Devotionals

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John 4:9 You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?

At the opening of the 4th chapter of the Gospel of John, it says He (meaning Jesus) had to go through Samaria. Now here’s the problem: Jesus is a Jew and the Jews and Samaritans hated each other so most Jews would go out of their way to avoid going through it. Now, when He comes to a well there’s a Samaritan woman there and He asks her to give Him a drink. Listen to her response “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” Now there’s a reason she’s there by herself, she’s an outcast even among her own people. Why? Further down Jesus asks her to go get her husband. She tells Him she doesn’t have a husband. Listen to Jesus response “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is you’ve had 5 husbands and the man you have now isn’t your husband. What you have just said is quite true.” She’s living with a guy.
So…here is a woman in a group of people that the Jews hate and even THEY don’t like her. Yet Jesus still has time for her and because of this encounter, many of the Samaritans find salvation. Because of this outcast among outcasts, people come to believe in Jesus as the Savior of the world. They realize that this is the man who is going to give up His life for their sins.
Now there’s a parable Jesus told about a Samaritan man, it’s in Luke and it’s called the parable of the Good Samaritan. A man was traveling and gets jumped by some thieves who leave him lying in a ditch all beat up. A priest goes by and pretends he doesn’t see the man, then a Levite walks by and he too pretends not to see him. Then comes a Samaritan, he bandages him up and leaves him at an inn to be looked after.
Now…. I want you to imagine that you’re the man lying in the ditch. Someone walks by and he thinks “I’m not helping him, his skin is a different color than mine.” A second man walks by and he thinks “I’m not helping him, he has a strange accent, he talks differently than I do.” A third man walks by, but it’s not a Samaritan, its Jesus. He pulls you out of the ditch and heals you.
Then He says “I don’t care what color you are, I don’t care if you have an accent or even a different language. I love you enough that I gave up my life for you. And those other two knuckleheads, I died for them too.”

Now think about these two questions: When have I struggled with racism in my own life? How can I change?

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