Dave's Diary

Daily Reading: Ezra 4

We continue our readings of passages that give us background insight into the animosity between the Jews and Samaritans in Jesus’ day. This animosity made His gracious ministry to the Samaritan Town of Sychar all the more wonderful.

Ezra 4 opens with the returned Jewish exiles attempting to rebuild the Temple of Yahweh in Jerusalem. The local Samaritans who had been living in the land during the exile of the Jews offered to help rebuild the Temple because they said, “Like you, we seek your God and have been sacrificing to him since the time of Esarhaddon king of Assyria, who brought us here.” (v.2) However, we need to remember that they had worshipped in completely unbiblical and pagan ways (as we saw yesterday). The Jews were probably wise not to accept their help, as the Samaritans would only have introduced pagan ideas of what the Temple should be. But this sleight served to deepen the already existing animosity, as the rest of Ezra 4 shows.

The Temple they wanted to rebuild was just a pale foreshadowing of what it would later become, but it nonetheless had huge spiritual and even political significance – a significance that was recognised by the Samaritans who now vehemently opposed its rebuilding, even writing to the Emperor to appeal to him to put a stop to the rebuilding. It was the final form of this very Temple which was the subject of the Samaritan woman’s question to Jesus in John 4 all those centuries later, about the right place to worship.

Consider that in all the intervening centuries the chasm between Jews and Samaritans grew wider as the Samaritans continued to worship their version of God on Mount Gerizim, and their theology continued to drift further and further away from the truth. The animosity between them and the Jews continued to deepen with each generation. And then, stand amazed at how Jesus invited Himself into their Town in John 4:39-42 and ministered such grace and truth to them that many of them believed in Him as the Messiah.

With the background of Ezra 4, we see more clearly in John 4 how Jesus can overcome any barrier with His unique blend of truth and grace. In truth He confronts our sin and brokenness (no matter how deep it is) and calls us to repent and be healed. Then, when we respond, in grace He heals and restores us forever.

Thank You Jesus that You have reached across the barrier of my sin and animosity and have brought me home to Yourself. Help me to treat others with the same grace today, no matter how divided we are from each other, or how much animosity I encounter. Amen.