jesus: You are right in saying, “I have no husband”; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true. | |
| Narrator S.W.: How does He know that, I thought. Who would have told Him? I have never seen this man. I would remember, I’m sure. And if I did somehow meet Him in the past, how would He know my current situation? | |
| S.W.: Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship. | |
| Jesus: Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know, we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. | |
| Narrator S.W.: Some men, His followers I assumed, were coming towards us in the distance. I felt no threat, though. Rather, the opposite—great comfort. | |
| | (Sound Effect: The woman, operating the well crank to let down her water pot.) |
| Narrator S.W.: I let down my water pot to draw up water. Who was this man, and why was He talking to me? Could He really help me? Was this “living water” He had for me? | |
| S.W.: I know that Messiah is coming. When He comes, He will tell us all things. | |
| Jesus: I who speak to you am He. | |
| Narrator S.W.: And at that moment nothing else mattered. | |
| | (Sound Effect: The woman, operating the well crank quickly, drawing up water.) |
| Narrator S.W.: I drew up my water pot as quickly as I could. | |
| Narrator S.W.: I unhooked my water pot and stepped toward Jesus. And He met me there. I handed my water over to Him, speechless. I believed Him! Then I did something I thought I would never in my life do. I went to talk to the men, the truly well-respected men of the city. I said, | |
| S.W.: Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ? | |
| Narrator Peter: Meanwhile, we were amazed that we had found Jesus talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking to her?” Instead, we passed around the food and began to eat. We were quite famished, but Jesus just sat there. | |
| Peter: Rabbi, eat. | |
| Narrator Peter: “Yes, eat up, Rabbi,” the others said. | |
| Jesus: I have food to eat that you do not know about. | |
| John: Has anyone brought Him something to eat? | |
| Jesus: My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work. Do you not say, “There are yet four months, then comes the harvest”? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, “One sows and another reaps.” I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor. | |
| Narrator S.W.: Then, the respected men of the city came out to Jesus, at Jacob’s well. And many of my people believed in Him because of my words and my testimony that “He told me all that I ever did.” And many more believed because of His word. They said to me, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.” | |
| Narrator Peter: And the Samaritans asked Him to stay with them, and He stayed there two days. | |
| Narrator S.W.: The Messiah, The Christ, the Savior of the world. And the water we drank that day became in us a spring of water welling up to eternal life! And I stopped going to the well, Jacob’s Well, in the heat of the day, alone. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| Narrator Peter: When we arrived in Galilee, our people welcomed Jesus, having seen all that He had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast. In Galilee He continued healing people, and was saying, | |
| Jesus: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. | |
| Narrator Peter: Meanwhile, we fishermen carried on with our work, and with following Jesus. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| Narrator Peter: And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about Him went out through all the surrounding country. And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as was His custom, He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and He stood up to read. | |
| John: Now it was the custom in those days, that every week on the Sabbath, there would be a reading from the Torah, or Law, which is the first five books of the Bible. Then another reading from the Prophets. If there was a visiting rabbi, that teacher would read the text. | |
| Narrator Peter: And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to Jesus. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, | |
| Jesus: The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. | |
| Narrator Peter: And He rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. | |
| John: After reading the Scripture, the rabbi would sit, and that was the signal for the beginning of the sermon. The rabbi would sit on a chair or bench, and the rest of us would sit on the floor at His feet. | |
| Narrator Peter: And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Jesus. | |
| John: We, as a people, had been reading that prophetic passage from Isaiah for centuries, waiting for God’s anointed, longing for God’s deliverer, hoping for the conqueror to come! | |
| Narrator Peter: What would Jesus say? What new light would He shed? This hometown boy, this son of Joseph the carpenter—– | |
| Jesus: Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. | |
| (Lights out, then slowly back up) | |
| Isaiah: …To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; | |
| Jesus: …to comfort all who mourn; to grant those who mourn in Zion– (Action: Jesus picks up a box and carries it over to the Samaritan woman. He stands beside her.) | |
| John: …to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, (Action: Jesus unveils a headdress from the box and places it on the Samaritan woman. John goes to stand with them.) | |
| James: …the oil of gladness instead of mourning, (Action: Jesus anoints her head with oil. James goes to stand with them.) | |
| Andrew: …the garment of praise… (Action: Jesus places a beautiful garment on the Samaritan woman. Andrew goes to stand with them.) | |
| Peter: …instead of a faint spirit; (Action: Peter goes to stand with them. Philip and Nathanael follow. They all form a portrait, close together, as if someone was taking their picture.) | |
| Narrator Peter: …that they may be called oaks of righteousness, | |
| Narrator S.W.: …the planting of the Lord, | |
| S.W.: …that He may be glorified. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| Narrator S.W.: The Messiah, The Christ, the Savior of the world! And the water we drank that day became in us a spring of water welling up to eternal life! And I stopped going to the well, Jacob’s Well, in the heat of the day, alone. I am not alone. | |
| Jesus: The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor; He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor. | |
| All, In Unison: We are not alone. | |
| Jesus: Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. |
(Lights out, end of Episode #3)
| Isaiah: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion—to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified. | |
| (Lights out, then quickly back up) | |
