No Prejudice

Scripture: John 4:4-9 (NIV) ⁴ Now he had to go through Samaria. ⁵ So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. ⁶ Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour. ⁷ When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?" ⁸ (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) ⁹ The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans)

Background: Jesus left Judea and started the journey back to His hometown. In order to get home, Jesus had to pass through Samaria. He stopped in the town of Sychar at around noontime and sat down by the well. He had been walking the dusty roads for hours and it was most likely sweltering under the heat of the Palestinian sun. Jesus was tired and thirsty. A Samaritan woman came to draw water from the well and Jesus engaged her in a conversation. This was surprising to the woman, because Jews did not generally talk or acknowledge their Samaritan cousins. (The Samaritans were not considered pure Israelites, because they had been assimilated by the Assyrians) Obviously, Jesus did not let the popular prejudice of His day keep Him from loving and reaching out to others.

Observations: We often think of prejudice in terms of the racism that is a part of American history, but prejudice can develop over other issues as well. The cause can be tribal, linguistic, cultural, bloodlines, religious, political or any other issue that creates conflict between identifiable groups of people. Throughout the ministry of Jesus, He continually reached beyond the common comfort zone of most of the other Rabbis of Israel. Over and over the gospels give witness to the loving attitude of Jesus. On this journey to His home town Jesus had a remarkable conversation with a woman from one of those groups that good Jews simply didn’t associate with—it was a clear sign that the scope of Jesus’ ministry and atoning work was going to be for all people.

Prayers: Father, I thank you for your grace and mercy. I will forever be grateful for salvation. I pray that you would cause me to see people through your eyes. Your eyes of love and forgiveness—your eyes that see without prejudice—your eyes that are able to see past the skin of man and see the heart. Lord, use my life to reach people that are outside of my comfort zone. I long to see the people of this planet—people of every tribe, tongue and nation come to know You.