John 4:9 – Therefore the Samaritan woman *said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)
Jesus came to save sinners, whether they were “Pharisees or Samaritans”, it really made no difference to Him. In John 3 you see Jesus ministering to one of the strictest of Pharisees. He tells the shocked famous teacher Nicodemus, “You must be born again”. Nicodemus could hardly believe his ears, “me of all people”, he thought. Yes, even the most religious of all are sinners in need of a Savior. Then there was the Samaritan woman who had been through five husbands, she too needed this living water. Jesus told her that if she knew the gift of God and who He was she would ask Him for a drink of the water of life. Pharisees and Samaritans, we all need Jesus. Here is how the Christ Centered Expository Commentary describes this story of opposites.
“Jesus had every reason not to talk with this woman, but just as he did with Nicodemus, he begins a conversation with her that penetrates to the root of the issue. He understands her heart. He understands her condition, and she doesn’t. Jesus reached out to the moral Pharisee and the immoral Samaritan. Both of them were in desperate need of salvation from sin—a salvation that could only come through Jesus….. Everyone, everywhere needs Jesus. The moral can’t be saved by their morality; they can only be saved by Jesus. Also, the immoral are never too immoral to find salvation in Jesus.”
So it usually comes down to one of the other, the Pharisee who goes to church and follows some sort of religious code without really knowing the Lord, or the Samaritan, someone who lives a sketchy life with some religious belief in their back pocket. So which category describes you, the rule keeping Pharisee or do you lean on the side of stretching every rule? The amazing thing is that Jesus has the same answer for both, you must be born again. Thankfully there are plenty of former Pharisees and Samaritans in the kingdom today, that’s the way it has always been. Just ask the Pharisee Saul of Tarsus or the fisherman from Galilee. One was a rule keeper and the other a rule breaker, both became mighty men of God.
