Daily Reading for February 24 • The Third Sunday in Lent
That Jesus’ revelation and the woman’s realization of him come through dialogue is an important feature to notice about the Gospel of John. Jesus does no sign here. There is no “miracle.” Rather he makes a claim and offers living water to this stranger. To understand it requires back and forth question and answer, partial understanding, correction, and deeper knowledge. Martha’s conversation with Jesus after the death of Lazarus is like this too. So are the Easter conversations of Mary and of Thomas. These dialogues in John’s gospel reflect a way individuals and peoples come to faith—through a process of effort and discussion. Those who converse with Jesus put Jesus’ claims into relationships with their own traditions and beliefs: I know he will be raised on the last day. I know that the Messiah will come. I am the resurrection and the life. I am he, the one who is speaking to you.
From Conversations with Scripture: The Gospel of John by Cynthia Briggs Kittredge, in the Anglican Association of Biblical Scholars Study Series. Copyright © 2007. Used by permission of Morehouse Publishing, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. www.morehousepublishing.com