Two Encounters

I've been participating in the 3F Daily Bible Readers group, which is a group that is going through the New Testament in 90 days. Right now, I am reading in the book of John. I have enjoyed John so far, as it is different from Matthew, Mark, and Luke. John tells some unique stories, two of which grabbed my attention:

Jesus' encounter with Nicodemus (John 3:1-21)
Jesus' encounter with a Samaritian woman (John 4:1-45)

There are some extremely interesting contrasts to these two stories that I think are intentionally put there by John. These are fascinating!

1] GENDER
Nicodemus was male
Samaritan woman was obviously female

2] ETHNICITY
Nicodemus was a Jew
Samaritan woman was obviously Samaritan

3] MORALITY
Nicodemus was a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin - aka He was "blameless" & Law abiding
Samaritan woman was an adulterous woman who had 5 husbands and was sleeping with another

4] TIME
Nicodemus came seeking Jesus at night
Samaritan woman met Jesus during the middle of the day (the sixth hour, which would be noon)

5] EDUCATION
Nicodemus was an expert in the Law
Samaritan woman was uneducated

6] ISSUE
Nicodemus needed to be born from above
Samaritan woman needed the Living Water

7] PLACE OF WORSHIP
Nicodemus worshipped at the Temple (Jerusalem) - to the Jews this is the only place to worship
Samaritan woman worshipped on Mt. Gerizim where all Samaritans worshiped

8] RESPONSE
Nicodemus' response was meditative with no immediate action
Samaritan woman's response was energetic and she immediately began sharing the Good news

9] CONFESSION
Nicodemus called Jesus Rabbi
Samaritan woman proclaimed that Jesus was the Messiah

What do we learn from these encounters? For me, it shows that Jesus meets each individual where they are at and speaks to them on their level according to their own issues. Nicodemus misunderstood what Jesus was saying by being reborn, but in reality he was simply just having a hard time accepting what Jesus was saying. He was a Pharisee, an expert in the Law so the concept of a spiritual rebirth would not be foreign to him (OT prophets speak a lot about that).

Jesus broke all the rules in talking to the Samaritan woman, but he didn't care. I think he sent his disciples away so that he could speak to the woman alone. John tells us that Jews didn't associate with Samaritans - strike 1. On top of that, women were not to speak to men in public - strike 2. When the disciples came back they were shocked that he was talking to a Samaritan woman. However, Jesus found it too important to dismiss her for some lame cultural rules. Because of their conversation the whole town came to know Jesus as the Messiah. Pretty cool if you ask me!