Good morning, Friends! If you’re looking at your bulletin, you may be wondering, “Where’s my sermon quiz? And you’re not Dr. Steven Bell!” You’re right. Steven came down with COVID on Friday afternoon. And as luck would have it, I was leading a women’s retreat on Saturday. So instead of continuing our sermon series on “The Bumps Are What You Climb On”, I am going to pivot on this bump and give you my lesson from yesterday!
One thing I try to do every time I preach is give you a story. But have you ever wondered why? First, I love a good story and I love telling a good story. But more than that, I love weaving together a narrative utilizing what I have discovered through historical research, cultural practices of the Middle East, and the Bible.
My topic yesterday was based on a book I recently read about Jesus’ encounters with women – what these women learned from Jesus, and what Jesus learned from these women. While it’d be natural for me to talk about Mary, the mother of Jesus, on this Mother’s Day, I’m going to tell you about one of my other favorite women of the Bible. Her name is Photini. You’ve heard of her, right? Photini, the Mother of Evangelists?
Listen to her story. See if you recognize this great woman:
The walk to the well offers a welcome break from the daily routine. But it always brings sadness, too, no matter what time of day it is. Sometimes I go in the morning, when it’s cooler, like most others in town. When I do, I'm always passed by countless young women, who greet me respectfully. If I had been blessed by God with daughters, I would have sent them to make this trip, instead of me. I remember how much I enjoyed the trips to the well when I was a girl, chatting and catching up while we patiently waited to draw our water. Now, when I find myself at the well surrounded by young people, they’re always polite -- but I’m never included in their conversations.
If I find myself instead among older women, they never know what to say to me. Even asking me how I am must seem like a chore to them. Their conversations involve their husbands. I have nothing of the sort to share. I’m sure they wish I wasn't there, so they could talk about their joys without guilt. When I can, I go to draw water at a less busy time. It’s quiet, and I can think about God and matters of importance. Of course, this very act of walking alone brings my mind back to focus on myself, my own tragic life story. Why is it women like me are defined by the husbands she has lost or the children she never had?
Becoming lost in one's thoughts is dangerous. I didn't notice the stranger sitting at the well until I was very close - not that I could outrun him if he wished to do me harm. His clothing indicated he was a Jew. With so many Jews living in Galilee, it’s increasingly common for them to pass through Samaria. They couldn't help but stop for water on their way.
Perhaps he came here at precisely this time to avoid encountering people like me. Such is their disdain for us Samaritans! WE have preserved the Torah of Moses and the covenant with God MORE faithfully than they have, yet they insist it is the other way around. They claim Jacob as THEIR ancestor, just as we do. They probably think this well is as much theirs as it is ours, even though we live here, preserving the land of Jacob and worshipping the God of Israel in as much unity and with as much fidelity as possible. Today, when they pass through our land, they often harass us.
Getting closer, I see he has no vessel with which to draw water. Is he a fool who set out unprepared? Or was he unfortunate enough to have his things stolen or broken on his journey? I should be grateful that Jews refuse to use the vessels and utensils of Samaritans.
As I reach the well, I get a better look at the man’s face. He doesn't look sinister, although you never can tell. He just looks tired, and possibly lost in thought. It’s a face that I would have considered kind if he were a Samaritan. I will try to ignore him and go about my business.
"Give me a drink."
I turn around, wondering if I had missed someone else coming along the road behind me from town. But no, it was the Jewish stranger who had said it.
“How can you, being a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan, for a drink?” I asked him. The different ways the Jews understood the Torah, the requirements of the covenant and worship -- it had always fascinated me. Maybe this man had studied the Torah and had realized that we, the northern tribes, the majority of Israel, had gotten it right all along?
“If you knew what God gives, and if you knew who you're talking to, you would have asked me, and I would have offered you flowing water."
