So What’s a Samaritan?

So what’s a Samaritan?

We sometimes throw around the title “Good Samaritan.” And right now we’re looking in the Gospel of John where Jesus talks to a Samaritan woman at a well.

But what is a Samaritan?

Israel Exiled Because of Sin

A long time ago, the nation of Israel split into two separate nations – Judah in the South and Israel in the North.

The capital of the southern kingdom of Judah was in Jerusalem.

And the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel was in a place called Samaria.

But the kings of Israel and Judah were evil and both kingdoms eventually fell – Israel to the Assyrian Empire, and Judah to the Babylonian Empire.

Now the last king of Israel was a guy named Hoshea, and he was really only a puppet king.

A few years back, the Assyrians had invaded most of the north and forced Israel into being one of their vassal states – or puppet state.

But Hoshea was an idiot… and he refused to pay tribute to them, and he even made an alliance with King So of Egypt – who happened to be a personal enemy of the Assyrian King.

And so Shalmaneser, the King of Assyria attacked Israel, and he put Hoshea in prison.

 And The Assyrians invaded the entire land and laid siege to it for three years.

Shalmaneser deported all the Israelites and relocated them to places in Assyria, Holah, Gozan, and Media.

And the writer of 2nd Kings says that, “All this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up out of Egypt from under the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.”

“The LORD warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets…”

“But they would not listen and were as stiff-necked as their ancestors, who did not trust in the LORD their God.”

“They made golden calves to worship…”

“They worshiped all the starry host…”

“They worshiped Baal…”

“They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire…”

“They practiced divination…”

“Therefore the LORD rejected all the people of Israel; He afflicted them and gave them into the hands of plunderers, until He thrust them from His presence.”

“So the people of Israel were taken from their homeland into exile in Assyria, and they are still there.”

Samaria Resettled

“Later, The king of Assyria brought different groups of people from places like Babylon, Kuthah, Avva, Hamath and Sepharvaim and settled them in the towns of Samaria to replace the Israelites.”

But God sent lions to attack the people who had replaced Israel because of the evil things they did.

The king of Assyria sent back one of the captive Israelite priests to teach the new people in the land how to worship the God of that land.

The people, who came to be known as Samaritans, worshiped Yahweh, but they also worshiped other gods, and they sacrificed their children in the fire.

Return from Exile

Now eventually, the Persian King Cyrus, let the Jews go back to their home land and rebuild their temple, and when they got back they discovered their cousins, the Samaritans, still living in the north between Judea and Galilee.

Bad Blood

Now the Samaritans were, of course, half-breeds, being the descendants of Jews who’d intermarried with non-Jews. They continued to honor God, but they were banned from the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem because of their lineage. So, they followed the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, but they treated Mt. Gerizim, in Samaria, as the place of the true temple.

Now back when the Jews overthrew the Seleucid rulers and were independent for about 100 years, they destroyed the Samaritan temple — not a very neighborly thing to do.

And so, when we come to Jesus in John’s Gospel, and the Samaritan woman starts up a conversation about the proper place to worship — this question would have been a hot topic to most Jewish rabbis, many of whom believed that God should only be worshiped in Jerusalem!

But Jesus declares that in the new age that he is ushering in, it will no longer be about worshiping in a particular place. Worship won’t be a matter of geography. Rather, the true test of worship will be whether it’s “in spirit and truth.”

This is extraordinary that Jesus, a Jewish rabbi, would even be talking to a Samaritan woman.

For most observant Jews, the Samaritan branch of Hellenistic Judaism—which recognized only the Mosaic Torah, and not the Prophets or other biblical writings as binding Scripture - was little better than a Gentile cult.

The Jews and the Samaritans had a lot of bad blood between them.

The Conversation with the Samaritan Woman (John 4:1-42)

And so John writes for us in his gospel that…

The Pharisees learn that Jesus is baptizing more people than John the Baptist, although the text says that "...in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples."

And when Jesus learns this, he leaves Judea, and returns to Galilee.

He then goes to the Samarian town of Sychar, and rests at Jacob's Well.

And John says that he had to go to Samaria… which isn’t exactly true.

