Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.” ~ John 4:39-42
Who Were the Samaritans?
The Samaritans were people who lived in what had been the Northern Kingdom of Israel. The kingdom’s capital, Samaria, was placed between Galilee to the north and Judea to the south. The Samaritans were an ethnically mixed nation with Jewish and pagan heritage. Although they revered Yahweh as did the Jews, their faith was not the common Judaism of that day. They affirmed only the first five books of the Bible as canonical, considered their temple as Mount Gerazim rather than Mount Zion in Jerusalem (John 4:20).
Catholic.com provides an explanation of the relation between the Samaritans and other racial groups in the Bible:
Because of their imperfect adherence to Judaism and their partly pagan ancestry, the Samaritans were despised by ordinary Jews. Rather than contaminate themselves by passing through the Samaritan territory, Jews who were traveling from Judea to Galilee or vice versa would cross over the river Jordan, bypass Samaria by going through Transjordan, and cross over the river again as they neared their destination. The Samaritans also gained hostility toward the Jews (Luke 9:52-53).
That the Samaritans were separated from and looked down upon by the Jews makes them important in the New Testament. Jesus indicated a new attitude must be taken toward the Samaritans when he passed through their towns instead of crossing the Jordan to avoid them (Jn 4:4-5), when he spoke with a Samaritan woman, contrary to Jewish custom (Jn 4:9), and when he said a time would come when worshiping in Jerusalem or on Mount Gerazim would not be important (John 4:21-24). When asked whom to regard as our neighbor, Jesus told the story of the Good Samaritan precisely because Samaritans were despised.
The apostles recognized that in the Church Samaritans must be accepted as equal to Jews. Peter and John conducted a special mission to Samaria to confirm Samaritans who had already been baptized by Philip (Acts 8:14-17). This initiation of the Samaritans was a middle stage between the preaching of the gospel to the Jews (Acts 2) and the preaching of the gospel to full-blooded Gentiles (Acts 10).
Where Was Samaria?
Samaria as a city in the Bible was the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel. After Israel’s fall, Samaria as a region was in the central area of what used to be the northern kingdom. During the time of Jesus, Samaria was located between Galilee to the north and Judea to the south.
Map of Samaria from Wikipedia: Kingdom of Israel (Samaria) at its peak in the 7th Century BCE
Today, Samaria is in what is now the northern West Bank. Several hundred Samaritans still live in Israel and continue to practice their faith centered on the Pentateuch and Mount Gerizim.
The Good Samaritan
This parable is found in Luke 10:25-37. A pharisee of the law questioned Jesus and asked what he must do to receive eternal life. When Jesus turned the question back to him, he had to say that the law stated that a person was to love God and love his neighbor as himself. However, the agitated pharisee wanted to excuse himself, so he asked, “And who is my neighbor?” (Luke 10:29).
To this, Jesus responded with a parable.
“In reply Jesus said: ‘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. 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’” (Luke 10:30-35).
The Good Samaritan, then, was not a physical person. He was a representation. The "religious" man wanted to restrict who a neighbor was, and thus justify himself. Rather, Jesus flipped the question. He used the context of the Jews’ hatred for Samaritans to show that everyone was his neighbor, even those considered an enemy.
Jesus and the Woman of Samaria
The story of the Samaritan woman begins as Jesus is in the Judean countryside with His disciples (John 3:22). The passage tells us that Jesus had to pass through Samaria (John 4:4) as He was going from Judea to Galilee. This, in and of itself, was uncommon for Jews to do, as Samaritans were part Jew and part Gentile, and greatly disliked by both parties.
John 4:5-6 says: “So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. A woman from Samaria came to draw water…”
When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus asked her for a drink. The woman was shocked. “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (John 4:9).
In response, Jesus said that if she asked Him, He could give her living water. She asked for the water, and He responded that she should get her husband and come back. When she replied that she had no husband, He said, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband” (John 4:17-18). At this point, the woman realized He must be some kind of prophet. She thus asked Him about the true worship, whether it was of the Jews or the Samaritans.
He gave an unexpected response: “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.’ The woman said, ‘I know that Messiah’ (called Christ) ‘is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.’ Then Jesus declared, ‘I, the one speaking to you — I am he’ (John 4:23-26).
The woman went to tell the people of Samaria, and as a result, many Samaritans listened to Jesus and believed.
What We Can Learn from Samaritans
From the fall of the rebellious northern kingdom of Israel to a mixed idolatrous religion, to a people group hated by the Jews, the Samaritans had a rocky history. However, the Gospel of Jesus Christ brought hope to Samaria. Upon the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, the believers went out into all the world, bringing the Good News.
“Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. So, there was great joy in that city” (Acts 8:4-8).
The history of Samaria reminds us that no matter who you are or where you come from, there is Good News through Jesus Christ that is available to all of mankind.
Sources
Catholic.com | Who Were the Samaritans and Why Were They Important?
BibleStudyTools.com | The Samaritans: Hope from the History of a Hated People
Top Image of modern Samaritans from Wikipedia (Public Domain)
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