The Gospels are Raining Men, Part 1: But One is Missing
It’s not difficult to notice that the Gospels have a whole lot of men in them, and many of them are fairly powerful. What are the gospel writers up to with their characterization of guys like Jairus, Nicodemus, and the know-it-all lawyer? Building on our previous seasons about The Woman with the Issue of Blood, The Woman at the Well, and Mary and Martha, we’ll delve deeper into the roles these men play to get to the bottom of Jesus’ views of power, privilege, and marginalization.
-
Nicodemus Visits Jesus
3 Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. 2 He came to Jesus[a] by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with that person.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.”[b] 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. 6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You[c] must be born from above.’[d] 8 The wind[e] blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” 9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?
11 “Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen, yet you[f] do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.[g] 14 And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.[h]
16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
17 “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Those who believe in him are not condemned, but those who do not believe are condemned already because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. 20 For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. 21 But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”[i]
Footnotes
[a] Gk him
[b] Or born anew
[c] The Greek word for you here is plural
[d] Or born anew
[e] The same Greek word means both wind and spirit
[f] The Greek word for you here and in 3.12 is plural
[g] Other ancient authorities add who is in heaven
[h] Some interpreters hold that the quotation concludes with 3.15
[i] Some interpreters hold that the quotation concludes with 3.15
[j] Other ancient authorities read seventy
-
Jesus and the Woman of Samaria
4 Now when Jesus[a] learned that the Pharisees had heard, “Jesus is making and baptizing more disciples than John” 2 (although it was not Jesus himself but his disciples who baptized), 3 he left Judea and started back to Galilee. 4 But he had to go through Samaria. 5 So he came to a Samaritan city called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired out by his journey, was sitting by the well. It was about noon.
7 A Samaritan woman came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8 (His disciples had gone to the city to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jews do not share things in common with Samaritans.)[b] 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 11 The woman said to him, “Sir,[c] you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us the well and with his sons and his flocks drank from it?” 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir,[d] give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come back.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband,’ 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!” 19 The woman said to him, “Sir,[e] I see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you[f] say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you[g] will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You[h] worship what you[i] do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming and is now here when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I am he,[j] the one who is speaking to you.”
27 Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you want?” or, “Why are you speaking with her?” 28 Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city. She said to the people, 29 “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah,[k] can he?” 30 They left the city and were on their way to him.
31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33 So the disciples said to one another, “Surely no one has brought him something to eat?” 34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work. 35 Do you not say, ‘Four months more, then comes the harvest’? But I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for harvesting. 36 The reaper is already receiving[l] wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. 37 For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”
39 Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I have ever done.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of his word. 42 They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the Savior of the world.”
Footnotes
[a] Other ancient authorities read the Lord
[b] Other ancient authorities lack this sentence
[c] Or Lord
[d] Or Lord
[e] Or Lord
[f] The Greek word for you is plural
[g] The Greek word for you is plural
[h] The Greek word for you is plural
[i] The Greek word for you is plural
[j] Gk I am
[k] Or the Christ
[l] Or . . . the fields are already ripe for harvesting. The reaper is receiving
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Setting: “The Bible and the English Major” Headquarters
I begin today with urgent news. The Samaritan woman at the well stopped by the Bible and The English Major headquarters this morning to report that her friends, the hemorrhaging woman, Mary and Martha, and the “good” Samaritan all have privileged male counterparts who represent the religious establishment. She therefore asked that we begin searching diligently for her counterpart who seems to be temporarily missing. I assured her the literary investigators were on the case. Let’s review our files.
The Bleeding Woman, Privileged Counterpart: Jairus
Alias: Synagogue leader
Address: Mark 5:21-43
Status: wealthy, connected, desperate
Motive: Healing his daughter, even if it means sacrificing his status.
Character Counterpart: unclean, poverty-stricken, desperate hemorrhaging woman
Martha’s Privileged Counterpart: Lawyer
Alias: Lawyer
Address: Luke 10:25-36
Status: educated expert of the law, knows all the answers to Jesus' questions, is eager to justify himself.
Motive: testing Jesus
Character counterparts: The “Good” Samaritan man in Jesus’ parable and Mary and Martha, female disciples of Jesus
Although it cannot yet be confirmed that all marginalized biblical characters have privileged counterparts, we have removed all reasonable doubt that Ms. Samaritan Well Woman does indeed have such a literary partner. We have discovered a person of interest who may be our missing person. Further analysis is required, but here are his immediate statistics.
