credibility of the Gospel

I was reading about Jesus and the Samaritan woman and was struck by something I never had given consideration.  When I’ve heard the text taught/preached, many comment that the woman visited the well at the hottest part of the day, the sixth hour of the day (noon).  But is that true?

It is my understanding that the hottest part of the day tends to be the afternoon some time between 2 and 5pm.  This can be tested by simply checking the weather forecast for any city.  Furthermore, there is no indication about what time of year Jesus is making this trip through Samaria.

Asserting that it is the hottest part of the day is sloppy thinking and exegesis, and hurts the credibility of the Gospel.

If we are not careful with how we expand upon what we see in the text OR are unwilling to acknowledge that there are some things we don’t know, we do our listeners a disservice.  If we make up spin a good illustration to catch the ear of our audience then we bring more attention to ourselves than to God.  Sadly, I’ve heard (and, being guilty myself, have told) amazing, fictional insights about the significance of the Samaritan woman enduring the heat of day to go to the well alone.  It was no doubt, warmer in the day than the morning but that’s about all we can say regarding the weather.

It is disconcerting to realize that I can create false obstacles because when readers go to the text they won’t see the same thing and may come away thinking that they need more learning or spiritual maturity like that of the preacher/teacher in order to understand Scripture.

I appreciate discovering things I haven’t seen or thought about before, but it is also humbling to find that some of the assumptions I’ve made are not true.