The Year I Read the Bible with Laurie Larsen

Episode 26: What’s So Bad About Samaritans?

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The Samaritan woman at the well having a conversation with Jesus about living water.  The "Good Samaritan" who helped a Jewish traveler who was beaten and left for dead along the side of the road, as if being good was an exception for a Samaritan.  Several other mentions of Samaritans in the New Testament which don't paint them in a good light ... all lead me to wonder about today's topic.

We'll learn about the history of Samaritans -- how they came to be, and why Jews of Jesus's time disrespected them.  Joining me in this enlightening discussion is repeat guest Jacki Brey, founder and CEO of Feed My Peeps, a not-for-profit organization whose motto is Loving GOD, Moving FOOD & Feeding PEEPS!  You first met her in our November 25 episode, Odd Things Jesus Did and I know you'll love hearing her inspirational stories again, including some of her catchphrases:

  • Hot Mess Express
  • The harvest is ripe and the laborers are few
  • Sharing the Gospel with a simple PB&J
  • Loving on the Shake 'n Bake man who was losing his stuff in the middle of Wally World!

Hi, I'm your host Lori Larson, and this is the year I read the Bible. Welcome a Lifelong Christian. I thought I was familiar with the Bible, but in 2023 I accepted the challenge of reading the whole thing, cover to cover. Whenever I encountered something I didn't understand or wanted to learn more. I jotted it down, but I kept reading to stay on schedule. Then I reached the end Imagine Confetti rating down on me, and a huge sigh of relief. I had 40 topics to research in 2024. I started diving into all those topics. I did research, I wrote blogs and I shared them with whoever might wanna learn too. And in 2025, the project continues. I published a book containing all my essays, and now a podcast. Is there something you can learn from that dusty book that sits on all of our shelves? Yes. Yes, there is. Let's dive into The year I read the Bible. Hello friends. Today I have a topic that I've often wondered about. As I was reading through the Bible, that's called What's So Bad About Samaritans. Let's take a deeper look into this. The Samaritan woman at the well who told Jesus if he knew who she was, he wouldn't want her to draw water for him. The Parable of the Good Samaritan, like it's an exception that any Samaritans would be good. These stories make me wonder what's so bad about Samaritans. It's a part of biblical history. Something that doesn't exactly apply to us in today's world, but if we want to fully understand the message Jesus is sharing, it helps to understand what was true at the time. First, let's summarize the two Samaritan stories in question. In Luke chapter 10, Jesus is being questioned by an expert in the law. He tells the parable of the Good Samaritan as part of his answer. Here we start in verse 30, new international version. A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. When he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man he passed by on the other side. So too a Levite when he came to the place and saw him passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was, and when he saw him, took pity on him, he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day, he took out two Dari and gave them to the innkeeper. Look after'em, he said, and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have. Jesus used the parable as a learning experience for the official men questioning him. Which one was a neighbor? Jesus asked. Even they had to admit that of the three, the Samaritan was a neighbor to the man. He admonished them to go and do likewise. To Jesus's audience, the fact that a priest and a Levite, both of whom are strongly Jewish, walked past the Jewish man who had been beaten and left for dead without helping him, probably because the area was dangerous and they were in fear of their own lives. But a Samaritan went way above the call of hospitality to help a total stranger was significant. Jews and Samaritans hated each other. Why? Here's a quick history lesson in 7 22 BC before Christ Assyrians conquered Northern Israel and settled in after winning many battles. Intermarriages between the Jews and the non-Jews who now made Israel their home occurred, and in doing so, a new people group was formed called the Samaritans. They kept up with some of the prevalent Jewish or Israelite practices, but also incorporated pagan practices in keeping with both sides of their heritage. They were considered by Jews to be impure for watering down and creating a diluted subset of their religion. The Samaritans felt snubbed. By the time Jesus walked the Earth, there was a longstanding simmering hatred between the Jews and the Samaritans. It went both ways. Jesus didn't go along with this long held hatred. He knew God's message that he was sent to proclaim was for everyone, not just one chosen race. So back to the parable when Jesus told it. It caused an upheaval of emotion to his listeners, to a level that we really don't understand in our current day. Think of your absolute worst enemy. Someone you can't stand and wish the worst level of luck on. Then substitute that name or group of people in the parable. That was Jesus's message. Imagine finding yourself in a very sketchy area of town. After dark fearing for your life, all you wanna do is get yourself to safety and close the door on the world behind you as you're cautiously making your way, you happen upon that person or that group of people who you've