Jesus and the Samaritan Woman (Part 1)

Meditations for Seeking the Life in Christ

The Gospel of John

July 5, 2024 

Jesus and the Samaritan Woman (Part 1)

“Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me this water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get water.”

John  4:15

Samaria is a region of land between Jerusalem and the Sea of Galilee. The inhabitants believed they could trace their ancestry all the way back to Abraham, just as the Jews did. However, the Samaritans did not practice their religious faith in the same manner as the Jews, and since the Jews had returned to Israel from exile in Babylon several centuries before, there had been enmity between the Jews and Samaritans.

In John 4: 1-15, Jesus encountered a Samaritan woman and ignored many of the social customs shared by the Jews and Samaritans.  Devout Jewish men did not have social interactions with women in a public setting, certainly not if they were alone, and most certainly not with a Samaritan. But Jesus was more interested in people than social customs. Jesus delivered his invitation to become his disciple to people as they were, and where they were. Our acceptance of Jesus’ invitation to enter the Kingdom of God, is a call to turn our life around and embrace the values of God’s Kingdom.

As I read this passage, one thing that stands out to me is how the woman strained to take everything Jesus said literally (as illustrated in verse 15 quoted above), while his spiritual truths just sailed over her head. We will see that she shares this attribute with the disciples and just about every person who interacts with Jesus in this Gospel.

My Takeaway: Back on July 1, we saw Jesus’ spiritual truths sail over the heads of the Temple Leaders. I wonder how many of Jesus’ spiritual truths sail over my head?

Sē’lah

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2024 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.