Inklings from Walls & Wells

As we have traveled around the relatively small country of Israel, the ruins of walls and wells have been plentiful.  When the first stone at a site was found, archaeologists must have had a burst of excitement (if funding was available).  Surely it was and is like a neon light saying, “Dig Here!”, for with a wall or a well comes a dwelling, even a whole city of dwellings.  

The ruins have been fascinating to me.  Yesterday as we sat looking out over the valley from Mount Gerizim and listened to the Samaritan Woman’s encounter with Jesus at the well, I was reminded of the barriers Jesus crossed to talk with her and to ask her for a drink from the well.  She was a Samaritan, despised by the Jews, and she was a woman.  Both were very good reasons for Jesus to have treated her with disdain and to keep His distance, but that was not His response recorded in John 4.  

The walls constructed around cities were critical for defending the inhabitants within and the wells were needed to sustain them. Great lengths were taken to keep their water source accessible to the inhabitants and away from their enemies.  The crumbled ruins are evidence that even the highest and strongest of walls can fall or fail.

As Christians here in Israel, I have felt the division between us and the Jewish people.  There might not be a physical wall visible between us, but it feels as impenetrable as hard stone.   I was somewhat naive about that before coming…I still am, but could identify a bit with the Samaritan woman.  

I awoke during the night with the words from Ephesians 2 running through my mind, reminding me of what Jesus did for us as Gentiles.

Ephesians 2:11-22

Jew and Gentile Reconciled Through Christ

11 Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)— 12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. 17 He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

Jesus is our Cornerstone.  He is our Well of Living Water.  May I never take that gift for granted.  On our first day of the tour, we heard the words, “Welcome home!” shared by Pastor Jim Beavers, who is helping lead our group.  This morning I felt God echoing those words and letting them sink down deep into my heart.  Thank you, Jesus!!!  

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