long hated and wished ill upon beaten up, mugged and bleeding into the street. Wouldn't your impulse be to sneer and think you deserve that and keep moving, but Jesus would call us to do the opposite. Help the person. Don't just help him, but go out of your way to make sure he's safe and cared for even risking physical harm to yourself along the way. Sure. It's a parable. Did he mean it as it was presented? One person encountering another or did he mean it on a more global level that we're called to help communities of the unfortunate or countries of the unfortunate who are down on their luck and need our help, that we need to put our hatred of them aside, that walking on by when help is so greatly needed is not acceptable in God's kingdom. I think he meant both. So now that we better understand the general feelings of the people of the region toward Samaritans, let's look at the other Bible story that involves Samaritans, the woman at the well. In John chapter four, Jesus led his disciples on a walk through Samaria. In a town called Char, an ancient well set the very same well that Jacob from the Old Testament dug in Genesis chapter 33. Yes, it's that old Jesus sought out the well all alone after sending his disciples into town to buy food. It was noon and he was hot and tired and thirsty. When a Samaritan woman comes to draw water, Jesus says to her, will you give me a drink? Verse seven. The woman is surprised and responds. You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink? That was in verse nine. She's fully aware of the animosity between Jews and Samaritans. She's lived with that her entire life. Can you imagine then her amazement with Jesus's response? Here's the Bible text starting with verse 10. Jesus answered her. If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would've asked him and he would've given you living water. Okay, sir. The woman said, you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Jesus answered. Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed. The water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life. The new international version, the woman is interested, although probably confused. She asked Jesus for some of this water. Then Jesus shows her that he knows exactly who she is, that specific Samaritan woman who happened to meet him at the well. He takes this chance to tell her some of the details about her own life that have shamed her and made her an outcast in her own community. Jesus knows these things. She jumps to the conclusion that he's a prophet. But Jesus presses on and says in verse 22, you Samaritans worship. What you do not know. We worship. What we do know for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the father in spirit and in truth, the woman said, I know that Messiah is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us. Then Jesus declared I the one speaking to you. I am He. This interaction is so amazing to me. Jesus chose a woman, not just any woman, a Samaritan woman, and we know exactly what that means. Now to share this amazing truth outside the Jewish race, Jesus was mainly sent to proclaim the gospel to the Jews, but he chose this moment. And this unremarkable woman who was down on her luck to spread the news to the Samaritans who were hated by the Jews. If there was any doubt that God's messenger of love and forgiveness was including absolutely everyone on Earth, this would eliminate that doubt. Kenneth Ortiz wrote an article called The Woman at the Well, its Significance and What We Can Learn in it. He says. The encounter of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well was not a random meeting. It was planned by God and it depicts Jesus's mercy and love for us, desperate for a satisfying life, an unending grace. The woman at the well is forever changed by Jesus's love for her. She uses her story to tell others about the living water found in Jesus. Remember the parable of the Good Samaritan. A man lies dying on the side of the road and the only person willing to help him was a Samaritan, not the Jewish leader that passed by, not the priest, the Samaritan. The thing about this parable is that it was so shocking to the Jewish people that a Samaritan would be the good guy in the story in the same way this Samaritan woman was the last person any Jew would wanna talk to. But Jesus, a Jewish man, did talk to her. It's comforting that Jesus chooses to love the least lovable people, and he chooses to use the least likely characters and quote. So true throughout the Bible, we see situation after situation when God and Jesus select the least likely people to help them with their cause. The sinners, the one who have made mistakes. The betrayers. The deniers, but guess what? He chose them anyway. And doesn't that give each one of us hope that God can use us in his story as well? Let's pray. Dear Father, thank you for using the least likely people to advance your kingdom. Thank you for including everyone in your plan, not just the exclusive ones. Help us to get over any prejudices or hatred we hold in our daily lives. Help us to be more like the Good Samaritan than those who passed by. Amen. And now stay tuned for my chat with my guest. You met her the week of Thanksgiving. Her name is Jackie Bray, and she is an amazing spiritual woman of God who runs a not-for-profit organization called Feed My Peeps. She's got an amazing story, which I hope that you will go back and listen to in the November 25th episode called, odd Things Jesus Did. But anyway, she is back and she's got more insight to share today on this topic, so stay tuned.