| Narrator S.W.: Every day I walked to the well, not with a beautiful headdress, not with the oil of gladness, nor with the garment of praise. No, those things were not for me. It was, rather, shame, that caused me to come to Jacob’s Well in the heat of the day, the sixth hour—high noon on the desert. I did not fit in with my people, the Samaritans. When the other women gathered in the cool of the morning, or the evening at sunset, to draw fresh water and talk, and laugh, and sing, and live life—I was at home, hiding. Alone. | |
| Narrator Peter: Now it was the custom in those days, the days of Jesus and His disciples, that every week on the Sabbath, there would be a reading from the Torah, or Law, which is the first 5 books of the Bible. Then another reading from the Prophets. If there was a visiting rabbi, that teacher would read the text. After reading the Scripture, the rabbi would sit, and that was the signal for the beginning of the sermon. The rabbi would sit on a chair or bench, and the rest of us would sit on the floor at his feet. | |
| John: And so it was with us, as we left Jerusalem after the Passover, after Jesus’ now famous meeting with the highly respected Nicodemus, member of the Jewish ruling council, the Sanhedrin. We sat at the feet of Jesus, and He was teaching us more and more. | |
| Andrew: Our families and friends headed back to Galilee, after Passover, but we headed out into the Judean countryside near Jerusalem, and even began baptizing people, just like John the Baptist did. | |
| John: When Jesus decided it was time to go back to Galilee, He said He “needed” to go through Samaria. Ordinarily we took the route through the region of Perea, east of the Jordan River. Although a bit longer, it avoided the Samaritans. | |
| James: After about a day and a half of solid hiking, we arrived at a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave his son Joseph. | |
| Narrator Peter: Now Jacob’s Well was there; so Jesus, wearied as He was from His journey, sat beside the well. It was about the sixth hour, or high noon. | |
| Philip: As was the custom of a teacher and his disciples, as that is what we had become, Jesus sent us to look for food. | |
| Nathanael: Down the path and into the city. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| James: I would rather not deal with these people, these Samaritans who desecrated our temple. | |
| John: We destroyed theirs, so I think the score is more than even. It was a long time ago. | |
| (Sound Effect: A cart, drawn by oxen, passes by up ahead.) |
| John: Follow that cart! There’s sure to be food that way. | |
| Andrew: Why should we come this way anyway? Our route is so friendly. | |
| Peter: Perhaps He wants to form an alliance with them to defeat the Romans. Many of them do believe in the Torah. I have no quarrel with them. It’s our own leaders who now desecrate our temple. What I don’t understand is why He meets with Nicodemus. I’m no prophet, but I don’t see the Sanhedrin and the Sadducees changing. If He is indeed The Christ, what is His game plan? | |
| John: Perhaps we have missed or misunderstood something written by the prophets. For He is certainly from God, is He not? | |
| Andrew: John the Baptist maintains He is the Lamb of God. I heard one of his disciples say, back there in the Judean countryside, that John says, “He must increase, but I must decrease”. | |
| Nathanael: Well, we’re all going to decrease if we don’t find some food soon. | |
| Philip: You can say that again! | |
| Nathanael: Well, we’re all going to decrease if we don’t find some food soon. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| Narrator Peter: Meanwhile, as Jesus sat by the well, the same well Jacob had dug around 2000 years earlier, a woman came to draw water. Jesus spoke to her: | |
| Jesus: Give Me a drink. | |
| Narrator S.W.: I looked at the man, curiously I’m sure. Why was He speaking to me, a woman? He must not be religious. And why does He ask me for a drink? Jews do not share utensils or cups, or even water pots with us Samaritans. They consider us unclean. | |
| S.W.: How is it that you, a Jew, asks for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria? | |
| Jesus: If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, “Give Me a drink,” you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water. | |
| S.W.: Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock. | |
| Jesus: Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. | |
| Narrator S.W.: I looked at Jesus, still confused, I’m sure. What was it He wanted? A religious man would not have spoken to me at all. And He spoke with so much power, and with such confidence of the truth of what He said. Could He make my life right again? Whole again? To make me not an outcast? A failure? Certainly, everything was not entirely my fault. Yet here I was. So tired. So alone. | |
| S.W.: Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water. | |
| Jesus: Go, call your husband, and come here. | |
| S.W.: I have no husband. | |
| Jesus: You are right in saying, “I have no husband”; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true. | |
| Narrator S.W.: How does He know that, I thought. Who would have told Him? I have never seen this man. I would remember, I’m sure. And if I did somehow meet Him in the past, how would He know my current situation? | |
| S.W.: Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship. | |
| Jesus: Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know, we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. | |
| Narrator S.W.: Some men, His followers I assumed, were coming towards us in the distance. I felt no threat, though. Rather, the opposite—great comfort. | |
| | (Sound Effect: The woman, operating the well crank to let down her water pot.) |
| Narrator S.W.: I let down my water pot to draw up water. Who was this man, and why was He talking to me? Could He really help me? Was this “living water” He had for me? | |
| S.W.: I know that Messiah is coming. When He comes, He will tell us all things. | |
| Jesus: I who speak to you am He. | |
| Narrator S.W.: And at that moment nothing else mattered. | |
| | (Sound Effect: The woman, operating the well crank quickly, drawing up water.) |
| Narrator S.W.: I drew up my water pot as quickly as I could. | |
| Narrator S.W.: I unhooked my water pot and stepped toward Jesus. And He met me there. I handed my water over to Him, speechless. I believed Him! Then I did something I thought I would never in my life do. I went to talk to the men, the truly well-respected men of the city. I said, | |
| S.W.: Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ? | |
| Narrator Peter: Meanwhile, we were amazed that we had found Jesus talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking to her?” Instead, we passed around the food and began to eat. We were quite famished, but Jesus just sat there. | |
