The Light Has Come: Two Potential Disciples

Today, we have heard two texts from John 3 and John 4.

Emily and the kids helped us hear the encounter that Nicodemus has with Jesus and then Cindy & Brian read for us just now of the woman at the well.

These are pretty familiar stories…and they even include one of the most famous verses in the new testament. John 3:16 is often quoted, often memorized and sometimes even scrawled on a poster and held up at a sporting event.

But, with all that familiarity sometimes comes misunderstanding, lack of context, or even just a sense that we already know.

So today, I want us to do a bit of comparing and contrasting. What do we see in these encounters that helps us understand Jesus better? What does John have in mind for his readers to notice?

Identity:

In the first story, we have Nicodemus. He is named. A man, a Jewish leader, a Pharisee.

In the second story, we have a woman. Unnamed. A Samaritan.

Nicodemus is part of the centre of religious life. The woman, as a Samaritan, is part of group rejected by the Jews. Now this rejection was a two-way thing. The Samaritans rejected the Jews as well. Samaritans traced their lineage back to the Northern kingdom … descendants of Ephraim & Manasseh, Joseph’s two sons. These are the tribes who were not taken into exile. And who developed their own customs and traditions and worship practices. They chose Mt. Gerazim as the place for “true worship” and so when the exiles returned and began to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem, there was conflict. And they chose to exist in close proximity with as little interaction as possible.

Nicodemus, then, is somewhat of an insider from the Jewish perspective. The Samaritan woman is an outsider to the Jewish system. Connected historically, but rejected as a Samaritan and kept “away” seaparated from.

An Aside: And Jesus, on his way back to Galilee from Jerusalem - where He celebrated Passover after his Temple Incident, “had to go through Samaria” our text says.

And most scholars and geographers will quickly pipe in and say, “he didn’t HAVE to”… in fact, most Jews would have taken a detour, crossing over the Jordan to avoid going through Samaria. And so, John’s comment is likely more along the lines of “it was necessary” for Jesus to go through Samaria.

Timing:

In the first story, Nicodemus comes in the dark of night. Now, potentially, after Jesus Incident in the Temple, Nicodemus has every reason to inquire with some caution. But the timing in a gospel soaked with light and dark as central metaphors, leads us to expect that this isn’t going to end well. The powerful man sneaking around isn’t likely to turn into a faithful Jesus follower is it?

The second story is set in the bright sunshine of midday.

Midday sun vs the darkness of night.

Initiation:

Nicodemus comes in secret to initiate a conversation with this Rabbi Jesus. He is curious. He is perhaps drawn. But for whatever reasons, he feels the need to initiate the conversation in an undercover kind of way.

With the woman at the well, it is Jesus who initiates the conversation. And to do so, he is disregarding all sorts of social and religious and ethnic rules and sets of expectations. And, it is worth noting, that Jesus begins the encounter by admitting his need. He is thirsty. And he asks for a drink.

Content:

Two conversation. One with a religious leader. One with a woman who, in all likelihood, didn’t hold any special status or have access to religious power.

In both conversations, Jesus speaks using metaphors that trip up the listeners. Nicodemus gets all weird about climbing back into his mother’s womb. And the woman is trying to figure out how Jesus would carry living water without a bucket.

In both conversations, there are references to Old Testament moments… with Nicodemus, Jesus references Number 21 where Moses “lifts up” the bronze serpent - and those who look up to see it are saved. At the well, the very location itself is a point of connection, of shared history between the Jews & the Samaritans. The well is not just any well, but Jacob’s well. The scene of betrothal for Jacob & Rachel, for Moses & Zipporah, for Isaac & Rebekah. When Jacob’s well is the setting, betrothal comes to mind. Commitment, intimacy, relationship. And, potentially, a thread carried forward from that wedding two chapters ago in Cana of Galilee. The abundance there, of all those jars full of wine, is meant to be foreshadowed here in Samaria.

And what is it that is in such abundance? Well, according to the conversation between Nicodemus and Jesus, it is the love of God that is so abundant that it flows and overflows. But the shocking piece of the second story is that it doesn’t EVENTUALLY make its way to Samaria, but it goes there first.

These people. These people who are wrong about worship and who didn’t read the prophets and who … and I’m sure the list goes on.

This is Jesus first stop on his way home. And instead of avoiding Samaria like a good Jew, he “had to go there”… because that’s what the love of God is like. It invites relationship. It crosses boundaries. It doesn’t show up to condemn but to invite everyone.

One more comparison of the content of the conversations…

Of the two people Jesus encounters in these stories, which one would expect to ask a theological question?

It’s Nicodemus who we expect to get it. And Jesus in vs 10-15 outlines for Nicodemus how he’s missed what should be quite obvious.

But the woman. She is, as Karoline Lewis puts it, “someone whom we would least expect to recognize who Jesus is and to whom we would never imagine that Jesus would reveal his identity.”

The man who should have seen what was right in front of him, misses it. And the woman who Jesus should never have spoken to, is the first witness… and in a few verses, becomes the first evangelist. Now, if you know John, you were expecting the first witness to the resurrection… and the first one to be sent to go and tell - to be Mary. A woman. Unexpected, especially in that day and time. But, maybe, we’ve overlooked the woman at the well. Gotten distracted by her marital status. By her sexual history. Which, I will note, Jesus doesn’t talk about. He does not offer her forgiveness for any sin. He does not suggest that she’s done anything wrong at all. Though preachers have made sure to make up for what Jesus neglected.

connect betrothal setting with the woman’s five marriages. barrenness. divorce. See Karoline Lewis for a scathing.]

And so… who are you? What is your identity? What is your context? What kinds of conversations are you having with Jesus?

And what about those you meet this week? Those you work with, study with, teach, learn from, buy from or sell to… who are they? And where are they in this story? Are they coming to Jesus, perhaps under the cover of night? Are they minding their own business and being interrupted by Jesus Himself?

Are you (or is someone you will encounter this week) religious?

Connected to the centre of religious things? Do you have access to the power structures of our society?

Well, then, you might just encounter this Jesus who will point out what you’ve missed -

what was right in front of your eyes.

And He might just invite you to look at the one who is lifted up.

The One who will be lifted on a cross. Lifted in resurrection. And lifted up in His ascension.

Love that overflows and comes not to condemn but to save.

Or… are you someone who has been rejected by the religious authorities? (Or will you encounter such a person this week?)

Told that you’re so wrong you cannot be associated with?

Do you feel - or does the person you will encounter feel - like you’re outside the bounds of God’s love for some reason?

Well then, you might just be asked for a drink of water, invited into a reciprocal relationship with the embodied God. Word made flesh. Who will meet you in a place that is exactly where you have been rejected, disappointed, and misunderstood.

And what became of these two people? What happened to Nicodemus?

Well, check out John 19:39 - when Joseph of Arimathea comes to Pilate to ask for the body… he doesn’t come alone. John tells us that he comes with Nicodemus. :) And that it was Nicodemus who brought the myrhh and aloes to prepare the body for burial.

And what happened to the woman?

And the woman who Jesus should never have spoken to, is witness to Jesus’ naming his true Identity. I am, he says to her. Which puts her in company with Moses at the burning bush. And at the end of the reading, did you see what happened? She was sent. By Jesus. To tell the others. And she did so, and they came to believe…surely this is the Saviour of the world.

Let’s pray. (or just Amen)