On the separation of Israel and Judah, the ancient city of Shechem became the religious center of the Northern Kingdom. This Israelite kingdom continued to exist in Samaria until it fell before Assyria.
After the Assyrian Exile in 722 BC, (2 Kings 17. 6, 24-41) the remaining Jews intermarried with Gentile colonists and formed a hybrid worship of Jehovah God (2 Kings 17. 33,41), complete with a different temple and an edited Old Testament. They adhered rigidly to the Torah, never admitted any of the prophetical teachings. The Jews thus viewed them as Half-Breed Heretics, and the Samaritans returned their hatred.
Religious differences between Jews and Samaritans
1. Worship only at Jerusalem Temple - Worship in Mt. Gerizim
2. Holy Book - Torah - Pentateuch
3. Abraham honored as Father - Jacob honored as Father
4. Believe heaven is exclusively for them - More liberal
The Samaritans had built their own temple on Mt. Gerizim to rival the Temple in Jerusalem and offered sacrifices according to the Mosaic code. This Samaritan Temple was destroyed by the Jews under the rule of John Hyrcanus (a king of non-Davidic lineage) in about 128 BCE. The Samaritans returned the favor by defiling the Jewish Temple. The rabbis taught it was ritually defiling to touch any utensil handled by a Samaritan. Since Samaria lay between Galilee and Judea, pious Jews normally walked the 20+ extra miles around Samaria rather than go through it.
A Jewish prayer goes like this: "I thank you that I was not born a Gentile, a slave or woman." Rabbis (Jesus was one) were forbidden to speak to any woman in public, even their own mothers or sisters (Jesus came to break off all shackles that bound people and he was often found in mixed company).
Samaritan women were regarded as ritually unclean from birth. To top it all, the Samaritan woman in question was immoral - she had been through five husbands, and currently had a live-in boyfriend!
She was an outcast. In a small town like Sychar, she would be viewed as a threat to the other married women, so she was probably ostracized by them. For one thing, there was a well in Sychar, but she was coming almost a mile to this well. Furthermore, most women drew water in the evening or morning when it was cool, and made it a social occasion. But John 4 vs 6 says she came to the well at noon, in the heat of the day--probably because she was ostracized by the other women of the community.
She was indifferent to spiritual issues, at least initially. To this woman, the lowest of the low, Jesus' brought the message - "It does not matter to me how much of a failure you are in people's eyes, you can still have the living water." Thus begins the talk between Jesus and a Samaritan woman.
Jesus offers her living water as a gift - a spiritual gift. The original word for "living" can also mean "running," so it's easy to see why she easily misunderstands his offer and becomes flippant and even cynical in her response and mocks him about both of his claims. "How are you going to get this water? You don't even have a bucket!" and "Who do think you are--better than Jacob –our Father?"
Jesus offers her living water which refers to the gift of a personal relationship with God through the indwelling of his Holy Spirit--the gift that Jesus has come to make available to us. However the woman thinks, “if it'll save me a trip out here daily, I'll take it."
Having positioned her thus, Jesus suddenly shifts gears and exposes her need. "OK, go get your husband and we'll get down to business." Her answer in verse 17 paves the way for what He really wanted to talk to her all the while.
Before she could be interested in the spiritual gift that Jesus had to offer, she had to first become aware of her need for it. Jesus did not speak of her current situation to shame her, but to cut through her "tough guy" facade and force her take a good look at herself. Apparently her spiritual need for a savior kept popping out with the same symptom repeatedly - her failure to achieve lasting, satisfying romantic relationships and her deep-seated loneliness. Whatever the reason, after five failed marriages, she has given up the formality of marriage and was shacking up with some guy just to survive. This is a woman who has deep inner pain, a deep thirst for love and companionship.
Jesus takes a look into her heart and tells her she's got a hole in her heart that men can't fill. He assures her that there is no need to keep drinking from this old well (of failed relationships). It’s time to admit the need for a different kind of water – the kind provided by Him personally.
Jesus had touched a raw nerve, so she side-steps and begins to talk religion. (a very common ruse.) Jesus was honing in on her personal spiritual needs, but she was not ready for it. She was determined to dodge the issue. So she started a theological argument - a smoke-screen.
Even here we see that Jesus handles her well. First, he answers her question regarding worship. Jews worship God in the place and way that God had prescribed in the Old Testament. However, Jesus her that what matters now is that we relate to God in spirit and in truth.
Jesus expects us to relate to him personally and not through ritual observance. We must also relate to him as he really is ("in truth") as he is revealed to us through scripture. People often object to the idea of a God who is holy, who judges sin, who insists that we come to him for forgiveness through Christ and be willing to submit to his leadership. This is unacceptable to God.
Jesus continues to repeat his offer and she says,"Well, I don't know what to think--let's leave this to the Messiah . . . " at this point Jesus reveals Himself to her and hearing Him (hearing the Word of God Himself speak) she evidently came to faith in him as her Messiah. And she began a relationship with God that changed her life and that of many others.
Having received the "living water," she dropped her old water pot. She returned to town and started telling everyone she knew to come out and meet the man who knew everything about her and still loved her enough to give her a gift. No matter why --they responded and went out to see Him. Many believed through her testimony yet many others believed after listening to Him.
editor's note:
This post is background info for the previous original post - "Reaching Out to Christians" click here to go
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