| Peter: Rabbi, eat. | |
| Narrator Peter: “Yes, eat up, Rabbi,” the others said. | |
| Jesus: I have food to eat that you do not know about. | |
| John: Has anyone brought Him something to eat? | |
| Jesus: My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work. Do you not say, “There are yet four months, then comes the harvest”? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, “One sows and another reaps.” I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor. | |
| Narrator S.W.: Then, the respected men of the city came out to Jesus, at Jacob’s well. And many of my people believed in Him because of my words and my testimony that “He told me all that I ever did.” And many more believed because of His word. They said to me, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.” | |
| Narrator Peter: And the Samaritans asked Him to stay with them, and He stayed there two days. | |
| Narrator S.W.: The Messiah, The Christ, the Savior of the world. And the water we drank that day became in us a spring of water welling up to eternal life! And I stopped going to the well, Jacob’s Well, in the heat of the day, alone. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| Narrator Peter: When we arrived in Galilee, our people welcomed Jesus, having seen all that He had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast. In Galilee He continued healing people, and was saying, | |
| Jesus: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. | |
| Narrator Peter: Meanwhile, we fishermen carried on with our work, and with following Jesus. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| Narrator Peter: And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about Him went out through all the surrounding country. And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as was His custom, He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and He stood up to read. | |
| John: Now it was the custom in those days, that every week on the Sabbath, there would be a reading from the Torah, or Law, which is the first five books of the Bible. Then another reading from the Prophets. If there was a visiting rabbi, that teacher would read the text. | |
| Narrator Peter: And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to Jesus. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, | |
| Jesus: The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. | |
| Narrator Peter: And He rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. | |
| John: After reading the Scripture, the rabbi would sit, and that was the signal for the beginning of the sermon. The rabbi would sit on a chair or bench, and the rest of us would sit on the floor at His feet. | |
| Narrator Peter: And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Jesus. | |
| John: We, as a people, had been reading that prophetic passage from Isaiah for centuries, waiting for God’s anointed, longing for God’s deliverer, hoping for the conqueror to come! | |
| Narrator Peter: What would Jesus say? What new light would He shed? This hometown boy, this son of Joseph the carpenter—– | |
| Jesus: Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. | |
| (Lights out, then slowly back up) | |
| Isaiah: …To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; | |
| Jesus: …to comfort all who mourn; to grant those who mourn in Zion– (Action: Jesus picks up a box and carries it over to the Samaritan woman. He stands beside her.) | |
| John: …to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, (Action: Jesus unveils a headdress from the box and places it on the Samaritan woman. John goes to stand with them.) | |
| James: …the oil of gladness instead of mourning, (Action: Jesus anoints her head with oil. James goes to stand with them.) | |
| Andrew: …the garment of praise… (Action: Jesus places a beautiful garment on the Samaritan woman. Andrew goes to stand with them.) | |
| Peter: …instead of a faint spirit; (Action: Peter goes to stand with them. Philip and Nathanael follow. They all form a portrait, close together, as if someone was taking their picture.) | |
| Narrator Peter: …that they may be called oaks of righteousness, | |
| Narrator S.W.: …the planting of the Lord, | |
| S.W.: …that He may be glorified. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| Narrator S.W.: The Messiah, The Christ, the Savior of the world! And the water we drank that day became in us a spring of water welling up to eternal life! And I stopped going to the well, Jacob’s Well, in the heat of the day, alone. I am not alone. | |
| Jesus: The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor; He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor. | |
| All, In Unison: We are not alone. | |
| Jesus: Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. |
(Lights out, end of Episode #3)
| Isaiah: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion—to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified. | |
| (Lights out, then quickly back up) | |
| Narrator S.W.: Every day I walked to the well, not with a beautiful headdress, not with the oil of gladness, nor with the garment of praise. No, those things were not for me. It was, rather, shame, that caused me to come to Jacob’s Well in the heat of the day, the sixth hour—high noon on the desert. I did not fit in with my people, the Samaritans. When the other women gathered in the cool of the morning, or the evening at sunset, to draw fresh water and talk, and laugh, and sing, and live life—I was at home, hiding. Alone. | |
| Narrator Peter: Now it was the custom in those days, the days of Jesus and His disciples, that every week on the Sabbath, there would be a reading from the Torah, or Law, which is the first 5 books of the Bible. Then another reading from the Prophets. If there was a visiting rabbi, that teacher would read the text. After reading the Scripture, the rabbi would sit, and that was the signal for the beginning of the sermon. The rabbi would sit on a chair or bench, and the rest of us would sit on the floor at his feet. | |
| John: And so it was with us, as we left Jerusalem after the Passover, after Jesus’ now famous meeting with the highly respected Nicodemus, member of the Jewish ruling council, the Sanhedrin. We sat at the feet of Jesus, and He was teaching us more and more. | |
| Andrew: Our families and friends headed back to Galilee, after Passover, but we headed out into the Judean countryside near Jerusalem, and even began baptizing people, just like John the Baptist did. | |
| John: When Jesus decided it was time to go back to Galilee, He said He “needed” to go through Samaria. Ordinarily we took the route through the region of Perea, east of the Jordan River. Although a bit longer, it avoided the Samaritans. | |
