Written by Deanna Brooks, volunteer with Iron Rose Sister Ministries in Arkansas
Samaria: the region between Judea in the south and Galilee in the north of the Promised Land. It was the area given to Ephraim and Manasseh, sons of Joseph, when Israel entered the land. Second Kings 17:24-33 gives us background about the Samaritans. After the Assyrians conquered the Northern Kingdom and took most of the Israelite people into captivity, they resettled that land with foreigners. Those people intermarried with the Israelites who were left in the region, creating a mixed race that became known as Samaritans. They were hated by the Jews because even though they worshipped the Lord, pagan gods had been brought in, and they also worshipped those foreign gods. The Samaritans only accepted the first five books of the Old Testament. They chose to worship on Mt Gerizim rather than in Jerusalem. In AD 6, Samaritans desecrated the Jewish temple by putting human bones in the temple porches and sanctuary during Passover.
Despite the hostility Jews felt towards Samaritans, Jesus chose to walk through their land in a time when “Righteous Jews” traveling between Galilee and Judea would avoid going through Samaria by crossing to the eastern side of the Jordan River, adding about three days to the journey.
John 4:4-6 tells us Jesus had to go through Samaria. He stopped in the town of Sychar (Old Testament Shecham) to rest at Jacob’s well. It was about noon, and He was weary. Jesus made at least seven round trips between Jerusalem and Galilee during His ministry, and this is the only time we are told the route He took. Focus on the word “had” in verse 4. The literal Greek translation is “it was necessary.”
Why did Jesus “have to” go through Samaria when other Jews either chose not to go through there at all, or to pass through as quickly as possible? I believe Jesus went because He intended to meet the woman at the well. He knew she would be coming for water. She, however, had no idea what that daily trip to the well would bring.
Throughout the Scriptures, we see how God has pursued mankind. Even though she was not looking for Jesus, He was looking for her. Jesus stopped at the well to rest and His disciples went into town to buy food. While they were gone, the woman came to the well to draw water where she met Jesus. When the disciples returned, they marveled that He was talking to a woman… a Samaritan woman at that, but surprisingly, none of them asked why. Perhaps it was because it was early in Jesus’ ministry, and they were already learning that their Teacher did the unexpected.
In John 4:26 Jesus reveals to the woman that He is the Messiah she is expecting. In verse 28 she leaves her water jug and rushes back into town to share the news that she has found the Messiah, and the whole village comes out to hear Him. As the village people talk to Jesus, they ask Him to stay, and He spends two days with them (verses 40-43).
We learn: Even though we may not be looking for God, He is looking for us.
The time would come when Jesus would tell His disciples to “make disciples of all nations” (Matt. 28:19). His last words before ascending back to the Father were, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Jesus was preparing them to hear those words by setting an example. He “had to” go through Samaria because He wanted to reach this one woman, and through her, He would reach her whole village… Samaritans… the people who were half Jew and half Gentile… hated and despised.
From this encounter we learn that cultural or racial prejudices must not affect our decision to teach others, and this command often leads down a path we did not plan.
Today, we have our own “Samaritans,” those who, for any number of reasons, are outside our circle of friends or our comfort zone. Are we pursuing them to share the story of Jesus as intently as God has pursued us?