This past Sunday, March 8, was the second installment in this year's Lenten sermon series "Close Encounters." Just to review: in his study of UFOs, scientist Dr. J Allen Hynek identified 3 levels of "close encounters" with extraterrestrials. A close encounter of the first kind is a mere sighting. A close encounter of the second kind manifests itself as physical evidence of extraterrestrials. A close encounter of the third kind means making actual contact with a being from another world.
In the Gospel of John, we meet some folks who had a close encounter of the third kind, not with otherworldly beings, but with Jesus. During these weeks leading up to Easter, we're taking time to hang out with people who went beyond mere sightings of Jesus and physical evidence of his ministry. We're exploring how their close encounter of the third kind—actual contact with Jesus—changed who they were through their relationship with God in Christ. In the first Sunday of the series (March 1) we witnessed Nicodemus' Close Encounter in the Night with Jesus. This past Sunday we met a Samaritan woman who had a Close Encounter with Jesus at the Well.
As he was traveling through Samaria, Jesus sat down at Jacob's Well. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus asked for a drink. This shocked the woman because Jesus was asking something scandalous. According to the codes of conduct for that time, men were not to engage in conversation with women who were not relatives. Second, Jews and Samaritans were not to associate with each other, let alone share a cup of water. But Jesus didn't mind breaking all kinds of rules that day.
When the Samaritan woman realized that Jesus was deliberately breaking down age-old barriers, and that he truly valued her as a person, she wanted to hang out with Jesus so that she can get to know him, learn from him, and, ultimately, have a relationship with him. The woman then engaged Jesus in some serious conversation, asking questions that had been wrestling inside her. Jesus told the woman that he is the source of living water. Those who drink his water will never thirst again. This conversation gave the woman an opportunity to grow in her faith and to know Jesus in a new way. By having a Close Encounter of the Third Kind, she came to recognize Jesus as the promised Messiah.
After the Samaritan woman left the well, she returned to witness to her own people about Jesus. This woman showed the true mark of a disciple, as she told others about her experience—her faith—so that they too might believe. As a result, "many Samaritans from that city believed in [Jesus] because of the woman's testimony" (John 4:39a). What a miraculous series of events took place, all because of a close encounter at the well. The Samaritan woman's life was transformed, as were the lives of everyone in her city.
Grace & Peace,
Pastor Clayton