Going Through Samaria
Though in an altered form, Jewish hatred of Ephraim was alive and well when Jesus came among his own to make known the presence of God's kingdom. For almost ten centuries the Jews blamed the people of the region of Samaria for Israel’s lost glory and pointed to their illegitimate priesthood while boasting of their own Levitcal and Aaronic priests as a sign of religious superiority.
In the religious history of the Jews the revolt of the ten tribes under Jeroboam marked the point of Israel’s lost glory. It was under Jeroboam that an alternative kingdom and priesthood was established in Samaria. When the succesive kingdoms in Ephraim’s territory (Samaria) fell after about 230 years, the Ephramites and other tribes were removed from the region and dispersed throughout the Assyrian empire. The religion of Samaria which began under Jeroboam remained at the insistence of the conquering Assyrians.
A brief knowledge of this history is necessary to understand both the depth of the rivalry between the tribes of Ephraim and Judah, and Judah’s transference of this rivalry to the people who occupied the region of Samaria long after the desendants of Ephraim were dispersed through the nations. The people of Ephraim were swallowed up by the Gentiles, but the Jewish attitude towards the Samaritans that existed in Jesus’ day testified to the staying power of national and racial prejudice based on ancient rivalries.
It is also important to understand the Davidic hope of the Jewish people. The people looked back to the glory days of David and Solomon and looked forward to the Messiah who would restore Israel to its former glory.
This Messianic hope for the empowerment of the heir to David’s throne was strong in a people who had been so long oppressed by other nations. The prophets foretold the coming forth of a Messiah of David’s lineage and the disciples of Jesus looked to him as the fulfillment of the prophets.
Isaiah said “Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also?
Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.
For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.
The LORD shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon thy father's house, days that have not come, from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah; . . . . Isaiah 7:13-17
According to Isaiah, the house of David’s return to glory is linked to a virgin birth. And, the decline of glory is linked to Ephraim’s departure to Judah.
Since Ephraim’s departure from Judah marked the decline of Israel’s glory, the opposite holds true: the restoration of Judah and Ephraim to one another marks the return of Israel’s glory. In his eleventh chapter, Isaiah expanded on the ministry of the prophesied descendant of David.
“And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.
And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim.” Isaiah 11:1,10, 12, 13
From these two passages of scripture we find that the departure of Ephraim from Judah is an issue which the Messiah would address. The Messiah, a rod out of Jesse’s stem (Jesse being David’s father), would be both a sign to the house of David (Isa.7:14) and an ensign to the Gentiles/nations (Isa 11:12)
With these prophecies in mind consider what Jesus did in his interaction with the Samaritans and his story of the “good Samaritan”.
Also consider that during Jesus’ earthly ministry he revealed very little about himself as the heir to David’s throne. The earthly phase of Jesus’ ministry was primarily for the revelation of himself as the lamb of sacrifice for Israel’s and the world’s sins. During his earthly ministry Jesus’ dealings with the Samaritan/Ephraim issue points to the change in emphasis in Jesus’ ministry after his resurrection. The change is from the suffering lamb to the reigning lion of Judah (David’s descendant). (See From Lamb to Lion)
“And he left Judea, and departed again into Galilee, And said unto his disciples, I must needs go through Samaria.”
On the surface this short passage of scripture may seem like a simple statement of Jesus’ intended route; nothing more than just a geographical reference. However, given the prejudices which existed in his own Jewish disciples and the prophets’ outline of his ministry (Isa. chapters 7 and 11); this needing ‘to go through Samaria” serves as a great spiritual metaphor for dealing with our prejudices.
Jesus didn’t have to go through Samaria to deal with his prejudices; he had none. Jesus needed to go through Samaria to teach his disciples a lesson in religious prejudice. Jesus’ needful trip through Samaria is also a prophetic picture of how Jesus will reconcile Judah and Ephraim. (future article Prophetic Message of the Woman at the Well)
Jesus tried to get his disciples to deal with their prejudices against the Samaritans by modeling the extension of grace towards them. Through three years of teaching and modeling the disciples still did not grasp Jesus’ intent towards Samaria.
In Jesus’ final journey to Jerusalem where he would meet his fateful crucifixion, he sent his disciples before him into a Samaritan village to make preparation. When the people did not want to receive Jesus into their village his disciples had a simple solution.
James and John said, “Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, even as Elias did?”
Despite three years of ministry with Jesus, James and John still did not understand what he required of them.
“ But he turned and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of Man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.” 9th chapter Luke
Jesus may have been very disappointed in his disciples’ reaction. They knew of his kindness to the woman at the well. They knew that Jesus had healed a Samaritan and commended the Samaritan while the other nine did not return thankfully. They knew that many Samaritans believed on him. Surely, they would have remembered the story of the “good Samaritan”.
Sadly, though Jesus had modeled the extension of grace towards the Samaritans; his disciples were still held by almost ten centuries of religious prejudice.
Jesus went up to Jerusalem and was crucified.
The disciples were devastated. They had trusted that Jesus would deliver Israel and take the seat of David’s throne. They had revelation from heaven that this Jesus was the Christ, the anointed Messiah, the heir to David’s throne.
After his resurrection Jesus came to two disciples on the road to Emmaeus but did not initially reveal his identity. Cleopas explained their hopes in the Messiah who had been crucified to the “stranger” who joined them.
“Art thou a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days?And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people;
And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him. But we trusted that it had been he who should have redeemed Israel. And besides all this, to-day is the third day since these things were done;” Luke 24:18-20
For forty days the resurrected Jesus taught among his disciples before being taken to heaven in a cloud. We do not have an account of the details of Jesus’ teaching at that time, but can reasonably assume from the text that this theme of Israel’s redeemer, the hope for the restoration of Israel to its former glory (Isa 7:17), was certainly on the disciples minds. This subject was on Cleopas’ heart and was posed by others as the final question to Jesus.
“When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Acts 1:6-8
Notice the route!
Jesus tells his disciples that when they are empowered their message and ministry is to spread from the inside out. First, it is in Jerusalem. Secondly, it is in the territory of Judea (Judah’s inherited land). It is then taken to Samaria (Ephraim’s territory), then to the uttermost parts of the earth (the Gentiles).
Again the geographical is a spiritual metaphor. The Holy Ghost empowered disciples were directed to Samaria to deal with their prejudices towards Samaria. From our vantage point in time and culture, the Apostles going through Samaria may not seem like a big deal. But, remember the lapse of time between James and John prescribing the calling down of fire from heaven on the Samaritans and Jesus telling them to minister in Samaria was approximately 60 days.
Let’s bring this all down to where we live today! Who among us needs to go through Samaria?
With few exceptions, every person professing Jesus Christ has some kind of a needful journey through Samaria. Christians have an attitude towards Mormons. Mormons have an attitude towards Christians. Different factions in Mormonism have attitudes towards one another. Messianic Jews have their prejudices against Mormons and Christians, etc. Think of almost any combination of belief groupings and you will find things deep in our histories promoting prejudice as normal, acceptable behavior.
Jesus Christ, in his ministry from the throne of David in the heavens, is gathering Israel. The latter day mission of the prophet Joseph Smith Jr. and the Book of Mormon are earthly manifestations of that ministry. Angelic ministry and the lineal priesthood of Levi and Aaron are also a part of the end time gathering under Messiah ben David and Messiah ben Joseph. We are a people not gathered because we have not gone through Samaria and lost our religious and racial prejudices.