| James: After about a day and a half of solid hiking, we arrived at a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave his son Joseph. | |
| Narrator Peter: Now Jacob’s Well was there; so Jesus, wearied as He was from His journey, sat beside the well. It was about the sixth hour, or high noon. | |
| Philip: As was the custom of a teacher and his disciples, as that is what we had become, Jesus sent us to look for food. | |
| Nathanael: Down the path and into the city. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| James: I would rather not deal with these people, these Samaritans who desecrated our temple. | |
| John: We destroyed theirs, so I think the score is more than even. It was a long time ago. | |
| (Sound Effect: A cart, drawn by oxen, passes by up ahead.) |
| John: Follow that cart! There’s sure to be food that way. | |
| Andrew: Why should we come this way anyway? Our route is so friendly. | |
| Peter: Perhaps He wants to form an alliance with them to defeat the Romans. Many of them do believe in the Torah. I have no quarrel with them. It’s our own leaders who now desecrate our temple. What I don’t understand is why He meets with Nicodemus. I’m no prophet, but I don’t see the Sanhedrin and the Sadducees changing. If He is indeed The Christ, what is His game plan? | |
| John: Perhaps we have missed or misunderstood something written by the prophets. For He is certainly from God, is He not? | |
| Andrew: John the Baptist maintains He is the Lamb of God. I heard one of his disciples say, back there in the Judean countryside, that John says, “He must increase, but I must decrease”. | |
| Nathanael: Well, we’re all going to decrease if we don’t find some food soon. | |
| Philip: You can say that again! | |
| Nathanael: Well, we’re all going to decrease if we don’t find some food soon. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| Narrator Peter: Meanwhile, as Jesus sat by the well, the same well Jacob had dug around 2000 years earlier, a woman came to draw water. Jesus spoke to her: | |
| Jesus: Give Me a drink. | |
| Narrator S.W.: I looked at the man, curiously I’m sure. Why was He speaking to me, a woman? He must not be religious. And why does He ask me for a drink? Jews do not share utensils or cups, or even water pots with us Samaritans. They consider us unclean. | |
| S.W.: How is it that you, a Jew, asks for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria? | |
| Jesus: If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, “Give Me a drink,” you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water. | |
| S.W.: Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock. | |
| Jesus: Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. | |
| Narrator S.W.: I looked at Jesus, still confused, I’m sure. What was it He wanted? A religious man would not have spoken to me at all. And He spoke with so much power, and with such confidence of the truth of what He said. Could He make my life right again? Whole again? To make me not an outcast? A failure? Certainly, everything was not entirely my fault. Yet here I was. So tired. So alone. | |
| S.W.: Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water. | |
| Jesus: Go, call your husband, and come here. | |
| S.W.: I have no husband. | |
| Jesus: You are right in saying, “I have no husband”; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true. | |
| Narrator S.W.: How does He know that, I thought. Who would have told Him? I have never seen this man. I would remember, I’m sure. And if I did somehow meet Him in the past, how would He know my current situation? | |
| S.W.: Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship. | |
| Jesus: Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know, we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. | |
| Narrator S.W.: Some men, His followers I assumed, were coming towards us in the distance. I felt no threat, though. Rather, the opposite—great comfort. | |
| | (Sound Effect: The woman, operating the well crank to let down her water pot.) |
| Narrator S.W.: I let down my water pot to draw up water. Who was this man, and why was He talking to me? Could He really help me? Was this “living water” He had for me? | |
| S.W.: I know that Messiah is coming. When He comes, He will tell us all things. | |
| Jesus: I who speak to you am He. | |
| Narrator S.W.: And at that moment nothing else mattered. | |
| | (Sound Effect: The woman, operating the well crank quickly, drawing up water.) |
| Narrator S.W.: I drew up my water pot as quickly as I could. | |
| Narrator S.W.: I unhooked my water pot and stepped toward Jesus. And He met me there. I handed my water over to Him, speechless. I believed Him! Then I did something I thought I would never in my life do. I went to talk to the men, the truly well-respected men of the city. I said, | |
| S.W.: Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ? | |
| Narrator Peter: Meanwhile, we were amazed that we had found Jesus talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking to her?” Instead, we passed around the food and began to eat. We were quite famished, but Jesus just sat there. | |
| Peter: Rabbi, eat. | |
| Narrator Peter: “Yes, eat up, Rabbi,” the others said. | |
| Jesus: I have food to eat that you do not know about. | |
| John: Has anyone brought Him something to eat? | |
| Jesus: My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work. Do you not say, “There are yet four months, then comes the harvest”? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, “One sows and another reaps.” I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor. | |
| Narrator S.W.: Then, the respected men of the city came out to Jesus, at Jacob’s well. And many of my people believed in Him because of my words and my testimony that “He told me all that I ever did.” And many more believed because of His word. They said to me, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.” | |
| Narrator Peter: And the Samaritans asked Him to stay with them, and He stayed there two days. | |
| Narrator S.W.: The Messiah, The Christ, the Savior of the world. And the water we drank that day became in us a spring of water welling up to eternal life! And I stopped going to the well, Jacob’s Well, in the heat of the day, alone. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| Narrator Peter: When we arrived in Galilee, our people welcomed Jesus, having seen all that He had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast. In Galilee He continued healing people, and was saying, | |
| Jesus: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. | |
| Narrator Peter: Meanwhile, we fishermen carried on with our work, and with following Jesus. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| Narrator Peter: And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about Him went out through all the surrounding country. And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all. And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as was His custom, He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and He stood up to read. | |
