Across denominations, cultures and traditions of the Church, the Bible remains one of our central guides to faith. As Christians, we believe it speaks to us today and guides us on how to live our lives.
Yet there are many parts of Scripture where we need some help interpreting the context of the story being told, the meaning of a particularly difficult word or even the point of the whole story.
It's why interpretation, discussion, reading around and good preaching are all so important. It's also why books such as Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes have become so popular. The Bible was written and compiled across hundreds of years in the ancient near east. Not only is the culture alien to us as contemporary western readers, but unless we are able to read Hebrew and Greek, we will always be reliant on others to help us fully understand and digest it.
One theme that comes up repeatedly in Jesus' ministry is His interaction with Samaritans. Arguably His most famous parable, the Good Samaritan, hinges on the idea that two highly esteemed religious figures did the wrong thing, while an outsider (the Samaritan) did the right thing.
William Barclay describes the significance of the Samaritan being the 'hero' of Jesus' story. "The listeners would obviously expect that with his arrival the villain had arrived," he says. "The name [Samaritan] was sometimes used to describe a man who was a heretic and a breaker of the ceremonial law. Perhaps this man was a Samaritan in the sense of being one whom all orthodox good people despised."
When we begin to understand just how radical this story would have been to Jesus' audience, we begin to realise the radical implications for those of us who hear this story today. Jesus not only breaks the taboo by speaking positively about a Samaritan. He actually tells the story of the Good Samaritan in response to the question, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" He is suggesting that the servant-hearted attitude and actions of the Samaritan brought him closer to God than the pious, technically 'correct' decision of he priest and the Levite who chose to walk by on the other side. This is a drastic challenge to the received wisdom of Jesus' culture.
We can see the shocking way in which Jesus chooses to address Samaritans, not just in the parable of the Good Samaritan, but in His actual interactions with Samaritans as well.
In Luke 17, when Jesus heals 10 lepers, we read that, "One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him – and he was a Samaritan."
In John 4, he has a life-changing interaction with a Samaritan woman. Not only was her ethnicity and religion supposed to be a barrier to Jesus – a Rabbi – talking with her, but her gender, and the fact she was alone at the well made it even more surprising that He would speak to her. In fact, when His disciples arrive on the scene we read that they, "were surprised to find him talking with a woman".
Having accepted a drink of water from her, He talks to her with compassion but also a note of challenge. He takes her idea of what religion should look like and shows her His true path. "I know that Messiah (called Christ) is coming," she tells Him. Jesus responds, "I, the one speaking to you - I am he."
Having commended a Samaritan in the parable, Jesus now shows in real life that we can learn much from unexpected places and people. He challenges us to think about who the equivalent of Samaritans might be in our own culture – Muslims? Trump supporters? Young people? Whoever it is that we are ignoring and thinking God doesn't care about, may be exactly the kind of people through whom God will teach us.
God speaks to surprising people in surprising places. We may look for God to speak to us from the pulpit, through the pastor, preacher, prophet or priest. We may expect to meet God at a Christian festival, in a Christian book or on Christian TV. We may think God will make Himself known through years of patient theological study. None of those thing or people are wrong, of course, but Jesus shows us to look for God among the Samaritans - the unexpected people and places.
Once we've realised that, we are able to turn, with them, to look at Jesus and respond as the woman at the well did. We read that, "Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, 'He told me everything I ever did.'"
The significance of Jesus accepting Samaritans into His Kingdom was profound. The Jews' sworn enemies could have access to God through Jesus – in spite of their heretical past. This is the example for us to follow. Unexpected people have access to God through Jesus. It's not for us to put preconditions on them. In fact – we should expect to be surprised about the people Jesus speaks to and who respond to Him.
