Is the Muslim world our Samaria?

We all know the story. Jesus went through Samaria not around it. He talked to the Samaritan woman, not over her. Is that all?

There’s a lot more to it. The Jews of Judah and the Samaritans were cooking up a centuries-old clash of civilizations. It started when Rehoboam declared himself to be a tougher taskmaster than his father Solomon. It deepened through the years of idolatrous worship of Baal and other deities. It passed through an exile to Assyria and intermittent waves of immigrants to repopulate Samaria. They brought their gods with them and their cultures. It all produced an amalgamation of cultures and religions that called itself Jewish when it pleased while it actually cut and pasted what suited it out of the Jewish faith. For instance, they changed the holy books. The prophets of Judah simply weren’t acceptable so they dropped those books. They had their own version of Moses’ books as well. They had even built their own “holy place” for worship. That’s why the woman asked Jesus if she should worship in Jerusalem or on Mt. Gerizim (the Samaritan holy place). Imagine that, rival holy places in the Middle East! Did I forget to mention that it was a Jewish ruler who destroyed the Samaritan’s temple? Yes, the deeply rooted, historical enmity between the Jews and Samaritans had exploded into armed conflict. The clash was so strong that the Rabbis of Judah had determined that to eat or drink from a Samaritan vessel rendered them ceremonially unclean. Translated that means “if you eat with one of those guys you can’t pray with us!” That didn’t seem to bother Jesus who wanted to drink from the Samaritan woman’s vessel? You would almost think he was trying to make himself unclean! Troublemaker. Conflict with its political, military, cultural and social roots went deep in the soil of Jewish-Samaritan relations—100’s of years deep.

Islam and the “Christian” West: Religious roots—Islam pays lip service to our Bible saying it contains three of the four holy books. However, Muslims commonly hold that the Bible has been corrupted by Christians and Jews. Jesus, a la Islam, was a great prophet, but not divine. Even though some passages of the Quran suggest he died on the cross, Muslims routinely deny his death and expressly deny its meaning.

Roots of Military conflict: From its birth, Islam advanced taking over Christian centers such as Alexandria, Damascus, Jerusalem and Carthage. Later Constantinople, the crown jewel of Christian civilization became the center of the Muslim world and home of its Caliph. As we speak, the birth and immigration rate of Muslims is changing the face of Europe. And Muslims see the West as meddling in the affairs of the Muslim world through two Gulf Wars and the present conflict in Afghanistan. 9/11, London, Madrid, Bali, Amman…need I say more?

Some label it a clash of civilizations. Maybe. I do know this: Jesus, whom we say we follow had a unique and counter-cultural response to the clash of civilizations of His day. He took a seat by a well, hung out there for a while and had a conversation. He delighted in it. “This is my food.” And he called those who followed Him to get on board with his fresh vision for a conflicted world: “Lift up your eyes.”