Finding Our Place in the Story: Samaritans? Or Jews?

We are all familiar with the encounter our Lord has at the well where He meets the Samaritan woman, as we heard today in the reading from the Gospel according to St. John the Theologian. He asks her for water; she asks Him how it is that a Jew asks for water from a Samaritan; and through the course of the conversation our Lord reveals Himself, first by knowing her sins, and her situation, and then saying explicitly, when she has expressed a true faith in God, and that the Messiah God had promised would come, that He is the One they have been waiting for. In response, she goes into the village and urges the residents there to come and meet someone who knew all that she had ever done. As a result, many more come to believe with her that Jesus is the Messiah, the Anointed One of God.

This is the main part of the story; but the Fathers tell us that there is more to be found, if we will look for it. One aspect – the background, if you will, of this story, or its context – is the relationship between the Jews and the Samaritans, which serves as the springboard to the encounter of our Lord with the Samaritan woman. As always, we need to be alert to our own part in the story, for, when we can discern this, we are much more likely to grasp more of the lesson we are meant to derive from the holy Scriptures.

The Jews disliked, even despised, the Samaritans, and held them in contempt. The Samaritans had fallen into idolatry, but then repented, and returned to the worship of God, while claiming to have preserved the faith while the Jews had changed it while in exile in Babylon. The Jews rejected the claims of the Samaritans that they were also of the house of Israel, and had no dealings with them. Indeed, when our Lord sent His disciples out on their missionary journeys, He told them not to enter the cities of the Samaritans, but to go only to the Jews.

From this, we might think that the hatred and the rejection of the Samaritans was the right thing to do. Yet we find our Lord at a well outside a Samaritan village, and He does not hesitate to speak with a woman of that village, to lead her, and those whom she will bring to Him, to belief in Him and so to their salvation. Consider also, that the man who was on the road between Jerusalem and Jericho and was robbed and beaten and left for dead was not helped by one of his own people, but rather by the Good Samaritan. Remember that, of the ten lepers who were healed, only one returned to give thanks to the Lord, and he was a Samaritan.

St. John Chrysostom points out that whenever our Lord came to the Jews, they rejected Him; while the Gentiles, when they saw Him passing by, were drawn to Him, and asked Him to stay with them. The Jews were envious of Him, and angry; while the Gentiles believed Him, reverenced Him, and obeyed Him. When the Jews questioned our Lord, they did so to try to trick Him or to trap Him; while the Samaritan woman asks Him questions with respect, and with a desire to learn. The Jews did not want to hear Him, and tried to prevent others from coming to Him; while she, having heard, brought others to Him as well.

Do you know our place in the story? The Jews were the "chosen people" and the ones with whom God had made His covenant. The Jews were the ones to whom God had given His law. The Jews were the ones to whom the prophets were sent. The Jews were the ones who had been given the knowledge of the Messiah Who was to come and set free the people of God. Of whom can this be said today? The Church, of course! We are the ones who have been chosen by God to have His law written, not in stone, but on our hearts. We are the ones who know the prophecies, and that these have been fulfilled in Jesus Christ our Lord. We are the ones who have been given the knowledge of the way of life that transforms us from creatures on earth to citizens of the heavenly Kingdom. The Church is the new Israel; but we must beware, we must be careful not to be like the Jews, who considered themselves more worthy than others because they were the people God had chosen as His own. We must not consider ourselves better than others, but instead see only our own faults – for in this way we will be humble, rather than proud, arrogant, and prone to hating others. We must fast and pray; we must give of ourselves, and from what God has given to us. We must fight against our passions and seek to put in their place the virtues that are pleasing to God. We must, as St. John Chrysostom tells us, be like the Samaritan woman: drawing near to the Lord while being aware of our sins; we must hear what He is saying, and do what He says; and we should bring others to Him, so that they may also hear Him, and follow Him.

Brothers and sisters, let us hear what the Fathers are teaching us. Let us be like the Samaritan woman, and draw near to God, and help others to do so as well by being transformed in thought, word, and deed. Let us worship God and honor Him, and so become citizens of His Kingdom.

Christ is risen!