Digging Deeper Days
Finding the original intent of Scripture and making good application to our everyday lives as we become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!
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The Questions
1) Why does Scripture emphasize these were Samaritans?
2) What can be learned from the Samaritan woman’s response?
3) What can we learn from the response of the Samaritans who came?
John 4:39-41
39 Now many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of what the woman said when she testified, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41 Many more believed because of what he said.
Original Intent
1) Why does Scripture emphasize these were Samaritans?
Jesus was an Israelite and they hated Samaritans. In 722 B.C. the Northern Kingdom of Israel fell. When that happened, the Assyrians moved in to the area and over time married some of the remaining Israelites. The Southern Kingdom Israelites felt those who married outside of the Israelite people were traitors to their faith and saw them as not true Israelites. These people were known as Samaritans. Due to this hatred, Israelites never associated with Samaritans and went out of their way to travel around Samaria as needed. Jesus is setting a very important and well-known cultural example in this encounter. He is showing the world that He did not only come for Israel, but for the entire world, Jew and Gentile alike.
2) What can be learned from the Samaritan woman’s response?
In the verses immediately before this passage, there is a story of Jesus interacting with a woman who was trapped in her sexual, adulterous sins. He stepped beyond culture and race telling her exactly who she was, what she had done, and then extended hope. In spite of who she was as a social outcast, He still showed her loving compassion and offered her hope. He even revealed to this women that He was the Messiah the world had long been waiting for. The Samaritan woman’s immediate response was to leave behind her water jug and run back into town, excitedly telling everyone she could find about her encounter with the promised Christ. (verse 39) She couldn’t contain the Good News she had learned. Because she was bold enough to share Jesus, despite being an outcast, others came to faith for themselves.
3) What can we learn from the response of the Samaritans who came?
When the woman who had experienced dramatic life change approached the Samaritans with the news of Jesus, they were faced with a decision. Either they could listen to what she shared, welcoming and believing it, or they could ignore her and move on with their lives. The Samaritans not only believed her, but went with her to meet Jesus for themselves. They invited Jesus to spend time with them, teaching them, and learning from Him and because they did, many more believed in Jesus. This would have been a lesson to Jesus’ disciples that His Gospel is for everyone, not only the Jews. It would be a lesson they likely would have recalled often after Jesus ascended and their work in spreading the gospel to the world began.
Everyday Application
1) Why does Scripture emphasize these were Samaritans?
Although we may not live with the Samaritans cultural and socioeconomic differences exist with sharp distinctions within our own society. Our culture, much like the culture in Jesus’ day, tends to separate people from each other for a variety of reasons. Society views one group of people as better or more valuable than another. Whether it’s gender, race, sexual orientation, or even just stereotyping, western culture lends itself to assigning value based on what society deems “best”. Just as Jesus set the example of reaching beyond His culture and His people in radical ways, we are called to do the same. We are called to reach beyond people who are like us to love those all those who need Jesus. Jesus said, “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?” (Luke 6:32) No one is exempt from needing Jesus and people will never hear about the freedom He brings if believers are unwilling to follow Jesus’ example and reach beyond our comfortable borders to love those society deems as outcasts or unworthy of the Good News.
2) What can be learned from the Samaritan woman’s response?
This woman, who was an outcast due to her life choices and public sins, still chose to run with eagerness and share the Good News of Jesus with those who had shamed and rejected her. Like her, we all have sins and choices we aren’t proud of. We can choose to run and hide, ashamed of our past, or step out despite it, embracing the forgiveness Jesus has provided. This woman chose to boldly share because what she had learned was too good to be kept to herself. The woman’s transformation had been radical because Hope had made all the difference. When we surrender to Christ, He changes us, making us new, and giving us a story of hope to share. We are never the same after a true encounter with Christ! We should not be able to contain the Good News of who Jesus is and we should run boldly to share it! If you’ve never shared your story, we would be honored to give you that platform at Faces of Grace. Our editors will even help you put words together to allow you to share how Jesus has made you a new creation! Email us at facesofgrace@gracefullytruthful.com for more information.
3) What can we learn from the response of the Samaritans who came?
When just one person surrenders to Jesus they can choose to be a spark or they can choose to hide it. The Samaritans ran to Jesus and brought Him back to others. They chose to acknowledge they had more to learn. When they did, they not only introduced others to the hope of Jesus, but they grew in their understanding by spending time with Him. Just like these Samaritans, we must spend time with Jesus getting to know Him better. Our daily time with Jesus cannot be replaced by anything else. There are things Jesus can only do in and through us when we sit and read His Word under the teaching of the Holy Spirit. Out of the overflow of our intimacy with Jesus, others will see Him. It is His work in us, that only He can accomplish, that shines brightly, beckoning others to also surrender to Hope. When we choose to spend time with Jesus, we will never be the same and neither will the world.
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Digging Deeper is for Everyone!
1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read it, and the verses around it,
several times
3) Write down your questions
as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you
other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)
5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and embrace the fullness of God
in your everyday!
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Why Dig Deeper?
Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.
In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!
Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.
Study Tools
We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources, providing the original Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) with an English translation.
Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Discover “origin”, “definition” and hear the original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!
Want more background? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))
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