John 4:1-42
There is a huge tension at the start of this passage that resumes at the end of the passage. Jesus and the Samaritan woman- Jesus and the woman he is not related to – Jesus and the Samaritan. Why does Jesus talk to her? Why does Jesus make a request of her? By all societal standards, Jesus shouldn’t be talking to her. But he is and he does.
That tension comes up again when the disciples return and see Jesus talking to her. They also want to know why Jesus is talking to her, but they don’t ask. We don’t even have to guess about that, it’s in the text.
So who are we afraid to ask, who are we unwilling to ask? And what do we do with that, when it doesn’t line up with who Jesus would ask? Do we do it for the big outcome – the conversion of the village – or do we do it for the encounter, or some other reason? Or, why don’t we ask – what are we afraid might happen?
