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For I know the plans I have for you,declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jer 29:11 |
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Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for collecting daily manna), make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Wednesday, May 16, 2018
Today's Passage : Today's Passage:Subjecta:Jesus and the Woman of Samaria [1] Bible Verse:John 4:1-9 "Now when the Lord found that the Pharisees had heard that “Jesus is making and baptizing more disciples than John”—although, in fact, it was not Jesus who did the baptizing but his disciples—he left Judea and went off again to Galilee, which meant passing through Samaria. There he came to a little town called Sychar, which is near the historic plot of land that Jacob gave to his son, Joseph, and “Jacob’s Spring” was there. Jesus, tired with his journey, sat down beside it, just as he was. The time was about midday. Presently, a Samaritan woman arrived to draw some water. “Please give me a drink,” Jesus said to her, for his disciples had gone away to the town to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, “How can you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)" Message:
If you look in the map section, at Roman Colonies at the Time of Herod and/or Roman Judea in the First Century, you will see why Jesus needed to cross Samaria to get home from Jerusalem. (The town of Sychar is shown on the second map.) The kingdom of David and Solomon has disappeared as a political entity.
A
fter Solomon died, what we might call Israel was divided into the northern “Kingdom of Israel” and the southern “Kingdom of Judah” (where Jerusalem was located). Samaria was actually the capital city of the Kingdom of Israel. Around 700 BC, the northern Kingdom of Israel was conquered and overrun by the Assyrians. A vast number of Hebrews died or were translocated farther north, to Assyria itself.
Various heathen people, who worshipped idols and statues, immigrated into the region around Samaria. They were despised by devout Hebrews because of their culture and their failure to follow the Laws of Moses (such as the Ten Commandments), especially the most basic commandments to worship only the true God and not make graven images.
“Le Bon Pasteur” | “The Good Shepherd” | Champaigne
So, a predominantly heathen region, called Samaria in Roman times, came to bisect the two parts of Jewish Palestine, and Jesus must cross it to get home to Galilee. He comes to the place called “Jacob’s Well.” This was where Jacob met his wives, the sisters Leah and Rachel. Their twelve children became the first members of the eponymous twelve tribes of Israel. (See Genesis 29.)
It is no surprise that Jesus encounters a Samaritan woman in Samaria! The surprise is that He interacts with her in a friendly way. Jesus was not only a good Jew; He was, in fact, the only “perfect” Jew. Under the Law of Moses, He was obligated to avoid this woman; in fact, His ultimate duty would have been to drive this woman and all of her kinfolk from Canaan.
Thus, a simple request for a drink of water announces a revolution in Judaism. The Law of Moses will not be fulfilled by the political conquest of Canaan. It will, rather, be fulfilled, and the Jews made righteous before God, by a spiritual conquest, a conquest over death itself, given to Jew and Gentile alike. Christ is the fulfillment of the promise.
What better way to announce this radical upending of expectations, than for the Son of God to befriend the Jews’ most hated enemy: a Samaritan. This message of God’s grace to the despised Samaritans reappears in the Parable of the Good Samaritan.
Meditation : Prayer : Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip us with every good thing that we may do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight; through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever.,.......Amen |
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