nicodemus and samaritan woman

Summarize, explain and compare the meeting of Jesus with Nicodemus in john chapter 3 with his meeting with the woman at the well in john chapter 4.

Introduction In the fourth gospel John we are told about when Jesus has two encounters with two completely different people and he talks to them about God and himself. He teaches them about spiritual water and how he is the messiah. I’m going to talk about these two meetings and compare them with one another to see the differences and the similarities between the two.

Jesus and Nicodemus, The meeting with Jesus and Nicodemus is a very interesting one to say the least because Nicodemus is seen to be a very high up Jewish leader, Nicodemus was a member of a very important Jewish group known as the Sanhedrin which is like a council but for Jews (Jewish council). The Sanhedrin was in fact in the end of Jesus’s life was actually responsible for Jesus’s death, which makes it kind of ironic because Jesus is a Jew. Nicodemus wanted to speak to Jesus in private so they arranged a visit in the dark which instantly shows us that Nicodemus doesn’t want to be seen with Jesus because he is a member of the Sanhedrin, its as if he is hiding something or frightened about what people will thin if they see him talking to Jesus. The fact Nicodemus goes to Jesus at night makes him a very interesting person as it makes us question why he sees Jesus at night and not in the day its as if he doesn’t have faith in Jesus or believes he is better than everyone else and has a higher knowledge of faith because Nicodemus was a teacher of the Jewish law so is an academic therefore he can not be seen by others talking to Jesus as he has a higher authority. Jesus said to Nicodemus that he was ‘born again’ which Nicodemus misunderstood because he is thinking with the mind because he is an academic he isn’t thinking with the spirit or the heart, which is what Jesus is implying and trying to get across. The talk ends with Nicodemus leaving in the darkness of the night not understanding who Jesus really is because his academic view can’t grasp the hidden meaning that Jesus is portraying.

Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well. Jesus was sat by a well on a hot day this Samaritan woman came to get some water out of the well, which is weird because no one gets water at the hottest point of the day it suggests that she is lonely or an outcast a sinner. Jesus asked the woman for a drink but she wouldn’t give him a drink because Jesus was a Jew and she was a Samaritan. They hate each other. Jesus offered another kind of water to the woman this time it was spiritual water and she said ‘give me that water so I wont go thirsty’. Jesus reveals what the woman has done wrong she has had five husbands and for this the other Samaritans do not accept her and she has become isolated because of this. This sows us that she is not a very religious person as she has sinned many times and she know what her sins are which makes her interesting as she becomes a changed woman as Jesus changes her by providing her with spiritual water which makes her realize actually who Jesus really is. Jesus said ‘ I am he the messiah’. The woman runs off to get other people to see the messiah. The woman is important as it shows us how even though she has committed many sins and has done wrong she is looking for forgiveness and she finds it threw Jesus who shows her the way.

Jesus’s meeting with Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman are quite different but shows us how the people who know they are good don’t always find the answer it’s the people who lack the faith and believe and don’t believe they are good who find the answer. This is shown clearly between the two Nicodemus and the woman because Nicodemus who is part of the Sanhedrin is a very intelligent guy and knows that he is, doesn’t get his life changed by Jesus because he is thinking with the mind not spiritually because he is intelligent, whereas as the woman has committed many sins in her life and is seeking forgiveness and doesn’t know she is good. Even though she hasn’t done what god asked and has sinned she is the one that understands out of the two who Jesus really is. You wouldn’t expect that from a sinner which make it interesting. The Samaritan woman speaks to Jesus in the light at the hottest time of day its as if she knows what she has done and is a wear other people know and therefore she has got nothing to hide whereas Nicodemus talks to Jesus in the Night in the Darkness which suggests there is something we don’t know about him, like he is hiding something a truth he doesn’t want us to know. Even though he is more religious than the Samaritan woman. The Samaritan woman’s life is instantly changed but Nicodemus’s isn’t in fact we don’t know if he ever did change. The woman is open in life and is a waiting the messiah to cleanse her whereas Nicodemus is more reserved and thinks he knows it all he comes across as arrogant.