"Jesus must go through Samaria." This phrase is filled with insight into the ministry and mission of Jesus Christ. The Scripture today is well known, at least in general understanding. But why did Jesus "have" to go through Samaria? Was it to avoid the popular prejudice of the Jews toward even walking on the real estate of Samaria? Was Jesus making a statement that He was open minded and without the classic hatred for these people held by His Jewish brethren? Or, was he just trying to take the historic short cut because He was in a hurry to get away from the Pharisees and their unexplained hostility to Jesus baptizing (though not Jesus Himself) more disciples than John the Baptist?
These views quickly give way to the expressed mission statements that Jesus came to seek and to save that which was His own, to find those whom His Father had given him from within the world, and to receive and give eternal life to His sheep who would hear His voice and come to Him (Luke 17:10; John 17:1,2; John 10::26-28).
Why did Jesus come to Samaria? To find one of his sheep and through her to find even more in a land where old age values we giving way to the rule of God bursting forth in the earth with the unveiling of a new covenant by the Messiah who Himself is bringing it forth. A woman of Samaria? A man of the Jews? Not at all: a Shepherd finding one of his lost sheep and regenerating her broken spirit. This is the reality of what we see in this text. And glory, hallelujah, our Shepherd continues to seek and save, call and receive His sheep today.
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October 13, 2013 | Pastor John Bayles | The Second Discourse: Satisfying the Soul's Thirst | John 4:27-42
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