Location, Location, Intention

"And he had to pass through Samaria."

Gospel of John 4:4

Through Samaria

Samaria was a hotbed of everything the Jewish people despised: corrupted lineage, false worship, and rival claims of being God's chosen people. When we are given this seemingly throwaway line from John, Jesus was on his way from Judea to Galilee, a distance of 70-100 miles depending on the route. Jews routinely avoided traveling through Samaria even though it added two days to their travel.

So, no, Jesus did not need to go through Samaria. He chose to do it.

But why? For one simple reason: he desired to meet the woman at the well. From my limited vantage point, I see Jesus deliberately placing himself in enemy territory, inconveniencing all of his disciples, even sending all of them away on an errand that should have taken two of them, all for what? To encounter one woman. To save one soul.

Place matters

Jesus is always doing this. He knows that location matters. Think about how he asks his disciples, "Who do you say that I am?" in Caesarea Philippi while the massive rock face of the pagan god Pan is towering above them (Matthew 16:13-20). Or how he goes out into the desert at the beginning of his ministry to, among other things, pick a fight with the devil (Matthew 4:1-11).

But Jesus also knows that relative position matters. Think about how he places himself "opposite the treasury" (Mark 12:41) to have a vantage point on generosity. Or how he purposely places himself between Simon and the woman anointing his feet (Luke 7:44), forcing Simon to look through him to see the woman.

It is easy to read these moments and miss how much both place and timing matter.

Building for real people

This past week I have spent a lot of time working on location detection for Ask My Parish. People need to be able to ask, "What adoration chapels are near me?" That one is easy because browser detection and geolocation are solved problems. But they also need to be able to ask, "I'm headed to Cleveland this Saturday evening, what Mass options do I have?" Now we are talking about understanding where they will be at a given point in time. And sometimes people are reluctant to share their location, so I need to be respectful, avoid asking prematurely, and give flexibility in precision when I do. It is a thorny problem, but one that I have gotten to work fairly well. Try it out for yourself.

Come and see

At the beginning of his public ministry, Jesus begins walking to his next location (John 1:35-39). Some disciples had already started to follow him, so when they asked, "Where are you staying?" he turned to them and said, "Come and you will see."

So, faithful reader, we follow the one who always knows where he is going, chooses where to stand, and invites us to come along.

Have a good week!

Love,