Speaker:

I'm so excited to welcome back a repeat guest who joined us a few weeks ago, Jackie Bray. She's here to join me again for a conversation about our episode. What's So Bad about Samaritans? Jackie, welcome back. Well, thank you. I'm so excited to have you back. We just took a look at, what is it about Samaritans that were so bad and we went into a history of the Samaritans and why they were hated by the Jews during biblical times. Before you understood that history, did you wonder what was so bad about Samaritans? The Good Samaritan, as if. Being good was a exception for a Samaritan or, the other story about the Samaritan woman at the well who knew that if Jesus knew who she was, he wouldn't want her to give him water. Was your thoughts about Samaritans before you learned all this background?

Speaker 2:

You have to look at the times, the culture at that time. So obviously we'll talk about women. Women, were the second class and they were not primary, and their voice did really not matter. So just consider the culture of the time and think about it today, we have so many cultures. I think today women have voices, but, today we still have lots of ethics and cultures and ways

Speaker:

Jesus himself set the example to love our neighbors, even when our neighbors are nothing like ourselves. There's groups of people in our modern lives that are blindly despised. What are your thoughts on that? I mean, can you imagine what Jesus and God think of us down here as we're, not loving our neighbors as ourselves?

Speaker 2:

Yeah. Correct?

Speaker:

Now in your ministry, we, talked the last time you were on about your not-for-profit organization called Feed My Peeps, and you feed the people who need food the most. And a lot of the time you're dealing with not only the hungry people, but the homeless people. You live your life by putting yourself up close and personal. With the very people that others purposely avoid. Can you tell us some of the experiences you've had in your work feeding those who cannot feed themselves?

Speaker 2:

I call it loving on the lost right where they're at. Not everybody, is comfortable walking in the four walls of a church. So, the call my life is to love on the addicted, broken, and lost, and it's messy. It's really messy. But then God took hot mess me and he gave me a ministry. So if he could take hot mess me and, bless me with a beautiful ministry, then, I should have no problem, and I don't have a problem meeting people, where they're at in their, addictions and their brokenness. We're all broken. We're all broken. I just happened to go where it's not so pretty to serve people under the bridges and fields, on the riverfront. Just simply meeting people where they're at.

Speaker:

That's beautiful. How do you feel the call of where you should be going next? Do you have certain places that you go routinely? And especially, I guess I'm talking about, the homeless who are not able to afford or buy their own food. How do you connect with them and how do you know, where to take the food that you have to feed them?

Speaker 2:

Great question. Having knowledge of the culture, so I always say homelessness does not discriminate, doesn't have a zip code. So knowing in your community, maybe under the bridges, maybe at the truck stops, where. Are the homeless, everyone's hungry. But where are the homeless in your community? God shows me where to go. He might say, go in the field. When I lived in California, he called us to the fields and the orchards and that's where we would serve. And you just don't walk into someone's tent encampment. You become, friends with them, you, you love on them. You listen to them. And I don't walk into an encampment. You have to be invited, to come in to, but I'm fishing with food, I'm fishing with clothes, I'm fishing with toiletries and simply loving on people right where they are. And sometimes it's not a real pretty place.

Speaker:

Yeah. Do you have any people that you encountered that were homeless, that you ministered to and God used you to feed them? Not just food for their bodies, but also ministry for their souls that turned around their lives and were able to get out of the, confines of homelessness and hunger?

Speaker 2:

I have been blessed in. Over 15 years of doing this to love on a lot of, lot of broken people. Emily was a junkie and she was a bag of bones when I found her. Actually she came to our church kitchen she was hungry and we were feeding, and Emily stirred my soul and she touched me and. I just kept loving on her. She needed a tent. We gave her a tent, she had a little dog. We, gave the dog treats. And over a short period of time, we gained trust in Emily and we suggested, a recovery program for her. But of course she had a dog. And recovery programs don't take dogs. And so, my late husband and I said, you know what? We'll, go ahead. We'll. We'll foster your dog while you go into recovery. And then on Sundays in this recovery program, she could have a free day. We would go get her and, take the dog or bring her back to our house. And Emily is my walking testimony of God's faithfulness. To this day, she is clean. She's sober. She lives in an apartment complex. She has some significant health issues, but for the most part, she's free of her addictions and, we just simply loved and loved and loved and we wouldn't let up on her. And it was messy and it's beautiful to see the harvest, and sometimes I'm, I'm like, okay, God, we've done this for years and years and years. Can you please show me, am I making a difference? Am I your hands and feet like you want me to be? And, and he'll show you the harvest. I have several families, several children that we've poured into, and not everybody is ready for that journey. So they might just eat the food and take the clothes and go their merry way. And, and that's fine too. Not everybody's, ready. Sometimes you gotta, you have to hit rock bottom before you look up.