Jesus was going from Judea to Galilee, and the normal route would take him up the Jordan River. But instead of going the normal route, Jesus takes the long way through Samaria.

Most Jews would go way out of their way to avoid going through Samaria… but Jesus goes there intentionally.

His disciples go into town to get food.

And While Jesus is waiting for them, a Samaritan woman comes to the well and Jesus asks her for a drink.

The woman is surprised and says that Samaritans and Jews do not associate.

Jesus responds that if she really knew who he was, she would have asked for the "water" that Jesus was offering.

He says, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

The woman asks for this "water" and Jesus tells her to go and find her husband and bring him back.

The woman states she has no husband, and Jesus says that in fact she has had five husbands and is now living with a man who is not her husband.

She then believes that he is a prophet.

Jesus then teaches her about worshiping God, how it has been done in the past, at certain locations, and how it will be done properly in the future.

He says, "Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."

The woman then says that the messiah will come some day and explain all.

And Jesus declares that he is the messiah.

When His disciples return, the woman goes back to town, and tells people that Jesus knew everything  about her, and she wonders if he is the messiah. And the people decide to go and see for themselves.

The disciples meanwhile, who are right now feeling a little too awkward to ask Jesus why he was being so friendly with that foreign girl, try to give Jesus some food but he refuses, saying that his food "...is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work."

The people from the town come, and Jesus talks with them and they convince him to stay for two more days and teach. And His words convince them that he is "...the Savior of the world."

Love My Neighbor? Other Rabbis

Around the time of Jesus the Jewish rabbis taught that God wants us to love our neighbors… but then the people wanted to know… who is my neighbor? Who counts as my neighbor and who doesn’t?

And the people would ask, is my brother my neighbor?

And the rabbis would say, yes, of course, your brother is your neighbor. The members of your family are the closest neighbors you have. You must always love your family, for they are your neighbor and God commands you to love your neighbor.

And the people would ask, well, what about my in-laws? Do they still count as family?

And the rabbis would say, yes, of course, you must love your whole family, not just the ones closest to you. They are all your closest neighbors, and God commands you to love your neighbor.

And the people would ask, well, what about the people who do business with me in the market or around town? Are they my neighbors, too? You know, some of them aren’t very honest.

And the rabbis would say, yes, of course, you must love your fellow Israelites with whom you interact. For they are both your brothers and your neighbors, and God commands you to love your neighbor.

And then the people would say, well, what about the God-fearing Greeks and other Gentiles, non-Jews. Do we really need to love them, too? They say they believe in our God, but they’re not true Israelites after all. Do they count? Do we really need to love them?

And the rabbis would say, yes, even though they are not Jews like you, they still worship the same God that we do and they are your neighbors, too. You must love them, for God commands you to love your neighbor.

And the people would ask, well, what about the foreigners and immigrants living in our land, non-Israelites. They’re not the chosen children of God, so they wouldn’t really count as my neighbors, too, would they? We don’t need to love them, right?

And the rabbis would say, no, the immigrants and the foreigners living in your land are also the children of God, and God has called you to look after the foreigners and to take care of them for you were once foreigners yourselves living as slaves in Egypt and God had compassion on you. So too you must love the foreigners and the immigrants living among you, for they are your neighbors, and God commands you to love your neighbor.

And then the people would say, yeah, but what about the Romans? They’re not really are neighbors, right? I mean, they’re an occupying force here. They’ve taken over our land, the land that God promised our father Abraham for his descendants. They tax us and oppress us, and they’ve killed many of us. These are our enemies and they hate our God! Surely these Romans – these pagans - don’t count as our neighbors, right? We don’t have to love them, too, right?

And the rabbis would pause… and they would think long and hard… and finally they would say. No, my children, even the Romans are your neighbors. And though they oppress and kill you, you must love them, too, for God commands you to love your neighbor.

And then finally, the people would ask, and what about those Samaritans? Those half-breeds? They also claim to worship our God. Are they our neighbors, too? Do we need to love them as well?

And without hesitation, the rabbis would say, oh, no!, of course not! you don’t need to love the Samaritans! Of course they don’t count as your neighbor! They’re not even human!

