In John 1, the text says clearly that some believe and some don’t; this is illustrated beautifully in John 3 and John 4. Who would your money be on if all you knew was that one was a pious, law-keeping Bible teacher and the other was a Samaritan woman not even well-regarded in her own village? But we all know the outcome:

• Nicodemus, the religious leader, heard a long “born-again” speech and walked away. The Chosen depicts Jesus inviting him to travel with him and his followers, but Nicodemus sadly opts out.

“Everyone’s here?” Jesus says, scanning the square. “Yes.” Mary looks around. “This is all of us.” All of them? Nicodemus wonders, is he making a mistake? Should he show himself, take the step? He cannot. But how he longs to! “Is there anyone else?” Jesus calls out, as the one they call Simon splashes his face from the well and playfully flicks water on John. Nicodemus knows Jesus is looking for him, waiting for him, hoping he’ll come. “Look at this!” Simon squats to retrieve a purple bag at the base of the fountain. “What is that?” another says. “I don’t know,” Simon says. “Let’s find out.” He opens it to reveal coins. “Gold.” One of the men, dressed differently from the others, leans close to see. “A friend of mine left that for us,” Jesus tells them. “That’s enough for two weeks of food and lodging,” the finely dressed one says. Jesus looks toward the wall and shakes his head. “You came so close,” he whispers, and Nicodemus winces, weeping. (Nicodemus is a consistent character in Season 1. This exchange is in Episode 8 and is from the novelized account of season 1: I Have Called You by Name.)

• The Woman at the Well heard the message and joyfully invited the entire village:

So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” They went out of the town and were coming to him. (John 4.28 – 30, ESV)

One disappears back into his “normal” life; the other leaves her water jar (and her former life) to become a spokesperson for Jesus. Besides their responses, what’s the difference? Stay tuned.

Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. 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 indeed the Savior of the world.” (John 4.39 – 42, ESV)