Get to Know Bible Locations: Mt. Gerizim and Mt. Ebal (part two)

A New Testament Event

John 4:5-26

The setting of this event is important. The town here is called Sychar. This town is situated on the shoulder of Mt. Ebal and opposite Mt Gerizim. It is said to be the plot of ground that Jacob had given to his son Joseph in Gen 48:22. Sychar was about a half mile from Jacob's well. The Old Testament does not record when and why Jacob dug this well, but we know it was here and is still here to this day. Scholars note that it was fed by a bubbling underground spring that was unusually dependable year in and year out. Today, this well has been filled with rocks and debris over the ages and only has water in wet winters. 

Yet in the day of Jesus, this was the place for the locals to gather their water. Jesus was all alone at the well as the disciples had run off into town to buy food. In their absence, a Samaritan woman comes to draw water, and that is where the shock comes to the forefront. Here, Jesus asks her for a drink, not a big deal in our society, but not in ancient Israel. First, she is a woman. Men in those days did not talk to women in public, not even their wives. Second, she was a Samaritan, and as John so eloquently puts it, the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Samaritan women were considered perpetually ceremonially unclean by the Jews because the Mishnah claimed that they menstruated from their birth, so naturally taking a drink from a Samaritan woman’s cup would have made the Jewish man unclean.

 When Jesus speaks to her and then asks her for a drink, it is certainly shocking. Her reaction affirmed this. Jesus did not have the prejudices and the separation of the two groups in His mind. He wanted a drink of water, but He had more to offer her.  He made her an offer that she shouldn’t refuse. This phrase living water is an interesting one to say the least. To the Samaritan woman, this would have meant that the water is running or springing rather than from a cistern or still water. She replied that He had no bucket and the water was deep. How would He be able to offer her water? Then she comically asked Jesus if He was greater than Jacob, who dug this deep hole. The woman failed to understand that Jesus' type of living water did not come from an ordinary well, and Jesus was far greater than Jacob. His claims were audacious. His water permanently quenches your thirst and produces eternal life. Yet she was still thinking of the pros of such a suggestion. She would not have to lug a water jug from town to fill up, and then the conversation changes.

He told her to go and call her husband. Why would He ask that? Was He trying to prove a point, was He trying to tell her to go back and submit to her husband, or was He trying to point out His disapproval of her lifestyle? Or was He trying to show that He understood what she was living with? She simply replied, I have no husband. Jesus had looked into her past, so she reasons that He is a prophet. She then turns the focus from her to the focus of worship. This is the proverbial change of subject to take the focus off her. She brought up a controversial issue between her people and His people, the proper place of worship. Why not bring that up? After all, He was a prophet, and after all, they were standing at the base of Mt. Gerizim, the sight of the old Samaritan temple that was torn down in 127 BC by the Jewish Zealot John Hyrcanus. Hyrcanus contended that Jerusalem was the only place for worship as ordained by God. The Samaritans contended that it was on Mt. Gerizim, and they still do today. The Samaritans only accept the Pentateuch and contend that Jerusalem is not mentioned once in the Law and thus is not the proper place to worship. 

Jesus notes that location will not matter soon. Worship is not to be tied to a specific deed with the body at a certain locale. Salvation does come from the Jews. This Jew stands before this woman, and because of this Jew, all people, including Samaritan women, can be saved. The time was coming when temples and locations would not be the focus but rather the motive and the type of worship. Worship that was rooted in spirit and truth. What would this woman say to this? She doesn’t know what to say, but then, in sort of a cop-out, she says the messiah will clear this matter up. Regardless, Jesus declares to this woman, “I am He.” 

John 4:27-38

Meanwhile, the disciples have returned from gathering food and have prepared food, and they make an offer to Him–Rabbi, eat. Before coming to Samaria and outside of Sychar at the well of Jacob, He had been very busy. Many had received the message He preached, and the disciples were baptizing more people than John 4:1-2 tells us. He had been thirsty as He asked the Samaritan woman for a drink, who had gone into Sychar to tell all who would hear about her interaction with Jesus. 

In reality, the Lord should have been hungry. He should have, by physical nature, taken the food and eaten it. But He used the opportunity to make an observation and teach the disciples to see what He saw. Upon hearing Jesus’ Messianic revelation, the Samaritan woman uncharacteristically left her water pot and quickly returned to the city, where she began to talk with friends and acquaintances concerning Him. She beckoned them to return with her. Can this be the Christ?

People who heard the woman in Sychar were coming out of the city and were coming to Jesus. Jesus, back in verse 32, said, I have meat to eat, and you do not know about it. When we understand Jesus’ point of view about souls, we appreciate it. His hunger for the salvation of souls was greater than any of His physical needs. The disciples could not comprehend this point of view. They had, after all, gone into the city to get food, then prepared said food, and then offered for their Rabbi to decline to eat. What gives? Amazingly, we look at the teachings of Christ and His Apostles like this at times. We think we have all this other stuff to offer, but when it comes down to it, Jesus has other plans for His church. Men often forget the purpose of the church to seek the same meat as our Lord. He said, " My meat is to do the will of Him who sent me and to accomplish His work.”

 A proper view of the present must be knowing what the present presents. In the winter months of December/January, the winter wheat is planted in the ground in Palestine. So in four months, you would expect a harvest. Jesus wanted them to think about the harvest. In April/May, the heads of the wheat would shine in their bright color. In the present, that is not how the fields looked. The fields were planted. There was some green surely across the ground. But remember verse 30. They went out of the city, coming to Him. Picture this: you have a group of folks in mostly white clothing coming out of the city and walking through the fields toward the Lord and His disciples. They appear as wheat. Jesus is changing their perspective on the present opportunity that has been presented. So rejoice with the Lord of the Harvest. There is so much we can gather from a historical event, at a very historical location, at the foot of Mount Gerizim, and in proximity to Mount Ebal.