Samaria

Today we began our traverse to Jerusalem, along the way we made a few interesting stops in Samaria.  My favorite stop of the day was at Jacob's well.  The well where Jesus asked a samaritan women for a drink from her pail.

Church over Jacob's well

Jesus and the Samaritan woman

This place blew me away due to the irrefutable fact that wells do not move, and although the well has been built up and reinforced with stone over the years, the hole has been steadfast and the water deep down is still flowing from the same spring!

There was a madly embellished church built over the well, filled with beautiful artwork: mosaics and statues, candles, and incense...but in comparison to the undoubtable well of Jacob in Samaria-- all of these beautiful interpretations were completely overshadowed.

Sanctuary

 Everyone sipped the cool perfectly clear spring water that 2000 years ago gave relief to our Savior and his parched lips.


I hate to talk about how we broke a few rules in this church... but we were naive visitors.  Meg and I peeked into the Holy place that is separated from the rest of the room by a veil, where the holy sacrament is kept and given to the priest for communion, we were   
reprimanded.  Jonny put his foot up on the well "where 

Holy Place

people kiss"...I asked for a picture of our whole group around the well...and was berated.  I sipped from the cup and then poured the remainder of the water back into the well, to hear the depth of the channel...and then the man wanted a greater donation from our group.  Its safe to say that we rushed out of that hallowed building with some urgency

The next thing on our agenda for the day was to listen to a Samaritan priest tell us about his theology concerning his thoughts on Jesus as the Christ, as well as some personal things about himself.  It was very INTERESTING to say the least.  

This man along with the rest of his people believe only in the first 5 books of the Torah.  The books of the prophets,  he said, do not pertain to him or his people. (he wasn't shy about marketing the samaritan lifestyle to Nicole, Meg and I so that we could be brides for their people...yea...)  

I don't know about smartest, but definitely the most confident man in the world

This guy made many outlandishly global claims that were simply bizarre.  

However along with all of the boasting, this priest did teach us a very important, yet scarce concept that is crucial to understand is this:  that the scriptures are the living word.  This love letter from the lord is ALWAYS offering insight, relief, difficult truths, as well as gracious blessings.  

The samaritan manicans

The point is that no matter how many times one might read, analyze, or parse the scriptures...it will always be there, yet it might come from a different viewpoint,  fulfilling different purposes and making sense in new ways.  During our debriefing session Dan remembered this phrase the "smartest man in the world" had said: He was talking about how in the 45 years that he has been studying scriptures, he only has one drop in the sea.  What he is getting at is that there are so many things to discover.  the bible keeps teaching no matter how many times its been read.  what a beautifully spoken lesson by our passionately devout Samaritan priest.  In Dan's words, "I hope that he's on his way to discovering the rest of that sea!"