4 Feb 2026
Why left alone?
"[Jesus] left Judea and departed again for Galilee. And he had to pass through Samaria. So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.
A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)"
~ John 4.3-9 ESV
I found it peculiar that the disciples - all of them - left their wearied teacher alone. I would think that normally at least one would stay behind. But none did. Why?
The Samaritan woman knew a Jew when she saw one and she probably could guess that the Jew was a Rabbi too. A Rabbi in Sychar - alone.
What were the disciples thinking?
What if one of the disciples had stayed to accompany Jesus? Would the story develop the same way?
Probably. But it would be interesting to read how their dialogue would have been with Jesus.