Speaker:

Yeah. And it's the timing, of when you wanna open yourself up to God's amazing love. I mean, I think a lot of people who are in treacherous, dangerous, sometimes self-imposed situations, they can't imagine that God would. Want to help them, that, that God would want to open up his arms and love them. But you are the earthly representative of his love to them. They see God through you and your love and your activities and what you give them, and that's just such an amazing ministry. I'm sure that you've had a lot of, really wonderful things, but I'm sure that there were times that you felt that you were putting yourself in danger and, you stepped out in faith not knowing that it was gonna turn out okay.

Speaker 2:

Mm-hmm. I always say that you might be the only Jesus that someone might see, and they might not be comfortable. Our unhoused friends, homeless friends. Might not be comfortable going into the pretty four walls of the church and mm-hmm. No offense, I'm not even comfortable in the four walls of the church. I think I'm more comfortable doing, street outreach and, just going, messy places. There's a lot of messiness and there's a lot of brokenness. But that's where God can work and the light can be shown.

Speaker:

Yeah. That's amazing. And I'm sure glad that there are people like you that are willing to go and follow the call and help people like the homeless that need all of our help. We should all take it, upon ourselves to help wherever we can.

Speaker 2:

And it's simple, Lori. It's really, really simple. If I could just add one more thing. Sure. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. That's how we started out. We just make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I write out scripture cards. Take bottle of frozen water, take popsicles. Just sharing the gospel with a simple PB and j. It's really not that hard to share the gospel.

Speaker:

Oh, that's a book title right there, sharing the Gospel with a simple PB and J. Well, getting back to the essay about the Samaritans, Jesus had an absolutely amazing interaction with the Samaritan woman at the historic well in Shar, although Jesus was sent mainly to minister to the Jews. And then later, as the church grew, led by, in some ways by the Apostle Paul, to the non-Jews, this woman was a Samaritan, which was a non-Jew, but he chose her to reveal his love and identity to, he let her know that he knew who she was. Although it, in her mind, it was impossible for him to know this, it was truly miraculous. What are your thoughts on this interaction between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well and the impact that it must have had on that one woman?

Speaker 2:

Then when he. Could read her mail and he's reading her mail and he's telling her, oh no, it's not one, one man. And like he read her mails. Yes. So she would know. He knew.

Speaker:

Yes. Right. And she was probably sitting there thinking, how does he know this? Does he possibly know this? Then of course when he convinced her of who he was, when he revealed himself and convinced her of who he was, and he gave her the green light to go ahead and tell everyone she knew. Which I believe was one of the first times he'd ever encouraged people to spread the word. Mm-hmm. In the past he was like, don't tell anyone. Don't reveal who I am. It wasn't his time yet, but this time it was go and tell, and I can just imagine how happy she was. To go and spread the word to everyone she knew

Speaker 2:

and she even left her jar of water, her vessel of water. You know she left her laying there. Yeah. The whole reason she was there. That's right. He gave her, he gave her living water. You don't need water, you need living water.

Speaker:

That's right. So this Samaritan Woman at the Well and the Good Samaritan story, both of these Samaritan stories. They emphasize a theme that we see throughout the entire Bible, and I think you and I talked about this during our last episode together, that our relationship with God, he's not looking for perfection in us. Time after time, we see that God and Jesus select the unqualified people, sometimes the least qualified people, and then prepares them to do his work instead of selecting the ones who are perfectly qualified. Does this concept connect with you, and if so, could you share with us why?

