“But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:23-24)


Although Jesus had come as Messiah to the children of Israel John relates to us an incident that shows that the gospel message is for all peoples, not just Jews. The invitation to enter the Kingdom was going to be made to people of all religions and moral backgrounds not just Jews. Jesus came to change all men and women, wo heal them of sin, to reconcile them to His Father. Jesus came to make the Spirit of God available to all. This is why John tells us that the first person that Jesus actually told that He was the Messiah was a non-Jew and an idolatrous and sexually immoral Samaritan at that. This shows us that God will save the vilest of sinners simply by showing them some tough and honest love. Jesus told her of her sin, of the fallacy of her religious beliefs as well as of the necessity of faith in Him in order to receive salvation.

We believers are called to preach the gospel to people like this Samaritan woman, people we might not like, people who might not share our way of thinking, political ideology, culture, ethnicity or race, people whose sins are quite repugnant. But we have access to the living water which Jesus spoke of: Jesus Himself. This living water brings eternal life as it did for that woman. We Christians are bearers of such water for the Holy Spirit lives and works in and through us to bring mercy and grace to all, even to people we resent or do not like. Rather than complain or rail against such, we ought to pray for
them and, as Jesus commands us, to love them in word and deed even though they hate both us and Him. We need not fear to share: we have access through the Spirit of God to an endless supply of that live-giving water.