| John: Now it was the custom in those days, that every week on the Sabbath, there would be a reading from the Torah, or Law, which is the first five books of the Bible. Then another reading from the Prophets. If there was a visiting rabbi, that teacher would read the text. | |
| Narrator Peter: And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to Jesus. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, | |
| Jesus: The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. | |
| Narrator Peter: And He rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. | |
| John: After reading the Scripture, the rabbi would sit, and that was the signal for the beginning of the sermon. The rabbi would sit on a chair or bench, and the rest of us would sit on the floor at His feet. | |
| Narrator Peter: And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Jesus. | |
| John: We, as a people, had been reading that prophetic passage from Isaiah for centuries, waiting for God’s anointed, longing for God’s deliverer, hoping for the conqueror to come! | |
| Narrator Peter: What would Jesus say? What new light would He shed? This hometown boy, this son of Joseph the carpenter—– | |
| Jesus: Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. | |
| (Lights out, then slowly back up) | |
| Isaiah: …To proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; | |
| Jesus: …to comfort all who mourn; to grant those who mourn in Zion– (Action: Jesus picks up a box and carries it over to the Samaritan woman. He stands beside her.) | |
| John: …to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, (Action: Jesus unveils a headdress from the box and places it on the Samaritan woman. John goes to stand with them.) | |
| James: …the oil of gladness instead of mourning, (Action: Jesus anoints her head with oil. James goes to stand with them.) | |
| Andrew: …the garment of praise… (Action: Jesus places a beautiful garment on the Samaritan woman. Andrew goes to stand with them.) | |
| Peter: …instead of a faint spirit; (Action: Peter goes to stand with them. Philip and Nathanael follow. They all form a portrait, close together, as if someone was taking their picture.) | |
| Narrator Peter: …that they may be called oaks of righteousness, | |
| Narrator S.W.: …the planting of the Lord, | |
| S.W.: …that He may be glorified. | |
| (Lights out, then back up) | |
| Narrator S.W.: The Messiah, The Christ, the Savior of the world! And the water we drank that day became in us a spring of water welling up to eternal life! And I stopped going to the well, Jacob’s Well, in the heat of the day, alone. I am not alone. | |
| Jesus: The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor; He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor. | |
| All, In Unison: We are not alone. | |
| Jesus: Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. |
(Lights out, end of Episode #3)
Episode Spotlight
Episode Spotlight
When our lesson starts, Jesus reads from what in our Bible is the 61st chapter of Isaiah. In this chapter Isaiah is describing what is called the acceptable year of the Lord or the year of Jubilee. It is a year where things in Israel are made right, where people who are oppressed are set free, where the poor are blessed, and those who are sick are made whole again. Jesus makes the choice to teach that He is going to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah, which says that God will make things right in the world. What does it say about Jesus and who His disciples were looking for? On one hand it confirms that Jesus is the Messiah who is coming to save Israel from their oppression. On the other hand, Jesus doesn’t look quite like the superhero they think He will be. There is nothing in Jesus’ speech that talks about overthrowing the Roman government. There are no violent passages in this speech; however, there are other passages in the Bible that Jesus could have quoted instead that spoke more about revenge against their enemies.
But Jesus chose to focus on the passage where those who are downtrodden are given hope. This hope is not just for the Jewish people, but it is for everyone that Jesus comes in contact with. If we were to keep reading Luke chapter 4, Jesus begins to say things that infuriate the crowd.
The crowd is excited because they hear a message of hope that they believe is just for them from someone from their town who they were not expecting to deliver that message, but then Jesus begins to talk about some people that they would consider to be outsiders. Jesus begins to talk about people who were not deemed welcome in their synagogue. He says that they have the same access to these benefits. The people are angry because while they do want the downtrodden to be helped, they are focusing on the downtrodden that they know, that are related to them, or are part of their ethnic group. Jesus, however, is focused on all downtrodden people. We see this in the next scene of our script when Jesus makes a surprising turn to Samaria.
The disciples did not want to go through Samaria because typically Jewish people avoided Samaria. The Jews and the Samaritans were not friends. Throughout history, the Jews and Samaritans were at odds with one another, so when the Samaritan woman saw Jesus, a Jewish man, asking for water, she was taken aback. First of all, men didn’t talk to women during this time in history, especially a woman by herself. Furthermore, Jesus being a Jewish man had no business with any Samaritan, let alone a Samaritan woman. Also, the Samaritan woman was clearly an outcast. We find her at the well at the middle of the day, which is the hottest time of the day. People usually didn’t go to the well when it was so hot outside. The woman was also at the well alone while gathering water, which was a communal task. You might be thinking that this woman was an outcast because of her seemingly immoral life, but we must remember that this is not modern times we are talking about, and women did not have the autonomy to choose husbands. What this means is the woman was expelled from up to five houses. We don’t know why she was expelled, but we can guess. Could have it been because she was infertile, or had some other kind of disability? If she was habitually immoral, she likely would not have been able to legally marry five different men. Another option is that her husbands died, and she remarried. The only sin in her life that Jesus mentions is that her current “husband” was not hers. Whatever the reason, she was definitely an outcast. Can you imagine what it felt like to be someone who seemingly no one wanted? No wonder she was a little hesitant to talk to Jesus.
