Third Sunday in Lent 2026

For the second week in a row our Gospel Reading from John’s Account has included a conversation Jesus had with an individual concerning eternal life. Last Sunday, in John 3 the conversation was with a man named Nicodemus. And this morning in John 4, Jesus speaks with a Samaritan woman at a well. By leaving her unnamed, the text allows her to represent social outcasts, which this woman was. This is indicated by her arrival at midday which almost certainly suggests she was avoiding the crowd that gathered earlier in the day. Nonetheless, happily we are told of the new life she experienced, and of her enthusiasm as an evangelist. And my purpose this morning is to mine this conversation for what it can teach us about the evangelistic outreach that each one of us is to play a role.