One More Samaritan Pete Kersker - Nov 18, 2025 Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness. These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: "Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, proclaim this message: 'The kingdom of heaven has come near'" (Matthew 10:1, 5-7 NIV). Jesus encouraged (spurred on) his disciples (students) to "go." The audience he sent them to serve, however, changed throughout their ministry (service) together. On their first "solo mission," for example (above), Jesus told them to go only to the Israelites in their surrounding towns. Later, however this changed. Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, "Will you give me a drink?" (John 4:4-7 NIV). When traveling through Samaria, for example, Jesus stopped by Jacob's well to rest while his disciples (students) went to get some food. Jesus strikes up a conversation with a Samaritan woman who comes to the well for water. This just wasn't done, but Jesus did it anyway. He wanted to help her walk with the LORD. The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water." "Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?" Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life" (John 4:9-14 NIV). To make things worse, this wasn't just a Samaritan woman. This was a woman with a reputation for getting around. Jesus didn't care about her reputation. He knew she was important to God. So, he continued their conversation. The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water." He told her, "Go, call your husband and come back." "I have no husband," she replied. Jesus said to her, "You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true." "Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem." "Woman," Jesus replied, "believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth." The woman said, "I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us." Then Jesus declared, "I, the one speaking to you--I am he." (John 4:15-26 NIV). Jesus led this woman to understand the true nature of worship. He also let her know that he is the Messiah (the Christ). His disciples (students) learned these things when they returned with food. They started to see that this Samaritan woman was important to God. Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, "What do you want?" or "Why are you talking with her?" Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?" They came out of the town and made their way toward him (John 4:27-30 NIV). Jesus wasn't just interested in helping that one, wayward Samaritan woman. He wanted to start preparing the Samaritans for the good news of the gospel, that Jesus is the Christ. The woman went back to town and started telling the Samaritans about Jesus. Meanwhile, Jesus prepared his disciples (students) to serve them. Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, "What do you want?" or "Why are you talking with her?" Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, "Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?" They came out of the town and made their way toward him. (John 4:27-30 NIV) In the short-term mission trip we started with today (the passage at the top), Jesus sent his disciples (students) out on their own to reach Israelites. Those Israelite were already anticipating and looking for the Messiah. Here, though, Jesus did the ministry (service) with them. He helped the Smaritans anticipate and look for the Messiah. Then, he involved his disciples (students) in ministry (service) to them. Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me everything I ever did." So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers. They said to the woman, "We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world" (John 4:39-42 NIV). How did Jesus help the Samaritans believe that he is the Christ (Messiah)? How did Jesus help his disciples (students) minister to (serve) the Samaritans? How did you come to believe that Jesus is the Christ (Messiah)? Do you serve (minister to) others to bring them to Jesus? How?