River of Living Water by Debbie Clark
But Jesus spoke with her anyway. While she was used to drawing water frequently from Jacob’s Well, Jesus offered her a different kind of water. This living water was to refresh her life. It symbolized the revitalization that living as a follower of Jesus brings. This woman was an outcast who had repeatedly failed at doing things the way her society had wanted her to do it, but Jesus offered her a new way of doing things, a way that would refresh her and empower her. We see this as she runs back to her city, and everyone believes in Jesus, first because of her, and then because of what Jesus Himself said to them.
In this episode, we see Jesus demonstrating the reason why He came to the earth, to seek and save all who are lost. Jesus wasn’t concerned about a person’s cultural or societal position, or if they were Jewish. What mattered to Jesus is they were all in need of a Savior. Even though the disciples may not have wanted to go through Samaria, it was made clear why Jesus needed to pass through Samaria.
Jesus expands the definition of Messiah to something more than the disciples or the Jewish community could ever imagine. He revealed himself as the Messiah for all people.
Let’s Discuss
Let’s Discuss
1. Did anything stand out to you as you experienced the Scripture?
2. How does God want you to respond to His Word today?
3. Jesus makes the choice to teach that He is going to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah which says that God will make things right in the world.
What does this say about Jesus and who His disciples were looking for?
4. You might be thinking that the Samaritan woman was an outcast because of her seemingly immoral life, but we must remember that this is not modern times we are talking about, and women did not have the autonomy to choose husbands. What this means is the woman was expelled from up to five houses.
Can you imagine what it felt like to be someone who seemingly no one wanted?
Character Spotlight
Character Spotlight
The Disciples
At this part in our story, the disciples are probably scratching their heads. From their point of view, this superhero of a Messiah has done things that they would have never imagined. First of all, He goes and seeks a woman in a city which is full of people with whom the Jews were not in a good relationship. Jesus had also talked in Luke chapter 4 about people who were outside of the Jewish society. They were expecting Jesus to be a Savior specifically for the Jews, but it turned out that Jesus wanted to save everyone.
Who have you not witnessed to because they are outside of your social circles?
Who are you reluctant to talk to?
As you meditate on this script, how can you change the way you view evangelism and witness to those that others refuse to talk to?
The Samaritan Woman
In earlier episodes, we saw the excitement of the disciples concerning the discovery of Jesus to be the Messiah. How much more is the Samaritan woman excited that He came to her? She is an outcast in a city which has been outcast from the Jewish family. She is the black sheep in a city full of outcasts, and yet Jesus the Messiah had to come to talk to her. This demonstrates that it does not matter who you are, God loves you, God sees you, and God wants the best for you. As you meditate on the Samaritan woman, focus on the love God has for you and how God has selected you to be His own.
How can you deliver this message to others who feel downtrodden and mistreated?
How can you share the love of God like Jesus did with the Samaritan woman?
And…Action!
And…Action!
In John 4:35b Jesus says, “Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest”. In this episode we see that Jesus seeks out an unlikely evangelist! The first New Testament evangelist is a Samaritan woman: an outcast in a community of outcasts. She has no clout, she’s the wrong gender, wrong religion, wrong race, wrong reputation, all around the wrong type of person. Why was she able to win over her community to Jesus? Jesus had changed her, she was fully known and unconditionally accepted. There was no way for them to miss the wonder flowing out of her! The change in her was immediate and obvious from no hope to hope full, from alone to seen, from being excluded from worship, to being invited into a personal relationship and true worship of The Messiah who spoke to her. She was fully known, and loved for who she was.
She immediately shared the good news: she couldn’t contain it! She literally dropped everything, even her water jug and went to tell others about Jesus, to “come see” for yourself. (John 4:28, 29) It was personal to her and many others responded and believed because of their personal experience with Jesus as well. (John 4:41-42)
It reminds me of the old-style diner or café where you sit down and there’s a heavy white ceramic coffee cup already waiting for you at your table. All you have to do is turn the cup over to receive a bottomless supply of coffee. Jesus is ready to fill us up with Himself, the living water, an endless supply bubbling up out of us from Him. We just have to be willing to receive it and offer others a cup. We go from empty to full. Others can see the difference! We are so full of Him that the living water can’t help but splash out on those around us.
Action: Fill up with living water and splash out on those around you.
- Stop and take time to listen to Jesus. Be intentional about scheduling time to hear from Him and to be ready to receive even when it’s unexpected or even inconvenient.
- Fill up with His Word daily, treasure and store up God’s Word in your heart. (Psalm 119:11) Water is required for life; is your soul dehydrated?
- Share about Jesus out of the overflow of your heart. (Luke 6:45) It’s less about what you know and more about who you know. Share what He is doing in your life right now. Living water is continually flowing, never stagnant.
- Invite others to seek Jesus for themselves to experience His hope, love, peace and joy too. (John 4:42)
- Be willing to cross societal barriers like Jesus did: race, gender, religion, economic, cultural, geographical, and social.
- Be willing to drop everything to share the good news about Jesus. Give Him control of your schedule; that unexpected conversation may be the best part of your day, and the start of a new life for someone else!
Waterfall of Living Water by Debbie Clark
Extras
ExtrasIsaiah
(Heb. Yesh’yahu, “the salvation of Jehovah”). He was a prophet during the reigns of Uzziah (or Azariah), Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah (1:1). His first call to the prophetical office is not recorded. A second call came to him “in the year that King Uzziah died” (Isa. 6:1). He exercised his ministry in a spirit of uncompromising firmness and boldness regarding all that bore on the interests of religion. He conceals nothing and keeps nothing back from fear of man. He was also noted for his spirituality and for his deep-toned reverence toward “the holy One of Israel.”
