BREAK THE BIAS
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Opening Prayer
Gracious God, as I meditate on your Word today, speak not only to my mind, but to my heart. Show me truth in ways that change me and cause me to serve you more wholeheartedly.
Read JOHN 4:31–42
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.”
32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”
33 Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?”
34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”
Many Samaritans Believe
39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers.
42 They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Have you—or someone close to you—been discriminated against because of race, religion, gender, social status, or some other factor? How did this make you feel?
In the unfolding story, the despised Samaritans come out looking better than Jesus’ Jewish disciples. A Samaritan woman had responded enthusiastically to Jesus’ invitation to drink of living water and she set out eagerly to share this news with her fellow Samaritans (vv. 28–30). The Jewish disciples were ‘surprised to find him talking with a woman’ (v. 27), particularly a Samaritan woman. Yet none of them dared to voice the questions that must have troubled them: ‘“What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”’ Sidestepping the controversy between Jews and Samaritans (see v. 9), the disciples opted for a safer topic: ‘Rabbi, eat something’ (v. 31). Just as he had used the metaphor of water to teach about spiritual thirst, Jesus used this remark about food to explain his deepest hunger: his desire to do the Father’s will and ‘finish his work’ (v. 34)—work which included a Samaritan harvest.
Traditionally, the Jews viewed the Samaritans with dislike, distrust, and even disgust. Jesus challenged his disciples to break the bias by looking through the lens of God’s perspective and purposes rather than their own prejudices: ‘I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest—which, incidentally, parallels the ‘come and see’ approach of the early Jewish disciples.1 Many Samaritans heard about Jesus and were already heading toward him. From the lips of these despised Samaritans would come one of the most powerful testimonies about Jesus: ‘this man really is the Savior of the world’ (v. 42).
Apply
In what ways is God challenging you to break biases?
Closing prayer
Jesus, help me to see others with your eyes and to respond to the world around me with your heart.
1 See John 1:35–46
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