John 4:3-4 is speaking of Christ. It says, “He left Judaea, and departed again into Galilee. And he must needs go through Samaria.” The Lord travelled from Judaea to Galilee. The shortest route from Judea to Galilee was through Samaria, but it was not the only way. Another way was through Perea, east of the Jordan River. In Jesus’ day, the Jews hated the Samaritans so they normally took the longer route to avoid Samaria so they did not have to associate with them.

I believe that when the Word said, “he must needs to through Samaria,” it was speaking of more that just walking distance. There was a woman there who was in need of salvation! We read in John 4:5-6, “Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.” In this city of Sychar was Jacob’s well. The Lord Jesus, although fully God, is also fully man…so his journey made him tired. It was about noon and the Lord sat down on the well to rest.

Verse 7 says, “There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink.” Was it a coincidence that the Lord happened to be at the well when this Samaritan woman came to draw water? Absolutely not! The Lord knows all things, so before even meeting this woman personally, he knew her situation, her needs, and exactly where she would be at that time. The woman was astounded that the Lord would ask her for water. We read in verse 10, “Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.” The Lord begins drawing out her heart by offering her ‘living water’.

Now let’s look at verses 15-18, “The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. Jesus saith unto her, Go, call thy husband, and come hither. The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband: For thou hast had five husbands; and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband: in that saidst thou truly.” The Lord now begins to evidence who He was by showing the woman that He knew all about her. She had been married five times and was now living with a man. It’s interesting to note that Christ is now the seventh significant man in her life. Seven…the number of perfection!

I strongly encourage you to read this entire portion and learn of this woman’s salvation. What a beautiful story. After her salvation, we read of the woman’s immediate evangelistic efforts in verses 29-30 where she proclaimed to all, “Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ? Then they went out of the city, and came unto him.”

We see the results of her efforts in verses 39 and 41. “And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did. And many more believed because of his own word.” So for the sake of this woman and many of the people, truly the Lord “must needs go through Samaria.” The Lord, in His infinite grace, meets us where we are and draws us to Himself. Have you met the Lord? Have you believed on Him as your savior? Are you following Him? The Lord Jesus said in John 6:37, “…him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” (302.5)