Here is our second encounter story. I love this story. I love that Jesus went against culture and spoke to a Samaritan AND a woman. I love that Jesus shows that He is more than enough. Reading this makes me want to curl up on the couch and just sit and think and marvel and rejoice in all Jesus is to me! The reading is long for today, but don't let this discourage you from reading it to your children. You can break it up into two sections - two acts if you want to think of it as a play unfolding before you. This is a beautifully laid out passage. Here is the overall structure of the passage - the bones if you will (from Ryken):
Act 1
- A narrative prologue which gives physical setting and participants in the dialogue (1-6)
- Jesus' conversation with the woman of Samaria (7-26)
Act 2
- A narrative interlude - the woman leaves the scene and the disciples are introduced (27-38)
- Jesus' discourse to His disciples (31-38)
- A narrative epilogue where may Samaritans come to believe (39-42)
The purpose of the dialogue (7-26) between Jesus and the woman is the to lead her step by step to belief and faith. Jesus uses water to help lead her to faith. The discourse of Jesus to His disciples (31-38) is to prove that the "fields are what for harvest" as we see many Samaritans believing in the name of the Son of God.
Two interesting things to note: Jesus speaks to a Samaritan, and Jesus speaks Theology to a woman. This would not have been normal. We see that Jesus knows all things (as the Son of God) and we see our theme of belief and hear the Samaritans testify that Jesus is indeed the Savior of the world (42). In four chapters, we have already seen men, women, fisherman, and Samaritans all proclaiming and believing that Jesus is the Son of God.
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