The contrast between the two people Jesus encounters in last week’s Gospel and the Gospel reading this week could not be more stark. In almost any metric, they are opposites. Last week, we met Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews, a teacher, someone who knew about the work and teaching of Jesus, who came to Jesus in the middle of the night. Today, we meet an unnamed Samaritan woman who has no prior knowledge of Jesus and whose life has not been a model of righteousness. Her encounter with Jesus begins in the middle of the day when she meets this Jewish stranger who dares to ask her for a drink of water.
