SHCOC Daily Bible Reading

Boundaries have been put up between people since the beginning of time. In Jesus’ day, there were the Samaritans. In America’s recent history, we had slaves. Today, a growing number of people find disdain in those of us who would call ourselves conservative Christians. The preoccupation with protecting boundaries between the preferred and the despised peoples is not limited to the ancient Samaritan and Jewish conflict of the first century. It is ever-much alive today. John 4:4-42 can be read alongside the parable of the good Samaritan (Luke 10:29-37). In Luke, the outrage is that the detested Samaritan is the good neighbor, the agent of mercy (Luke 10:37). The Samaritan crosses the boundary and breaks the restriction against contact between Jew and Samaritan and cares for the wounded man (Luke 10:34). In Luke, Jesus holds up the Samaritan traveler as an example (Luke 10:37) and illustrates that acts of mercy should be governed by need and compassion (Luke 10:33), not by current societal issues, political correctness, and fears. John conveys a similar challenge but in a more radical form, because it is not a character in a parable who upsets social norms but Jesus himself. Jesus initiates contact with a Samaritan, asking her to attend to his need (John 4:7). He then offers the Samaritan woman the gift of God (John 4:10) and reveals his identity to her (John 4:26). He treats the Samaritan woman, the Samaritans in the village as full human beings and as worthy recipients of the grace of God, not as the despised enemy from whom to fear contamination. You want to see a Christian? Look for one who tears down boundaries like Jesus did!