Days with Jesus Part 1

DAY 8
THE REJECT BECOMES RIGHTEOUS
John 4:1-26

What is your ethnic background? Are you Irish, Egyptian, Mexican, Cambodian, Ethiopian, or Texan? (If you’ve ever been to Texas, you know what I mean . . .) Or maybe you are a mixture of multiple ethnicities and cultures. Being Norwegian, my family had many Scandinavian traditions that we practiced while I was growing up—things such as making lefse (a delicious flat bread) rolled with butter and sugar, and opening our presents on Christmas Eve rather than Christmas Day. (Scandinavians are either impatient or smart!) Looking back, I have fond memories of things we did as part of our heritage.

RED AND YELLOW, BLACK AND WHITE

The differences in cultures and customs around the world are a thing of beauty that should be celebrated and shared. Unfortunately, more often than not, differences create conflict rather than communication and connection. People become prejudiced against those who are different from them and can end up being filled with hate. They reject others as being valuable or possible contributors to the good in their own lives. Because God has created people in His image, everyone all over the world is equal in value and deserves to be treated with respect. Everyone is from the same race—the human race. Because of that, God wants all of us to view others as He sees them—with divine eyes. Instead, because of sin, humans usually pre-judge others who are different from them before they know anything about them. Humans disrespect other people’s backgrounds. Humans reject other people’s value.

The disciples have the same problem. They are good Jewish men raised as good Jewish boys in good Jewish homes. They have been taught from the Torah in the Temple and synagogues about what God considers right and wrong. They dress Jewish. They think Jewish. They eat Jewish. They have Jewish hearts and minds. They have learned all about the Jewish feasts and customs and practices. They have acquired Jewishness, but not necessarily godliness. Now Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, is going to teach them about the heart and mind of God.

The land of Samaria was formerly the northern kingdom of Israel after it was politically split into two countries following King Solomon’s reign.  In 722 BC, the Assyrians invaded the northern kingdom and exiled most of the Jewish population back to Assyria.  They then sent Assyrians to rule over and manage the northern kingdom. As the occupying Assyrians and remaining Jews intermarried and had children, the resulting ‘half-breed’ came to be known as Samaritans. These people were rejected by the pure southern kingdom Jews because of their mixed blood lines with the Assyrians. Since the Temple was in Jerusalem in the southern kingdom, the Samaritans were not allowed to worship in the Temple. Because of the ethnic hatred, the Samaritans made a separate place of worship for themselves up north in Samaria at Mt. Gerizim.

THEY ARE PRECIOUS IN HIS SIGHT

Jesus is down south in Jerusalem and wants to go up to Galilee, which is north of Samaria. There are three routes to Galilee Jesus could take. One goes around to the east, crossing the Jordan into Perea, another goes to the west toward the Mediterranean Sea, and the third goes right through the middle of Samaria. The third route was the shortest, but one which Jews would only take under severe circumstances. To devout Jews, Samaria is the cesspool that has to be negotiated in order to travel north. But Jesus decides to go through the middle of Samaria with all twelve of his very Jewish disciples.

Weary from the long journey on foot, Jesus stops to get a drink at Jacob’s well (which is still there to this day), and sends his disciples ahead of him into town. “God in a bod” has become tired, hungry, and thirsty. He sits down on the rim of the well to rest. Then a Samaritan woman comes out to get water. No problem. Jesus will ignore her or maybe throw an insult her way as he removes himself from her presence right? No, he doesn’t. He talks to her. Respectfully.

What makes Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman so unlikely and unique is that Jews thought of Samaritans as equal to dogs and did not eat or drink with them. In fact, dishes that were used by Samaritans were considered permanently contaminated and had to be destroyed. Additionally, in ancient Eastern cultures men rarely openly associated with women in public—especially women who were not their wives. It was even more rare for a rabbi or religious teacher to be caught doing so. What was rarest (as in unheard of) was a rabbi talking to a woman of bad sexual reputation. But Jesus does it. In public. At a water well. In the middle of the day. What is Jesus thinking? Indeed.

JESUS LOVES THE LITTLE CHILDREN OF THE WORLD

Here is a woman with no respect. Here is a woman rejected. Rejected because of her ethnic background by the Jews. Rejected by her culture because she is a woman. Rejected by other women because of her reputation. Rejected by the man she is living with as not being “marriage material”. Would she also be rejected by her Maker?

The Jesus/Samaritan woman equation: Jewish + man + rabbi + Samaritan + woman + loose morals + talking + sharing water + public + middle of the day = Really bad news!

Ignoring the social taboos, Jesus, the Doctor of Souls, dissects her spiritual condition by looking at the physical. The woman is theologically confused, guilt-ridden, sin-burdened, and probably a social outcast because she has come alone to draw water in the heat of the day. (Most women came to draw water at the beginning of the day when it was cooler and in groups for safety and companionship) In a compassionate moment, Jesus lovingly confronts her sexual sin and brings to light her need for a Savior, the Messiah. Jesus is physically thirsty; the woman is spiritually thirsty. She has come to get physical water; Jesus has come to offer spiritual water.

All humans need physical water—and all humans need spiritual water. The well that Jesus and the Samaritan woman are sitting at is fed by an underground spring. The well is called a living-water well because it gives fresh water on a continual basis. In a spiritual sense, living water refers to the eternal God continually providing nourishment for the repentant human soul. Every person is in a spiritual desert and needs access to a divine spiritual spring. Only Jesus provides living water that can keep a soul from ever thirsting again.

In today’s story, the rejected Samaritan woman has found her Savior and became righteous. Have you?

DAY 8 QUESTIONS
1.  Growing up, did you have any special customs during the year that were unique to your background?
2.  Was there ever a time when you felt someone was prejudiced against you because of your age, background, nationality, or beliefs? What were they prejudiced against?
3.  How do you feel, knowing that God knows you and takes you as you are with no prejudice?
4.  If Jesus were counseling you today about your life, what areas do you think he would ask you to change?