In John 3 we have the record of an amazing encounter between Jesus and Nicodemus, a man described as a leader among the Jews and a member of the sect of the Pharisees. John 4 presents another stunning encounter, one even more startling. It involves a person from "the other side of the religious and political tracks," someone who lived out her life at the other end of the social and religious strata of that time and place. It is hard to imagine any greater contrast than that which is pictured in these two chapters. Philosophically, theologically, and politically a world of difference existed between Nicodemus the Pharisee and this woman of Samaria. Talk about Mars and Venus! No self-respecting Pharisee would have been caught dead in this Samaritan woman's company. Pharisees considered this …