John 4:25-30; 39-42.
The setting is provided in the introductory paragraph of vv 1–6.
The Pharisees (of Jerusalem?) learn of the extraordinary success of Jesus in
his preaching and baptizing ministry (1–2). This causes Jesus to withdraw from Judea to Galilee, presumably to
avoid a conflict which could lead to a premature end to his ministry. Jesus therefore “had to go through Samaria.”It is told that there were two
other alternative routes to Galilee – Perea and East of Jordan River. Jesus
choosing this route was but only to fulfil the Father’s will – to reveal the
universal-inclusive gospel and that he was the Christ (Messiah).
Christ
is revealed to everyone irrespective of our identities or problems: Jesus crosses strict
cultural boundaries separating races (in the general sense of culturally
distinct peoples), genders and moral status, pointing to the new and ultimate
unity in the Spirit.
The woman was a Samaritan, a race that the Jews looked
down on as having no claim on their God. Apparently the woman was an outcast in
her own community as well; she came by herself to draw water from the community
well. In biblical lands drawing water and chatting at the well was the social
highpoint of a woman's day. In this woman's own village she was ostracized and
marked off as immoral; an unmarried woman living openly with the fifth in a
series of men. The Jews "do not use dishes
Samaritans have used." This rendering may well be correct. A Rabbinic law
of 66 CE stated that Samaritan women were considered as continually
menstruating and thus unclean. Therefore a Jew who drank from a Samaritan
woman's vessel would become ceremonially unclean. And it was unimaginable for a
Rabbi to speak to, not even an ordinary Jewish woman, but a Samaritan woman
because to ask for a drink of water to a particular woman was then a sign of
flirting.
Christ is revealed according
to our needs:
John 4:25: The woman said to him, "I know that the
Messiah will come, and when he comes, he will tell us everything."
Here, the idea of Messiahship among the Samaritans may be inappropriate
as they believed only in the Pentateuch where not a single instance of
Messiahship is found. But among many assumptions the most probable one would be
that this expectation of Messiah is the one prophet whom they have long been
expecting to bring changes in their history (Duet. 18:15).[1] Hence,
the Samaritans looked for a "messiah," and they referred to him as
"Taheb," which means simply "he who returns." Their idea
was less worldly and political than the Jewish.
From vv 25-42, we find need of the Samaritans and the fulfillment. In v.
40 we find Jesus staying with them and minister to them for 2 days, in contrast
to his initial plan to go to Galilee. The second and the main messianic
fulfillment we find is in v. 41[2]
that their doubts and expectation from the Messiah (Christ) was fulfilled. From
v. 25b, we read that their expectation and need of the Messiah was to be
told everything and surprisingly it was not miracles or healings or
deliverance. Hence v. 42 affirms that Jesus, after having stayed with them for
2 days told them everything they needed to know.
Application
Let us all be re-assured that even for this coming Christmas, Jesus is
the Christ/Messiah who is bigger than all our problems and difficulties. At the
same time not a single person or a single problem is too small for Jesus to
attend to. He is all inclusive.
Secondly, let us be re-assured that Jesus Christ can be revealed to us
as per our own needs. In what manner do we anticipate Christ for this Christmas
– To the Samaritans he brought knowledge and opened their eyes?
Lastly, Can we be Messiah for at least one person this Christmas?
May God bless us all. Amen
[1] The Lord your God will
raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must
listen to him. NIV
[2] And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman,
"It is no longer because of your words that we believe, for we have heard
for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world."
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