June 2009

The Samaritan Encounter

As I have been reading through the story of the encounter that Jesus had with a Samaritan woman by a well (John 4), and I have been particularly drawn to the way it highlights God’s incredible love for the lost. Almost straight away we are confronted by a glaring inconsistency. The reality is that Jesus did not have to go through Samaria to get from Judea to Galilee. In fact, no self respecting Jew would ever go that way. Even though the direct route between Judea and Galilee was a three day journey through the heart of Samaritan territory, any Jewish person making that journey would head east, cross the Jordan River and skirt around Samaria, often adding many days to the trip.

This intense and bitter hatred between the Jews and the Samaritans had been stewing for centuries. The most common view as to the origin of the Samaritans is that they were a mongrel breed who developed as a result of intermarriage between earlier Hebrews of the northern kingdom of Israel, and the Assyrian settlers in Israel following the captivity of the northern kingdom in 722 B.C. Over the coming decades, pagans from other lands moved into Samaria and were integrated into the Samaritan culture. As a result, the Jews hated the Samaritans. This hatred ran deep. In fact, there was a Jewish saying: “May I never set eyes on a Samaritan”.

And yet we find Jesus travelling through Samaria on his way to Galilee. The little phrase in verse 4… he had to… is significant. It implies that Jesus’ discission to go that way was intentional. It was part of God’s plan for what He wanted to do through His son. The journey through Samaria was no short cut… it was planned.

I wonder... where is God leading me today? More importantly, am I willing to go there?