Maybe I was dealing with a dangerous lunatic after all. Who does he think he is, and what on earth is he talking about? I pointed out to him that he doesn't even have a vessel to draw water from the well. He replied by speaking of water that eliminates thirst permanently. Is he a magician? A miracle-worker? Maybe he was mocking me, offering me something that doesn't exist, thinking Samaritans are stupid, and a woman all the more so. Or maybe I ought to have worried that he would try to give me poison, hoping to kill a Samaritan on his way through our land, thinking he could trick some foolish people among us into trusting him, and then laughing at us after getting us to inflict harm on ourselves? Yet something about the way he spoke made me think that wasn't where this was going with these words.
I play along, "I will happily have some of your water, if that will mean that I don't need to keep coming back to this well."
"Go call your husband and come back," he said.
I sighed. No matter where I go, or to whom I speak, things always come back to this topic. I can't escape it.
"I have no husband,” I told him - truthfully. No need to get into my long, painful story with a stranger.
Then he said something that simply amazed me. I still find it hard to believe…
You may have never heard of Photini, but you know her story from John Chapter 4. This is the name the Eastern Orthodox church has given to the Samaritan woman at the well. The story of Photini is one of the longest stories in the Bible about a woman. And it’s the longest recorded conversation between Jesus and anyone - male or female.
But like many women in the Bible, Phontini’s story is one that, I believe, has been gravely misunderstood. Too often she has been characterized as an adulterer, or at the least a sinful woman. To fully understand Photini, we must first recognize the layers of marginalization that impacted her life. Just imagine the discrimination she must have faced as a person of a shunned race. Samaritan women were considered perpetually unclean by the Jews. And likely, as a woman with no means of her own, who had to rely on men to survive, shame would have been her identity.
Scholars have historically suggested that Photini was a woman of immoral character, originating from Jesus’ acknowledgement of her history of five marriages, and living with a man to whom she is not married. But this assumption may conflict with the history of Samaria at the time. Women were not given the rights to divorce, and if Photini had been divorced 5 times, it was likely because she was cast aside - perhaps she couldn’t conceive.
It's more likely that her five marriages are recorded in Scripture to convey how hard her life had been. Perhaps she had outlived the lives of her husbands, potentially first becoming a wife when just a child. Photini would have needed to re-marry to survive in a culture that did not have a way for women to live independently of a man. Women were considered property. Even children were considered at a higher social status than women. And if she had no male relatives, continual re-marriage was her only choice.
Photini, the truth seeker
Yet here we see Photini engaging in the longest recorded conversation with Jesus. One where she was not a passive listener, but an engaged questioner and theological thinker. In the course of their conversation, we learn several things. Though we know Jews and Samaritans despised each other, this Samaritan made an impression on Jesus. So much so, Jesus’ most famous hero was the Good Samaritan. What we learn from this encounter is there is no barrier Jesus cannot cross to embrace a relationship with someone. He revealed himself to Photini and proved how well he knew her, and how he saw her as a truth seeker.
Jesus gained Photini’s trust, and her life was radically changed. If you look closely at John chapter 4, Jesus never called her a sinner, and he never asked her to repent. Jesus focused His attention on her as a truth seeker. He saw her value and recognized her intelligence. Their conversation initiated her gifting and ministry as an evangelist and a missionary.
Questioning God
Jesus also accepted Photini’s direct questioning and borderline argumentative nature. She was smart, and Jesus happily engaged with her intellect. Their exchange models for us a way of talking with God that isn’t always accepted in the church - questioning and seeking God, arguing with God, and pressing God. Photini is a biblical model of a woman who does this and gives us permission to talk to God candidly, as seekers of answers and truth. We question - not always because of doubt - but because we have faith and because we want more faith. Jesus welcomed this!
Theological thinker
Once Photini recognized Jesus as a prophet, she asked an important theological question regarding the marginalization of her people. She observed, “Our ancestors worshipped on this mountain, but you and your people say that it’s necessary to worship in Jerusalem.”
Jesus then reframed her idea of worship and faith, and she responded confidently in verse 25: “I know that the Messiah is coming, the one who is called the Christ. When he comes, he will teach everything to us.” She paved the way for Jesus to reveal his identity to her. Once he did, she was enthralled with her revelation. Meanwhile, the disciples returned and silently watched the end of Jesus’ exchange with Photini. She left her water jar at the well, maybe because of excitement, or maybe to symbolize that she now has living water and is no longer in need of the well’s water. She ran back to her city and began her work of evangelizing.
