Third Sunday in Lent

Beginning on this Sunday, the three Gospels leading up to Holy Week center on elemental themes: Water, Light, and Life. The “living water” promised to the Samaritan woman at the well is nothing less than the Holy Spirit delivered by means of the grace of baptism. That the woman is reported to have been living in sin is not accidental. Baptism is for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38). If candidates are preparing for baptism at the Easter Vigil, the preacher will have strong catechetical material.

For the baptized, the Old Testament passage may be highlighted. The Israelites enjoyed the same sacramental signs of God’s presence and faithfulness ( even enjoying the greater grace of baptism frequently backslide into the same behavior in our own lives (and under much milder circumstances). And yet, even in this, God meets grumbling with grace: Water from the rock.

Just as he did for the woman at the well, Christ reaches out to us today even while we are in sin, renewing his offer of living water of the Holy Spirit. The proper exhortation is for the congregation to renew their baptismal vows through earnest prayer and fasting, and accept the grace that God continually offers to us.