It would seem that Jesus was on a recruiting mission. You would think that Jesus would be out recruiting disciples. This He did quite effectively, but that was not His mission, not here anyway.

The way that I read it, Jesus was on a special assignment for the Father. This, of course, is not surprising. There was any number of things that Jesus was to do during his short discourse here on earth. One was to reveal the Father. (John 1:18) Of course, this was major.

Another was to take upon Himself the sins of the world. This too was major. He sat a little child on His lap and said that we all must become like children. There were many things like that. His assignments seemed almost endless.

But here in John 4 the assignment takes on a different twist. Now Jesus had been in Judea and needed to get to Galilee. The quickest way was to go through Samaria, but most Jews avoided having anything to do with either Samaria or Samaritans. But Jesus didn’t necessarily do what everyone else did.

It was getting along toward evening and Jesus was tired, so He and the disciples stopped by the town of Sychar – made famous by Jacob’s well. While the disciples went on into town to buy some food, Jesus rested by the well.

By and by a Samaritan woman came to draw water and Jesus asked for a drink. Now to us this seems quite normal, quite appropriate. But mind you, in that day and in that age, a Jewish male seldom ever spoke to a female, and a rabbi never. But here Jesus was not only talking to a girl, but a Samaritan one at that – and one whose morals were quite questionable. This not only would have raised a few eyebrows, it would have raised a goodly number of toupees.

This girl was certainly not intimidated by Jesus. She was able to hold her own in the give and take that followed – this is until her heart began to soften. It didn’t take her long to realize she was in the presence of Someone else!

Strange that it should a social outcast, a second class citizen of Samaria, a girl who changed husbands as though they were hats who would become the first recruit. You see, the Father was had sent Jesus to recruit worshippers, not just any kind of worshippers, but worshippers who would worship the Father in spirit and in truth.

It’s not what we do that makes us true worshipers, but what God does in us. It’s not what we are that matters, but who we are in our hearts. Jesus looked beyond her social status, her ethnic background, her obvious sin and saw a Candidate for a Miracle.