Rabbi, Eat Something!

In John 4 we have the account of Jesus meeting the woman at the well, but did you ever pay attention to how the disciples act at the end of the story? We probably subconsciously block this out because they are all too much like we are!

They return from town and find the Teacher speaking with a vile Samaritan, and worse yet, a woman. John is careful to tell us that they DID NOT ask any questions about this strange situation. Instead they proceed into a classic ethnic chicken-soup joke, "Rabbi, eat something," they say. We can only speculate on their motivation, but there are plenty of familiar choices available. Politcal correctness? Avoidance of controversial topics? Embarrassment? Timidity or fear? Feelings that it was none of their business? Apathy? Avoidance of what was sure to be a serious conversation? More interest in their own physical hunger than anything else? Failure to recognize that a spiritual event was occurring?

Since the incident is recorded, at least John eventually asked or was told about the interview. But how often are we like the disciples, avoiding interaction with the Lord for any one of a market-basket-full of appetizing excuses?

John 4