The high and low road to Jesus

If there were an icon for opposites, it would picture Nicodemus and the Samaritan Woman. The politically powerful man versus the lowly female servant. They came from entirely different motives and social classes, but their individual journeys merge on the straight path toward Jesus.

He came to Christ as a member of the Jewish ruling council. Though Nicodemus cautiously approached Christ at night, his secret meeting suggests he wanted to offer his services for establishing a militaristic kingdom. Nicodemus thought he was central to God's divine plan and Jesus needed him. When Jesus looked to the heart of the man, he quickly saw that Nicodemus missed the point. He may have been looking for the Messiah, but Nicodemus wasn't expecting to be reborn.

"Nicodemus...came to Jesus at night and said, 'Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.'" (John 3:1-21)

Jesus did not need Nicodemus' ranking or education or social status. He didn't engage in a nighttime meeting to sequester the assistance of a Pharisee. He came to give him life.

"In reply Jesus declared, 'I tell you the truth, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God... unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God...You must be born again.' " (John 3:3-8)

The Samaritan Woman came to Christ as an outcast. She was afraid to approach or associate with the Jew, Jesus. She came in broad daylight with no agenda other than fetching water. When Jesus looked to the heart of the woman, he quickly saw that the Samaritan missed his message. She may have been looking for drinking water, but she wasn't expecting to be born again.

"When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, 'Will you give me a drink?'...The Samaritan woman said to him, 'You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?' (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, 'If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water." (John 4:7-10)

Rather than tell him what she could offer, she accepted his gift of the "spring of water welling up to eternal life." (vs. 14) After Jesus convinced her of his diety, her eyes opened to the Rabbi's role as Christ.

"Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 'Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?'" (Jn. 4:28-29)

Both the Samaritan and the Jewish council member were privileged with a Christ encounter. Their reactions, though, were quite contradictory. We do not hear a response from Nicodemus after Jesus explains his need for repentence and baptism. Later verses tell us that Nicodemus asked the rulers of the Pharisees, "Does our law condemn a man without first hearing him to find out what he is doing?" (John 7:51) He was challenged by the Jewish leaders, but no words record that he defended the Christ. One final time, we meet Nicodemus at the foot of the cross. He is assisting Joseph of Armathea with final burial prepartions for Jesus. John 19:38-40 implies that Nicodemus may have believed, but he kept his faith under wraps.

The Samaritan woman, on the other hand, told everyone she saw! "They came out of the town and made their way toward him... Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony." (John. 4:30, 39) She evangelized Samaria!

The prized and praised Nicodemus led no one else to Christ. The scandalized and scarred testified about her Savior. A sideline versus a fifty-yard-line faith. They came for different reasons, but with equal opportunity for new life in Christ. One attended the burial. But I wonder if the other did not show up for the resurrection instead!

Whether you come to Christ civilized and capable or desperate and confused makes no difference. We all need to travel the road straight to Jesus and accept his grace and salvation just the same. Then tell the world they need to "come and see" that this is the Christ!