Two Dimensional Conversation

The conversation Jesus had with the woman of Samaria at Jacob's Well was such a two dimensional conversation.  He was talking at one level and she at another.  She kept going to what was logical and pragmatic while He pursued a spiritual end.  When Jesus said, "...you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water" (John 4:10), the woman started talking about Him not having a bucket and the well being deep.  When Jesus spoke of "...a spring of water gushing up to eternal life"  John 4:14), she said, "Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water." (John 4:15)

 

She was not the first person to encounter Jesus and pull such a stunt.  More of us have done the same thing more than we might want to admit.  Perhaps, we have heard Jesus telling us to go and to serve in a specific way and we pushed it aside with a response that is less demanding than we know He intended.  Or, perhaps, we have memories of some very personal encounters with Jesus in which He showed us our real self as He did when He pointed out to the Samaritan woman that she had five husbands.  We often choose to live in a pretend world where Jesus does not really know and understand the things about us of which He speaks.

 

Two dimensional conversation is a way of keeping the conversation and the One speaking at a comfortable distance.  It keeps us from having to deal with the real issues of our heart by pushing back or thrusting them aside as issues not as important as Jesus would make them.  Jesus speaks a word to us about a need for confession and repentance and we say what I used to say to my Mother as a boy, "Everybody is doing it."  Fortunately, for the woman of Samaria Jesus finally broke through to heal her broken heart and know for sure that He is relentlessly doing the same with us.