John 4:9 — Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.

Samaria was a fertile province West of the Jordan between Judea and Galilee. Orthodox Jews would have nothing to do with Samaritans. In fact if they were traveling from Galilee to Judea or back again, they would avoid the logical route they’d go East, travel down the Jordan past Samaria, and then cross back. The Samaritans, because of their inter-marriage with foreigners and their unorthodox theology were “unclean”.
If the Samaritans were such a bad lot, how come Jesus was so nice about them and to them?
The two incidents that spring to mind are the story of the Good Samaritan, and the story of the widow at the well.
You remember the Good Samaritan of course. He was the one who, seeing a man lying beside the road having been set upon by robbers, went across and took care of all of his needs – in sharp contrast to the “pure” priest and Levite, neither of whom did any such thing. “Was there anything special”, you might ask, “about Samaritans that made them more likely to do the right thing?”
Then there was that woman at the well. She had, at best, a “colorful” career with multiple husbands and, most lately, a partner to who she was not married. Yet Jesus took the chance of becoming ritually unclean by talking to her, went on to offer her a path to salvation, and then offered the same opportunity to all the people in the town — where he broke His journey for two days.
These two stories are perhaps the best known incidents, but they are only headlines in the story of Jesus’s relationships with the Samaritans. He did not hesitate to heal the one Samaritan in a party with nine Jews (and of the ten lepers only the Samaritan came back to thank Him!).  He was not in the least bit pleased with His disciples when they a sked Him to pull down the fire of judgment on the Samaritans.
So what was going on? What was so special about the Samaritans that made Jesus so willing to think well of them and deal so kindly with them? Well I don’t know … though I do have some ideas.
The Samaritans were a minority, the outsiders. It might have been fair to describe them as “Jews gone astray”, but the rest of the Jews treated them – petty much – as Gentiles. That’s the clue I think. Jesus was not an “establishment man”. He loves outsiders! I can just hear Him saying “Samaritans are people too!”
There’s a huge clue for us in this. Who are the outsiders near us? Who are the minorities. Who should we be reaching out too? Like the Samaritans, they’re special!