It seems harder than ever to make connections across party lines. Jesus and a Samaritan woman breach barriers to come to terms with a new thing God is doing. A sidelined community finds welcome and renewal as ancient conflict gives way to grace. In the process John invites a deeper look into the truer nature of things.
So he (Jesus) came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon. A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.”
That’s how the story begins. It’s how many stories begin. Familiar characters in unfamiliar settings obligated to engage in unanticipated ways.