The Significance of a place
John 4:1-6
What a short reading today. Yet, essential information sets us up for the next part of the chapter.
Before we dive into that, let’s take a moment to sit and look at these short, simple verses. It could be so easy to overlook these few short sentences and dismiss them as nothing more than a warm-up to the juicy stuff God has for us in the following story., we must remember that our God does not overlook such details. He is intentional with every word He has inspired us to put in our Bibles.
So, what does God have for us here? We, as 21st-century Americans, would miss some good things at first glimpse.
The first is that Jesus never baptized anyone. He left that for his disciples to do, and he still leaves that for us to carry on. He allows all His disciples to baptize - no indication in the Bible is left to a specific type of person or office (such as a pastor or apostle). This is significant because that means we all get to participate fully in His Great Commission.
The second thing is the place that Jesus came to. Jews and Samarians did not like each other. Jews thought of Samarians as half-breeds. But why? Well, let’s dive into ancient Jewish history, shall we? Israel demanded a king. God gave them Saul - Saul was terrible news. So then God gave Israel David (read 1 & 2 Samuel). David eventually (after many years of waiting) became king and created the kingdom of Israel. After David dies, many of his descendants are pretty much wicked (read 1 & 2 Kings). During the early years of Solomon’s son (David’s grandson), the kingdom splits into Judah (the southern kingdom where Jerusalem is and the northern kingdom where Samaria is). The Northern Kingdom’s lines of kings are corrupt, worship false idols, and marry the tribes around them all against God’s covenant.
Fast forward hundreds of years later, there is still a sting of betrayal from the people of the southern kingdom (the Jews of Jesus’ day). This is important to set up - Jesus is entering into the territory of those who had betrayed God and the identity of God’s chosen people. Yet, as we continue to read, Jesus has much bigger plans for redemption than just the Jews. He has come to save the whole world from all sin, past, present, and future.