The Samaritan Woman at the Well, Possible Privileged Counterpart: Nicodemus
Alias: Pharisee, leader of the Jews
Address: John 3:1-21, a mere chapter before Ms. Well Woman’s story
Status: Powerful, highly concerned with the purity laws
Motive: Ambiguous. Possibly sent by fellow Pharisees to ensnare Jesus.
If this person is in fact the Samaritan woman’s counterpart, we will find that John has juxtaposed Nicodemus’ story with hers using characterization, plot, and mood. Literary investigators, we are looking for signs of close placement with a contrasting effect. A quick read of John 4:1-42 will remind you of her story.
Our first analysis category is characterization.
As a Samaritan, the woman’s enmity with the Jewish people goes back centuries. Her gender makes her conversation with Jesus even more shocking, as evidenced by the disciples’ astonishment in John 4:7. She has been disparaged by commentators throughout the years for her multiple husbands, but it is important to note that Jesus provides no rebuke. As a woman, she is unlikely to have had any formal education, yet possesses impressive wit and theological knowledge.
As a Pharisee, Nicodemus is especially concerned with Jewish purity laws. He’s the kind of Jew who wouldn’t dream of traveling through Samaria or sharing a cup with the Samaritan woman. He’s also a leader of the Jews, perhaps a powerful member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish high council (Coogan et al, p. 152). His high-level connections contrast with his limited theological understanding.
The second analysis category is plot.
The plot of Ms. Samaritan Well Woman’s story is all about identity. Initially, the woman names herself “Woman of Samaria,” while calling Jesus, “Jew.” The narrative progresses quickly from there to her eventual recognition and confirmation of Jesus as Messiah. She leaves the well filled with the Living Water of the Holy Spirit, and many in her town believe in Jesus because of her astonished, joy-filled testimony.
The plot of Nicodemus’ story is also about identity. Nicodemus begins the conversation, claiming to know that Jesus is a teacher who has come from God because of the signs he performs (vs 2). Certainly, Nicodemus could be farther off from the truth, but in contrast to the woman at the well whose knowledge of Jesus grows throughout their conversation, this initial statement is the closest Nicodemus gets to identifying Jesus. Despite Jesus’ sincere efforts to help Nicodemus understand his need to be born from above or in other words, filled by the Holy Spirit breath of God, nothing he says helps Nicodemus understand any better, even though he’s a “teacher of Israel” (vs 10). Side Note: If you’d like to read stories that shed light on the concept of life in two stages, check out Ezekiel 37:1-15 and Genesis 2:7. Suffice it to say, if Nicodemus could see the way the Samaritan woman sees, he would leave so full of Holy Spirit wind that he’d never need to fill his lungs again. He’d run to his Pharisee friends and tell them to come meet Jesus, the Messiah the people of Israel have been waiting for.
The third analysis category is mood.
This complicated literary device is the general feeling evoked within a reader by a particular piece of literature. Though the details that determine mood can be subtle, good authors are intentional about them because a reader’s emotional response aids in their comprehension of the plot and the piece’s larger themes. Warning: mood-building details can also be reciprocal. While a piece’s mood helps us understand its themes, for instance, its themes also help us understand its mood. Don’t you just love it when analysis gets fuzzy? Other mood-shaping details include tone, setting, and diction.
Speaking of tone, we’d better examine that device a bit, too. The simplest way to say it is, while mood is all about what the reader is feeling, tone is all about what the author is feeling. Tone helps to shape the mood, but it, too, can be subtle. The mood of the story of Ms. Samaritan Well Woman is light and playful, while the mood of Nicodemus’ story is dark and cautious.
Mood-building device 1: theme
As discussed in Season 2, John masterfully alludes to stories from the Hebrew bible to layer many themes onto the Samaritan woman’s story. Like Hagar, the Samaritan woman is an outsider who surprisingly sees and names a God who also sees her. Like the betrothal narratives of the Hebrew Bible, the meeting of Jesus and Ms. Samaritan Well Woman reflect the joy of two families coming together and present Jesus as the bride-groom for his beloved church. The Holy Spirit living water that flows in the Samaritan woman at the end of her story brings life wherever she goes. Each of these themes reflects life-giving joy.
