Come and See - March 8, 2026 - Mrs. Ginger Wolfe, IONA Seminary Postulant, Homilist

Summary

On the third Sunday in Lent, IONA Postulant Ginger Wolfe explores the striking contrast between Nicodemus in John 3 and the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4, highlighting how Jesus was tough with the educated, respected Nicodemus but gentle and patient with the marginalized, unnamed woman. While Nicodemus left confused despite his knowledge, the Samaritan woman experienced a profound transformation through Jesus' offer of living water, abandoning her water jar to become the first evangelist to her village with the joyful message, "Come and see."

THE GOSPEL                                                                                                                                              John 4:5-42

Artwork:  Christ and the Samaritan Woman - Vincenzo Catena c. 1520–1530

Transcript

IONA Postulant Ginger Wolfe:

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of all our hearts be faithful in your sight. Oh Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen. Last week, the gospel reading was from John chapter three, featuring the interaction between Jesus and Nicodemus. This week we're in John chapter four and we see Jesus interacting with the Samaritan woman at the well. The contrast between Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman is striking. And since they appear one right after the other, I think we're meant to notice these similarities and these contrasts. In John chapter three, we met Nicodemus, a Jewish man. He's very well respected, very well educated, a pillar of Jewish society. But he arrives at midnight because he doesn't want anybody to know he's there. He's well known and he has his reputation to protect, but he's curious about this teacher. And from the outset, it feels like Nicodemus is trying to test Jesus.

And Jesus is tough on him. Jesus grows impatient because as educated as he is, Nicodemus just can't let go of the teaching of the law and the security of his own knowledge of Judaism. And he can't wrap his head around the truth of salvation that Jesus offers him. So Nicodemus leaves the encounter deeply confused and conflicted.

And then we arrive to today. Total contrast. We encounter the woman at the well, uneducated, a woman and a Samaritan. She's definitely an outsider in a predominantly Jewish world. And we learn she has a past. She is ashamed nobody in her already marginalized community, not even deserving of a name in this story. In fact, most people would have crossed the street to avoid her. But unlike Nicodemus, she is genuinely curious. And so Jesus is patient and kind with her. And in the end, spoiler alert, the woman at the well is a profound model of evangelism, grace and shattering of social barriers.

Today's story begins when this unnamed woman goes to the well at noon to draw water for her household, expecting no one else to be there. But she encounters a Jewish man. He is Jesus, dusty, tired, and thirsty. Yet his mission to save is always active. And when Jesus asks her to draw water for him, he knew he was breaking social, gender, and religious barriers. And she challenges him at first, but her curiosity wins and it's genuine. She's really curious. So Jesus introduces her to God's living water, which represents the Holy Spirit. Jesus' promise to never grow thirsty again is that glorious moment for each new believer when the spirit transforms their life, allowing them to overcome spiritual dryness and to be refreshed inwardly. In other words, the gift of living water represents internal spiritual satisfaction, unachievable in our human world.

I can imagine that if she listens to this stranger speaking in heavenly terms of living water, she's intrigued, but she also knows well her failures, her shortcomings. And I can imagine her wondering, "I'm a pitiful wretch. Why is he wasting his time talking to me? " How many of us in our past, and maybe even today, feel like this woman, like an outcast in need of Jesus' personal interaction, doubting that we could ever be worthy of the love and the grace that he offers us. Now, this unnamed woman, she tries to warn Jesus of her unworthiness, but Jesus demonstrates that he is well aware of her past and it's notable that in this moment it's not about forgiveness. She does not ask for forgiveness for her past and he does not offer forgiveness rather than forgiveness. This moment is about her being a scene for the first time in her life.

Jesus' gentle questioning about her past and present is not condemnation. It's a way for her to see her own open, emotional wounds of shame and social isolation, perhaps even to prepare her soul to accept forgiveness when it does come.

You see, the Samaritan woman's many relationships symbolize our human attempt to satisfy deep spiritual thirst with worldly things, ultimately finding true lasting satisfaction only in living water offered by Jesus. I know I can see myself in this woman. Even as a strong believer in my youth, I too chased happiness and worldly things for far too many years, wasting opportunities of relying on God rather than myself for my happiness and my security in life. But like the woman at the well, Jesus was kind, gentle and patient in revealing his true self to me in my youthful wanderings.

And I love the moment in the story when Jesus reveals himself as the Messiah to the wretched outcast. It's important because this is the first absolute I am statement in the gospel of John. And the takeaway from this moment is that Jesus, the Messiah knows our deepest, darkest secrets, but he still loves us. Instead of being perplexed and confused like the learned Nicodemus in reaction to this messianic revelation, this unnamed, shame filled woman's hardened heart breaks open and she's able to receive the offer of hope and redemption of Jesus' living water. Her transformation is so profound that she leaves her water jar, a tool vitally important to sustaining human life in the first century. She leaves her water jar to share her encounter with the village that despises her. Talk about evangelistic zeal.

Leaving her water jar behind as she runs to the village symbolizes the good news of this story, abandoning her old life of seeking fulfillment in human relationships and embracing her new identity in Christ. We can all read in the words of John's gospel that she says to the village, "Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did." But what she didn't say was, "And he loved me anyway." She didn't say those last four words out loud, but they're clearly present in her action and in the joy with which she runs. So if the Samaritan woman leaving behind the water jar represents leaving anything that might hold her back, we too might wonder, what water jars are we still carrying that prevent us from fully receiving the living water of God?

In the end, unlike the highly esteemed Nicodemus, I actually like Nicodemus, but in this story he doesn't come out so great. Unlike the highly esteemed Nicodemus, this shamed and outcast Samaritan woman is highlighted as an unexpected messenger who brought her entire village to Jesus, acting as a Jesus sent woman preacher, her testimony rather than Jesus' direct words were what caused many to come and see, and then were supported by his words to instill that belief. And it's also interesting to note that when the woman at the well becomes the first evangelist to the Samaritan people, her first words are come and see. They should sound a little familiar. These are the same words Jesus said to John the Baptist followers in the first chapter of John, calling them to be his disciples, kind of an interesting parallel. Many commentators have said, and I agree, that the woman at the well and her Samaritan village are the narrative fulfillment of John 3:16, for God so loved the world.

He loved the world, including the flawed outcasts, looking for more than what our human world can offer. He loved the world, not just a select group of scholars and moral leaders. He loved and continues to love the world. So as we continue to move through this lens and season of reflection, I hope the story of the woman at the well inspires questions for each of us like, how can we turn our flawed paths into a testimony of grace through the living waters of Jesus? What jars of shame do we still carry and when will we leave our jars behind and where will we run with joy? Maybe even shattering a social barrier or two to share our good news. Please join me in prayer. Lord God, please look at me the way you looked at the Samaritan woman at the well that day. See me with all my mistakes and all my choices, good and bad.

Savior Jesus, help me to feel your gentle love and grace that I may never be afraid to come to you in prayer. Holy Spirit, fill me with your living water that I may run with joy shouting, come and see bringing others to your saving grace. Amen.