Ancestrally, Samaritans claim to be descent from the tribe of Ephraim and tribe of Manasseh (two sons of Joseph, O.T.) as well as from the Levites. They occupied the region of Israel between Judea in the south and Galilee to the north. Some Religious their beliefs:
That there is one God, YHWH, the same God recognized by the Hebrew prophets.
That the Torah, the Law, was given by God to Moses.
That Mount Gerizim, not Jerusalem, is the one true sanctuary chosen by Israel’s God to worship Him.
Samaritans were considered unclean heretics by the Jews whom they despised even more than they despised Gentiles. Now the Samaritan woman’s life is a total mess and by engaging with her Jesus is breaking all the conventional norms of shunning the Jews practiced toward Samaritans. The woman is totally surprised by Jesus’ willingness to engage with her and his disciples where dumbfounded when they saw him doing so.
But Jesus tells them that he has come not to perpetuate division but to unite all peoples by taking them to a higher state of religious belief and practice.
“The hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such people to worship him. God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in Spirit and truth.”
This proclamation by Jesus is no less relevant for us to hear today than for these in today’s gospel. True religion, true worship comes down from God – it is God acting on the believer – it is a work of the Spirit. The worshipper cooperates by seeking after this outpouring of God’s grace.
We create rituals around this “sacred act” of the Spirit. They are intended to help us to recognize and cooperate with the Spirit acting in us. We must never forget that it is not the rituals that make worship true, it is our humble surrender to the action of the Spirit working within us that makes our worship true and fruitful. Jesus tells the Samaritan woman that it is not the mountain that makes worship true.
During lent we are asked to examine the quality of our worship. Just showing up in church on Sunday is not enough. Merely reciting prayer formulas by rote while our mind is way off shopping is not true prayer. Rituals play an important part, and when they are performed with reverence and devotion, they serve to help us rise up into God’s grace acting upon us. Let us always come to worship with such disposition of mind and heart.
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