The Woman At The Well

 Introduction to Faith, Jesus and Peter

There is no more powerful story than that of Jesus Christ.  Man has always been fascinated by Chris, the face of the invisible God.  Through Christ, man can see the desire of his heart; man can come face to face with God without the veil of Moses.  Man yearns to embrace the “Absolute Love”, “a love which surpasses all understanding.”

Faith is the beginning to understanding Christ. We begin with Peter; begin with Peter who is each of us as is the woman at the well.  Peter goes through a myriad of feelings and thoughts.  His assumptions are turned upside down; his ideas of self and his dreams of his vocation to follow Christ mirror man’s question of self and his relationship with Christ.

Peter changes and grows.  He moves from his calling to his walking on water and falling; he goes from his great declaration of faith as spokesman for Christ to confusion and dismay with Jesus’ accusation of Peter’s blind spots with regard to Christ as Messiah.  Peter goes from witness to miracles to Peter’s idea of being a heroic martyr for Christ; he goes from sleeplessness in the Garden to being terrified in his attempt to defend Christ’s safety.  His public denial of Christ, his cowardice in following Christ at a distance during Christ’s Passion, surely this was Peter’s trial of faith. Remembering Christ’s prophetic words brings his humiliation to a realization of who Christ is and who Peter is.

Christ is always truth; man alone is always frail, man always needing Christ to carry him on his shoulders throughout life.  Failure to faith always looms on the horizon.  Faith responds to love, yet falters until truth permeates the core of man’s being.  “Lord, you know everything,; you know that I love you.”(Matt16)