John 4:1-4
Verses one and two of John 4 transition us between the critical stories of chapter 3 and the significant stories of chapter 4. The first, which we just looked at, is the story of Nicodemus, and the second story we will now examine is the woman at the well. As always, a little history is essential to understand the story properly. The truth is, I am a historian at heart and a Bible student second. But the reality is that history and the Bible go hand in hand.
In 931 BCE (Before Christian, or Common Era), the nation of Israel split into two separate Nations. The Northern Kingdom consisted of ten of the original 12 tribes, which included a small portion of the tribe of Benjamine. The Southern Kingdom included the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and a small portion of the abovementioned tribe of Benjamine.
For 209 years, the two countries existed, sometimes cooperating and at other times in opposition to each other. It is also important to note that the people in the area that became known as Samaria did not worship at the temple in Jerusalem in large numbers or join worshipers in Jerusalem for important religious celebrations, such as Passover, Pentecost, or Day of Atonement. Instead, they built a temple on Mount Gerizim to conduct their worship.
In 722 BCE, The Assyrians came and destroyed Symaria, or the area of the Northern Kingdom. It was the practice of the Assyrians to remove people from an area they had conquered and replace them with those they had taken from another conquest. Thus, the area known as Symaria became a mixture of a few remaining Israelites and pagans from other nations.
In 606-605 BCE, King Nebuchadnezzar came and conquered Jerusalem. During that conquest, along with his subsequent two conquests of Jerusalem, the Samaritans assisted the Babylonians in rounding up escaping Jews. Samaria was not the only nation to help. The Edomites also aided Nebuchadnezzar.
When the Jews returned from captivity and started to rebuild the temple, the Samarians wanted to assist, but Ezra and the other leaders of the Jews rejected the Samaritan’s offer. I think we can see and understand the hostility the Jews had toward the Samarians. I’m not saying it was justified, but we can certainly appreciate their hostility.
“Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but his disciples), He left Judea and departed -again to Galilee” (John 4:1-3). Jesus certainly did not want contention between John’s disciples and His disciples, so he tactfully removed Himself and returned to Galilee. Completely understandable, for it is clear the jealousy of the Pharisees against Jesus was on the rise, and what better way to restore your preeminence than by creating contention between the two groups that seem to be working together and against the Pharisees and the other religious leaders.
The verse that surprises us and alerts us that something of importance is going to happen comes in verse 4, where the author states, “But He needed to go through Samaria” (John 1:4). No self-respecting Jew had to go through Samaria. When traveling to Jerusalem for business or religious festivals, the Jews living in the region of Galilee would take the long way to Jerusalem by crossing the Jordan River and following the river till they came to Judea and then again cross the river. But the author wants us to see that Jesus is on the move. But the author also wants us to see that this is a continuation of the two stories seen in John chapter three and that Jesus, for some reason, needed to go through Samaria. Again, I cannot emphasize enough how counter-cultural and how much bigotry is stored up in this one little passage, “But He needed to go through Samaria,” a statement that must have shocked his disciples but was about to be used by Jesus to teach his disciples. Jesus wants to teach His disciples that the gospel is not just for the Jews Himself. After all, the call of Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3 was to be a blessing to all nations. But Israel and Judah had failed to be the blessing God wanted them to be.
The call of God for every Christian is to be a blessing to those around them. As Israel and Judah of old, are we being the witness for God that He has called us to be.
The Bible In Your Hand 