Power in His Presence Part 3

Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave his son Joseph.  Now Jacob’s well was there.  John 4:5 & 6

The story of the woman at the well begins with a conscious decision that Jesus made to travel through Samaria to get from Judea to Galilee.  There were 3 routes that Jesus and the disciples could have taken.  First, they could have traveled along the coast.  Second, they could have gone along the Jordon Valley but the fastest and most direct route was through the mountains.  The problem with this route is that it went directly through Samaria.  The strictest Jews avoided travel through Samaria even if it meant a longer, slower route.  There was deep distrust and dislike between the Jewish people and the Samaritans.  It started when the Assyrians conquered the northern Kingdom of Israel in 722 BC, they exiled almost all the Jewish population. 136 years later the Babylonians conquered the southern kingdom of Judah, and those people were exiled also.  The ones left behind intermarried with non-Jewish people who slowly came into the region.  The Samaritans emerged as an ethnic and religious group. Most of the Jews in Jesus’ time despised the Samaritans, disliking them even more than the Gentiles because religiously speaking, they were “half-breeds.”  They had combined commands from the Law of Moses with other various superstitions. The divide was so great the Samaritans had built their own temple to Yahweh on Mount Gerizim, but the Jews burned it down making relationships even worse.  The city of Sychar was ancient Shechem and was the capital of the Samaritans.  This is where Abram built an altar to call upon the name of the Lord.  This is where Jacob came safely when he returned with his wives and children from is sojourn with Laban and this is where Joshua made a covenant with Israel renewing their commitment to the God of Israel and proclaiming, as for me and my house we will serve the Lord (Joshua 24).

It is here on this important piece of ground that our Messiah sits… waiting to help someone in need, waiting for this divine appointment.  Jesus broke tradition for this meeting.  He sought out the lost disregarding what path they were on and where they were residing.  This “appointment” was most important.

But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Romans 5:8

Pastor Julia Scott