By: Obed Pineda
During our Lord Jesus’ earthly life, Palestine stretched about 120 miles from Galilee (the northernmost territory) to Judea (the southernmost territory), with the territory of Samaria in the center, sitting between them. In other words, when a resident of Judea needed to travel to Galilee, or vice versa, the most direct and shortest route he could take was the one going through Samaria. This route passing through Samaritan lands would take the trekker three days time to reach their point of destination. Yet, despite this being the most logical passageway, the Jews often opted to journey through the region of Perea instead, which took twice as long. This alternate path required crossing east of the Jordan river into Perea, circumnavigating Samaria, and recrossing the Jordan into either Galilee or Judea which was about a week long trek. Thus, realizing that taking the path that runs through Samaria was the better route, one must question why the Jews preferred to travel the longer, more arduous one? Simply put, “Jews have no dealings with Samaritans” (John 4:9b). This important piece of information provided by the inspired John came as an explanation to the astonishment of the Samaritan woman that Jesus, a Jew, had asked her for water to drink (John 4:9a). The deep seated, centuries long feud between Jews and Samaritans had gone as far as them doing everything within their power to literally avoid one another; even if meant taking a longer, alternate route. The Jews profound prejudice toward the Samaritans was so extreme that, according to historical tradition, they would even reject a drink of water from them claiming it would make them unclean. Even though more than four hundred years had passed since this quarrel between Jew and Samaritan had begun, the embers of resentment continued to smolder fiercely even on that day when the Lord made His humble request, “Give Me a drink” (John 4:7). Once more, the Samaritan’s surprised response corroborates that this sour feud was still festering in Jesus’ day. This bitter root between brothers desperately needed to be uprooted, and Jesus had dutifully picked up the ax to do so. Verily, the Great Redeemer had already explained some night prior to this day in Sychar, to a Pharisee, ruler of the Jews, that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:16-17). When the Master told Nicodemus that His Father had sent a Savior for the world, He was not referring only to the Jews that had been scattered across the globe as a result of their multiple captors throughout the ages. He was teaching Nicodemus that salvation had been sent to all of the human race; including their foes the Samaritans. Hence, the purpose John establishes that “He needed to go through Samaria” (John 4:4). It is unwise to interpret John’s expression to mean that this necessity was out of concern for convenience. The Lord’s choice of taking His journey through Samaria was undeniably not convenient since He had left Judea because “the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John” (John 4:1). The immediate context leading to this Scripture tells that the disciples of John the Immerser had previously complained to their master that “He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified – behold, He is baptizing, and all are coming to Him” (John 3:26)! Being aware that John’s disciples were already upset by His disciples having more baptisms than they, the Lord Christ astutely assessed that the arrival of the Pharisees would only worsen the situation brewing between both groups. Remember that by this point, both John and Jesus had already had an encounter with the Pharisees which placed them within the Pharisee’s cross hairs (cf. Matthew 3:5-12, John 2:13-24). Due to the confrontations that exposed the farcical reality of the Pharisees, the Savior knew that their arrival would solely serve the purpose of sowing more discord between His and John’s disciples. However, knowing that the Pharisees already had a motive to try and discredit Jesus as a teacher and their strict, legalistic adherence to the traditions of the Jewish elders (i.e. washing of hands before eating, Matthew 15:1-2) it is evident that going to Galilee via Samaria was not convenient for Him in any way because they would surely oppose this decision. Holy Writ is full of examples when the Lord Jesus Christ was criticized by the Pharisees for eating with sinners (cf. Luke 15:1-32), and there is no doubt that they would avoid traveling through Samaritan lands at all costs. These hypocritical men fancied themselves as doctors of the Law and always sought to be viewed by the people as holy. Coming in contact with a Samaritan, such as entering their territory, would surely be frowned upon by them, since this action would a Jew “unclean.” Therefore, it is clear that it was definitely not convenience that John refers to when he espouses the Lord’s need to enter Samaria. The inspired John makes manifest why it was imperative for the Lord to go through Sychar with Christ’s response to the Samaritan woman’s shock. He pens, “Jesus answered and said to her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and Who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water’” (John 4:10). The Master’s words were an allusion to the prophecies that spoke of the Messiah as the source of spiritual living waters (cf. Isaiah 32:1-4, 35:1-7, 43:16-21, 49:1-10). Thus, the Holy Spirit, through the quill of John, materializes the meaning of Jesus’ words to Nicodemus of salvation being universal, and not exclusive to the Jews, by illustrating Jesus offering this water to the Samaritans as well. It is unquestionable that for a land plagued by drought, receiving a steady source of running fresh water is an extraordinary gift! This Samaritan woman was in dire need of spiritual refreshment because of the sinful state Jesus had found her in (cf. John 4:16-18). It is valuable to observe that she was not the only one whose soul was parched from sin, for after it was revealed to her that He who spoke with her was the Christ, “the woman left her waterpot, went her way into the city, and said to the men, ‘Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?’ Then they went out of the city and came to Him” (John 4:28-30). Years later, after the Christ had already ascended to His Father in heaven, the apostle Peter assured men “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19). It is indisputable that the best gifts that any person can give are those that continue to give after it was originally given. Behold the outstanding gift of God! It is absolutely and undeniably true that the gift that God has given mankind in the form of His only begotten Son, continues to give after it is received, and will do so eternally. To be continued…