Messiah
"I who speak to you am he" John 4:26.

My wife and I toured Israel in 1977. Arriving late to the city of Nablus, the ancestral home of the Samaritans, we found their sanctuary locked.

"Don't worry," said our Palestinian Lutheran guide as he disappeared around a corner. Within minutes he returned with the Samaritan priest, who displayed for us the scrolls containing the Samaritan version of the Books of Moses.

Later, when we asked our guide how he gained entry after hours, he replied. "My father governed this area years ago. During the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, when the few hundred remaining Samaritans were threatened by Israeli forces, my father saved them."

Someone else has also saved Samaritans--not by the hundreds, but by the thousands! One day, that Someone arrived at the well at Nablus [then called Sychar] and conversed with a Samaritan woman. At one point she said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming" (John 4:25).

Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he" (v. 26). In the Greek New Testament, Jesus literally said, "I am, the one speaking to you." Amazing! He claimed to be not only the Messiah, but also the Lord God who revealed to Moses His name--"I AM WHO I AM."

At these words, the woman ran into town announcing, "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" (v. 29). Without hesitation, they came out to see for themselves. After listening to Jesus for two days, many of them concluded, "… we know that this man really is the Savior of the world" (v. 42).

Wow, what a successful mission trip!

Why did the Samaritans respond so favorably to Jesus? In part, because they were expecting their own version of the Messiah. They called Him "el Taheb." After the 130 BC destruction of the Samaritan sanctuary located on Mount Gerizim, they believed "el Taheb" would reestablish the true worship of God by restoring their temple.

This explains why Jesus and the woman were discussing the proper place and manner to worship God (vv. 19-26). Jesus, the expert missionary, used this common ground to proclaim the Messianic kingdom to the Samaritans. Because Jesus was I AM, God Himself, He was the true temple, replacing the Jewish temple in Jerusalem, replacing the Samaritan temple, and replacing all the holy places revered by people around the world (vv. 23-24).

The positive response of the Samaritans wasn't limited to one mission foray. Acts 8:4-25 reports the beginning of a vast people movement. One reason why only 500 still follow the Samaritan religion today is that multitudes of them converted to faith in Jesus, who saved them and more than fulfilled their Messianic hopes.

1. Imagine the possible responses if you were polling 1st century Jews about the likelihood of Samaritans embracing the Jewish Messiah.
2. Missionaries use the term "redemptive analogy." It means a feature of a culture that bears some resemblance to Christian teaching and can be used as a bridge to communicate the Gospel within that culture. In what ways was the Samaritan belief in "el Taheb" a redemptive analogy?
3. Are you aware of possible redemptive analogies within the cultures you would like to see evangelized?