The Gentleness of the Lord

"Then answered the Jews and said unto him: Say we not well that thou art a Samaritan, and hast a devil? Jesus answered, I have no devil, but I honor my Father; and ye dishonor me" (John 8:48-49).

In this passage, the Jews made two false accusations against the Lord. One was that he had a demon, and the other was about his origin: that he was a Samaritan.

The Lord's answer contains a clarification with respect to the first accusation, but not with respect to the second. Why did he keep silent? Were not the Samaritans despicable to the Jews? The Jews despised the Samaritans, but the Lord loved them.

A Samaritan woman of the worst reputation heard the words from His mouth, and the greatest declaration concerning His Messiahship. And then, at the request of the men of her village, the Lord agreed to stay with them for two days. A Samaritan leper was healed along with nine other Jews, and he returned by himself to give thanks for the miracle. A Samaritan was placed by the Lord to represent Himself in the parable of the same name, as an example of neighborly love, which was found neither in the priest nor in the Jewish Levite.

Oh, deep love that led him to associate with the poor of the earth, with the despised! The Lord of lords eats and drinks, and accepts the shelter of the despised enemies of his people!

Jesus was not a Samaritan, but how he loved them, and so much so, that their contempt did not overshadow his love (Luke 9:52-56). How he loved us too. If he had defended himself from not being a Samaritan, it would have been like defending himself from not being African or Asian, black or yellow. And, truly, he would not have been ashamed of being this or that. He was a Jew, simply because of the divine choice in the fathers, but in his heart were the Jews and all races, with the same unchanging love that led him to die on the cross.

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