Speaker 2:

In my speaking and in my writings and in my teachings of ministry, I was a hot mess. Hot mess, hot mess express. I even have the t-shirt that says Hot Mess express. And if God can love hot mess, express me and use me as his vessel to love on the lost, to Love on the broken, to love on the least of these, wow. His greatest is faithfulness and. I just wanna show my availability, not my ability.'cause I'm certainly not, I don't have the ability, but, he just wants you to be the, his vessel and he wants your availability. So in the morning I have a sign on my refrigerator that one of my church moms had had told me years ago, Jesus, what shall we do today? And I look at that and sometimes I just. Kind of pass it by. I am like, oh, I really have my own agenda. No, really, Jesus, what shall we do today? Yeah. And when you, ask that in the morning, watch him, he will move you, he will shake you, he will put you in appointments that you didn't even see coming. And he uses me just to love on the lost, so Yeah.

Speaker:

Yeah. And there's plenty of them out there for you to continue to spend your, ministry working with.

Speaker 2:

The harvest is ripe and the laborers are few. I'm like, we need more laborers. Yes.

Speaker:

That is great. Well, I have had such a great time chatting with you during both of our episodes. Is there anything else about either this episode or the last one, or about your ministry in general that you'd like to share before we wrap it up?

Speaker 2:

I believe that sharing the gospel is really easy and people make it complicated and, well, how do I do this? And where do I go? And it's really easy. You just love your neighbor. Love your neighbor. Yeah, you might not like your neighbor. Love your enemy. Well pray for your enemy, number one. But love your neighbor. And, love is the question. Love is the answer. And if you're. Able to flow in God's love. He's got you. And it's really, really simple. It's not that hard to share the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Speaker:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Be the vessel. I

Speaker:

love it. It's not hard, but. It is hard because the way of the world is the opposite. The world wants us to get revenge and get even, and don't let someone step on you. Just stick up for yourself. Those are the ways of the world, but that's not the way of Jesus.

Speaker 2:

I'm gonna give an example. Yesterday I at Walmart, I'm cooking for a hundred people tomorrow and I'm at Wally World and I've got on a mission, got my little checklist, I'm gonna make chicken and dumplings, and I'm on my mission dev to the grocery store. Have to do it quick and efficient. I'm in busy, busy Jackie mode. There is a man in the grocery store. He's has no cart. He has a piece in his hand. He has a couple items in his hands. And he's kind of yelling in the aisle, where is the Shaken Bake? And I thought, well, I'm gonna ignore that. You're kind of wacko. And I'm trying to focus on what Jackie needed at that moment. And it's, Mia continued to yell in the aisle and I'm thinking, is he mental? Is he wacko? And he caught my attention. Where is the Shaken Bake? My wife says, I can't come home without the Shaken Bake. And then he also. Tuned into another lady who was shopping in the aisle. So I went over to him. I'm like, okay brother, what are we looking for? We're looking for Shaken Bake. And so this other person, this other lady and myself, we found the Shaken Bake and whatever aisle we found, the Shaken Bake. And his temper came down and we started laughing and he said, um, well, I can't go home. You know, my wife told me I can't come home without the shake and bake. And so as we walked outta the aisles of Walmart, which is usually can be a very, crazy train environment, I laughed like God is using me in an aisle where I should have ignored the man. I should have went on my merry way. But I could hear he was, in despair. You know, he's yelling at Walmart and most people would go around the other aisle, but no, I went right up to him, brother, what are we doing here? And I came home and I told my mom the story and I told my husband the story. I said, only God will put me in the middle of the aisle of a crazy man looking for shake and bake. So loving on the shake and baked man who was losing his stuff in, the middle of Wally World.

Speaker:

Yes. See, now we know why God told you to feed my peeps because you've been talking about peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and shake and baked chicken. So here you go. He chose the right one. That's right. He chose the right one. I wanna thank you once again for joining us. I know that so many people are gonna hear your message and get so much out of it. Thank you for the work that you do and, I pray you success as you continue to do it.

Speaker 2:

Thank you. Blessed by the

Speaker:

best. Thank you, Lori.

and that's it for today. Thank you very much for being here with me on the year I read the Bible Podcast. We'll be back with another episode next week. If you enjoy this podcast, please do all the normal things to spread the word like it. Review it, share it with your friends. If you are interested in additional the year, I read the Bible resources such as the book, the video channel, and the blog, I will certainly include the links in the show notes, and I'd love to hear about your own journey to read the Bible cover to cover. Have you done it or are you doing it right now? Please reach out to me and let me know how it's going. Until next time, it's Lori Larson with the year I read the Bible. Bye.

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