Commentary

Jesus and his disciples travelled from Judea to Galilee. Samaria is between these two areas. There was a certain prejudice against Samaria and the Samaritans. The negative reputation of Samaria came from its mix of races and religions. It was not uncommon to use alternative routes to avoid stepping into Samaritan territory.

What does the Gospel of John mean, then, when saying, “It is necessary to go through Samaria”? More than a geographical issue, it is a choice of Jesus: “going through Samaria” means that it is necessary to meet the other, the different, the one who is often seen as a threat.

The conflict between Jews and Samaritans was old. Samaritan predecessors had broken with the monarchy of the south which required the centralization of the worship in Jerusalem (1 Kings 12). Later, when the Assyrians invaded Samaria deporting many of the local population, they brought to the territory a number of foreign peoples, each with their own gods or deities (2 Kings 17:24-34). For Jews, Samaritans became a people “mixed and impure”. Later in John’s Gospel, the Jews, wanting to discredit Jesus, accuse him saying, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” (Jn 8:48).

Samaritans in their turn, also had difficulty accepting Jews (Jn 4:8). The hurt of the past became even greater when, around 128 BC, the Jewish leader, John Hyrcanus, destroyed the temple built by Samaritans as their place of worship on Mount Gerizin. On at least one occasion, reported in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus was not received in a Samaritan city simply because he was on his way to Judea (Lk 9:52). So resistance to dialogue came from the two sides.

John makes it clear that “going through Samaria” is a choice Jesus is making; he is reaching beyond his own people. In this he is showing us that isolating ourselves from those who are different and relating only to people like ourselves is a self-inflicted impoverishment. It is the dialogue with those who are different that makes us grow.

Questions

1. What does it mean for me and for my community of faith “to have to go through Samaria”?
2. What are the steps that my church has made to meet other churches and what have the churches learnt from each other?

Prayer

God of all peoples,

teach us to go through Samaria to meet our brothers and sisters from other churches.

Allow us to go there with an open heart

so we may learn from every church and culture.

We confess that you are the source of unity.

Grant us the unity that Christ wills for us.

Amen.