Easton’s Bible Dictionary 1897
Samaritan Woman
a central figure in the Gospel of John, where she engages in a lengthy conversation with Jesus at Jacob’s Well, ultimately becoming an evangelist for Jesus in her community.
Andrew
(Greek, “manliness”) Andrew was one of the apostles of Jesus. He was from Bethsaida in Galilee (John 1:44) and was the brother of Simon Peter (Matt. 4:18; 10:2). At first, he was a disciple of John the Baptist. On one occasion John the Baptist, pointing to Jesus, said, “Behold the Lamb of God” (John 1:40); and Andrew, hearing him, immediately became a follower of Jesus, the first of Jesus’ disciples. After he had been led to recognize Jesus as the Messiah, his first care was to bring also his brother Simon to Jesus. The two brothers seem to have after this pursued for a while their usual calling as fishermen and did not become Apostles of the Lord until after John’s imprisonment (Matt. 4:18, 19; Mark 1:16, 17). Very little is related of Andrew. He was one of the confidential disciples (John 6:8; 12:22), and with Peter, James, and John inquired of our Lord privately regarding his future coming (Mark 13:3). He was present at the feeding of the five thousand (John 6:9), and he introduced the Greeks who desired to see Jesus (John 12:22); but of his subsequent history little is known. It is noteworthy that Andrew brings others to Christ three times, (1) Peter; (2)
the boy with the loaves; and (3) certain Greeks. These incidents may be regarded as a key to his character.
Easton’s Bible Dictionary 1897
John the Apostle
John the Apostle, brother of James the “Greater” (Matt.4:21;10:2; Mark 1:19; 3:17; 10:35). He was one of the sons of Zebedee, probably the younger Matt.4:21) and Salome (Matt.27:56; Mark 15:40) and was born at Bethsaida. His father was apparently a man of some wealth (comp. Mark 1:20; Luke 5:3; John 19:27). He was doubtless trained in all that constituted the ordinary education of Jewish youth. When he grew up he followed the occupation of a fisherman on the Lake of Galilee. When John the Baptist began his ministry in the wilderness of Judea, John, with many others, gathered around him, and was deeply influenced by his teaching. There he heard the announcement, “Behold the Lamb of God,” and on the invitation of Jesus, became a disciple and ranked among his followers for a time (John 1:36, 37). He and his brother then returned to their former avocation, for how long is uncertain. Jesus again called them (Matt. 4: 21; Luke 5:1-11), and now they left all and permanently attached themselves to the company of his disciples. He became one of the innermost circle (Mark 5:37; Matt. 17:1; 26:37; Mark 13:3). He was the disciple whom Jesus loved.
Easton’s Bible Dictionary 1897
James
The son of Zebedee and Salome; an elder brother of John the apostle. He was one of the twelve apostles. He was by trade a fisherman, in partnership with Peter (Matt. 20:20; 27:56). With John and Peter, he was present at the transfiguration (Matt. 17:1; Mark 9:2), at the raising of Jairus’s daughter (Mark 5:37-43), and in the garden with our Lord (14:33). Because, probably, of their boldness and energy, he and John were called Boanerges, i.e., “sons of thunder.” He was the first martyr among the apostles, having been beheaded by King Herod Agrippa (Acts 12:1, 2), A.D. 44. (Comp. Matt. 4:21; 20:20-23).
Easton’s Bible Dictionary 1897
Peter
Peter, originally called Simon (Simeon, “hearing”), a very common Jewish name in the New Testament. He was the son of Jona (Matt. 16:17). His mother is nowhere named in Scripture. He had a younger brother called Andrew, who first brought him to Jesus (John 1:40-42). His native town was Bethsaida, on the western coast of the Sea of Galilee, to which also Philip belonged. Here he was brought up by the shores of the Sea of Galilee and was trained to the occupation of a fisher. His father had probably died while he was still young, and he and his brother were brought up under the care of Zebedee and his wife Salome (Matt. 27:56; Mark 15:40; 16:1). There the four youths, Simon, Andrew, James, and John, spent their boyhood and early manhood in constant fellowship. Simon and his brother doubtless enjoyed all the advantages of a religious training and were early instructed in an acquaintance with the Scriptures and with the great prophecies regarding the coming of the Messiah. They did not probably enjoy, however, any special training in the study of the law under any of the rabbis. When Peter appeared before the Sanhedrin, he looked like an “unlearned man” (Acts 4:13).
“Simon was a Galilean, and he was that out and out…The Galileans had a marked character of their own. They had a reputation for an independence and energy which often ran out into turbulence. They were at the same time of a franker and more transparent disposition than their brethren in the south. In all these respects, in bluntness, impetuosity, headiness, and simplicity, Simon was a genuine Galilean. They spoke a particular dialect. They had a difficulty with the guttural sounds and some others, and their pronunciation was reckoned harsh in Judea. The Galilean accent stuck to Simon all through his career. It betrayed him as a follower of Christ when he stood within the
judgment-hall (Mark 14:70). It betrayed his own nationality and that of those conjoined with him on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:7).” It would seem that Simon was married before he became an apostle. His wife’s mother is referred to (Matt. 8:14; Mark 1:30; Luke 4:38). He was in all probability accompanied by his wife on his missionary journeys (1 Cor. 9:5; comp. 1 Pet. 5:13).
