John 4:3-32
Jesus was traveling
to Galilee from Judea when He intentionally
went through Sychar, Samaria, a place avoided by the Israelites. The well where Jesus
made the detour was hollowed out by Jacob centuries earlier. Yet, this is the place
Jesus chose to speak one-on-one with a woman, an adulteress, and a person
outside of God’s chosen people. It is amazing that Jacob dug a well in a region
of the Canaanites where Jesus chose to reveal Himself as the Messiah to a group
of people alienated from the nation of Israel.
After the death of Solomon, the nation of Israel was divided into two kingdoms: the Northern Kingdom or Israel and the Southern
Kingdom or Judea. Samaria was a region and capital city in the Northern Kingdom
where an idol was erected by the first King of Israel, Jeroboam. He erected the
idol to keep the people of the Northern Kingdom from attending the feasts in Jerusalem.
Also, this region has been invaded and conquered many times, leaving behind a
mixed-race of peoples who continue to worship idols.
Jesus had a specific place and situation to reveal
to the world that He is the Fountain of Living Water. He desired the “other
sheep” of Samaria to become a part of His sheepfold and to know that true
worship, as God sees it, is spirit, truth, and centered in Jerusalem.
His encounter with the woman of Sychar shows how desperate
she was to know the truth, even while living in sin.
The disciples were astonished that Jesus was
talking to a woman (John 4:27) and a Gentile. Try to imagine how awkward the
disciples felt when Jesus decided to stay and preach to the Samaritans for two
days. If the disciples followed Him, they were compelled to spend two days with
these despised people. They ate in Sychar, possibly slept there, and mingled
with the people who came to listen to Jesus. How important were these people to
Jesus? Before He ascended into heaven,
the disciples were instructed to go and preach the gospel in “Jerusalem, and in
all Judea and Samaria, and to the end
of the earth.”
Have you been in a situation where you were the
despised one or with people who you disliked?
How did you handle it? Did you see the people around you as Jesus’
“other sheep” to tell of His love and forgiveness for them?
If you have not experienced a similar situation,
how do you think you would react if God called and sent you to a despised place
or people group? How much of the love of Jesus do you really have for this type
of call? After all, we are called to tell everyone about Him.
Go to any news network and read or listen to something being said or done by a people group you do not like, as in you really do not have any Jesus’ kind of love for them. Practice asking the Lord to help you see them as He sees them.
As a reminder, Jesus said to the disciples that the fields were ripe to harvest. He was looking at the people of Samaria, the despised ones.