Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman in John 4 is so full and multi-layered, we revisit their conversation today, having only scratched the surface last week. Jesus is clearly and intentionally pushing back against the stringent norms of first century Hebrew AND ROMAN culture. He entrusts to this woman of another race the most profound teaching of His ministry yet, and chooses her of all His prior options (most notably, His male apostles and also the highly-positioned scholar, Nicodemus). This foreshadows His choice at the end of John’s Gospel for Mary Magdalene to be the first to encounter Him after His resurrection so that she can bear the news to the rest of the world.
The unfolding of their encounter and her reaction is then a perfect example of how Jesus’ Good News works. She recognizes its import (even though her understanding is still quite limited, just like ours), and immediately begins telling everyone around her about her experience with Jesus (thus making her the first evangelist [after John the Baptist but, again, before the male apostles]). Her neighbors are thus drawn to find Jesus themselves, and their faith develops as a result of their personal interaction with Him. Jesus takes the opportunity to illustrate the kingdom’s growth with more physical truths - this time agricultural - as He has done with rebirth, living water, and food in just the last two pages!
To investigate this most important of stories further, go here.