Love My Neighbor? Rabbi Jesus

And then Jesus comes along. He is also a rabbi, and he also teaches that you must love God with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And how do you love God? By loving your neighbor! And the people say, preach it, Jesus! God wants us to love our neighbors!

And Jesus tells them to forgive their brothers, their fellow Israelites who sin against them, and to love them for they are their neighbors.

And the people say, how many times should we forgive them? Seven times? And Jesus says seventy-times-seven.

And Jesus goes to his home town of Nazareth and preaches in the synagogue from the book of Isaiah, claiming that Isaiah was talking about him when he said: 

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,

    because he has anointed me

    to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners

    and recovery of sight for the blind,

to set the oppressed free,

    to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 

The Nazarenes love his sermon, but then Jesus makes offensive statements at the end 

Jesus compares himself to the prophets Elijah and Elisha, but in his comparison he points out how Elijah helped a foreign woman and how Elisha not only healed a foreigner but one who was the commander of the enemy army. The Nazarenes were angry because Jesus claimed that Israel’s God wanted to rescue Israel’s enemies. 

The Nazarenes try to throw Jesus off a cliff, but he escapes 

Samaritan Opposition (Luke 9:51-56) 

On a later occasion, in Luke’s Gospel…

Jesus sends his disciples on ahead of Him to prepare the way.

However, when they come to a Samaritan town, and the Samaritans find out that Jesus is on His way to take care of business in Jerusalem, the Samaritans say that He and His disciples are not welcome.

When the disciples report this news to Jesus, James and John (the sons of Zebedee) ask Jesus if He would like them to call down fire from Heaven upon these Samaritans.

The disciples would have known the story of Elijah calling down fire from Heaven to consume the commander and soldiers when they came from Samaria to arrest him.

James and John believed that if Elijah would call down fire to destroy unbelieving Samarians, then Jesus would certainly do no less.

However, Jesus rebuked the two disciples for saying such a thing.

Jesus did not come to destroy life, but to save it.

Jesus had compassion on the Samaritans, and Jesus came not just for the Jews, but for the Gentiles as well.

Jesus says that salvation is for all people.

The Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) 

Another time in Luke’s Gospel, A Torah-Teacher, a Pharisee, approaches Jesus and he asks him, “Rabbi, What is the greatest commandment?” 

The answer is obvious: the priests, the Levites, and the Pharisees, all of Israel’s great teachers of the day, had always taught the greatest commandment is The Shema! – or to love God with all of yourself – heart, soul, mind, and strength.

And how do you love God with all of yourself? With the second greatest commandment! Love your neighbor! 

But the man wants to know, “Who is my neighbor?” 

Jesus says: 

“A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side.

And then what does Jesus say next?

Does he say a Pharisee came along, saw the half-dead guy and had compassion on him?

No!

He says, But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’” 

Why does the priest avoid the man lying for dead on the road? Because he’s a holy man. Because he knows the Law that says “Don’t touch dead bodies!” 

The priest believes the laws of cleanliness are more important than the law to love ones neighbor. 

The Levite does the same, walking clear over on the other side of the road (practically walking off the edge of a cliff to avoid loving his neighbor) 

And the Samaritan is the only one that knows how to love his neighbor!!! The Jews didn’t even think Samaritans counted as human! 

So Jesus says: Go love the person who despises you! Go love the person you hate! Be like the Samaritan in the story and love the Samaritans! – Love your enemies! 

The Point

Remember how James and John wanted to call down fire from heaven to burn up the Samaritans?

Well, they had a change of heart. In fact, John made sure to include the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well when he wrote his account of the life of Jesus – what we call the Gospel of John.

You see, Jesus changed John’s heart. He replaced the hate with love.

And when John was a very old man, he wrote these words:

“We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.”

Jesus changed John’s heart. And Jesus can change our hearts, too, Church. The living water he offers is available to all of us.

So who is your Samaritan? Do you have enemies? Do you have any bad blood? What group of people do you find repulsive? That bug you? Or that you just don’t get?

Do you know what Jesus says? He says, “I don’t want to hear about your bad blood any more. Go love them!”