Jesus only moved as led by the Holy Spirit, and on knowing that the Pharisees had heard that His disciples were baptising more disciples than John, He was led to leave Judea and set out for Galilee via Samaria, vs 1-4!

Being tired from the journey, and His disciples having gone to buy food, He sat right besides Jacob’s well at noon, when a Samaritan woman came and Jesus asked her for a drink, vs 5-8. This shocked the woman, as Jews used nothing in common with Samaritans, vs 9! It was then that Jesus enlightened her about the gift of God and His ability to give those who came to Him the water that would quench their thirst for life, unlike the water that one drank from their ancestor, Jacob’s well, vs 10-14.

Ofcourse, the woman wanted that water, although she received His Word from a human standpoint, vs 15! Jesus then questioned her about her personal life, thus indicating that the water that sprung up to eternal life and quenched one’s thirst could be obtained, only if one was honest about their sin, and willing to give up the same too, vs 16.

This test the woman passed, as she didn’t deny the exposition that Jesus made concerning her previous sinful lifestyle, vs 17-19. It is only to such people whom Jesus can give an understanding about what true spiritual worship is all about, just like He gave to the woman, vs 20-24, and He also revealed Himself plainly to her as the Saviour too, vs 25,26. He did this inspite of the fact that it was not normal for one to speak to a woman in that day and age, vs 27! This woman, left her waterpot at the well, and went on to lead her town to come and see for themselves, if Jesus was indeed the much- awaited Messiah, vs 28-30.

And many of those who encountered the Lord for themselves were also led to believe in Him to be the Saviour of the world, vs 39-42! This was the work that Jesus came to fulfill and this is the work that He calls us to do too, vs 31-38.

Surprisingly the Galileans welcomed Him warmly on account of the things they saw him do during the feast, vs 43-45, for previously He could not do many great miracles in their midst on account of their unbelief! The second miracle that He did in Galilee, vs 54 was the healing of a royal official’s son, vs 46-53, the first miracle being the turning of water into wine. This official was not the one mentioned in Mathew 8:5-13 and Luke 7:1-10, because the story here is different, as in both the other cases it was the servant who was sick and not the son of the official, as it was in this case!

Through these incidents, (the meeting with the Samaritan woman and saving her soul and the souls of many in her town who believed in Him, as well as the healing of the son of a Gentile royal official), Jesus, indeed, made it clear that He came to be the Saviour of the whole world too, and not just the Saviour of the Jews!

Thus we see that even today, Jesus is the same as He was in that day, and will always go beyond the dividing walls made by men to reach out to those who earnestly seek Him, be it for salvation or healing, or any other need, as long as they come to Him in honesty, faith and humility.
Amen.

Rowena Thomas
Mumbai, India.