Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. The encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman provides us a model which we can use to bring the best out of a relationship. During the time of Jesus, the Jews disliked the Samaritans. It was abominable for a rabbi like Jesus to speak to a Samaritan woman, yet He enters into a dialogue with her even if He knew fully well that doing so was going against tradition and high courtesies.
Jesus breaks down barriers. The woman was startled that Jesus addresses her. Later on, the disciples are equally surprised. Any form of discrimination has to be removed. He deals with three major forms of discriminations in the gospel. They are race, religion and sex. Jews and Samaritans were not on speaking terms for Jews considered Samaritans as inferior. The Jews were God’s chosen people, whereas the Samaritans were a people to be condemned due to inter-marriage to the pagans. Secondly, Jews worshipped in Jerusalem, the only place where sacrifices could be offered but the Samaritans had their own temple. They were considered an idolatrous people that had turned away from God. Thirdly, the Samaritan was a woman. No self-respecting rabbi talked to a woman for this was unworthy of his intelligence and position. Even a husband would not easily talk to his wife in public. These biases meant nothing to Jesus. He was thirsty for the well-being of all people.
