The woman at the fountain (John 4:5-26)When Jesus knew that the Pharisees had heard: "Jesus makes and baptizes more disciples than John" he withdrew from Judea to the south and he returned to his home in Galilee. Traveling from Jerusalem in the south to Galilee in the north, Jesus and his disciples took the quickest route, through Samaria, the territory north of Judea. During their journey they came near a Samaritan city called Sychar (mentioned only once in the Bible). . They stopped at Jacob's well, about half a mile away and near the site of the tomb of Joseph, who was buried there after the exodus from Egypt. The city was located near the foot of Mount Gerizim, a sacred mountain in Israel's history. , where Abraham took Isaac to be sacrificed, where the Jews first entered Canaan, where Joshua, old and dying, said his final farewell to his people. The Samaritans were a mixed-race people who had intermarried with the Assyrians centuries earlier. They were despised by the Jews of the south because of this cultural mix and because they had their own version of the Bible and their own temple on Mount Gerizim, while the Jews considered the only place of worship to be in Jerusalem. Jesus, tired and thirsty after the journey, sat down at a well, while his disciples went to the village of Sychar, about half a mile away, to buy food. It is unlikely that the disciples would leave Jesus, a Jew, alone in Samaritan territory. It is probable that the close disciples of Jesus, Peter, James and John remained with him, but most likely at least John, since his gospel is the only one in which this episode appears and the story is read with the detail of the one who was present. Although the Jews limited their dealings with the Samaritans,...... middle of paper ...... the human heart thirsts for goodness and truth."Come see a man who told me everything he I did." The Samaritan woman never appears again in the Scriptures. By addressing the Samaritans, Jesus demonstrated that his mission was aimed at the whole earth, not just the Jews. And among these he included women, prostitutes, tax collectors and other sinners. Ironically, while the High Priest and the Sanhedrin council rejected Jesus as the Messiah, the marginalized Samaritans recognized Jesus and accepted him as the Savior of the world. The apostles never ceased to be shocked by Jesus' willingness to talk to women, women of questionable character. , even immoral women. It was very difficult for Jesus to teach his apostles that women, even so-called immoral women, have a soul that can choose God as their Father, thus becoming daughters of God and candidates for eternal life.