2026/03/08 SCRIPTURE REFLECTION

Third Sunday of Lent

- Mike Nall, Project Manager

In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus sits at Jacob’s well, tired from His journey. That simple detail highlights His humanity. The Son of God knows what it is to feel worn out and in need of a break. Yet in this same moment, His divinity becomes visible as He begins an encounter that transforms a life. 

The Samaritan woman arrives because she needs to get water. She is going about her day, doing what needs to be done. Her life is complicated and imperfect, and she carries more than she likely wants others to know. Jesus meets her right there, not after she has fixed her circumstances, but in the middle of her ordinary and imperfect day. 

What is most striking is her openness. She could have brushed Jesus off or hurried on to her next responsibility, but she chooses to pause and listen. She allows herself to be drawn into conversation by the One who knows her fully, in all her faults, and still offers her the promise of “living water.” What starts as a small moment of openness and a little curiosity to engage becomes the doorway through which grace enters her life. 

The story does not end with her. After meeting Jesus, she goes back to town and tells others what happened. Even with her imperfect past, her witness moves people. Her everyday errand becomes the starting point for her community to encounter Christ. 

This Gospel reminds me that Jesus meets each of us in our tiredness and routines and in the parts of our story that feel unfinished. He comes to the wells we return to every day and offers something deeper. Like the woman, even a small moment of openness can change our direction and bless others in ways we never expect. 

May we notice Him at our own wells this week and allow His living water to refresh our hearts.