This account of Jesus and the Samaritans touched me. They reveal so much about Him, which in contrast reveals something about me.
Jesus always noticed those on the margins. The Samaritans definitely fit that bill. Notorious half-breeds, their very existence plagued their Israelite neighbors. Jews looked down on them and scorned them and avoided them at every turn. But Jesus made it a point to go to Samaria, and He didn’t hurry.
Jesus always had time for seekers. He invested the best of Himself in His followers, and He regularly stayed in the ear of the religious leaders of the day, but the third group Jesus made time for was seekers. If someone approached Him with sincere questions, no matter how wrong the person’s lifestyle, Jesus made time. In Samaria, He stayed an extra two days just because the people asked Him.
Jesus always had compassion for the lost. Put simply, the effects of sin broke Jesus’ heart. He didn’t excuse sin; He didn’t ignore sin; He didn’t shrug at sin, ever. He DID weep at the effects of sin. In Samaria, Jesus make first contact with an immoral, scandalous woman, and His compassion for her is on the surface.
Jesus lived life on a mission. He goes to Samaria because He “has” to go to Samaria. He skips supper to talk to this lady because “My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work. Jesus never lost sight of why He came to earth, and He lived His entire life on a mission from God.
Lord, make me more like Jesus.