Jews and Samaritans had a deep seated dislike for each other, so we are
amazed that in Jesus’s parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10), it is the
Samaritan that is kind to a Jewish stranger, rather than the Jewish priest
or Levite. In today’s portrait of Jesus we are similarly amazed that it is
a Samaritan woman whom Jesus reveals himself to as the living water and the
Messiah. Jesus talks to her about wells, water, worship and wisdom. What
can we learn from observing their conversation and her response?