A Credible Witness
When Photini returned to her community, they listened to her. Her ministry was to all of the people there. Both men and women heard her and were impacted by her ministry. She was bold and disruptive! Full of joy! She spoke publicly to the people of her city, and it was effective. The town’s response tells us she was not perceived as the village crazy lady, nor was she a shunned sinner. She was respected, because when she spoke, those that knew her listened and believed. She was a credible witness. The townspeople believed her enough to go and see Jesus for themselves.
Photini’s life after meeting Jesus
What happened to Photini after meeting Jesus face-to-face? I did a little research, and come to find out, she continued to use the gift of evangelism she had been given. The Eastern Orthodox tradition regards Photini as equal to the apostles and praises her for her work in growing and strengthening the Early Church.
We know some things about her life as an evangelist because of historical, oral storytelling (hagiography). Although not 100% accurate, Photini’s legacy is preserved to remind us of the importance of these women, who established and shaped the Early Church.
Photini is recorded as being baptized by the disciples on Pentecost. This is where she was first given the name Photini, meaning “enlightened one”. After Photini was awakened to this new and glorious reality of life with Christ, she made it her mission to awaken others to this truth! She started with her sisters, who were baptized as Christians. Somewhere along the line, maybe with the man she was connected to when she was talking to Jesus, Photini had two sons, and both of them became Christians.
The family began their journey in Carthage, where one of Photini’s sons, a general for the Roman army, ended up converting the military commander in Carthage to Christianity. This enraged Emperor Nero, who had just begun his persecutions of Christians, including the murders of Peter and Paul. This evil tyrant wanted nothing more than to stamp out the Christian flame that was sweeping the world!
Nero summoned Photini and her family to Rome, and asked them if they were followers of Christ. When they answered in the affirmative, Nero ordered that they be beaten with iron rods until they denied Jesus. No matter how hard the soldiers tried, they could not break the bones or bring pain to this holy family!
Nero figured if he couldn’t beat their faith out of them, he would change tactics! He sent Photini into a room full of gold to tempt her with wealth. When that didn’t work, he sent his own daughter, DomNINA, to turn Photini away from the faith. This attempt failed miserably, as DomNINA was then converted to Christianity.
Nero had struck out again, and was overcome with rage over the conversion of his daughter. Over the course of the next 3 years, he tried an array of tortures to turn Photini and her family away from Christ. He threw them into a furnace for three days, but like Rack, Shack, and Benny, they came out unharmed. His magicians concocted a poison for Photini and her family to drink. But after making the sign of the cross over the potion, Photini drank it with no ill effects.
After he couldn’t harm them, Nero threw them all into prison, and even that backfired! People who heard of the trials this family had gone through for Christ’s sake, saw Photini in the prison, and they, too, were converted! Eventually, Emperor Nero took Photini out of the prison and threw her into a WELL.
In reflecting on the last few days of Photini’s life, I have to imagine that she was delighted. She spent her last days on earth in a well, where her life really began all those years before with a simple conversation with Christ. She was able to remember that day that she had received the Life-Giving Water.
Relevance of Photini’s story for us today
What a great story. Jesus chose to reveal Himself to a marginalized woman and gave her the gift of evangelism. He chose the most unlikely of people, a Samaritan woman, to reveal Himself to first. Jesus recognized the bold, curious, smart woman Photini was. She was trusted by her people and chosen by God. And as a result, like John read from 2nd Timothy earlier, Photini fought the good fight. She finished the race and kept the faith.
In the narrative of the upside-down kingdom of God, this should not surprise us, but remind us of how God works and moves among people. Perhaps He is calling you, too - calling you to celebrate Mother’s Day by celebrating the Mother of Evangelists, to heed the calling of Christ to go and make disciples, to tell everyone you know about the Savior we love, and to boldly proclaim Christ came for all.
Amen. And Amen.
**See Know Your Mothers for this original text and more about egalitarian views on women.
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