He appears to have been settled at Capernaum when Christ entered on his public ministry and may have reached beyond the age of thirty. His house was large enough to give a home to his brother Andrew, his wife’s mother, and to Christ, who seems to have lived with him (Mark 1:29, 36; 2:1), as well as to his own family. It was apparently two stories high (2:4).
At Bethabara (R.V., John 1:28, “Bethany”), beyond Jordan, John the Baptist had borne testimony concerning Jesus as the “Lamb of God” (John 1:29-36). Andrew and John hearing it, followed Jesus, and abode with him where he was. They were convinced, by his gracious words and by the authority with which he spoke, that he was the Messiah (Luke 4:22; Matt. 7:29); and Andrew went forth and found Simon and brought him to Jesus (John 1:41).
Jesus at once recognized Simon, and declared that hereafter he would be called Cephas, an Aramaic name corresponding to the Greek Petros, which means “a mass of rock detached from the living rock.” The Aramaic name does not occur again, but the name Peter gradually displaces the old name Simon, though our Lord himself always uses the name Simon when addressing him (Matt. 17:25; Mark 14:37; Luke 22:31, comp. 21:15-17). We are not told what impression the first interview with Jesus produced on the mind of Simon. When we next meet him, it is by the Sea of Galilee (Matt. 4:18-22). There the four (Simon and Andrew, James and John) had had an unsuccessful night’s fishing. Jesus appeared suddenly, and entering Simon’s boat, bade him launch forth and let down the nets. He did so and enclosed a great multitude of fishes. This was plainly a miracle wrought before Simon’s eyes. The awe-stricken disciple cast himself at the feet of Jesus, crying, “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord” (Luke 5:8). Jesus addressed him with the assuring words, “Fear not,” and announced to him his life’s work. Simon
responded at once to the call to become a disciple, and after this we find him in constant attendance on our Lord.
He is next called into the rank of the apostleship and becomes a “fisher of men” (Matt. 4:19) in the stormy seas of the world of human life (Matt. 10:2-4; Mark 3:13-19; Luke 6:13-16) and takes a more and more prominent part in all the leading events of our Lord’s life. It is he who utters that notable profession of faith at Capernaum (John 6:66-69), and again at Caesarea Philippi (Matt. 16:13-20; Mark 8:27-30; Luke 9:18-20). This profession at Caesarea was one of supreme importance, and our Lord in response used these memorable words: “Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church.”
Easton’s Bible Dictionary 1897
Philip
(lover of horses) One of the twelve apostles; a native of Bethsaida, “the city of Andrew and Peter” (John 1:44). He readily responded to the call of Jesus when first addressed to him (43) and forthwith brought Nathanael also to Jesus (45,46). He seems to have held a prominent place among the apostles (Matt. 10:3; Mark 3:18; John 6:5-7; 12:21, 22; 14:8, 9; Acts 1:13).
Easton’s Bible Dictionary 1897
Nathanael
(given or gift of God) One of our Lord’s disciples, of Cana in Galilee (John 21:2). He was “an Israelite indeed, in whom was no guile” (1:47, 48).
Easton’s Bible Dictionary 1897
Jesus
The Savior; the name of the Son of God as announced by the angel to his parents; the personal name of Our Lord, in distinction from Christ. The life of Jesus on earth may be divided into two great periods, (1) that of his private life, until he was about thirty years of age; and (2) that of his public life, which lasted about three years.
In the “fulness of time” he was born at Bethlehem, in the reign of the emperor Augustus, of Mary, who was betrothed to Joseph, a carpenter (Matt. 1:1; Luke 3:23; comp. John 7:42). His birth was announced to the shepherds (Luke 2:8-20). Wise men from the east came to Bethlehem to see him who was born “King of the Jews,” bringing gifts with them (Matt. 2:1-12). Herod’s cruel jealousy led to Joseph’s flight into Egypt with Mary and the infant Jesus, where they tarried till the death of this king (Matt. 2:13-23), when they returned and settled in Nazareth, in Lower Galilee (2:23; comp. Luke 4:16; John 1:46, etc.). At the age of twelve years, he went up to Jerusalem to the Passover with his parents. There, in the temple, “in the midst of the doctors,” all that heard him were “astonished at his understanding and answers”(Luke 2:41).
Eighteen years pass, of which we have no record beyond this, that he returned to Nazareth and “increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52).
He entered on his public ministry when he was about thirty years of age. It is generally believed to be about three years.
(1.) The first year may be called the year of obscurity, both because the records of it which we possess are very scanty, and because he seems during it to have been only slowly emerging into public notice. It was spent for the most part in Judea.
(2.) The second year was the year of public favor, during which the country had become thoroughly aware of him; his activity was incessant, and his frame rang through the length and breadth of the land. It was almost wholly passed in Galilee.
(3.) The third was the year of opposition, when the public favor ebbed away. His enemies multiplied and assailed him with more and more pertinacity, and at last he fell a victim to their hatred. The first six months of this final year were passed in Galilee, and the last six in other parts of the land.
The only reliable sources of information regarding the life of Christ on earth are the Gospels, which present in historical detail the words and the work of Christ in so many different aspects.
Easton’s Bible Dictionary 1897
Maps
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Map of Route from Jerusalem to Galilee
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