As for Nicodemus, the cautious mood of his story is built by John’s pervasive theme of the religious authorities as bad guys. An important question circulates while John writes his gospel. Are Jewish believers in Jesus still Jewish? Some Jewish religious authorities have said, “no way” and have expelled believers from the synagogues. (John 9:22, 12:42) John wishes to discredit these authorities, so in his gospel, he portrays them as more interested in power than in the preservation of Judaism (Coogan et al, p.146). These religious authorities constantly question Jesus’ authority because it threatens theirs. They are not to be trusted, so when Nicodemus shows up, the reader knows Jesus needs to beware.
Mood-building device 2: tone
In both stories, John uses Jesus to communicate his tone. At the end of Ms. Samaritan Well Woman’s story, Jesus is excited about doing his father’s will and about the Samaritans who will believe in him because of the woman’s testimony.
In contrast, John sets the tone for Nicodemus’ story before it starts. John provides a bit of foreshadowing, a hint of what’s coming, at the end of chapter 2. Verse 23 says, “Many believed in his name (Jesus) because they saw the signs that he was doing.” This should evoke the same positive reaction in Jesus as the Samaritan woman’s successful evangelism, but it doesn’t. The following verses say, “But Jesus on his part would not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to testify about anyone; for he himself knew what was in everyone.” This is ominous, investigators. John says Jesus knows some of the Jerusalem believers aren’t trustworthy, but this is also a glimpse of how John feels, a tone he sets that builds the story’s cautious mood.
Mood-building device 3: setting
The Samaritan woman’s story is set in the middle of the day at a public well outside a Samaritan village. Jesus is peacefully alone and at rest. Ms. Samaritan Well Woman’s enlightened understanding is reflected by the story’s daytime setting and playful mood. It is truly a bright sunshiney day.
In contrast, Nicodemus’ story takes place in Jerusalem, the center of Judaism. Nicodemus shows up at night, and though we don’t know where Nicodemus and Jesus are, we know they’re alone. The darkness both adds to the cautious mood and reflects Nicodemus’ lack of enlightenment.
Mood-building device 4: diction
A conversation that begins with the Samaritan woman sizing Jesus up according to his religion, ethnicity, and gender quickly turns to banter. Jesus throws out a riddle about his identity and ability to bestow living water, and she tosses back a pun regarding their shared ancestry. Even as the conversation ramps up theologically, they keep pace with one another and both enjoy their conversation.
There’s no joy in Nicodemus’ story, though. Nicodemus speaks first: “we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God” (vs 2). Presumably, the “we” he mentions here includes his fellow Jewish leaders who may have sent him on this errand. His words could sound like faith, but if we’re paying attention to the mood details we’ve uncovered, they sound more like flattery. We can’t trust this statement the way we can the Samaritan woman’s direct observations. The ambiguity plays into the wary mood, and so does Jesus’ response. He replies, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above,” (vs 3). In other words, despite his claim, Nicodemus doesn’t yet have the eyes to see who Jesus is. Notice that Jesus uses the phrase “Very truly” three times in this conversation. A good translation of “very truly” is “Amen, amen.” (Just) We’re used to seeing those words at the end of prayers, in places where amen means, “Yes! I agree!” According to Felix Just, Jesus is the only one to use this phrase in the gospels, and only at the beginning of his own statements. It’s a literary device that emphasizes his authority and the importance of his words. Jesus repeats “very truly” trying to get Nicodemus to listen up. His sincere and intense diction set a serious mood. In contrast to the events at the well, nobody’s playing.
Well investigators, the mission is complete. We’ve analyzed the person of interest in the categories of characterization, plot, and mood. What’s your conclusion? Is Nicodemus Ms. Samaritan Well Woman’s privileged Jewish male counterpart? Have their stories been intentionally juxtaposed? After reviewing the evidence, I stamp Nicodemus’ identity confirmed. Ms. Samaritan Well Woman, you have your privileged Jewish male counterpart.
One question remains. Why did John go through all this effort to connect Nicodemus and Ms. Samaritan Well Woman? Why does the hemorrhaging woman have a Jairus? Why do we need a lawyer in Luke 10? All of these stories could easily happen without the men. Next time, we’ll talk about what I’ve learned from the existence of these male characters. They’ve shifted the way I read these stories, even more than what I’ve learned about the women. I’ll let you in on my aha moment next time.
Works Cited
Coogan, Michael D., et al., editors. The New Oxford Annotated Bible Third Edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001
Just, Felix “‘Amen, Amen’ Sayings in the Fourth Gospel,” catholic-resources.org, January 24, 2022.
